Questions about VTT software for in-room play

innerdude

Legend
I will admit, the path of least resistance here is clearly Roll20. It has all the basic features the OP is looking for.

I just know that when I actually tried to use Roll20 as my battlemap in a face-to-face session, it wasn't nearly as elegant or intuitive as using Tabletop Simulator was.

As far as displaying images and content to players, if its on the internet or the local computer hosting the session, it can be displayed in TTS. Drop a custom tile on the board, and set the URL or file location for the image, and bam, it's there.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

MNblockhead

A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
You need to read the post again, and for comprehension.

He said;

Admittedly he never said Battlemap, but he said "maps with fog of war". And that pretty clearly is a battlemap. At least beyond a reasonable doubt.

No, that is simply not the case. I'm not trying to be pedantic here. There are, whether you believe it or not, many gamers that want the ability to display maps with fog or war, but not as a battlemap. Since some of those players may read this thread, I want to be clear about how I'm reading the OP and what my suggestion is.

First, I understand the word "battlemap" to be a map at a scale that you can play on. A common example in D&D and PF would be map with a grid of 1"x1" squares, where 1" = 5'. They can be pre-printed images, a dry/wet erase mat, or a digital image that you can move physical or digital miniatures, pogs, or counters on.

If you want to do this digitally, you will be well served by a VTT, which will give you additional features beyond displaying the battle maps, such fog of war, area of effect measurements, automatic resolution of damage and effects, etc.

But there are are also instances where you want to use fog of war for scales larger than the typical battlemap and outside of combat, such as for overland travel and dungeon exploration.

RealmWorks is one tool that allows for this.

So, we know you love RW. But he doesn't want to share campaign "content" that are text based. He specifically said he want to share images and maps with FoW. That's not what RW excels at. That what VTT's excel at.

The OP said, specifically: " I use it primarily for two things: to display images (of creatures/items/NPCs, etc), and to display maps with fog of war."

(1) "display maps with fog of war"

I've already address this above. This may mean he wants to use it as a battlemap, but he also mentions later in his post that he is displaying this on his laptop, so it doesn't seem to me that he is using it with minis or tokens or as a battlemap. It seems like he may be revealing the map as the party explores.

(2) "to display images (of creatures/items/NPC, etc)"

You did not address this. This is something RealmWorks excels at: displaying character portraits, location illustrations, diagrams of magic items, the runes the party sees on the door, and other things that you want to show the players without having to print out as paper handouts.

I have only a cursory familiarity with the major VTT products, so I do not know how useful they would be for this purpose in comparison.
 

No, that is simply not the case. I'm not trying to be pedantic here. There are, whether you believe it or not, many gamers that want the ability to display maps with fog or war, but not as a battlemap. Since some of those players may read this thread, I want to be clear about how I'm reading the OP and what my suggestion is. ...
<snip>.
RealmWorks is one tool that allows for this.
Ok.
<snip>
(2) "to display images (of creatures/items/NPC, etc)"

You did not address this. This is something RealmWorks excels at: displaying character portraits, location illustrations, diagrams of magic items, the runes the party sees on the door, and other things that you want to show the players without having to print out as paper handouts.

I have only a cursory familiarity with the major VTT products, so I do not know how useful they would be for this purpose in comparison.
Admittedly I did not address. I guess it's because displaying an image on a computer is truly a trivial task. I can share images with some or on a display using MS Word. Not an ideal tool, but a trivial task.

I don't mean to be argumentative here. What I see as minutia just seems like... minutia.
 

MNblockhead

A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
Ok.

Admittedly I did not address. I guess it's because displaying an image on a computer is truly a trivial task. I can share images with some or on a display using MS Word. Not an ideal tool, but a trivial task.

I don't mean to be argumentative here. What I see as minutia just seems like... minutia.

But adding Fog of War (or "Fog of World" as RW likes to advertise) is not trivial for most people. The OP is using layers in graphic-editing software to do this. This is not trivial for many/most people. Also, it is nice to have things organized by campaign, adventure, and encounter and have everything queued up so you just toggle it on to display it rather than having to navigate through Windows explorer. Even if this is minutia, it is often the minutia I want to minimize in my game.
 

But adding Fog of War (or "Fog of World" as RW likes to advertise) is not trivial for most people. The OP is using layers in graphic-editing software to do this. This is not trivial for many/most people. Also, it is nice to have things organized by campaign, adventure, and encounter and have everything queued up so you just toggle it on to display it rather than having to navigate through Windows explorer. Even if this is minutia, it is often the minutia I want to minimize in my game.

#1 is not minutia, that's why I addressed it. #1 includes FoW.
I did not read #2 as including a desired for FoW. That's why I ignored it and did not address it. Because if you can do #1, then #2 is minutia.
 

Remove ads

AD6_gamerati_skyscraper

Remove ads

Recent & Upcoming Releases

Top