Explaining Virtual Tabletops

((Split off from This thread))

daemonslye said:

Hey - Hussar, thanks for the link. Looks interesting. That specific item referred to actually running a miniature/map on my computer we the players actually there at the table (and they dont all have laptops). If done right, it could be cool but, as I said, if the players don't have a PC they rely on the DM to move their fig for them. Which can be time consuming (Here? Here? Here? AOO! Oh, you meant here?).

For a virtual tabletop, it might work. Does it have Internet voice? Where do folks join games? Do they have a license from..(nevermind; sorry for that..).

Thanks again!

~D

Click to expand...

For those who have never checked it out, take a look at www.openrpg.com

I think with all this talk about the new Digital Initiative, it wouldn't hurt to talk about what a virtual tabletop really is. I've been playing over OpenRPG for about four years now, so, I think I have some insight into what its like to play online for someone who isn't all that tech savvy.

First, I'll answer D's questions.

Does it have voice? - No. OpenRPG doesn't. Although, other people do use stuff like Skype or whatever to cover that. My bunch isn't all that interested, so, it's never been an issue for us. Plus, on a personal level, I like having the transcripts from the game after the fact. Makes for some fun reading. Well, ok, fun might be stretching it a bit, but, erm... well... you get the point.

How do folks join games? - Most DM's post on the OpenRPG forums when they want to start up a game. I know for a fact that you can have a group up and going in about a week. The upside here is that you can always get new players. The downside is that online players can sometimes be extremely flakey. I've had to weed out and prune the people in my game for a while. It's taken some time, but now we have a solid group of seven players who show up on time, all the time and are good about being courteous.

Licensing - OpenRPG is open source, so, it's free. There's no licensing. Just set up your room or use an existing room and go.

*whoops, gotta go, I'll finish this later*

Ok, that explained D's questions directly, now I'd like to branch out a bit.

First off, I would like to say that VTT gaming can be every bit as good as face to face. I do honestly believe that. I've actually switched recently from DMing full time to playing and it has given me a real appreciation for how things work on both sides of the screen.

On the DM's side, you can be incredibly prepared. The sky's the limit when it comes to artwork. Need to show your players EXACTLY what the bad guy looks like? Hit up any decent art site, like www.conceptart.org and away you go. Sounds? Yup, can do that. Background music? No problems. Rules questions? The Hypertext SRD is a click away.

When I wasn't sure of rules, I always tasked one of the players to go look up the rule. Meant that there were very few interruptions in play. Splitting up the party isn't even all that difficult. Switch to a whisper window for the split and keep up play with the main group at the same time.

On the player side, things can work out very well. It's easier to stay in character when you don't have face to face interaction. When all you deal with is the written word, you can usually keep up a persona much better. I know that I played a pick up game of The Dying Earth a couple of years back, and there is no doubt in my mind that I would never have pulled it off in person. I'd be laughing too hard.

With the launch of the DI coming, I really hope that WOTC can provide a good online platform for gaming. I can foresee an amazing community if that happens. The OpenRPG community is great, and with the numbers that could be pulled in by WOTC, I could easily see being able to play a game of D&D at any time of the day, any day of the week.

Other then OpenRPG what other VTTs are there?
Reviews or thoughts on the other options?

Fantasy Grounds II.

I perfer this program. It is setup for d20 but can be modified for any game system. In fact there is a company that has done Iron Heros, AE, Savage Worlds for it. I have seen rulesets for Warhammer, AD&D, and I think there is a C&C in the works.

Very simple software with lots of potential for change if you have the skills. And if you don't, the message boards are really good. I recently wanted to add the round count to the notification, within the hour I had some code to enter into the software to try.

Check out www.fantasygrounds.com

Honestly, I've only used OpenRPG. I have heard good things about Fantasy Grounds which has just released Version 2 very recently. The big difference for me is price. I play with people I met online, so it is difficult for me to whack down twenty or thirty bucks to play.

A very good comparison (although slightly dated I think) can be found here at the Dev version of OpenRPG's site.

Thanks Hussar!

I'll do a little research before I generate any more questions. Off hand, I would think voice would be a good thing if it is integrated into the game-area with clear indication regarding who is talking. Text chat/side "whispers" could be supplemental.

Well, OK, one question: Do you need to "pre-prep" the maps (e.g. use some sort of designer-type software) or can you simply "draw and go" while in play mode?

The "feature requests" area is most telling for me to know what is in/not-in.. (I'm sure there is some versioning I need to be aware of though)

thanks again,

~D

For some good info, try to find the iCon website, it was an online con dealing with Virtual Tables and they had a good comparison sheet done up.

As to preping the maps, you can do it on the fly with FG, drop a grid and get drawing, but with the amount of maps out there you can just save it as a png and drop it into the folder. Dungeon is great for this with all thier stuff online, Dunjinni has alot of example maps and user made maps. And Dunjinni and the like are not that expensive and you can get some decent maps done up quickly.

With OpenRPG, you need to host the map files online somewhere (photobucket works) and use them from there. The drawing tools are very, very rudimentary, so, while you could draw a map as you go, it would be pretty basic. Think grid board and marker.

There is a pretty good list of VT's and related software here: http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/links.html

rv

For Hussar and anyone else who has used openRPG, how hard it it to work around routers and firewalls?