Help me pick a virtual tabletop

[Turtlicious]

I tried maptool, and I couldn't get anyone to connect including myself, it was a huge pain in the ass, and the frameworks were a bit too complicated, all in all it was a headache, and because I couldn't learn it in two weeks, I ended up postponing my game.

<Though to be fair, I also had 2 people cancel that night, so I was going to run it with IRC.>

So I came here to ask you guys, what's your favorite, which ones are good? Which ones are bad? I really want out of the box short management, where I can just paste stat-blocks, simulate dice rolls, and other amazing things.

 

[Evenglare]

Roll20.net is by far the coolest tabletop I have come across. They are in open beta now and it is just amazing. I used to use map tool, but roll20.net has integrated voice chat, video chat, and supports just about anything you can throw at it, from card games to tabletop rpgs to warhammer . The fact that it's free, and you dont have to go through the headache of port forwarding and stuff like you would for maptools and gametable is also a huge plus.

 

[moon_wizard]

I tried a bunch of different options several years ago, and ended up settling on Fantasy Grounds. They had the most flexible system at the time, as well as 3D dice. Additionally, they supported multiple game systems.

Since then, I have joined the company, and we have expanded the product greatly. There is a big focus on campaign management tools for the GM, as well as allowing the GM to control the level of automation they would like in their game.

If you want a VTT that can help manage your campaign information, automate parts of your game to speed up play, has 3D dice and more; check it out.

Fantasy Grounds :: The Virtual Tabletop for Pen & Paper Roleplaying Games

Cheers,
JPG

 

[oswallt]

Both Roll20.net and Fantasy Grounds are good options. With Fantasy Grounds you still have to have everybody install the software and connect up, but you get a lot more power in the form of automation and integration.

With Roll20.net it is super easy and it still has a lot of features, though not as much as you will get with any of the desktop programs. Roll20.net can also be used for free, so that's a plus in it's favor if it can do everything that you want it to.

There's a new online VTT called Tabletop Forge. It is free and runs in Google+ hangouts, so it's easy to use. They're doing a kickstarter for it right now, so you can get a few extras if you want to help fund it. The possible downsides are that you have to use Google+ and that it will still be in beta for the next couple of months.

I happen to be a fan of MapTools because it is opensource, so I feel obligated to give the standard opensource battle cry, which is "The community is great, so if you're willing to spend the time fiddling with it, they will be happy to help you out."

 

[Hand of Evil]

older thread...

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/288346-virtual-tabletop-software.html

 

[IronWolf]

With Roll20.net it is super easy and it still has a lot of features, though not as much as you will get with any of the desktop programs. Roll20.net can also be used for free, so that's a plus in it's favor if it can do everything that you want it to.

There's a new online VTT called Tabletop Forge. It is free and runs in Google+ hangouts, so it's easy to use. They're doing a kickstarter for it right now, so you can get a few extras if you want to help fund it. The possible downsides are that you have to use Google+ and that it will still be in beta for the next couple of months.

I happen to be a fan of MapTools because it is opensource, so I feel obligated to give the standard opensource battle cry, which is "The community is great, so if you're willing to spend the time fiddling with it, they will be happy to help you out."

I think these would be the three I would look at first if it were me. Since you've ruled MapTool out, that leaves Roll20.net and Tabletop Forge from the above list.

I've played or run several games of DCC RPG over Tabletop Forge. It works pretty well, a couple of bugs that the devs are aware of.

I am leaning towards trying roll20.net for my next DCC one-shot. Just to see how it works in actual play.

 

[jbear]

My experience:

Roll20: Simple, hassle free to connect, from what I can see you only track HPs as a player so you have to keep your sheet handy at home. I haven't tried this from DM perspective so I can't comment.

Maptool: Brilliant for making fantastic maps, takes some mastery to sort out connection issues but if you read through the guide provided you should be able to work this out.
Once you get the nuts and bolts its pretty fantastic. What I don't like is that you have to create a token and use that as a kind of campaign manager or use an alternate campaign manager site eg. here or obsidian portal

Fantasy Grounds II: beautiful VTT, the 3d dice add something special. Great for maintaining a campaign log and showing images to players like NPC images or images of items. (another element lacking from Maptools). The mapmaking features are very basic, it's best to import maps but if you are running something like 4e the rules are built in which is fantastic. It supports heaps of other systems though I haven't tried them via FGII so I can't comment. It also takes some mastery to learn how to run everything. You'll have to pay a one time cost to purchase the program, and so will each of your players (slightly less). Connection issues always seemed fairly easy to sort out and as with Maptools it's usually issues with having ports open.

If you don't have much time to invest in mastering the VTT I'd say Roll20
If you do have time, but no money, then Maptools.
If you have both time and money then try Fantasy Grounds II

 

[Jan van Leyden]

You might want to look at another tool under development (open beta): EpicTable.

It's completely system agnostic and tries to bring the real tabletop experience to the computer. As GM you can define as many tabletop areas as you like and use them, e.g., for your preparations. Maps, handouts, whatever, can be easily moved to another tab where the players can see them. You can define dice rolls including evaluation in a lot of different ways, save them to your dice bag, and have them ready in a tool bar.

The app is very stable and easy to use. The developer maintains good contact to the players/testers.

Beyond that you might want to have a look at the Virtual Tabletop Wiki, the Battlegrounds list., and the Guide to Choosing a VT.

 

[IronWolf]

Fantasy Grounds II: ... and showing images to players like NPC images or images of items. (another element lacking from Maptools).

Some of the Pathfinder Frameworks for MapTool support using handouts and such for showing images to players.

 

[dammitbiscuit]

I'd like to condone Roll20, but I've just had a tiny bit too much trouble with it. I think the problem might be that it's Flash-based - it can be very laggy, and players occasionally disconnect for no reason. There are also some random bugs I've run into, but meh, it's a beta.

So I'll say this: roll20 has really good goals and is really easy to use. But it is not mature yet, you will have issues on older computers or narrow bandwidth restrictions, and sometimes you'll have issues even on a good computer/connection.

If you liked Maptool at all, Gametable is a no-frills version of almost the exact same interface. Bit less hassle, bit less stuff, bit more user-friendly.