Questions about VTT software for in-room play

[Greybird]

[FONT=&quot]Hey, here's a slightly different VTT program question. I want to use one locally for an in-person game as both GM and client.
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[FONT=&quot]I use a laptop when running games. I also use the large TV in my living room, which sits right next to the table. What I usually do is hook the laptop to the TV and run it as a cloned monitor (which means that both the TV and laptop show exactly the same thing.) I use it primarily for two things: to display images (of creatures/items/NPCs, etc), and to display maps with fog of war. I do the maps with Photoshop, putting the 'fog' for each room on a separate layer and just toggling the layers as they enter the rooms.
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[FONT=&quot]The problem with this system is that everything on the laptop is visible to the players, preventing me from using it for notes, books, and other GMing goodies.
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[FONT=&quot]I was thinking about using a virtual tabletop program (like Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds.) I'd be setting my laptop us as the GM, then setting up the TV (which has a separate computer attached) as a client, visible to all of my players. The idea would be to use the mapping elements of the software to display the maps and fog of war, plus displaying the images and such.
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[FONT=&quot]I've never used a virtual table top. I play mostly Savage Worlds and 5th Edition D&D, although other systems pop up from time to time. The ability to add in custom maps would be vital. Note that all actual play (dice rolling, tactical combat, rules, character sheets) would still be handled at the table the old fashioned way, so rules support isn't completely vital. Which of the various options (Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, other) would work best for this, without costing a fortune?
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[bluFish]

Hola,

So I used Roll20 for several years and have just recently started using Fantasy Grounds (FG).

If all you plan on doing with it is display maps and pictures/photos, I'd absolutely go with Roll20. The interface and "software" is much cleaner and more responsive, it runs in a browser window so there's no fiddling around with a second program, and the map/picture functionality is miles above FG.

Fantasy Grounds is really, really, really great if you plan on using it for everything. It does anything you could want, for the most part, it just feels ancient. It's not as responsive. It looks like it was created in 2000 and then built upon Frankenstein style, but there is so much it has that Roll20 does not.

But, I'd definitely go with Roll20. It's much easier to use in the way that you want to use it.

 

[Jeff Culbertson]

I've just started doing exactly what you describe with Fantasy Grounds. The first time was a little slow due to me figuring out how to update the map the way I wanted, but it works well. If you only want to show the map and reveal it, this will be dead simple. If you want to show tokens and PC/NPC placement, make sure to spend a little time prior to align your grid and such. I am going to start running NPCs in Fantasy Grounds more, but my players are still managing everything on their side manually. You can set up manual rolls in FG and just enter in results where it calls for it.

(Before any arguments start over this: Roll20 can do all of these things as well, and I'm not making a case for one over the other. I'm just stating my personal experience and verifying that this can indeed be done.)

 

[innerdude]

Hey, here's a slightly different VTT program question. I want to use one locally for an in-person game as both GM and client.

I use a laptop when running games. I also use the large TV in my living room, which sits right next to the table. What I usually do is hook the laptop to the TV and run it as a cloned monitor (which means that both the TV and laptop show exactly the same thing.) I use it primarily for two things: to display images (of creatures/items/NPCs, etc), and to display maps with fog of war. I do the maps with Photoshop, putting the 'fog' for each room on a separate layer and just toggling the layers as they enter the rooms.

The problem with this system is that everything on the laptop is visible to the players, preventing me from using it for notes, books, and other GMing goodies.

I was thinking about using a virtual tabletop program (like Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds.) I'd be setting my laptop us as the GM, then setting up the TV (which has a separate computer attached) as a client, visible to all of my players. The idea would be to use the mapping elements of the software to display the maps and fog of war, plus displaying the images and such.

I've never used a virtual table top. I play mostly Savage Worlds and 5th Edition D&D, although other systems pop up from time to time. The ability to add in custom maps would be vital. Note that all actual play (dice rolling, tactical combat, rules, character sheets) would still be handled at the table the old fashioned way, so rules support isn't completely vital. Which of the various options (Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, other) would work best for this, without costing a fortune?

This is almost word-for-word the same situation I was in last year. I have my laptop for use as a GM, and have a separate computer hooked up to my downstairs LED TV with which I wanted to use a virtual table top to run combats.

I tested Roll20, FantasyGrounds, Battlegrounds RPG, and Maptools, and none of them were quite what I wanted. Roll20 came the closest, but the interface is clunky and unintuitive, and it was a massive hassle to manage assets I wanted to use, etc.

By sheer luck (and a fortuitous 50% off sale on Steam) I eventually stumbled on to Tabletop Simulator. Now on the surface, TTS looks more like a 3D modeling "sandbox" than a serious GM tool, but in reality it's PERFECT for the setup you and I are trying to achieve.

Like you, I couldn't have cared less about any of the GM "helps," or campaign management stuff; I have all that stored online in OneNote. I really just wanted a fast, easy-to-use digital battle mat.

The trick to using it the way you and I want to use it is to use custom "board" items. What you do is add a custom "board" element to the table, and set its properties to use a hosted Web image URL as the playing "surface" of the board. Find any image you want on the web, copy and paste its URL into the board object settings, and BAM! Your virtual battle mat is now using the new map as the "playing surface."

At that point it might take a little bit of adjustments to size the board the way you want (the supplied image will automatically stretch or shrink as you manipulate the board size). It might also take 30-60 seconds to properly size and overlay the grid (if needed), but once you've done that, you're good to go. Overall, setting up a new map in this method, once you get it down, takes 5 minutes tops, and usually less, which is about the same as it would take to do it by hand in most cases.

And truthfully, once I got used to the general feel of Tabletop Simulator, where you can actually "pick up" the pieces, rotate them as 3D models, physically "move" them on the game board, etc., it all feels wonderfully intuitive. There are a few things to get used to at first, but overall the experience is totally fluid, and if you want to have your players interact as well, just get a good wireless mouse and keyboard and you're set. "Hey player, you want to move your model on the board? Here's the mouse."

If you decide that you just want to draw out a basic map by hand without resorting to an existing digital image, you can go ahead and remove the game board from the table, use the built-in vector drawing brush directly on the tabletop to draw out your map really quickly, reset the grid overlay to the right size, and you're good to go.

In addition to just dropping map images directly on to a custom board element, you can also go out to the Steam workshop and get access to hundreds of user-made mods/maps for free that use the actual 3D modeled "dungeon tiles." For my own use, I'm totally fine just dropping digital images on to a custom board, but if you wanted to get intricate and detailed with it, the actual 3D component aspect of it is a ton of fun to mess around with.

It's $20 bucks on Steam, and is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. It could also be used as a virtual meeting space for your group as well, in the event that you wanted to hold a fully virtual session (of course, all of the players would need to have a copy too for that happen).

But as a GM who just wanted to have a digital battle map available, without having to drag around my battle mats, figurines, or Pathfinder cardboard tokens, Tabletop Simulator was perfect.


About the only thing that Roll20 does better than Tabletop Simulator is in the "fog of war" department. If you decide to go the Tabletop Simulator route, look up the tutorials on using fog of war. It's perfectly functional, but doesn't include some of the cooler "night vision" and "slow reveal" settings that Roll20 does. But overall, Tabletop Simulator's intuitiveness and overall ease of use blows Roll20 out of the water, at least for the use case you and I are dealing with.


*Quick Edit: Also, the copy/paste functionality of dropping models on to the table is AWESOME for battle. Need to drop 6 goblins on the mat? Copy and paste six times. Also, for Savage Worlds, which I also play extensively, you can easily set a color-code for the base stand of the 3D models to represent various states like shaken, wounded, fatigued, etc. You simply right-click on the model, set the color, and done.

**Quick Edit 2: A couple more cool things: You can also use the built-in "dice" on the game board, and because they're actual 3D objects with dimensions and "weight," you're guaranteed to get random results, versus a computer simply generating a (potentially biased) result using an algorithm. A fairly minor feature, per se, but a fun one. Also, for Savage Worlds, if you want to track people's "bennies," simply drop a few checkers or reversi tokens on to the table, color code them per player, and keep count that way, if you don't feel like dragging actual bennies along for the ride.

 

[MNblockhead]

I do the same thing, but I use RealmWorks by Lone Wolf Development. Works great and is the best campagin management tool on the market. You can display maps with fog of war and reveal content as the party explores it.

It is not a VTT though. If you want to use it as a battlemap, you would be better off with Fantasy Grounds.

I know of DMs that use both RW and FG for in-person games. To much prep work and too much to fiddle with at the table for me.

Anyway, give RW a look. Happy to answer any questions. The user forums at Lone Wolf Development are active and the members very helpful.

 

[smiteworks]

Here is a thread you might check out for Fantasy Grounds.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/foru...esize-to-TV-resolution-for-Face-To-Face-games

For $4/mo or 1 1-time Standard license, you can run both instances of Fantasy Grounds on the same computer and then connect the player view to localhost. There is no network configuration needed at all and you don't even need an active Internet connection during the game.

In addition the maps, it serves as a campaign manager, initiative tracker, party loot tracker, party xp tracker and replaces the books if you run any of the many D&D 5E, Savage Worlds or other licensed adventure modules. With out of the box adventures, the maps will also be pre-sized and gridded and most tokens will be preplaced in their starting locations for each encounter, along with room descriptions and contents linked along the way.

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee on all purchases and subscriptions, so it is safe to test out and then go with something else if you prefer something different.

Best of luck with your choice.

 

[bluFish]

It seems like many of those who responded to this thread have listed their favorite program, not necessarily the one that most fits the description the OP gave. I'll elaborate further on why Roll20 is, objectively, the best thing to use the way the OP wants to use it. Even if the OP already moved on, someone else may have the same question in the future. I am not a Roll20 fanboy- I actually prefer FG overall.

• Roll20 is free, both for the GM and the players. You can pay a small monthly fee if you want some of the fancier features like Dynamic Lighting, but that is not usually necessary. You have to pay monthly just to host games in FG, and you'll have to own two copies of TT Simulator if you want a second screen, which is prohibitive.
• Roll20 allows you to build maps within the browser itself. I have made a lot of really great maps that I often got compliments on. Different colors, shapes, filling, etc. It basically has a poor man's Paint built in. You cannot do that with FG or TT Simulator. I know you build your maps with Photoshop, but this may still come in handy.
• TT Simulator requires a graphics card on both computers. Most of us probably have one, but if all I wanted to do was display maps and photos, that's unnecessary fluff and a drain on resources. You can run Roll20 on pretty much anything.
• Roll20 allows you to place images directly on the "tabletop" and make it a background. This allows players (or you) to zoom in and around while still maintaining great detail. If you make an image smaller in FG and try to zoom in, it looks muddy. This does not happen in Roll20.
• In Roll20 you can place images on top of the map on the GM layer where players cannot see them. You can then click the image when you need it, press CTRL+Z (IIRC), and it will display the image in the player's browser while fading out everything around it. It looks fantastic. You cannot do this with FG or TTS.
• This is subjective, but Roll20 just feels better when using tokens and such. It's easier to scroll around. FG has better tracking and synergy, but it doesn't feel as good when using battlemaps.

In the end, there is no better program to use the way the OP plans on using it. There are better programs if you need more functionality, but that's not what he wanted.

 

[LordEntrails]

One thing the OP doesn't state is if he wants to have internet access a requirement when he runs.

Roll20 requires internet. FG does not (in most cases). Maptools I don't think does. No idea about Battlegrounds or TTS.

 

[MNblockhead]

The OP, however, said nothing about battlemaps. It seems most who responded assumed he wanted to run his battles, where his post was more about sharing content.

Can you share photos and documents and campaign information with Fantasy Grounds and Rolld20 and the other VTTs?

Of all the products mentioned, RealmWorks seems to be the only one designed for at-table, in-person use.

It is basically my DM's campaign binder and reference books in one.

I run my game from my laptop with a large plasma screen connected to it. I can use RW to throw up a map with fog of war and reveal more of the map as the explore. I can just as easily share a drawing and other information.

But I resolve battles either theater of the mind or with minis and terrain or dry-erase grid mat.

Some DMs use RW as a battlemap buy having a monitor laying flat on the table. Other DMs use RW in conjunction with a VTT like Fantasy Grounds.

OP needs to give more info on how he wants to run his games and what he wants to share on the screen at the table.

 

[LordEntrails]

The OP, however, said nothing about battlemaps......

You need to read the post again, and for comprehension.

He said;

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

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.

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.