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<blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 7026512" data-attributes="member: 85870"><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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." </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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).</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>*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.</p><p></p><p>**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. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="innerdude, post: 7026512, member: 85870"] 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. :) [/QUOTE]
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