As an owner of OpenRPG, Klooge, and Fantasy Grounds let me try to give my opinions of each. Let me start off with the fact that I play your standard d20 fare which is supported by all these but my real pleasure is in
The Riddle of Steel which is not as easy to use in some of these programs. I don't use any voice programs so I can't speak about those.
Open RPG - I have been using this program for about 7 years, hard to recall exacly. First off this program is free. However, in this fact it lacks some of the glam that the others have, but yet oddly still has the best dice roller available.
To start off this is not the easiest program to get running. It requires the installation of three programs to become functional, however all of these are open source and free to get.
Once you are installed there in a handy guide that loads into the tree with several templates that serve as character sheets. There are many other templates that serve as macro nodes that can be used to build your own design if you wish. Everything that you do is contained locally and not shared with the DM automatically, which some may frown on, but they can be sent to the GM and other players with a few simple clicks of the mouse. The macros set up within the character sheets allow for quick and easy rolls to be made when called for. All of the features are equal in complexity for players and GM's, though the GM does have control over some features that are locked out for players. Anyone can host the server and the GM, Players, and Lurkers can be determined at any point during the game without the need to shut down and reload.
The dice roller is fantastic and very versatile. You can play just about any system with any combination of dice rolls and as long as you use the proper syntax in the roll command it will spit out a result. Want a simple 4d6 roll with the total, bam. Want a percentile roll, bam. Want a dice pool roll vs a target number (the hard one to get support for), bam, the number of successes are given, not the total of the numerical roll. If you want to get fancy and roll vs a target and then reroll a "10" as an extra die, it does it. If you want to have that "10" reroll itself and compound for a result >10, it does that too. I just can't praise the dice roller of this program enough.
One of the big downfalls with OpenRPG is that everything used in the map area has to be hosted on the web. You can not load a map or minis contained locally. This requires the use of a web server that you type in the URL in order to load the map. Not a major deal but with multiple large camps you may run out of server space. The mapping aspect of the program supports drawing and fog. You can zoom in and out and set the scale of the grid, which can be square or hex. It allows the placement of minis which can snap into place or be free-floating and also resized to match the scale of the map. It also has facing and movement directional arrows, but you can't rotate the mini itself. If your mini square this not an issue but it is is elongated, it could lead to misrepresentation. Minis and maps can be saved to the program tree but it is really just a quick link to the URL so that it can be loaded easily.
The chat aspect of the program is as full-featured as anyone could expect. It supports OOC comments, emotes, aliases and multicolor text to distinguish between speakers. It doesn't place the speakers mini before their text but does state their name which is good enough for me. A chat log can be saved so that you can refer back to game events.
There are several plug-ins that allow special functions. One of these is a combat initiative tracker that is very handy.
The program is very generic and doesn't contain any source materials for reference. It doesn't auto-calculate results beyond the dice rolls. Everything is up to the players and GM to keep track of by making changes to their character nodes. However, anyone can use the program and conect with it without any cost.
Klooge - I have been using this program for a few months. This is the most feature-rich program I have seen. However, its strengths are highly tuned to only d20 games.
The program is easy get running through a simple installer and you select between GM or Player mode when you execute and you select the game system definition file you want to load. The program requires licencing, though 2 people with demo versions can connect to test out the demo camp. The designer made it player friendly, in the fact that the GM can purchase "floating" licences so that a player only needs to have the demo installed to connect and play with him. This removes the burden that every player has to buy the program, which makes it hard to find players sometimes.
The game definition files define and control the different aspects specific between systems and also defines the character sheet and dice macros. Every change that you make to the character sheet is shared with the DM automatically and vice versa. The macros set up within the definition file allow for quick and easy rolls to be made when called for and are linked to the information that you place within the character sheet. The GM hosts the session, has control over the features, and can customize through a preferences menu what the players are able to alter. The only task that the players have to worry about is filling in their sheets, however things are MUCH more complex for the GM who wants to deviate from the core 3.5 rule-set. To create new game system definitions or alter an existing one for house rules, a good knowledge of XML is needed. There are also a nice scripting feature but you must of course know how to write scripts to use anything beyond what is included.
The program comes with definitions for 2nd Ed. AD&D, D&D 3.0 & 3.5, Hero, and d6 games. There are user created definitions easy to download and install for GURPS, HarnMaster, and a few other variations to the core d20 system like Star Wars and Forgotten Realms. (I may have mixed a few of these around, but they are what I have currently installed.) I have been trying to create a definition for my Riddle of Steel games but have not had success do to limited dice roller functionality.
The dice roller is pretty basic. You can do your standard fare of dx rolls but the program calculates the total, no variation allowed. You can of course add modifiers and roll vs a DC and it will auto-calculate and spit out the result along with "Success" if you made it. It claims to have dice pool support and does to a small extent, but not nearly as much as I need and OpenRPG provides. If you roll the pool, it calculates the total and not the number of successes. You can ignore this and manually compute the successes, but this eliminates the availability of many cool features I am going to talk about later.
The mapping feature of Klooge is outstanding. You can load a map or minis contained locally and create entire encounters to be activated with a few clicks. The mapping aspect of the program supports drawing and 2 versions of fog. One version covers what is unexplored but reveals it as long as you have been there. The second version only reveals what is currently within the characters visual range and re-hides it once he moves out of the area. You can zoom in and out and set the scale of the grid, which can be square or hex. It allows the placement of minis which can snap into place or be free-floating and also resized to match the scale of the map. It also has facing and movement directional arrows, you can rotate the mini itself, and adjust altitude for elevation differences. Minis and maps are saved to the program tree and easily brought to the screen for play. You can link maps to each other, produce player handouts, and link many other things to the map that are all accessable to the players in order to dispense information about the environment.
The chat aspect of the program is as full-featured as anyone could expect. It supports OOC comments, emotes, aliases and multicolor text to distinguish between speakers. It can also be set up to place the speakers mini before their text under the preferences menu and a chat log can also be saved.
Klooge contains a great number of additional features. They are too numerous to describe individually, but I will name a few. It auto calculates hits and misses based on roll reults and the designated Target's AC value entered into their character sheet. It auto-calculates damage based on the damage roll and causes a pop-up to display for the GM and target so that the damage can be directly applied to their Hit Points. Character sheets can be set up with drop down menus full of content if the GM has taken the time to define these in the Definition file he uses. Spells are cast with the click of a single button, displaying a text item, rolling damage, auto-calculating the save defined in the spell macro against that on the target's character sheet, and applying the defined effect. Lighting and spell effects have nice visualizations on the map and durations are tracked. There is a combat initiative tracker and a calendar feature that displays the passage of time to players as the GM alters it.
The program is very feature rich which causes a bit of a learning curve and most of it is only easily applied to the packaged Definition files. It doesn't contain any source materials for reference. It does cost, though this can be a burden that only the GM and not the players have to take on.
Fantasy Grounds - I have been using this program for about one month. This is a generic program without the features of Klooge or the versatility of OpenRPG, but it is visually pleasing and simple to use.
The program is easy get running through a simple installer and you select between GM or Player mode when you execute and you select the game system definition file you want to load. The program requires licencing to play though there is a demo that you can use to test out the interface. Every person must have a licenced installation in order to play. This makes it tough on groups wanting to try the program out because everyone has to fork out the cash and sometimes you have people unwilling to do that.
The game definition files define the character sheet and information supplied within the game. Every change that you make to the character sheet is shared with the DM automatically and vice versa. The GM hosts the session and has control over the features. The only task that the players have to worry about is filling in their sheets and making rolls, however things are MUCH more complex for the GM who wants to deviate from the core rule-set. To create new game system definitions or alter an existing one for house rules, a good knowledge of XML is needed.
The program comes with a definition for basic SRD D&D games. There are user created definitions easy to download and install for a few other d20 variations and character sheet layouts.
The dice roller is pretty basic. You have a complete set of 3D dice laying on the desktop. You pick up the dice and toss them using the mouse. It displays the results of the roll and any modifier you included. It will auto-calculate and spit out the total of the roll if you wish to have it. You can drag this result over to the character sheet if it is displayed and have it alter the values there. For the dice pools needed in The Riddle of Steel, you can visually inspect the die results and manually compute the successes just like you would at the table.
The mapping feature of FG are adequate for most gaming needs. You can load a map or minis contained locally with a few clicks. The mapping aspect of the program supports drawing and fog.You can zoom in and out and set the scale of the grid, which can be only be square. It allows the placement of tokens and you can rotate the token itself. Maps are saved to the program tree and easily brought to the screen for play.
The chat aspect of the program is as full-featured as anyone could expect. It supports OOC comments, emotes, aliases and multicolor text to distinguish between speakers. A log is kept of the game by the GM.
The program features are not very robust compared to other programs but supplies everything and more that you would have available to you at a table top game. Other than the character sheet definitions and reference material, it is very generic and could be applied to just about any setting. It has a fairly low learning curve and contains SRD source materials for reference which is handy for games that use that. The cost is a burden that the GM and players all have to accept.
I'm sure i missed a few things and have included stuff already described in more detail by other posters. I hope this gives you an idea of the functionality of these programs though. As a side note I have played with the demo to
Battlegrounds and it has many of the features of the programs listed above. However, I'm waiting on the final demo to draw any conclusions because something may be added that I have not experienced yet.
Garrion
