How many VTT users here?

[Jd Smith1]

I've been using MapTools for five or six years now. Everyone at my table uses a laptop, so it works wonderfully. It has really added a tremendous layer of interest to our combats.

Lately I've been looking at Roll20, but it seems very prep-intensive if you are using maps you hadn't bought from Roll20. Since MapTools is free and pretty well supported, I'm only going to change if I can find a really good system.

 

[Fanaelialae]

There's some prep involved, like uploading assets you're going to use, but that's largely a one time thing and since you can upload batches of assets at a time it's really not that bad (start the upload and go make yourself a sandwich or whatever). You do have to pregenerate the maps, but I assume you're doing that with MapTools already (unless you're drawing them on the fly?). Roll20 allows you to cover parts of the map that are unexplored and reveal them as you go.

The learning curve for Roll20 is fairly shallow. It's a good VTT, though it's been almost a year since I've used it so I can't speak to any recent features, if any. That said, if MapTools is doing a good job for your needs I can't say I really recommend switching, unless there's something you want from Roll20 that MapTools can't provide.

 

[uzirath]

I have experimented with Fantasy Grounds and MapTools. I played one test game this past summer using MapTools with remote players. It was good in some ways, but I would need more practice as a GM. I felt like we were all spending so much time figuring out the interface that we weren't as immersed in the actual game.

It also felt like it required more prep work than I usually do for a game. Typically, I spend most of my time thinking about the scenario—NPCs, scenes, possible conflicts, etc. I don't typically need high quality maps. I might just have a rough sketch or nothing at all. Anything that is needed at the table gets created on the spot, drawn onto the battlemat. With VTT, it seems like a lot of map prep is required ahead of time. And, if the PCs take an unexpected turn, you don't have an easy way to sketch something freehand.

My remote group and I have been considering other options. Tabletop Simulator is intriguing. We're even considering just using video chat. That would work great for the roleplaying scenes, but I'm not sure how to manage tactical combat. Though we could just go theater of the mind and call it a day.

I have not considered VTT for my face-to-face groups.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I have experimented with Fantasy Grounds and MapTools. I played one test game this past summer using MapTools with remote players. It was good in some ways, but I would need more practice as a GM. I felt like we were all spending so much time figuring out the interface that we weren't as immersed in the actual game.

It also felt like it required more prep work than I usually do for a game. Typically, I spend most of my time thinking about the scenario—NPCs, scenes, possible conflicts, etc. I don't typically need high quality maps. I might just have a rough sketch or nothing at all. Anything that is needed at the table gets created on the spot, drawn onto the battlemat. With VTT, it seems like a lot of map prep is required ahead of time. And, if the PCs take an unexpected turn, you don't have an easy way to sketch something freehand.

My remote group and I have been considering other options. Tabletop Simulator is intriguing. We're even considering just using video chat. That would work great for the roleplaying scenes, but I'm not sure how to manage tactical combat. Though we could just go theater of the mind and call it a day.

I have not considered VTT for my face-to-face groups.

It is amazing at the table. MapTools requires little prep time. I download maps off the Net, there are thousands on DeviantArt alone, all free from their creators. Loading a map is a couple mouse clicks, adjust the scale, and then populate it with pogs; I recently set up three maps from the Storm King's Thunder in about an hour. You don't have to worry where the party is going, because everywhere they can go is already present and populated. You don't have to stop the game to draw, or waste time explaining what something looks like; they can actually see what their PCs see, so all you have to do is make the NPCs/monsters appear with the click of a mouse, and add key descriptive filler.

Fireball cast? Drop a fireball image, to scale, on the map. I have pogs for noises, pogs for movement...you can really draw the plapers in.

Last campaign was an occult-ish Old West; my players got caught in a zombie outbreak in a small town. Thanks to Oones, I had not just every room in the town detailed, but the countryside for a considerable distance.

My players love it.

I've done the minis and battle mats and all that sort of thing, but nothing tops VTT. You get far more gaming from your time at the table.

 

[Jd Smith1]

There's some prep involved, like uploading assets you're going to use, but that's largely a one time thing and since you can upload batches of assets at a time it's really not that bad (start the upload and go make yourself a sandwich or whatever). You do have to pregenerate the maps, but I assume you're doing that with MapTools already (unless you're drawing them on the fly?). Roll20 allows you to cover parts of the map that are unexplored and reveal them as you go.

The learning curve for Roll20 is fairly shallow. It's a good VTT, though it's been almost a year since I've used it so I can't speak to any recent features, if any. That said, if MapTools is doing a good job for your needs I can't say I really recommend switching, unless there's something you want from Roll20 that MapTools can't provide.

I use maps I get off the Net or buy. The problem is for the life of me I can't figure out how to load them onto the screen.

 

[Fanaelialae]

IIRC there is a slight trick to it that my friend had to show me. I think it's essentially uploading the map, dragging it onto the grid, and dropping it on the background layer. It needs to have a certain image ratio to snap to the grid. You obviously also have to be the GM for the campaign to do so.

I don't remember too clearly, as it's been almost a year since I've used it. You could probably find a YouTube tutorial that demonstrates the how to.

 

[cmad1977]

I use maps I get off the Net or buy. The problem is for the life of me I can't figure out how to load them onto the screen.

Using Roll20 I just drag and drop images I’ve downloaded.

 

[Shiroiken]

I use Roll20, and it's fairly prep intensive, because I'm particular about how I like things. Another DM in our group just bought an AP, and found it to be super easy.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Using Roll20 I just drag and drop images I’ve downloaded.

It's very possible I'm not all that clever with computers.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I use Roll20, and it's fairly prep intensive, because I'm particular about how I like things. Another DM in our group just bought an AP, and found it to be super easy.

AP?