D&D General ARcana -- Augmented TTRPG Platform from Actor Joe Manganiello

Mirrorscape, an augmented reality company which includes actor Joe Manganellio as Creative Director, is a way to view your game's tabletop in AR through a phone or tablet device. It's on Kickstarter now with a planned release at the end of this year.

ARcana: Augmented Reality Platform for TTRPGs

Bringing the table back to tabletop gaming!

www.kickstarter.com

The platform works as an iOS or Android app, and enables you to simulate a full tabletop with models, scenery, and miniatures, anywhere you have a flat surface.

You can purchase additional terrain or miniatures from Mirrorscape's partners, which include Dwaven Forge, Reaper Minis, Hero Forge, and Fat Dragon Games.

If you pledge $30 (or more) in the Kickstarter you get a starter set and a discount on terrain and mini packs; and at higher levels you get beta access (staring at $50) and Kickstarter exclusives.

 

[SteveC]

This is one of those things that I want to try and think will eventually be awesome, but we are far from it at the moment. Like a lot of other people in this thread I have tried all of the glasses options, and, wearing glasses myself, there will have to be integration with prescription lenses, please.
Right now I think this is interesting, but we're a few generations from where it would be actually practical. And that's coming from the perspective of someone who wants to embrace it!

 

[Zaukrie]

I don't really think this is about glasses at all, really......That's barely even a factor at this point.....It's about integrating real stuff with digital stuff, or just doing digital stuff like in the preview video.

Frankly, IMO, this KS is poorly run. They should have been all over the influencers on YT. They should have a lot more "actual play" video out there. The minis should already be painted, so we can be excited about them. The stretch goals are too far apart, by far. They have zero objects, when most other mapping tools have hundreds or more.

They could have been a million dollar KS with better PR and stretch goals, IMO. There just isn't excitement like dungeon alchemist, for example.

 

[Malmuria]

Having watched the video, I don't really see the appeal of this beyond having a VTT at the table. That is, I could see why some people like using roll20 etc even when in person, as it can make maps easier and has automation features. The 3d virtual terrain is interesting, as is the first person perspective especially, but I feel like in practice the AR component would be the first thing you start to ignore when you are using it.

In my home games any free room on the table tends to get taken up by snacks, which I guess might have the unintended affect of placing a bowl of flaming hot cheetos into your virtual dungeon...

 

[Mort]

I don't really think this is about glasses at all, really......That's barely even a factor at this point.....It's about integrating real stuff with digital stuff, or just doing digital stuff like in the preview video.

Frankly, IMO, this KS is poorly run. They should have been all over the influencers on YT. They should have a lot more "actual play" video out there. The minis should already be painted, so we can be excited about them. The stretch goals are too far apart, by far. They have zero objects, when most other mapping tools have hundreds or more.

They could have been a million dollar KS with better PR and stretch goals, IMO. There just isn't excitement like dungeon alchemist, for example.

Yeah, there was some seriously missed opportunities there!

And the video you do have? Even though it's not actual play, the people are all staring into their respective devices like they are "alone, together" as opposed to engaging.

When I do "in person" everyone is engaging with everyone and I'm engaging with them - it's part of the fun! To have everyone just staring at (or "through") a screen while everyone's actually at the table - that's just depressing!

 

[Zaukrie]

Having watched the video, I don't really see the appeal of this beyond having a VTT at the table. That is, I could see why some people like using roll20 etc even when in person, as it can make maps easier and has automation features. The 3d virtual terrain is interesting, as is the first person perspective especially, but I feel like in practice the AR component would be the first thing you start to ignore when you are using it.

In my home games any free room on the table tends to get taken up by snacks, which I guess might have the unintended affect of placing a bowl of flaming hot cheetos into your virtual dungeon...

Lots more room on the table if you don't have real terrain out there, which I think is a big advantage for many larger groups (again, I'd show that in a promo video).

 

[Jaeger]

This is such a spot-on point, and it makes me feel like I'm losing my mind when people talk about this platform's graphics looking good, in any way. Are they seeing what I'm seeing? Are these graphics better than the last AR/VR thingie that also didn't go anywhere? Maybe, but a half-notch above dated and ugly is still ugly as hell. It's all so fluffy and texture-less and oddly proportioned.

Yeah, when I saw the video and it switched to character's POV all I could think of was the graphics looked like the D&D computer games of the 90s (Eye of the Beholder etc.) AND how weirdly empty the rooms looked.

Exactly.

Current VTT's are in many ways a regression from late 90's turn based RPG graphics.

Not that I'd expect VTT to have a 2022 AAA graphic experience.

But surely they could be brought up to the standard we currently have for 4 year old mobile games that people play on their phones...

Even though it's not actual play, the people are all staring into their respective devices like they are "alone, together" as opposed to engaging.

When I do "in person" everyone is engaging with everyone and I'm engaging with them - it's part of the fun! To have everyone just staring at (or "through") a screen while everyone's actually at the table - that's just depressing!

Truth. People constantly fiddling with their iphones at the table is annoying enough.

Now everyone will have a tablet in front of their face?

Every now and then, someone does prove that it is actually possible to RPG wrong...

 

[Malmuria]

Lots more room on the table if you don't have real terrain out there, which I think is a big advantage for many larger groups (again, I'd show that in a promo video).

It seems like the target audience are people who want terrain but don’t want to deal with setting up and taking down the terrain, but also want ‘more’ than a vtt. Seems niche, but perhaps a niche with money

But surely they could be brought up to the standard we currently have for 4 year old mobile games that people play on their phones...

But then, what’s the purpose of a map in dnd? At its base, you just want to know where the pcs are in the world or location and where they are relative to each other in an encounter. Do more complex maps help with immersion, or simply Constrain imagination?

 

[Zaukrie]

It seems like the target audience are people who want terrain but don’t want to deal with setting up and taking down the terrain, but also want ‘more’ than a vtt. Seems niche, but perhaps a niche with money



But then, what’s the purpose of a map in dnd? At its base, you just want to know where the pcs are in the world or location and where they are relative to each other in an encounter. Do more complex maps help with immersion, or simply Constrain imagination?

IME, they do not constrain imagination at all. That, at least at every table I've played on in over 40 years, is a myth. Indeed, the objects on the table have often triggered ideas no one expected.

 

[Jaeger]

But then, what’s the purpose of a map in dnd? At its base, you just want to know where the pcs are in the world or location and where they are relative to each other in an encounter. Do more complex maps help with immersion, or simply Constrain imagination?

In the context of: "But surely they could be brought up to the standard we currently have for 4 year old mobile games that people play on their phones..."

Maps help with immersion because besides giving the PC's an objective reference for exploration and combat, they can also spur ideas based on what has been put on the map.

Zaukrie says it well:

IME, they do not constrain imagination at all. That, at least at every table I've played on in over 40 years, is a myth. Indeed, the objects on the table have often triggered ideas no one expected.

Also at a normal table you have a level of human interaction with subtle verbal and non-verbal cues when you interact with your fellow players that VTT play just doesn't have - you have a horrible electronic filter cutting off a lot of human interaction that makes playing at the table immersive and enjoyable.

The very least VTT should strive for is to try to claw back some of that lost in-person immersion by playing to the one strength computers should have in a VTT situation: Quality Graphic Visuals that only mini and terrain heavy groups would begin to approach.

That and an intuitive user interface for GM's...

Most are still figuring out the latter, the former having been left by the wayside from the start.

 

[Dire Bare]

We got folks here making it seem like ARcana is going to bomb . . . . when they are over a quarter million in funding, nearing 600% funding and 3000 backers and still have almost 20 days to go. I think they'll be fine.

If this app doesn't push your buttons, that's fine, but why the need to belabor the point as if this product has no value? Or is somehow critically flawed? It has value for almost 3,000 folks so far. I'm excited about it. Is it just nerd thread-crapping? Don't mistake "not for me" with "this is crap". The negativity in this hobby sometimes drives me to distraction!

I LOVE using miniatures and terrain. But I hate having to store, organize, track, set up, and tear down . . . . I end up not using most of the terrain I've purchased so far. And it always seems like the perfect terrain piece for Saturday's adventure is the one I don't have.

This app solves a lot of that for me. My entire miniature and terrain collection is digital. In fact, I could blend my physical and digital collections if I wanted to (I don't). Everything is perfectly organized and stored digitally for me, and if my Saturday game needs a piece I don't have, I just make a quick digital purchase. I can have fun setting up the terrain before the game, whenever I want . . . then just click a button when my players sit down at the table. Click another when everybody goes home for the night! We can instantly switch back and forth between 3D minis & terrain and theatre-of-the-mind. The more I type, the more excited I get for this project!