Blog (A5E) Level Up: Now on FOUNDRY VTT!

For fans of the Foundry virtual tabletop platform, our initial package for Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition is now available for free.

(Yes, I completely made up those stats!)
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We're excited to present the beta release of the Foundry VTT Level Up system! The system is game-ready, but this release is only the beginning: you can expect plenty of new features over the coming weeks.

The core sheets provide handy automation features, from roll buttons to automatic resource tracking, as well as rich filtering to help keep your sheet organised.

While we packed a lot into this first release, some major features are yet to come. These include an interface to manage Active Effects and a suite of system compendiums containing all the great monsters, equipment, spells, and features from the Level Up system.

We hope you enjoy playing Level Up on Foundry!

If you have any feedback or want to report an issue, you can get help here.

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Installation​

For now, to install you will need to use the following Manifest link:

https://github.com/Pjb518/FoundryVTT-Level-Up-Official/releases/latest/download/system.json

You should past that link into the Manifest URL field at the bottom of the System Installation tab. For more help on installing via a Manifest link, check out this page at Foundry’s website. Level Up will be added to the main list soon.

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Other VTT Platforms
Don’t forget, Roll20 fans can already get Memories of Holdenshire on Roll20, and they can get the Level Up character sheet on Roll20 for free. Fantasy Grounds is also producing its own in-house implementation of Level Up.

 

[Timespike]

Yep, something along those lines is the plan.

EDIT: Should add that for 3PPs, the best solution is just native support, and we're currently working towards that. You can ship compendia that conditionally load depending on the system, so users would be able to purchase a single premium module with both 5e and A5e support.

It should also be noted that those of us making 3PP content are very much on board with this plan. I've been getting the text of my products to Phil and his team at the same time they go into layout. Took a while to get everything lined up so that happens, but it's ticking along smoothly now.

 

[Phil Best]

@vampeal Just wanted to let you know that we now have all of the synergy feats included in the system compendia. You just need to update to version 0.7.5.

 

[CleverNickName]

Even better! I’d be interested to know downloads. Ditching Roll20 is such a massive undertaking. I already own Foundry. The sticking point is convincing players to switch.

Our gaming group switched from Roll20 to Foundry a couple of years ago. One person really loved it, another person was loudly opposed, and everyone else could not have cared less.

Now, it's my turn to be the DM again and I'm moving us back to Roll20 (where all my electronic purchases are located) when the new campaign starts. As before, one person is loudly supportive, one person is loudly opposed, and everyone else is quietly ambivalent. You can probably guess who is who.

It's Android vs. Apple, all over again: they both do more or less the same things, in more or less the same way, but you know how people can get.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Since there has been a lot more implemented on the system, is it a good time for feedback and feature requests for those planning to run a hybrid 5e/LU, or are we still too early in the process?

 

[Phil Best]

Since there has been a lot more implemented on the system, is it a good time for feedback and feature requests for those planning to run a hybrid 5e/LU, or are we still too early in the process?

The system has been open to feedback the entire time. I can't guarantee features for 5e will be particularly high-priority, but I can still note them down. Low-hanging fruit have a good chance of making it in in the near future.

 

[Retreater]

Our gaming group switched from Roll20 to Foundry a couple of years ago. One person really loved it, another person was loudly opposed, and everyone else could not have cared less.

Now, it's my turn to be the DM again and I'm moving us back to Roll20 (where all my electronic purchases are located) when the new campaign starts. As before, one person is loudly supportive, one person is loudly opposed, and everyone else is quietly ambivalent. You can probably guess who is who.

It's Android vs. Apple, all over again: they both do more or less the same things, in more or less the same way, but you know how people can get.

Yeah, I find myself in a similar situation. All of my D&D 5e digital purchases were made on Roll20. Foundry doesn't have built-in, official support for 5e - so everything will have to be entered manually. If you want to play 5e on Foundry, you have to purchase everything on DND Beyond, pay another subscription to a Foundry module of questionable legality and sustainability (as soon as Wizards wants to pull the plug, it's over) - not to mention zero support for 3rd party 5e material.
So my group voted to go back to 5e after a disastrous attempt at PF2 and WFRP on Foundry. That means we're going back to Roll20 as well.

 

[Phil Best]

Yeah, I find myself in a similar situation. All of my D&D 5e digital purchases were made on Roll20. Foundry doesn't have built-in, official support for 5e - so everything will have to be entered manually. If you want to play 5e on Foundry, you have to purchase everything on DND Beyond, pay another subscription to a Foundry module of questionable legality and sustainability (as soon as Wizards wants to pull the plug, it's over) - not to mention zero support for 3rd party 5e material.
So my group voted to go back to 5e after a disastrous attempt at PF2 and WFRP on Foundry. That means we're going back to Roll20 as well.

Just to correct a couple of things here, it's possible to import content to Foundry from Roll20. There are importers like the one for D&D Beyond. Here is one such example: GitHub - kakaroto/R20Converter

Once again, this is behind a Patreon paywall, but most users are going to get a membership for a month and then leave. You're not locked into an ongoing subscription to access content you already purchased. Most people are paying an ongoing subscription to support the dev.

There's also a tonne of 3rd party 5e content on Foundry with official support. Foundry doesn't have a storefront, but content creators can sell premium Foundry modules just about anywhere and provide support for Foundry. I know, because I get paid to make these premium modules.

Some sites have better integration with Foundry, like DTRPG and Patreon that makes installation a one-step process, but many publishers are selling modules on their own sites. EN Publishing does this for Memories of Holdenshire in addition to selling the product on DriveThru.

EDIT: I will say though, that this is not the place to have extended discussions about the pros and cons of different VTTs. Things like this have the potential to become lengthy exchanges, and it's ultimately off-topic for this thread.

 

[noodohs]

I actually don't think it's that farfetched to think WotC will have their own VTT at some point.

I know the post I'm quoting myself for is from April, but... Oh hey: D&D One: Dungeons & Dragons Dropping 'Editions', Developing VTT Tools - IGN. I am shocked. SHOCKED, I say! /s