What's your VTT of choice?

[ReginaHart]

But what I decided over time is that the fancier the VTT got, the more it all felt like a video game, and less like sitting around a table with friends.

This is a legitimate danger! My group is virtual. They used to play in person pre-Covid, but went virtual and stayed that way which actually allowed me to join since I'm not local to them. They use Zoom/DungeonFog. Being the geek that I am, I investigated and tried out Roll20 when I had an opportunity to GM for them. Then I discovered Foundry, and I love it. There is, however, an incredible temptation to "model railroad" the hell out of maps and to use all sorts of modules and whatnot. I'm trying to dial myself back, but the temptation is there. (And I'm a 50+ year-old, non video-gamer, so I can't even blame the urge on youth or habit.)

 

[Mallus]

I inherited a game run on Roll20 and found no reason to change.

 

[Gecko85]

FG is what I'm familiar with, it supports Traveller, and it doesn't demand I use a web browser I won't use. Its devs don't seem to care about Apple Silicon, though, which may mean my RPGing days will come to an end the day I upgrade my desktop.

Foundry works great on Apple silicon. Or you can pay for hosting like The Forge.

 

[Longspeak]

Roll20. I'm old, and learning new things is hard. No more new things, please.

 

[plecostomus]

We use Roll20 with the Beyond20 browser extension for DDB character sheet integration.

If that sounds like gibberish: Roll20 for maps/tokens, then the Beyond20 extension lets our DDB character sheets roll in the Roll20 chat log. Not sure where the DM tracks monsters.

 

[gnarlygninja]

Owlbear Rodeo for me because I don't need or even want the VTT to do anything fancy. A map I can move tokens around on is enough for me. Any time my group used anything more complicated the game would always get bogged down by people trying to figure out how to use some feature we didn't actually need.

 

[Zaukrie]

I've been using Foundry with Forge for hosting for a few years now after using RealmWorks and Map Tool. I tested Fantasy Grounds, Roll20, and d20pro before settling on Foundry. Since then there are many more VTTs that have become popular and improvements made to the more popular ones, but nothing has been compelling enough to move me from Foundry.

I can't really claim paying once as a benefit because I pay to host my license. The Forge has been a big reason for my satisfaction with Foundry, allowing me to host games with people in multiple countries in multiple regions, even with sub-optimal Internet.

But I really appreciate not being locked in. I can move to another hosting provider or host myself and I back up my content offline.

It is also a bit of hobby in and off itself. If you like to customize and tweak, Foundry is the best of the VTTs.

Lastly, I'm really excited about the developers upcoming campaign system build for Foundry, called Ember, and their custom game system, Crucible. I've never been satisfied with Foundry's support for 5e. While they finally have a license, they still have a way to go. Foundry's 5e support can't hold a candle to the Foundry games systems for Pathfinder 2e or Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4e. I am really looking forward to seeing what they can do with a system and campaign developed specifically for Foundry, but the Foundry development team.

That said, I do feel it is on the heavier end of VTTs and tends to have a higher time demand in terms of prep. On the rare occasion I run a D&D 5e one shot, I use D&D Beyond Maps, which is a solid, lightweight VTT if you use D&D Beyond.

Ember is so big, you might not be able to use the forge. I asked the forge about it during the KS, and they didn't have a good answer.

 

[Zaukrie]

I'm tempted to try roll20 again. Their sales on DND stuff would make it much cheaper to play there

 

[TheSword]

I think there are a couple of features or modules on Foundry that are the opposite of immersion breaking.

Firstly multi-level tokens. It allows you to be seen in two places of the map if a room spans two stories which is very useful. It also lets people teleport the token then they go up or down stairs. That is very useful to prevent having to drag tokens about the board seamlessly.

Secondly the pause bar is very useful. Need to stop the movement to switch to a bit of narration the. Tab space and everyone is locked where they are.

Lastly, Hover Over Tokens, shows a full sized representation of the characters portrait when you hover over the token. It’s such a nice feature which really brings things to life.

 

[Zaukrie]

I think there are a couple of features or modules on Foundry that are the opposite of immersion breaking.

Firstly multi-level tokens. It allows you to be seen in two places of the map if a room spans two stories which is very useful. It also lets people teleport the token then they go up or down stairs. That is very useful to prevent having to drag tokens about the board seamlessly.

Secondly the pause bar is very useful. Need to stop the movement to switch to a bit of narration the. Tab space and everyone is locked where they are.

Lastly, Hover Over Tokens, shows a full sized representation of the characters portrait when you hover over the token. It’s such a nice feature which really brings things to life.

I'll need to add hover over tokens. Thanks