Sigil, Wizards of the Coast's VTT, Officially Launches

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Sigil, the 3D VTT developed by Wizards of the Coast and formerly known as Project Sigil, has officially launched on Window devices. Today, Wizards of the Coast announced that anyone with a D&D Beyond account (free or paid) can now access Sigil, provided they have a computer with Windows OS. Interestingly, the system's full functionality is based off of D&D Beyond's subscription tiers, with access to create multiplayer rooms and the ability to share and load maps tied to the Master Tier account. Master Tier subscribers also have access to builder kits, custom mini outfits, and unpainted minis. The Sigil client can be downloaded from D&D Beyond.

Sigil has been in development since at least 2023 alongside the launch of the One D&D initiative. One major concern about the new system, which uses Unreal Engine 5 to create 3D battle maps for D&D, was its pricing. At least for now, pricing seems to be tied directly to D&D Beyond subscriptions instead of pushing an additional monetization scheme onto players.

EN World saw a preview build of Sigil earlier this year, with a robust and relatively quick-to-implement map building system. One question that I kept asking while previewing Sigil involved exactly what Wizards wanted Sigil to be, as it functionally appeared to be a level or map builder with some basic D&D automation built into the game. The system doesn't include a full D&D revised 5E engine, but it does contain a significant amount of integration for the app to mimic some of D&D Beyond's dice rolling and resource management system has. It doesn't look like a bad VTT, although it's more appropriate for big set piece battles rather than standard "goblins attack the caravan" type encounters.
 

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Christian Hoffer

Christian Hoffer


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What is the difference between MAPS and SIGIL? I haven't used either?

Why would you use one over the other?

MAPS is DnDbeyonds current 2D VTT. It's somewhat basic, but quite functional. With recent updates, it's pretty good for running 5e/5.24, I greatly prefer it to Roll20.

SIGIL is Wizards, still in development, 3D VTT. In it's current stage, is good for messing around with, and it already looks pretty good, but it's way to clunky to actually run anything, IMO.
 

I love it. I'm on Roll20 and probably won't be switching anytime soon, but even so: this is excellent news.

More VTTs = more options for playing = more people playing = healthier gaming industry.
I struggle to find a better system for balanced automation, ease of use and official support than Roll20.

I just downgraded my Roll20 account to free because my online games are currently all WFRP on Foundry. I’m hoping Sigil can catch up for D&D because I really don’t want to go through all the hassle of trying to export D&D to Foundry but am likely to go back to Roll20 if Sigil isn’t quite ready.
 

I don't really get the hate towards Sigil from people that either primarily play in person OR are already squared away with their own VTT (be that Foundry or something else). You were never the intended audience! It's the folks that already use and pay for DnDBeyond and haven't really settled yet for their VTT.
It has always been thus. For years and years, people poo poo'd the notion of online play. "Oh, it's okay for some, but it's not real gaming" was the standard refrain any time anyone tried to talk about VTT play.

Now, combine that with the HUGE axe that people want to grind with Hasbro/WotC and the angst over the release of 2024, and you've got a really perfect storm for everyone to focus all that negative energy on. NOTHING WotC does in the next three years is EVER going to be allowed to pass without running the gauntlet of vitriol.
 

More VTTs = more options for playing = more people playing = healthier gaming industry.
I don't necessarily agree, it dilutes the market. And let's be honest here, many VTT projects have just absolutely failed to deliver made promises. That dilutes trust even more, an insane amount of VTTs makes it impossible to choose and impossible for publishers to support them all unless someone comes up with a standardize adventure format for VTTs, which hasn't happened yet. There is already a TON of disdain against playing online people having bad experiences with half arsed VTTs and exploitative business models is not going to change that in a positive way...

WotC has from my perspective a very bad track record with software, especially long support for it. On the other hand I like Magic: Arena, well implemented version of MtG (after many, many failed attempts). Others have stated that the 4e tools were great, don't know, I own the books but never played 4e. I don't like DDB either, nor WotC's business model, nor their direction. But people have figured out how to connect DDB to other VTTs and WotC has licensed D&D to other VTT platforms, so I don't really care about DDB/Sigil as a real alternative to the FVTT I use. I still want to try it and see how they implemented it, as I'm running Mac primarily these days, I'll see if I can get it running via Crossover (compatibility layer similar to Proton for Linux). But I have installed Talespire (that has a Mac client) and see how it looks these days and see how it runs on a Mac Mini...

Now, combine that with the HUGE axe that people want to grind with Hasbro/WotC...
It is not without reason that many people dislike Hasbro/WotC as a company. I still like D&D enough to buy the official D&D FVTT modules for it, but I could care less about the company that makes it. I don't see it like a great evil, like some. I just see it as something untrustworthy in many respects, especially regarding software products. The product (direction) and business model never was going to get me interested in the first place, even if I didn't already have extreme reservations about what kind of product/service/business model WotC would produce with Sigil. I made my choice with FVTT and even if it gets abandoned tomorrow (it won't!), I could still run the FVTT server without security issues. I could still access my content, modules, etc. (as it's already downloaded).

If you're interested in the VTT market, technology, D&D, etc. You can download Sigil, install it, play with it. I would not advise you invest money in it with the idea/promise that it will get better. Wait until the product is done and then evaluate if you want to pay for it.
 

Yeah, that "dilutes the market" argument has been made for non-D&D RPGs too, not just VTTs. I think the first time I heard it was when Paizo went out on their own tangent and released Pathfinder...some folks were truly worried that it was going to be the death of the industry. And even today, people on Reddit still bring it up when complaining about the variety of OSR games and retro-clones on the market.

I've never agreed with it, and the market has consistently debunked it for decades.
 

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