Best Virtual Tabletop Software?

[Yair]

I'm going to start up an Ars Magica game using a virtual tabletop. It's my first time with such a thing, and I'm at a loss as to which program to use and how. I'd really appreciate any advice on this issue.

What I'm looking for first and foremost is a program that will allow us to easily run the game - easy to install, easy to run, easy to game with. The system is not d20, and miniatures aren't as important in it. (The combat is more free-form, the exact positions aren't as relevant.) Having the character sheet available for rolls would be very nice, however, if it could be made easily. (Otherwise, I guess I would use only the dice thrower and the sheets as pdfs or something.)

I don't want an ugly interface. We'll be staring at this thing for hours, I want it to be nice and fun.

Unlike most games, ArM uses a "rotating GM" model. Each player can, pontentially, serve as a DM for a short while. For this reason, I suspect the free virtual tabletop softwares would be best, but I'm worried that their quality would be lacking.

I want, specifically:
* Drawing tools, for the DM to draw a "map" as we go along when needed.
* Displaying maps and measuring distances on it, placing tokens on it, and so on.
* Chat, with option to save session.
* Dice, especially the need to define the very special "Stress Dice". A stress dice is rolled as follows: roll 1d10+modifiers; on a natural 1 pick up the dice and roll again multiplying the result (pre-modifiers) by 2; on another natural 1 do this again (multiplier is now 4) and so on. On a natural 0 on any of these rethrows, you count the roll as ten x multiplier. On a natural 0 on the initial stress die throw, you throw a certain (DM-determined) number of Botch dice - the program needs to say how many of those came out zero. All this is very complicated, but having a stress dice thrower will be grand. We can do without it, by just throwing d10s.
* Custom-defined (i.e. non-d20) character sheets, preferably linked to the dice-bot. Having the ability to custom-define global or regional variables (such as "Magical Aura") would be grand, so would be being able to create interactions between sheets (character A attacls character B, does damage Y...). All this will only be relevant in the future, if we decide to invest in building such sheets and systems, but having the infrastructure to construct such mechanisms (perhaps with Visual Basic or something - I'm not afraid of a little programming) is certainly an advantage. We can make do without character sheets at all, if needed.
* Easy to install and run, preferably allowing high communication rates (little lag).
* Pretty. We're going to look at it for hours, it should be nice. Having the possiblity of using ambient music and sound effect is a bonus too.

So, any suggestions?

 

[Redrobes]

Hi Yair,

I write ViewingDale which I will talk about in a moment but if you would like to have a really great change to compare all the virtual game table software out there for free then pop along to www.iConvention.org and take a peek there. Register on the Four Ugly Monsters web site and sign up for playing some of them on March 24th and March 25th. Game registrations have just opened. All of them are free to try with a few competitions to win some of them. Almost everyone is participating and it should give everyone the best opportunity to answer that age ole question... which is the best. Because in actual fact the real question is which is the best for YOU.

ViewingDale is map-centric so you will be looking at the map when playing using this one. You can create great maps in it as its also a full map making system too. You can measure distances using ruler icons and it has a fully customizable grid too. You can place icons on it at any position and rotation. It has built in chat.

You can download the dice app for free here

http://www.viewing.ltd.uk/cgi-bin/viewingdale.pl?category=dice

Thats the full app so give it a whirl. It has 3D dice and dice roll macros for (1d10+3d8+2) * 6 but it does not do reroll for 1's or anything else special. In fact the whole of ViewingDale does not have any preset rules built in. If you need to reroll then roll some more dice again.

There is no DM version and Player version - its all in one. Even people that do not host the session can still be the DM. Theres very little difference.

You can create character sheets in ViewingDale of any style and a whole bunch of boxes, shapes and skill sets are available to download. Again, no rules built in. You have to calculate the character sheet values yourself.

Its very fast and has almost no lag because it uses graphics card hardware to render all of the maps.

You can link movies, sounds, music, text and anything else to any point on the map.

Theres a free demo to try here...

http://www.viewing.ltd.uk/cgi-bin/viewingdale.pl?category=free_trial

but, like I say, sign up to various games, wait for the free iCon demo available early to mid March and try them all out with skype, and some tutorials from the creators of them *live*.

 

[trevorscroft]

You might also try MapTool at http://rptools.net , it's an open source project and has the features you've listed (although we'd need to flesh out the die rolling for you). It has very good in-game drawing tools that let you create insanely large maps. It also has a unique line of sight engine that's directly connected to the fog of war.

We have a very active community with development builds typically every week or two, where most development is directed by the community.

We could give you a demo if you are interested.

If MapTool doesn't work out for you, heruca of BRPG (a commercial virtual tabletop) keeps a good list of VTs: http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/links.html (search for Virtual Tabletop)

 

[heruca]

Given your needs, Yair, I think Battlegrounds: RPG Edition is worth looking into.

It is easy to install. You just download a zip file and unzip it. No need for Java/Python/etc.

It's also easy to use, and can be used with any game system (it doesn't enforce any rules, that's left to the GM), and supports any genre.

The interface is hidden away until you need it. Most of the time, you're looking at the full-screen map. There are no ugly tree-views taking up a good chunk of your screen real estate. All controls are clearly labeled in plain English, so you don't need to learn what a bunch of cryptic icons are for.

The text chat can be saved, and sound, music, and visual aids are supported.

Cons:
It does not support your Stress Dice mechanic. You'd need to just reroll your D10 as you would at the game table.
It does not have a measuring tool or dice macros (yet).
Character sheets are only supported via JPGs right now, so they are not dynamic. Most people just keep their printed character sheets next to their computer.
No freehand map drawing tools (yet), but you CAN map out dungeons using component room & hallway pieces.
Your need for rotating GMs would mean that each person who will GM will need the GM Client, which is more expensive than the Player Client. However, I'd be willing to give a discount on a large order of GM Clients. Just email me and we'll work something out.

You may also want to check out this comparison chart of virtual tabletop software:
http://www.iconvention.org/vgtcomp.php
It should help you find something that works well for you.

Better yet, join up for iCon, a free virtual tabletop convention taking place March 24-25. That will give you the opportunity to try out each package, ask questions, play actual games with the tools, etc.