Does anybody use VTTs in person?

[Vexorg]

I'm curious if anyone has ever used a Virtual Tabletop while playing in-person, face to face? I don't mean on a giant screen for a table that the GM is projecting on to. And I don't mean using a laptop or tablet as your character sheet. I mean your maps and tokens are run on Fantasy Grounds or Maps, and everyone logs in on their device, even though you are all together.

I usually think of playing online as a substitute for inperson when players are unable to be together. But the tools and visuals of a VTT could really enhance in person.

I spend an hour or more each week drawing maps for my home group, but i am keenly away that my maps are never as pretty not as large as professional VTT maps.

(Picture is AI)

 

[Thomas Shey]

I was using Maptool well before I was playing remotely; it allowed everyone to use the map without the physical layout problems in the room we played in.

 

[Vexorg]

Was that out of necessity due to space, or did your group prefer it?

 

[payn]

Ive done a little hybrid but never everybody sits and logs onto their device. I do like using the VTT for certain games, like Traveller where I can inbed the Traveller map, write out journals, and have great looking illustrations and maps. I have turned around and almost prefer VTT for those games. I'd probably lap top it as GM (which I was doing before I went VTT at all) and shoot up the maps on a TV in the room. Though, the players would all have sheets and dice in front of them.

 

[Koloth]

Yes. I am in a PF2 game where the GMs wanted to try the hybrid system. One GM is the primary that decides the adventure path. The co-GM is the knowledge base for the VTT(Forge) being used. In some ways, the fog of war can be cool if the GM has everything setup correctly(often not).

This is the game that I have commented previously on simple combats that take most of a evening session. Don't really think it is the VTT's fault. 4 of the players are often lost in other devices between actions and provide evidence that many humans suck at quick task switching.

 

[LordEntrails]

Last Wednesday. We normally play remotely, but once a year (or so) we all are close enough that folks drive in and we all get together.

I guess we could use a projector or go paper, but for one night it's just easier to stay with what everyone is familiar with. And we all have laptops we use regularly so it's not an issue.

 

[SableWyvern]

I was using Maptool well before I was playing remotely; it allowed everyone to use the map without the physical layout problems in the room we played in.

I used Maptool in my X-Com GURPS game, for the same reason. I'm not generally a map-and-minis person, but I wanted gridded combat and I also wanted big outdoor maps that couldn't feasibly fit on the the table, so Maptool was the answer.

We already gamed with personal devices for handling electronic characters sheets (excel/gsheets), so each person used their own device to access. It worked well.

am keenly away that my maps are never as pretty not as large as professional VTT maps.

In the highly unlikely event that your players care that deeply about this, get better players. Realistically, I presume they appreciate the effort you're putting in and they're turning up because you run a fun game, not because of your graphic design skills or the way you set up lighting and fog-of-war. Don't waste your time and energy worrying about this stuff.

 

[Vexorg]

In the highly unlikely event that your players care that deeply about this, get better players. Realistically, I presume they appreciate the effort you're putting in and they're turning up because you run a fun game, not because of your graphic design skills or the way you set up lighting and fog-of-war. Don't waste your time and energy worrying about this stuff.

No, my players don't mind. It's a personal criticism.

 

[SableWyvern]

No, my players don't mind. It's a personal criticism.

Exactly -- and I'm saying don't criticise yourself. My Maptools maps were pretty janky as well. But my players thought they were great, so what more can or should I really ask for?

 

[Thomas Shey]

Was that out of necessity due to space, or did your group prefer it?

"Necessary"? Probably not. But playing with a battlemap out on the table led to a lot of jumping up and down to manuever things, including from me, and it was honestly kind of pain the behind for all concerned (some people were sitting six or more feet away from it, and even with me, I couldn't reach the whole length of a battlemap from where I sat in a lot of cases, and of course I was moving more things than they were).

It made things simply vastly easier. Initially the others had to, in some cases direct me to move their tokens since I was projecting it onto a large screen TV since they didn't all have their laptops there yet and installed with Maptool, but that was still easier on the whole than manipulating the physical minatures and such.

(Before someone says something, except for games with very little attention to movement speed, range, cover and area effects, the combination of my aphantasia and poor special memory makes TotM functionally a nonstarter for me as a GM (and only slightly better as a player).