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<blockquote data-quote="Don Durito" data-source="post: 7968662" data-attributes="member: 6687260">I've been using Roll20.&nbsp; It's okish now that I've gotten used to it.&nbsp; But my use of it has adapted also.I tried dynamic lighting.&nbsp; I found it buggy, and it's quite demanding on everyone's internet connection.&nbsp; Eventually I got it to work fairly well, but stopped using it anyway, deciding it was time consuming, and not only added nothing to the game but actually detracted from it.Giving players a map they can freely move around means the map takes over too much of the GM role.&nbsp; Players stop asking questions because they assume that what is on the map is all there is to see and the social verbal interplay that is so important gets disrupted.Plus relying overly much on maps makes it hard to improvise and I prefer to roll with what the characters want to do.&nbsp; So now I only make maps for expected combat encounters.&nbsp; I find images help that can be blown up to help the characters get the gist of what they see, but I don;t worry if I can't find one.This is the map I used on Roll20 for a combat tonight that I hadn't predicted because the PCs did something unexpected.[ATTACH=full]121208[/ATTACH]I drew a couple of lines on it with the draw feature to indicate a corridor and basic room and it was absolutely fine.&nbsp; Nothing was lost for the lack of fancy maps or lighting.The trap I find with the VTT is being sucked into excessive preparation and then being trapped by the way that constrains you.Rpgs are a verbal, not a visual, medium.I also found that if I just <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTGMa5LiMPY" target="_blank">made Macros and attached them to tokens</a> then I could minimise the use of character sheets.&nbsp; This speeds things up a lot for most players who then don't have to shuffle back and forth.Ultimately that's probably a good way to get rid of virtual character sheets entirely.&nbsp; You could just use paper character sheets (or sheets in another file) and macros and regain the abiity to use house rules again.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Don Durito, post: 7968662, member: 6687260"] I've been using Roll20. It's okish now that I've gotten used to it. But my use of it has adapted also. I tried dynamic lighting. I found it buggy, and it's quite demanding on everyone's internet connection. Eventually I got it to work fairly well, but stopped using it anyway, deciding it was time consuming, and not only added nothing to the game but actually detracted from it. Giving players a map they can freely move around means the map takes over too much of the GM role. Players stop asking questions because they assume that what is on the map is all there is to see and the social verbal interplay that is so important gets disrupted. Plus relying overly much on maps makes it hard to improvise and I prefer to roll with what the characters want to do. So now I only make maps for expected combat encounters. I find images help that can be blown up to help the characters get the gist of what they see, but I don;t worry if I can't find one. This is the map I used on Roll20 for a combat tonight that I hadn't predicted because the PCs did something unexpected. [ATTACH type="full" width="403px" alt="mapp.jpg"]121208[/ATTACH] I drew a couple of lines on it with the draw feature to indicate a corridor and basic room and it was absolutely fine. Nothing was lost for the lack of fancy maps or lighting. The trap I find with the VTT is being sucked into excessive preparation and then being trapped by the way that constrains you. Rpgs are a verbal, not a visual, medium. I also found that if I just [URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTGMa5LiMPY']made Macros and attached them to tokens[/URL] then I could minimise the use of character sheets. This speeds things up a lot for most players who then don't have to shuffle back and forth. Ultimately that's probably a good way to get rid of virtual character sheets entirely. You could just use paper character sheets (or sheets in another file) and macros and regain the abiity to use house rules again. [/QUOTE]

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