Virtual Tabletop software?

[tenkar]

Pretty nice overviews.

I mainly use FG2. For ease of use, especially if the DM has the ruleset for the RPG in question, is second to none. Character sheets, dice, maps and decent fog of war, in program rules lookup for certain RPGs (the Labyrinth Lord one is an example of a free package)

I played around with Maptools in the past, and the line of sight feature was awesome. But it felt too much like actually playing a computer game. I'm not computer languge literate in the least, and at the time in question that made Maptools less then useful for me. It may have improved in time. I'm sure it did.

Battlegrounds is well done, but works better for board games / war games in my opinion. I haven't patched in over a year. Again, in that time it could only have improved. Heruca's VTT list is amazing. Great place to start.

Klooge. Painful. Really.

iTabletop - Not quite ready for full release, but if it reaches half of its potential it should be amazing. Voice, video, sound... will be just like my dining room table.

Screenmonkey - ehh, not my cup of tea.

 

[Greatwyrm]

I started with ScreenMonkey and I really just can't recommend it.

I don't know where all the talk about programming is coming from for MapTool. All I've ever done is make up some basic die macros and everything works fine for me. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

 

[Vegepygmy]

I don't know where all the talk about programming is coming from for MapTool.

I think it's coming from people who want (or assume you have to have) a "framework" that has all kinds of bells and whistles attached to it. I'm not really sure what all such a thing can do (because I don't use one). A former player of mine wanted us to start using one, and not only was it bafflingly complicated to me, the end result didn't feel much like pen-and-paper tabletop gaming.

I don't want my MapTool game to feel like a video game, so we switched right back to playing without any "framework."

 

[Hussar]

The frameworks can vary wildly. Some are fantastic, some are... not so much.

Really depends on the system and how much effort someone put into making the framework.

The framework one of my players made for my Sufficiently Advanced game was fantastic. Loved it to pieces and it made things so much easier. Mostly because SA has a bit of a wonky rolling system (statxd10, skillxd10, take the better of the two) which is a bit tricky to type in each time.

Do you have to use them? No, not at all. It's an option.

 

[IronWolf]

I think it's coming from people who want (or assume you have to have) a "framework" that has all kinds of bells and whistles attached to it. I'm not really sure what all such a thing can do (because I don't use one). A former player of mine wanted us to start using one, and not only was it bafflingly complicated to me, the end result didn't feel much like pen-and-paper tabletop gaming.

I don't want my MapTool game to feel like a video game, so we switched right back to playing without any "framework."

I think how MapTool is being used has some bearing on how useful a framework is (and of course even this will vary from group to group admittedly). If using MapTool as the tool of choice to display maps at a face to face group then I think a framework is not as necessary.

For the pure virtual experience over voice over IP chat or text chat, I've found the frameworks quite useful to help keep the game moving and such.

 

[Festivus]

I think that if you have the time, the frameworks are great but I tend to agree with Veg, it can get in the way of the fun.

To speed your online games, we have found that video skype is amazing for the person who cannot make the event. While free for more than a person to person call right now, it's probably going to cost money later.

Skype Launches Group Video Chat

 

[IronWolf]

To speed your online games, we have found that video skype is amazing for the person who cannot make the event. While free for more than a person to person call right now, it's probably going to cost money later.

Skype Launches Group Video Chat

Yeah, we've done video chat in our group when we have one person that can't make it there physically but has the time open to play from home. It has worked well and we did not use a sophisticated setup at all. Just two web cams.

For all players being in different locations I think it can get a bit trickier which is when a decent framework seems to make more sense. Though Steel_Wind noted that his setup is being done with a good old fashioned battle mat, a good unidirectional mic and the Skype Beta with much success.

 

[Xorne]

It doesn't have 3D animated dice (which, while it may look cool, doesn't actually contribute to the game at all, IMO), but MapTool has many frameworks that provide character sheets for lots of systems, they recently implemented the ability to import/export maps, making it modular, and their forums are teeming with people happy to help. I'm not positive what you'd count as a Story/Map/Image/Encounter/NPC/Item database, but if MapTool doesn't have it built in then you can probably find a framework to do it.

What I mean is that as a DM I have a bunch of icons on the right, labeled Story, Maps/Images, Encouters, Personalities (NPCs), and Items. After I build my adventure with these I can export it and have a module file that I can send to anyone that wants to use my adventure I created. While FG2 has the best character sheet support I've ever seen, the Campaign Management facet of the VTT is awesome, as well!

I could explain it all out, or just refer you to my FG2 Livestream channel, where you can just see what I'm talking about.

www.livestream.com/fgii

There's 4 videos there--Player Quickstart, Hosting Games, Campaign Management, and Example Encounter. The first two cover the tools for the Player & Gamemaster, the third shows how to organize your campaign and create adventure modules, and the last one shows everything in action using FG2. I think it would be hard to better demonstrate what makes FG2 unique.

But I'm not telling anyone that MapTools is bad--just why I love FG2.

Oh, there's a free demo for FG2 as well.

 

[athos]

What sort of virtual tabletops do you guys use?

I use openRPG, which is free. It has the maps and dice roller and stuff you need for organizing and running combats.

3 of the games I am in use skype as well for talking and role play. This has its ups and downs as far as I am concerned. With pure typing, everyone gets "heard", with skype, it seems like whoever talks the most and the loudest tends to dominate more of the game.

What I prefer the most, is the GM using skype to read large amounts of info to the party, but the party using OpenRPG to type their actions, this way it seems like nothing gets "lost". Either way, gaming in real time with OpenRPG with/without Skype is fun for me since I live too far from any local groups that play.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Though Steel_Wind noted that his setup is being done with a good old fashioned battle mat, a good unidirectional mic and the Skype Beta with much success.

Yup. Works perfectly actually. I have actually come to prefer it, as my commute to the game is a pain in the ass.

Using Skype, it is nearly all of the fun with none of the hassle. I game with my local group in Toronto now via Skype video, as well as my other game (my podcast co-host runs his Kingmaker campaign in San Francisco).

Really is no difference at all from being there in terms of the game experience - only real difference is not pitching in for the shared pizza.

I recommend Skype video highly -- once you lay out the extra money for a decent omnidirctional microphone and a HD webcam and boom, that is.