Virtual Tabletop software?

[Greatwyrm]

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

I took a look at OpenRPG. It struck me as the kind of thing that would be four quarts of awesome if I could only figure out how to make it work. Kinda like Campaign Cartographer.

 

[Merkuri]

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.

Exactly. It depends on what you want to get out of your VTT.

If you just want to simulate a "live" tabletop session where an attack is just someone declaring their action, rolling a die, and doing the math in their head then no framework is needed.

On the other hand, if you want to take advantage of the fact that you are sitting in front of the computer you can use a framework and create your own macros to do a lot of the crunchy bits for you. With the right framework you can automatically calculate bonuses and penalties, keep track of what effects are on who and when they expire, and even store your entire character sheet within MapTool so all you need to do is pick a target and click a button to use your abilities.

My group likes that second option, but I totally understand the whole "don't want it to feel like a video game" argument.


A couple people mentioned OpenRPG. My group used that VTT for years. It's got a couple nice features that MapTool doesn't, but we eventually moved over mostly because OpenRPG had a habit of being buggy and (at the time) there was no one actively developing for it so the bugs that were there were likely to stay there.

And personally, being a computer programmer I loved the macros available within MapTool. With OpenRPG I hacked the heck out of the "nodes" portion of the program to create rollers that would auto-calc my bonuses and things like that, and the end result was usually great, but the way I had to do it was ugly as heck and hard to upkeep. The MapTool macro language could use a lot of work, but it's a ton more capable than using OpenRPG nodes.

 

[IronWolf]

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!

In MapTool you have a library much the same. You can have icons, tokens, and such all at the ready to drag and drop onto the map. You can have multiple maps in the campaign and have them pre-populated and ready to go. You can do GM notes for the icons or even areas on the maps if you want. And this can all be exported to a campaign file which can be loaded by anyone else that is running MapTool.

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

Yeah, I am not trying to change your mind. Plenty of room in this world for all of us to run our VTT of choice!

 

[IronWolf]

On the other hand, if you want to take advantage of the fact that you are sitting in front of the computer you can use a framework and create your own macros to do a lot of the crunchy bits for you. With the right framework you can automatically calculate bonuses and penalties, keep track of what effects are on who and when they expire, and even store your entire character sheet within MapTool so all you need to do is pick a target and click a button to use your abilities.

Oh, I agree. I think the frameworks out there are great. Especially when you are running a game where no one is sitting at the same table.

 

[Vegepygmy]

Exactly. It depends on what you want to get out of your VTT.

If you just want to simulate a "live" tabletop session where an attack is just someone declaring their action, rolling a die, and doing the math in their head then no framework is needed.

Exactly right. I DM an online game; half my players are on the other side of the country, none of them are in the same room as me. And we don't use voice chat, because we have found that we stay in character better when it's all texted.

It definitely takes longer to play this way than if we Skyped and set up the computer to do our math for us, but that's okay. We're not in any hurry to "get somewhere."

 

[Hussar]

Vegepygmy - I've felt that way as well. I think it is easier to stay in character in a chat based game. But it is slower. Sometimes painfully so. I had a DM who typed about 20 words per minute. And never pre-typed any text. Sigh.

There's not being in a hurry and there's zoning out for half an hour because the DM is hunt and pecking his way through five sentences.

 

[Twowolves]

So, no one has any experience or an opinion on d20Pro?

My group is thinking about using it, but mainly because we are already hooked on Hero Lab and you can export characters (and thanks to the Bestiary data pack, monsters too) from Hero Lab directly into d20Pro. We play Pathfinder, so right now Hero Lab compatibility is a big plus, but we haven't committed to anything yet.

 

[Stoat]

So, no one has any experience or an opinion on d20Pro?

My group is thinking about using it, but mainly because we are already hooked on Hero Lab and you can export characters (and thanks to the Bestiary data pack, monsters too) from Hero Lab directly into d20Pro. We play Pathfinder, so right now Hero Lab compatibility is a big plus, but we haven't committed to anything yet.

See my post on page 1. I've been using d20Pro for a while, and I like it. It's stable. It's relatively easy to use. It doesn't take a lot of data entry to run.

It's built for D&D. Unlike Vegepygmy and a few others, I want my VTT to handle the math for me. I figure one thing computers are good at is knocking out the math, and I've found that the time it takes to add together dice and bonuses bogs down the game. So I'm happy to have a VTT that takes care of it.

 

[Hippy]

So, no one has any experience or an opinion on d20Pro?

My group is thinking about using it, but mainly because we are already hooked on Hero Lab and you can export characters (and thanks to the Bestiary data pack, monsters too) from Hero Lab directly into d20Pro. We play Pathfinder, so right now Hero Lab compatibility is a big plus, but we haven't committed to anything yet.

I bought D20pro and use it as a "add-on" for the tabletop minis. I do not have a projector to point down onto the table (some day I hope to), but I use a monitor and we match the mini battle mat to the screen tokens. It works really well to see how much damage the party is inflicting rather than a vague description of "he looks kinda hurt", also the ability to place the area effects for spells, etc. on the screen quickly and see who/what is within the range is a huge time saver. We used the metal radius makers for the battle mat in the past, but they tend to knock over minis or not sit right with all the stuff on the mat. With this info on the screen...not conflicts and much quicker play! I also have used Maptools and like it except that I run primarily published modules and scanning the maps into maptool and getting the scale right for the tokens was a guessing game and a pain! D20Pro has a dynamic graphical interface for scaling the maps and it is a snap to import and scale very quickly!

Cheers!

Hippy

 

[The_Ditto]

Hey there, I realize I'm hopping onto this thread a bit late, and the topic seems to be around frameworks, 3d and other such stuff ... so I just wanted to acknowledge my awareness at that (so I don't get yelled at .. ) and just step back to the original post ..

One thing I'd like to see, is one that does NOT force the use of a grid, having circular templates and measuring ranges and distances in straight lines. (instead allowing movement like using a tape measure in warhammer, and cones shaped line cones, instead of cones shaped like cones approximated into squares).

I know these two don't have that. Are there any that do?

Even without that feature. What sort of virtual tabletops do you guys use?

I'm surprised nobody else mentioned this already (if they did, I missed it), but we use Gametable (sourceforge.net), it's free, open source, and allows Square or Hex grid, as well as No grid, allowing free placement of pogs ala Warhammer. It's got your measuring tape, line drawing capabilities, ability to create your own pog/environment/underlay/overlay/etc allowing you to create cones in whatever shape/size you want ...

We're playing 3.5 D&D with it, and I had my friend create a 2-color pog (smaller size) to show light radius (30', 60' and 120'), makes things really easier on DM as he can quickly spot how far each character can see given the current light source ...

So far, I'm pretty impressed with it's rich features and abilities considering open source / free software ...

I'd highly recommend you taking a look at it if you haven't yet ...