VTT Recommendations?

[Nightfly]

Foundry is stupendous but has a steep learning curve. I picked up Roll20 a good bit more quickly than I did Foundry. But once I got the hang of Foundry, it's much more powerful.

 

[jdrakeh]

Foundry is stupendous but has a steep learning curve. I picked up Roll20 a good bit more quickly than I did Foundry. But once I got the hang of Foundry, it's much more powerful.

That was what I meant by weighting Roll20's steep learning curve against utility. Roll20's isn't hard to learn, but it also isn't easy to learn and its suite of tools is kind of... meh (especially for what you pay and the amount of learning you have to put in). IME, anyway. Some of the other VTTs look like they require more learning up front but ultimately cost less money and provide more functionality.

 

[LordEntrails]

Haha. Yes. HarnMaster probably. Maybe Blood & Bone. Possibly Champions and/or Fantasy Hero. The only thing I really plan on playing in person in the foreseeable future is Star Frontiers, and that's because I invested in a Megamat and a bunch of starship minis for space combat (via Knight Hawks).

I love hearing this. I thought about making a ruleset for Star Frontiers for FG, but instead decided to go with FrontierSpace. I think in almost all ways FS has better rules. At least for characters. When it comes to spaceship combat I really like the Knight Hawks rules. Also, I was able to get a permission to convert and publish all the FS stuff in FG. Something I would never be able to do with SF.

 

[plecostomus]

Foundry is tremendously complicated and requires a huge time investment (in watching 30-minute youtube videos and getting real friendly with the techs on Foundry's Discord) to learn how to set up and run a game in it. But since the systems you've listed are specifically not D&D* and you also don't want Roll20, I would say try Foundry.

Haha. Yes. HarnMaster probably. Maybe Blood & Bone. Possibly Champions and/or Fantasy Hero. The only thing I really plan on playing in person in the foreseeable future is Star Frontiers, and that's because I invested in a Megamat and a bunch of starship minis for space combat (via Knight Hawks).

I will note that from this list, the only supported system I found was HarnMaster 3 [Foundry v12].
You can see the supported systems here.

Keep in mind that you need to have the correct version of Foundry for the system (i.e. HarnMaster is verified for V12, the latest version of Foundry is V13). You can download any version of Foundry with a Foundry license.

As mentioned already, until the point where you actually want players to join the game, it's a one-time fee. If you can't figure out the technical aspects of hosting, you may be paying a subscription fee to get hosted.

Depending on your fanciness and module use, you may also end up with module subscriptions on Patreon. However, the most notable paid module that I know of is tied to specific needs in D&D, so if you're not doing D&D this potential additional cost is pretty irrelevant.

That was what I meant by weighting Roll20's steep learning curve against utility. Roll20's isn't hard to learn, but it also isn't easy to learn and its suite of tools is kind of... meh (especially for what you pay and the amount of learning you have to put in). IME, anyway. Some of the other VTTs look like they require more learning up front but ultimately cost less money and provide more functionality.

From this comment I would say you are a future Foundry user.

*Foundry can be used to run D&D too. It just has a bunch of extra variables that will add to your learning time, add to the decisions you will have to make, and can potentially add to the cost. I'm not going over those here because OP doesn't sound like a D&D player.

 

[SteveC]

This is a question that really depends on what you want to run. I am a Foundry user, but I've also used Fantasy Grounds and currently play a game on Roll20. If you are playing a game like D&D5 or Pathfinder 2, Foundry is a no-brainer. If you're playing a lesser known game ... it may not be. I would really like to play Daggerheart in Foundry, but that isn't an option yet.

So it all depends on what game you're playing.

 

[jdrakeh]

So it all depends on what game you're playing.

See post #10 for a list of systems I'm interested in running.

 

[SteveC]

See post #10 for a list of systems I'm interested in running.

I have played and run Hero/Champions/Fantasy Hero on Foundry, and I thought it was decent rules implementation. The biggest thing was that you needed Hero Maker to create and import characters, but I have that. Harnmaster has a module but I haven't used it. Blood & Bone is a system I've heard of but I don't think there's a foundry implementation for it.

I'd say that a VTT like Roll20 is something I'd prefer to use for a game where there isn't a pre-created game world, simply because it doesn't have the bells and whistles or options, so you have something easier to use.

But if the game has a module? Oh yes, Foundry.

 

[cranberry]

Foundry VTT is my favorite virtual tabletop. Currently, there is a one-time charge of $50, but it’s worth every penny.

There is a bit of a learning curve. However, once set up, it automates many actions and conditions, making it especially useful for "crunchy" games like Pathfinder.

You can easily download a ton of (mostly free) mods for cosmetic changes, maps, adventures, UI improvements, game mechanics, and Foundry's overall functionality. (I probably missed a few categories.)

Updating Foundry, game systems, and mods is as simple as clicking a single button.

Several months ago, they launched an official Foundry store, making it much easier to load purchased mods. Previously, purchasing content—especially for Paizo/Pathfinder—and loading it into Foundry could be a hassle.

If cost is a concern, my next choice would be Roll20.

 

[numtini]

I wrote a big blog post comparing roll20 and Foundry. My preference is definitely Foundry and my conclusion was Foundry is better for something you're serious about making work with full bells and whistles, but roll20 is easier to "wing it." Owlbear would be even easier to wing it, but kind of minimal not even having character sheets.

I run Foundry on a little $100 celeron based nuc, so it's up 24/7. For me, the graphic dice that actually work are a huge attraction, but it also has great support for the games I actually run: Shadowdark, Dragonbane, Call of Cthulhu, and Vaesen. There's all sorts of QOL add ons. Like a module for taking a break that lets everyone check in and out so you're not doing the crazy round of "hey, who isn't back yet?" I also found setting up stuff myself to have the full fog of war etc to be far easier in Foundry than roll20. Game support is obviously going to be a make or break.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

...

Here's my take:

Use Foundry if you want complete control, like to do things yourself, and enjoy graphically flashy automation. If you are a techy or programmer you will probably love this VTT.

Use Fantasy Grounds if you want automation, long term investment, and out of the box power & capabilities. Though extremely powerful and with a potentially challenging interface, the community resources offset this and is the choice for non-techy users who want powerful features out of the box and a stable and long term solution.

Just to add to this, if you want to dabble in FantasyGrounds an Ultimate subscription licence can be a good way to dabble. The Ultimate licence, allows the player to join a game with the free unlicenced demo version of the application.
All you really need to know to get started is how the Combat Tracker works, Character Sheets, how to setup an encounter and how to share a map. All the rest can be learned as you go along. The brokered connection works for me and my group without issues, unlike the older method of port forwarding (which is still available).