What's the bare minimum for a VTT?

[Nikosandros]

Maps and tokens. Basically, the 'tabletop'.

Everything else, you can easily handle yourself. You can roll your own dice, track your own initiative, use a character sheet, chat through Zoom etc. The basic thing that you can't easily do on your own is a shared battlemap and tokens. That's the basic premise of a VTT--everything else is bells and whistles. Awesome bells and whistles, of course, and very nice to have, but the basic function of a VTT is the shared tabletop.

This. I would add some kind of fog of war, so as to reveal the map as it is explored. Owlbear Rodeo delivers it and is what I've been using.

 

[GrimCo]

Bare minimum - ability to put images on screen and something like paint where i can easily sketch something in real time, dice roller, good audio/video quality. We play theater of mind exclusively, so no need for tokens, maps, etc.

 

[cranberry]

At minimum, I need maps, and PC tokens (I don't need 3D minis). I need basic digital dice (All of the fancy colors and designs are nice but not necessary). and a combat tracer (Initiative order) - Manual or automated, either is fine. And character sheets/management.

 

[cranberry]

The problem with a lot of that is that automating things like To Hit, Damage, and character sheets either forces the VTT into supporting just a limited number of game systems -

Foundry supports over 380 game systems.

 

[Umbran]

Same here.

My players can use paper sheets and real dice, if need be. But having a shared idea of who is where is necessary.

I should add - this is for a game in which positioning matters, like D&D with its dependency on range in 5' increments.

If I'm playing a Fate variant, that only cares about zones? Don't need a map there.

 

[Umbran]

Foundry supports over 380 game systems.

Now.
Didn't start that way out of the gate, though.

 

[numtini]

There's a big difference between what is the bare minimum I could play with and what is the minimum that would tempt me to leave my current VTT (Foundry).

For bare minimum, I guess what Owlbear Rodeo offers: dice roller, map with tokens, handouts. To be fair, it offers character sheets for many systems and simple fog, but I can live without those and have done so.

I run Vaesen, Shadowdark, Dragonbane, Call of Cthulhu, and Delta Green. What I have with Foundry that I would not be willing to give up: character sheets with integrated rolling of skills and attacks, initiative system automated, map with easy to use dynamic fog of war, handout system, background music, special effects for splash screens, graphic dice roller that is sync'd between players (ie, everyone sees the same roll), pointers, measuring tools, drag and drop statted creatures, popout character sheets (ie, separate browser window), and support for the games I play and enough popularity to be assured that most new games will be supported.

What I don't have right now is video chat and full hosting. I could get those by switching to The Forge from self-hosting for $10 a month and I contemplate this. The feature I miss from roll20 is some kind of integrated looking for group feature.

I think it is very very difficult to enter the marketplace now for a VTT. Roll20 and Foundry had a benefit of a head start. But this is a mature market. I don't think a newcomer can get away with slowly building out features other than as a sort of fanboy cult.

 

[Morrus]

I think it is very very difficult to enter the marketplace now for a VTT. Roll20 and Foundry had a benefit of a head start. But this is a mature market. I don't think a newcomer can get away with slowly building out features other than as a sort of fanboy cult.

Yeah, it would need to be one dedicated to doing a specific game really well (and not D&D, as every VTT already does that), or one with new innovative or game-changing features which puts it ahead of the pack on launch. The former is easier than the latter, but neither are easy propositions.

 

[Agamon]

Depends on what I'm playing. I have been pretty spoiled using Fantasy Grounds for a decade, so anything less than full featured feels incomplete, but if it's a more narrative-focused game, less tends to be more.

 

[el-remmen]

I'd say Owlbear Rodeo is both my minimum and my maximum.