Yes and no. It all depends on what is less. The key to a more narrative game or theater of the mind, IMHO, is that the VTT needs to fade away. If it has clunky features or some things aren't supported so you're jumping back and forth randomly between the VTT and kludging with notes and dice, or supported with a poor interface that takes multiple clicks to do what it does, it can actually take more away than something with more features that are streamlined and have a good UI.
What's the bare minimum for a VTT?
- Thread starter overgeeked
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Yes and no. It all depends on what is less. The key to a more narrative game or theater of the mind, IMHO, is that the VTT needs to fade away. If it has clunky features or some things aren't supported so you're jumping back and forth randomly between the VTT and kludging with notes and dice, or supported with a poor interface that takes multiple clicks to do what it does, it can actually take more away than something with more features that are streamlined and have a good UI.
Theory of Games
Storied Gamist
If I had to choose between a system with tons of options but a strong learning curve vs. limited options but superb ergonomics, I'll take the latter. Ease of use is everything to me, in all aspects of life, but it's critical when I'm running a campaign. Like many GMs, I have a lot on my plate - scene integrity, NPC actions/reactions, making sure the players have all the info they need, rewarding players for good RP, ect. - the last thing I need is a "cluttered" VTT that forces me to remember how such & such function works.
It needs to be simple. Seamless. Intuitive.
It needs to be simple. Seamless. Intuitive.
Agamon
Adventurer
Not wrong, but a bad VTT is a bad VTT, regardless.
Cordwainer Fish
Imp. Int. Scout Svc. (Dishon. Ret.)
Y'know, it's funny. Back in the day I really disliked anything that smelled of the sand table. Today? I like knowing where we are vs. where the opponents [1] are. I like fog of war. I even like having to ask if my line of sight on an opponent makes it a keyhole shot and is the referee even going to put a negative DM on those. (And I feel guilty if the referee doesn't have rules regarding firing into melee... even though the dice know when you're firing into melee and will always say that oops, you shot your buddy. Every single time.)
[1] They're not baddies, they're either sophonts with conflicting objectives, or dumb animals. (Or robots, of course.)
[1] They're not baddies, they're either sophonts with conflicting objectives, or dumb animals. (Or robots, of course.)
TaranTheWanderer
Legend
Maps and tokens. Probably the ability to do basic sketches.
No need for shared dice rolls as I trust the players and rolling physical dice is always faster.
No need for shared dice rolls as I trust the players and rolling physical dice is always faster.
Desdichado
Legend
Depends on the game. I prefer paper sheets, real dice, and theatre of the mind combat. Zoom or Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, etc. are more than adequate for my "VTT" needs. But if I were playing a more tactical game, then maps and tokens on it would probably be important. But since I prefer NOT to play those kinds of games, it isn't. Even if it was, I'd probably take steps to minimize their need.
TheSword
Warhammer Fantasy Imperial Plenipotentiary
I admire the asceticism of a lot of the folks on here but honestly the bare minimum I expect is quite a lot, considering what is currently available out there.
I wouldn’t use a VTT that didn’t have these elements for a system. It wouldn’t even get a look in.
What I don’t need
- 3D minis
- Maps that can be drawn on, pinged and highlighted with grids customisable and scale adjusted. I also expect to be able to alter the view seen by my players.
- Character sheets need to be integrated into the system rules with the ability make rolls directly from them.
- Tokens need to be 100% customisable and carry basic character info - hp etc. They also need to be hideable.
- Art work needs to be shareable to players at will and stores player facing in journals
- 3D dice rolling
- A chat function with whisper function.
- A compendium of the systems rules
- The ability to add and hide tiles or images overlaying the map.
- Dynamic lighting
- Initiative and combat tracker
- A way to record conditions on a character
- It needs to be able to play and adjust sounds.
I wouldn’t use a VTT that didn’t have these elements for a system. It wouldn’t even get a look in.
What I don’t need
- 3D minis
loverdrive
Prophet of the profane (She/Her)
I need a way to add, move and draw on top of images. That's the minimum thing, and it enables most things that are required for most games -- you can have character sheets, maps, clocks, whatever, by just having a canvas to drop stuff onto and draw on top of.
Other than that, smart-ish tokens with ability to attach arbitrary notes to them are more critical to me than dicerolls and character sheets.
Ideally I want my VTT to be programmable, so I can just write some code to handle a specific doodad if I need to.
...and that's the reason I use my own VTT, huh.
Other than that, smart-ish tokens with ability to attach arbitrary notes to them are more critical to me than dicerolls and character sheets.
Ideally I want my VTT to be programmable, so I can just write some code to handle a specific doodad if I need to.
...and that's the reason I use my own VTT, huh.
I love dice. I have hundreds, probably over a thousand.
But I click on a weapon on my character sheet, it rolls the attack then automatically rolls damage including any damage from a critical hit. For advantage/disadvantage, it simply chooses the better/worse roll. That's faster than I can do it in person.
You need 3D dice rolling, but don't need 3D minis?
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