So much support for foundry. But, omg, I can’t stand the fiddliness of it. It’s supposed to let you click enemies and automatically do the damage until, oops, someone forgets to select the enemy. Or, oops, I clicked on the wrong spell and now we have to go back and undo all the auto calculations.
We spend more time with the vtt than actually playing.
I use roll20 because I’ve figured out all the tricks (using invisible tokens to label stuff) mouseover stuff is easy etc…. But all that work is on the dm side. It’s hard for players to screw stuff up unlike what I’ve found with foundry. Roll20 has an awful draw tool though.
I’d love a vtt where I can import or draw a map and edit it on the fly.
That is the false promise that leads to a lot of buyers remorse with Foundry. To be fair, Foundry isn't making this claim. Even the users generally are not. But you look at the all these amazing videos and get your expectations up. Potential users need to be aware that many of the stunning set ups they see people showing off involved a LOT of work to get set up and maintained.
I went down the rabbit hole of trying to automate Foundry for D&D 5e and it was never smooth or trouble free. I have not run any games with the now official D&D game system for Foundry, but from what little I've looked into it, the content is official and the character sheet is slicker, but there hasn't been much development to have the game system support automation. You still need to use a lot of community mods for that. It is nowhere near as developed as the Foundry game systems for Pathfinder 2e or WFRP4e.
As a Foundry fan, I find my self in the sad position of turning more people away from it than on to it. If a D&D DM asks me about foundry, my discussion generally goes like this:
Do you want automation and advanced tools?
If they answer no, I'll recommend that they just use D&D Beyond with its encounter builder, Map tool, and official content.
If they answer yes, I'll ask them if they enjoy tinkering and playing around with and testing beta software or if they want something that "just works." If the later, I'll tell them that they'll probably become frustrated with Foundry. But also that there really isn't anything on the market that "just works". The closest may be Fantasy Grounds, though it has a high learning curve. Its been years since I've spent time with FG, but when I did, it had the best mechanical support for the rules if you were willing to put in the time to get over the learning curve.
If they say they are most interested in Foundry because they want to avoid subscriptions and recurring costs. I'll ask them how comfortable they are with configuring settings on their internet router and/or gateway, what their internet bandwidth is, and the specs of the computer they'll use to host games. Also, do they have players in multiple countries? Many, if not most, players will find using a Foundry hosting services like The Forge to be a better experience, but that involves a subscription PLUS the cost of a Foundry license. I'm sure I'll get some push back that most people are running games just hosting it on their computers and that it isn't difficult to set up. I suggest reading this:
Port Forwarding | Foundry Virtual Tabletop. Many people will say easy peasy. Others will have their eyes glaze over and want nothing to do with it. Also, I'll not that I've played in many one shots, including many pay-to-play games with "professional" DMs. Those where I've encountered issue with lag, neading to regularly referesh the browser, and other network issues have ALWAYS been with DMs hosting the game directly off of their local computer. Especially if they are in a different country.
So who DO I recommend Foundry to:
1. GMs who run multiple systems, especially if one or more of their non DnD systems are one of the better supported game systems (e.g., if you want a VTT for running Pathfinder 2e or Warhammer Fantasy Role Play 4e, Foundry is hands down the best VTT for running those systems).
2. GMs who don't care about automation, especially combat automation, but want powerful and easy to use map prep tools. Prepping a map for lighting, fog of war, etc. in Foundry is easy and after a short learning curve the most pleasant experience for prepping maps for advanced effects of any VTT I've spend time in. Also, the community mods let you do some really fun and useful things
3. People who enjoy tinkering and testing software, writing macros, tweaking settings. Foundry is a hobby in and off itself for me. I love creating landing pages, writting up macros, and playing around with community mods. I've curbed this a lot recently because of work and family demands. I found I was putting in much more time messing around with the VTT than prepping my sessions. But there is not VTT I'm aware of that is as easily customizable as Foundry. Yes, there is Map Tool, which is why I added "easily." Foundry's mod community and large fan base is active and turns out amazing mods that can completely transform the base software.
4. People who want to combine world building with session based VTT battlemap management. Hard core world builders are still going to want something more advanced, like World Anvil. But I find the newer versions of Foundry with the revamped journal functionality to give me everything I need for world building. I like having everything in one place. With the Quick Insert and/or Omnisearch modules, cross-linking is as easy, if not easier, than the best world building platforms I've tried.
But don't get Foundry expecting it to flawlessly automating combat and tracking effects for D&D games. That requires more tinkering, troubleshooting, and maintenance than even I wanted to deal with.
