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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 5278058" data-attributes="member: 20741">I think if you have a look at Fantasy Grounds, you will find the learning curve to be significantly less steep than MapTool.As for drawing, module maps are easily extracted from .pdf or scanned for importation and sharing in a VTT, be it via Fantasy Grounds, D20 Pro or Maptool (or a host of others).VTTs really do work. I have one beginning soon which will use D20 Pro (I would prefer to use Fantasy Grounds, but the Pathfinder support in D20 Pro through Herolab's Pathfinder plug-in line is too cool not to use.Far less "digital" but still extremely cool is the use of Skype Beta, a good microphone and a good webcam. I have been recently playing in a Kingmaker campaign which is being run partially online by my podcast co-host, Azmyth.  There are three players who play in the normal fashion attending the game. Two of us play remotely via Skype Video conferincing. The GM uses several cameras during play (with a picture in picture capbility) and the beta version of Skype which supports multiple particpants in video conferencing.So we have a weekly Pathfinder game being hosted in the San Francicso Bay Area, with three local players -- and two remote players  - one in Los Angeles and one in Toronto who attend each session via Skype Video conferencing.The game uses absolutely ZERO software other than Skype Beta and a driver to manage picture-in picture webcams. We roll dice, look at the battlemat drawn with wet erase pens and use traditional pewter/plastic minis on a mondomat and otherwise play exactly the same way as you would if you were there.The GM uses a boom microphone stand and multiple cameras and two microphones to wire his gaming room for the game. So we have multiple camera angles when necessary (GM's face, wide angle of the gamers at the table and the overhead view of the battlemat - all using a picture in picture driver to allow Skype to support multiple inputs/pip outputs (as normally it does not). It not only works - it works brilliantly. I have come to prefer it, actually, as the lack of travel time and disruption before and after gaming is great and allows me to game during the weeknights after work while still getting home and attending to family matters. I have even started to "attend" at my local game on the other side of the GTA using Skype, too.  It's just amazingly convenient for those of us living in large metropolitan area where travel times can be long and significant. Now, admittedly, you do need some hardware to do this right, namely - a good webcam (Microsoft Live HD 720p is recommended) and a good microphone (The Blue Snowball in omnidirecitonal mode is IDEAL for this purpose).But add those gadgets to the game and add in Skype Beta? It works: completely and almost perfectly. This is as "Meet George Jetson" as my 21st century life is proving to be. I don't get flying cars and my dog is decidedly low tech. But my gaming sessions? I attend via Skype video conferencing far more often than not these days. And damned if it doesn't work far better than I ever thought it would.</blockquote>

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