I have used roll20 for some time now, and use DL and I like it. I think it does add something that you do not get at the table. Which is a perspective what the actual character might or might not see. However for most of us use to gaming at the table this can be really jarring . Its human nature that we are use to having a greater connection to seeing what's drawn or if Mini/Props are used. I think the fog of war would be a nice feature if it wasn't so laggy for roll20. I have used the api and shared vision light tokens to work in similar fashion to provide the same effect.
D&D General Your Thoughts on LoS, Dynamic Lighting on VTTs
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Swarmkeeper
Hero
The toggle for Explorer mode just lets the DM decide whether the players can or cannot see the areas they’ve already explored on a map regardless of whether or not those areas become blocked again by walls/obstacles.
iserith
Magic Wordsmith
Yeah, I play in a Foundry game and seriously considered running my next campaign with it, but my experience has been such that I know a good portion of my sessions would be troubleshooting bugs and explaining how to do stuff to the players. So I just can't justify it. Better to stay with Roll20 for us.
Nebulous
Legend
This is good to know. I was under the impression that Foundry was out-of-the-gate more easily tweakable than Roll20. I have the Plus account so I can modify APIs, but it's a pain. When it works it works very well, but I wish so much of that automation was easier to do with just a toggle on and off button. Foundry sounds like it probably similar but just in a different way. I think the main thing holding me back is the learning curve to adjust, but I might as well fiddle a little bit.
Nebulous
Legend
I use dynamic lighting extensively in exploration mode when PCs are traversing the campaign map. They can see where they're been, but it is grayed out. I can control the light radius around their token, giving them as little or as much view of the landscape as I want. I embed images directly the map, sometimes on Map layer, sometimes a token or GM layer, depending on what I need. If they zoom all the way out they can see that most of the map is jet BLACK and they've only uncovered about 1/10th of it. I have the hex scale set to miles, so I can use the measure tool and tell them exactly how long a journey is, even if a destination is in a blacked out part of the map they haven't uncovered. "Zobeck? Oh...yeah, that's 250 miles away."
Nebulous
Legend
That's my issue too. We all know Roll20. I've spent the past year busting my ass on this system, and I know how to massage it do what I want, and frankly I'm very pleased. I've gotten over most of the fiddly bits and can fix problems on the fly with a minimum of fuss. But for some reason Roll20 rolls out changes like molasses. It's really, really slow. I don't know why.
It's true Roll20 Api is almost a must and not as difficult to use compared to say the setup of fantasy grounds. I have been looking it Foundry mostly because of cost when comparing to FG and Roll20. It may even improve performance issue given the proper setup (something $50 US one time fee and self hosting). I haven't made the leap yet because of two factors 1. Gaming community the sheer size of roll20 make it attractive 2. I currently have 2 campaigns running that I would not want to switch in the middle of. Coming from an IT background I'm sure there is going to be a learning curve, but for me that's probably easier than it is for others. Either way its time sync to learn but from what I have seen it maybe worth trying.
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
One of my favorite usages of dynamic lighting I've seen so far in online play is in a Stonehell megadungeon OSE game, where we use TotM for combat and just have a single token for the party moving around the map. The DM doesn't use Explorer mode, so we NEED to make maps for ourselves to avoid the risk of getting lost.
It's been one of the most exciting and old-school elements of play I've had in online D&D. A few sessions ago we were inattentive and DID take a wrong turn fleeing from a wraith! One PC got drained of two levels as a result, and we were lucky to escape.
I'm a bit of a luddite; in my own games I just use Fog of War and reveal the maps in stages as appropriate. But in my bigger dungeons which require multiple trips, I do usually reset the FoW for a given level, so the players have to remember the layout or make maps for themselves. One of them was quite good at the latter and it really aided the party's planning for subsequent delves. Other players have not been as attentive, gotten disoriented or forgotten where a given room was, and that's been a pretty fun old-school element of play as well.
TheSword
Legend
If you want something more exotic you should check out De Architecturart. He specializes in beautiful, non western, battlemaps with full building illustrations. A true pleasure to use. I don’t think he’ll mind me showing one. There are about a dozen other building types in the same style. He’s done several other styles as well.
I found his Patreon and nearly fell off my seat. If you’re really stingy you can sign up, pay the month, download everything you want and then Cancel but you’d be missing out on the gorgeous stuff he does. These are just samples of his work readily available on Google but on his Patreon you actually get the sets with floor maps etc.
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TheSword
Legend
I think with lighting I pick my effects to match my maps.
1. You have have the fog of war grey out previous explorations so they can see what they’ve explored but not what has changed there. Very useful for ambushes.
2. You can set it so each player can only see what their token can see, but you can also set it so you can see what any other player can. At times this is really useful.
3. You can vary lines of sight and quality. So for instance a character who has darkvision can only see dimly. Whereas a character with a torch can see brightly and also illuminate for other people.
4. You can create a torch token for if characters drop these. Or cast light on an object.
5. If a character is blinded or affected by darkness you can literally switch off their sight, forcing them to feel their way around the map by wall boundaries - a lot of fun online with other players trying to tell them where they are.
It takes me about my 5 minutes to put the dynamic barriers in for a typical dungeon level. Use blue lines so they stand out and keep them narrow width so you can see the walls. I tend to use regular width for the doors so they’re easier to delete when opened. The key to this is matching the grid to the walls. Most dungeon maps mark to grid lines anyway. Holding shift+Z snaps to the grid meaning you can just approximately click in that area and it will always snap. If you have a weird bit or a curve don’t press it and you can shape it. Don’t worry about exactly tracing a shape. Pull back a 1/4 square and show some wall. It doesn’t need to be perfect. In fact rougher looks a little better I think.
The most annoying thing is having to move to the light sheet in order to open doors but you soon get used to that.
When moving I just tell players that when the action starts and I call roll initiative that’s where there character are. Most players don’t want to waste a turn of combat moving to the door. It encourages them to move up.
When I’m reading descriptions I give them chance to move. What’s the harm in letting them catch up?
If a player says they’re interacting with an object and they’re not close to it. I move them next to it.
I there is something like a trap or ambush I say okay everybody stop. If players keep moving I move them back. This isn’t every fight so it’s not that jarring.
I find that the limited lighting and knowing exactly where they are encourages players to be more engaged and aware - particularly when exploring say a haunted mansion. There is something very exciting about revealing a map a section at a time as your line of sight changes.
On a technical note, I find it helpful to keep maps under 1000 x 1000 pixels and under 30 x 30 squares where possible. It speeds things up a lot. Use smaller where you can.
1. You have have the fog of war grey out previous explorations so they can see what they’ve explored but not what has changed there. Very useful for ambushes.
2. You can set it so each player can only see what their token can see, but you can also set it so you can see what any other player can. At times this is really useful.
3. You can vary lines of sight and quality. So for instance a character who has darkvision can only see dimly. Whereas a character with a torch can see brightly and also illuminate for other people.
4. You can create a torch token for if characters drop these. Or cast light on an object.
5. If a character is blinded or affected by darkness you can literally switch off their sight, forcing them to feel their way around the map by wall boundaries - a lot of fun online with other players trying to tell them where they are.
It takes me about my 5 minutes to put the dynamic barriers in for a typical dungeon level. Use blue lines so they stand out and keep them narrow width so you can see the walls. I tend to use regular width for the doors so they’re easier to delete when opened. The key to this is matching the grid to the walls. Most dungeon maps mark to grid lines anyway. Holding shift+Z snaps to the grid meaning you can just approximately click in that area and it will always snap. If you have a weird bit or a curve don’t press it and you can shape it. Don’t worry about exactly tracing a shape. Pull back a 1/4 square and show some wall. It doesn’t need to be perfect. In fact rougher looks a little better I think.
The most annoying thing is having to move to the light sheet in order to open doors but you soon get used to that.
When moving I just tell players that when the action starts and I call roll initiative that’s where there character are. Most players don’t want to waste a turn of combat moving to the door. It encourages them to move up.
When I’m reading descriptions I give them chance to move. What’s the harm in letting them catch up?
If a player says they’re interacting with an object and they’re not close to it. I move them next to it.
I there is something like a trap or ambush I say okay everybody stop. If players keep moving I move them back. This isn’t every fight so it’s not that jarring.
I find that the limited lighting and knowing exactly where they are encourages players to be more engaged and aware - particularly when exploring say a haunted mansion. There is something very exciting about revealing a map a section at a time as your line of sight changes.
On a technical note, I find it helpful to keep maps under 1000 x 1000 pixels and under 30 x 30 squares where possible. It speeds things up a lot. Use smaller where you can.
