Virtual tabletop software is here, it works and it's great. Depending on your preferences you can get highly focused, game-specific commercial software, or free open-ended DIY toolkits like Maptool.
What's good for VTs is good for the RPG business. All print media are suffering these days, but RPGs are facing especially vicious competition with their flashier videogame cousins for consumer time, dollars, and mindshare. VTs help to address this: they add some much needed visual flash to the game without being an in-depth gamedev toolkit commitment (like NWN). They track rules and modifiers, freeing the GM and players from that tedium; at least insofar as they want to be freed from such things. It also solves the problems of scheduling and commuting that face adult players: my group is spread over three time-zones and we play from our own couches. If it weren't for this software, I wouldn't play, and I wouldn't be buying RPG products at all.
VTs won't replace traditional play, but they are growing significantly. There are two approaches that a modern RPG company could take in order to capitalize on this trend: create your own 'perfect' VT and sell it, or support the existing culture by enabling them to use your product more efficiently. WotC has chosen the former, and I am convinced they will suffer for it. There's no need for them to dabble in software production, and historically they have always gotten burned by undertaking such tasks (with the possible exception of the gold boxes). There are already free products with more functionality that they are offering.
The better approach is to simply create the product as you would normally, but reach out to virtual tabletop users. (to be continued)
More or less my thoughts.
VTs make getting a group together SO MUCH easier. Maptool is the sole reason I am able to have a weekly group consisting of my old high school DnDers.
VTs saved my life!
Virtual tabletop software is here, it works and it's great. Depending on your preferences you can get highly focused, game-specific commercial software, or free open-ended DIY toolkits like Maptool.
What's good for VTs is good for the RPG business. All print media are suffering these days, but RPGs are facing especially vicious competition with their flashier videogame cousins for consumer time, dollars, and mindshare. VTs help to address this: they add some much needed visual flash to the game without being an in-depth gamedev toolkit commitment (like NWN). They track rules and modifiers, freeing the GM and players from that tedium; at least insofar as they want to be freed from such things. It also solves the problems of scheduling and commuting that face adult players: my group is spread over three time-zones and we play from our own couches. If it weren't for this software, I wouldn't play, and I wouldn't be buying RPG products at all.
VTs won't replace traditional play, but they are growing significantly. There are two approaches that a modern RPG company could take in order to capitalize on this trend: create your own 'perfect' VT and sell it, or support the existing culture by enabling them to use your product more efficiently. WotC has chosen the former, and I am convinced they will suffer for it. There's no need for them to dabble in software production, and historically they have always gotten burned by undertaking such tasks (with the possible exception of the gold boxes). There are already free products with more functionality that they are offering.
The better approach is to simply create the product as you would normally, but reach out to virtual tabletop users. (to be continued)
More or less my thoughts.
VTs make getting a group together SO MUCH easier. Maptool is the sole reason I am able to have a weekly group consisting of my old high school DnDers.
VTs saved my life!
I have many more thoughts forthcoming on how it is possible to encourage Pathfinder support for VTs without Paizo getting directly involved, please share your own ideas as a hardcore VT-er.
The way I see it is that VTs enable an entire audience that would otherwise be unable to play, and in that way they win some of the marketshare back from MMORPGs and the like. Anything Paizo can do to make themselves an attractive choice for VT players over WotC is going to benefit the game's viability in the coming years.
I don't think being directly involved makes sense for them, but formatting the product in a way that helps VT builders can't be bad. I think a bunch of us maptool folks should probably build a campaign file template that supports Pathfinder RPG at least as good as the 4e ones that are out there. (not worth rolling up my sleeves until the final release, but I will)
One way I think Paizo could be better about support (in general) is to create a better system for organizing community submissions on the site. The community created material threads in the AP forums are easily one of the biggest draws here, but poor Grays has to manually update it with new posts, and that's hard to track down. This is one of the greatest features of the Pathfinder APs, and it feels like Paizo takes them for granted or ignores them.
There should be a way for us to share creations on a list with a discussion thread for EACH ITEM, and for the thread as a whole (requests), that has a permanent location so we can reference updates from our bookmarks instead of hunting for Grays's latest compilation. This kind of system could be applied equally to general purpose contributions for the APs, but we could also have a section for campaign file resources and the like.
Just to drive the point home, I consider the Runelords Community Forum to be 50% of the value of the AP itself.
More ideas... not enough time.
I've been thinking on creating adventure mods and campaign settings especially for VTTs for about a year now.
For maps the main consideration is ppi (pixels per inch) as different VT apps utilize different ppi levels. There are guys using MapTool for instance that desire to use the zoom feature and to view map content at fairly hi-res (up to 200 ppi), while many VT apps limit you to 100 ppi or even 50 or 60 ppi.
I was thinking of developing a setting where I can export various resolutions so the game can be ported to many, if not all VTT apps, thus I don't force anyone using my module, to have to use Battlegrounds, MapTool or any other specific VT app. I'd offer choices based on resolution requirements for each VTT app, I'd make readily available.
Also consider that many tabletop gamers are actually using VTT apps with projectors on the wall, or hanging over the table to use miniatures with the VT. So VT is more than just for remote game play.
Because printed can be so expensive (I'm stabbing myself by saying that!) a module could contain every major encounter area mapped out, so users just drop the map into the queue and everyone gets to play on that map. A module can have many maps. Right now that becomes cost prohibitive for tabletop players to the average user who can't possibly print all the maps themselves, or go to printshop (like Gamer-Printshop, my business) and print $200 worth of maps for every module. VT maps never need printed.
I am familiar with Battlegrounds, Fantasygrounds, Viewingdale, MapTool, but I realize there are many more VT apps out there.
GP
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Virtual tabletops are awesome! How else could you gather a few Australians, a Filipino, a Canadian or two, a handful of Americans and even a Scotsman together to go dragon-hunting? :)
I exclusively play with VTTs, primarily because there's no other way for me to organise a group at this stage. Don't know people around my area who are interested... and I live an hour out of the closest town, too. I'm a huge fan of Maptool, though I've never taken the time to learn its module scripting and whatnot... for the record, some poster on the Maptool boards has a campaign dataset that works with Pathfinder rules, but I'm not entirely sure how to use it. (Again... though I use Maptool a lot, I've never really had any use for its more advanced features as of yet. I mostly use it for a place to slap down a map and some tokens, then let the chat screen take over for messages, posting images, ETC. Nothing fancy, but it works.)
Oh, also, seeing as there's a lot of threads about battlemaps and whatnot lately... I have no desire for maps at any higher res, really. I don't have a great connection, and neither do some of my players; I've had some bad experiences with losing connection and the like due to attempts at using huuuuge maps. I don't think anyone actually notices a little bit of pixellation (if it exists... how far are you people zooming in anyway?) But I guess people like me are in the real minority here.
I'm not sure how else Paizo/the community could help with VTT related aspects though. Oh wait, I know one... allow us to play PFS through VTTs! ;)
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I'll weigh in here a bit, if you all will tolerate it. I use not only VTs, but several other digital tools for my game, and they are life-savers.
I use a VT exclusively and I can say that there is no going back to traditional minis once you fully embrace the digital. My main campaign meets in person at my house and we use a projector and laptop. My players love it, and I love it. As a DM, I use the following tools:
Google Sites: http://dnd.educatedgamer.net
We use this site to host all of our character sheets, backgrounds, and bookeeping info. This also has information on the campaign as a whole.
PHPBB Forum: http://forums.educatedgamer.net
We use this site for posting in-character journals.
Evernote: www.evernote.com
I use evernote to keep notes on campaign information, but also on small bits of info, like powercards, clues, or handouts. I can then drag & drop those into notebooks and publish those notebooks for my players to see. Currently, I have 2 notebooks published for them:
Character Treasure - A link to all treasure we have found in the campaign.
Character Notes - Clues, quest cards, and other items of interest that the party has found.
What's great about Evernote is that it's searchable - even within images! Yep, evernote detects words in an image (like the powercards) and catalogs it.
I've been working on several maps for the Rise of the Runelords AP. You can see my conversion site here, which includes not only battlemaps but also a Google Earth Placemark and 4E conversions.
That's all for now. Next post I will discuss my VT solution - the best out there imho. :-)
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Note: This is an endorsement for a product, but it's one that I believe in, and relevant to the topic at hand.
I've tried several VTs out there: Klooge, Maptools, Battlegrounds, Fantasygrounds... and they all left a bit to be desired for me. I think a good VT needs to display maps of any size or resolution, needs to handle GM and player knowledge (fog of war, hidden rolls, hidden units, etc), and be able to accommodate house rules.
In addition, it needs to scale and be as simple or advanced as the user wants. In the advanced end of the scale, it should handle initiative, hp, and ongoing effects with little muss or fuss.
The VT I use is d20pro, and it does pretty much all of that. I'm currently using it to run my 4E Runelords game.
If interested, check it out at: www.d20pro.com and download a 30-day fully functional trial. If you need help getting started, visit the Online Manual.
Digital content has so many benefits:
* PC minis are more customized and varied. Just find an image that you want for your PC and you are set. You can find images online, use your own drawing, or even take a picture of your existing mini. What's better, you can change the image whenever you want.
* Good VTs track hp, initiative, effects, and can even have attacks programmed in, sparing you from the headaches of keeping track of all that on paper. This dramatically speeds up play and allows players and GMs to focus on the really important parts of the game: strategy, storyline, descriptions, and role-playing - NOT bookkeeping.
* Digital maps are CHEAPER than printed ones.
* Digital maps give you more control in the storytelling process. You can control Fog of War or even lay down additional layers (on some VTs) to mark changes or objects that you want to be dynamic. In the Skinsaw Murders, I use this technique in Misgivings to show a curious pattern on the floor after the party moves a rug. I drop an image of the rug on top of the base floor and delete it when the party moves it.
* Of course, VTs allow you to play with people in person or remotely (or in combination). Woohoo!
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Maybe you all can help me. I've been running online campaigns for a few years now. (d20 Modern, D&D, and Star Wars.) We've stuck to the basics, i.e., e-mail. However, VTs have been suggested previously. I've looked and have yet to find one that has "everything" - maps, journals, uploads, downloads, etc. . . . oh, and is free. Given that I run campaigns in three different settings, do you know of any resources I could examine?
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Maybe you all can help me. I've been running online campaigns for a few years now. (d20 Modern, D&D, and Star Wars.) We've stuck to the basics, i.e., e-mail. However, VTs have been suggested previously. I've looked and have yet to find one that has "everything" - maps, journals, uploads, downloads, etc. . . . oh, and is free. Given that I run campaigns in three different settings, do you know of any resources I could examine?
MapTools, OpenRPG, and GMGen (part of PCGen)
OpenRPG is an all in one application, and takes some getting used to. GMGen has some of that functionality. And MapTools (along with the other Tools) is very useful. Take a look at each of those, and judge for yourself. You'll probably also want something like Skype, or some other way to talk to your buddies online.
I am thinking about making the switch to VT gaming and am wondering which product to use. I am not particularly tech savvy and work keeps me pretty busy. Also, I use Pathfinder rules exclusively. Any suggestions would be very welcome.
I am currently running Crimson Throne (we are on Book 6) and Savage Tide (Tides of Dread).
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I am thinking about making the switch to VT gaming and am wondering which product to use. I am not particularly tech savvy and work keeps me pretty busy. Also, I use Pathfinder rules exclusively. Any suggestions would be very welcome.
I am currently running Crimson Throne (we are on Book 6) and Savage Tide (Tides of Dread).
It depends on how many things you wanted automated. Most VTT's do little more than put a map on screen, handle dice rolls, and chat. If you want something that will handle things like character sheets, attack rolls, and what not... there are a few that could fit the bill.
I've played using Fantasy Grounds 2 and D20pro. Both would work, but Fantasy Grounds 2 will work with multiple rule sets. D20pro is designed specifically for D20 of course. There's a Pathfinder fan made rules set extension available from Mindgene. There isn't official support for PF in FG2 yet, but there is a fan made extension.
I'd give both a try. More people use FG2 by far but it is more expensive. It also has some pretty cool 3d dice. ;) If you use Hero Lab I think you'd probably find D20pro the easiest to work with as you could import NPC's and monsters very easily from it.
Here's a link to the PF extensions. Although the last I checked, they don't include any support for the APG classes... ask on their forums.
D20Pro Pathfinder extension
I'm not sure how far along the rule set for FG2 has gotten. There was some talk of Paizo and Smiteworks working out an official deal, but nothing new has been announced as of yet.
FG2 Pathfinder extension
Thanks for the quick responses! I just want to be able to game with my longtime gaming group despite living in different area codes. The simpler it is to learn, the better. Oh, and I know at least one of my players uses a Mac.
I make all my NPCs using HeroLab so I am leaning a little towards d20Pro. However, I'm not too excited about having to mod everything to Pathfinder. Most importantly, I want something that is fully compatible with Pathfinder rules (Core, DMG, Bestiary, APG, etc.)
@Neofax: I'd like to take those programs out for a spin -- I'll email you later when I get back home from work.