Hello Paizo message boards. First time poster so go easy on the newbie.
I have a query regarding online play.
My Pathfinder group has splintered this year and spread out accross the globe, making getting together for campaign near impossible.
I am looking into options for playing via the internet.
Have tried PBP gaming before and found it to be slow and uninspiring, so I'm looking to shake things up by using one of the many digital tabletop websites out there like d20 pro.
Has anyone got any exeriance using these programs? Do any of them have a clear advantage over others? Is there one that favors the PFRPG system that people can recommend?
I like to run a very multimedia campaign using my groups online forum. Which are the best of these digital tabletops from a GM perspective? As I wish to use PDF's, CAD drawn maps, excel spreadsheets, raster images, Hero lab character sheets and powerpoint presentations in my campaign. Are there any Digital tabletop programs that people can recommend for a GM who likes to make and distribute lots of props?
I don't know much about the other options, but TTopRPG http://www.ttoprpg.com/TTopRPG/index.htm is what I use.
It does what I need, but it's not really that multimedia-savy.
I'm a regular user of Fantasy Grounds and prefer it over the others.
I know quite a few people here favor Maptools.
There are also a few other threads on these boards comparing the various VTTs and their advantages/disadvantages.
I would give a serious look to MapTool with the Pathfinder framework or TTtopRPG. Both are great tools and work well for playing online with a VTT.
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D20pro is what I use and I love it.It also has the added benefit of being able to import files from Herolab.
See this video for a little look at the program
You can run basically any d20 based game with it with some tweaking and modifying. You can get the Pathfinder files from the site and I have created the entire Pathinder Bestiary files from Herolab for use as well.
And you can run a free 30 day trial of the Judges licence. Players licences are free as long as the judge has guest slots open.
Wow, some awesome responses so far.
Gonna read up on these suggestions later once I've finished tonights session (I run 3 campaigns and counting...).
Some advice on running a campaign using these programs would be awesome!
Thank you Neofax.
And of course thanks to everyone who's put in their 5 cents so far.
This is my group:
1 GM plus 4-5 players.
Timezones: UK, Spain, Chicago
All have internet access (barely) but not all are technically savvy or own high spec computers.
I'm hoping most VTT software can run on low spec Laptops...
The PDF, Spreadsheet and Powerpoint files will have to be distributed via email and my campaign forum as per usual then. Maybe hyperlinked from inside of the VTT?
Quite keen to test out my CAD custom ribbon for Map design, can't be bothered do things the easy way with map making software so any VTT that allows me to upload my creations sounds good to me.
I use a somewhat tricked out version of D20Pro as well -- tricked out in that I've gone through and hand-entered combat maneuver attacks, CMDs, and other personalized touches. Basically I've sought to automate combat as much as possible, since I tend to be forgetful about little details on the fly. It's been working very well for me (with a few areas that could use further refinement, granted). In fact, as I said to the Mindgene guys at GenCon, "My game group exists because of D20Pro."
On top of D20Pro, we use Skype for voice chat and I use Hero Lab to knock out PC and NPCs stats quickly -- very handy while converting Legacy of Fire from 3.5 to Pathfinder.
I been playing in a Rptools Maptool game for the the last 3 years, and we've had games where the GM was in th U.K., and players were in 4 different states from the east coast to the west and various meetings where people were away on business and it ran on some older laptops just fine.
Since the GM's computer acts as the server (and if you use the initool) it's a little more processor intensive, but I believe at least once the GM ran it from a laptop or netbook.
It's free as of yet (open source) and coupled with skype for voice and ooc chat it works well for our group, the disconnect from not being at the same table physically seems to have actually enhanced the RP and suspension of disbelief to some extent.
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Since the GM's computer acts as the server (and if you use the initool) it's a little more processor intensive, but I believe at least once the GM ran it from a laptop or netbook.
Any players machine can act as the server, or it can be a machine running MapTool that's not even being used in the game.
I would suggest running it on the machine with the best network bandwidth! The cpu load difference between player and GM is minimal.
It's free as of yet (open source)
And it will always be free. The code is completely covered under the Apache 2.0 license. (Similar to the BSD and MIT licenses.)
and coupled with skype for voice and ooc chat it works well for our group,
Yes, we use Ventrilo normally and I've used TeamSpeak in the past. I know some folks use ooVoo (supports video with multiple connections) and I believe Neofax runs a Mumble server occasionally so he can host his own audio. (In addition to a Vent server.)
the disconnect from not being at the same table physically seems to have actually enhanced the RP and suspension of disbelief to some extent.
I've been using MapTool as a GM since 2006 or so and it's been wonderful to watch it evolve.
<disclaimer>
Since I'm a forum hacker and Java programmer, I've taken over as the site admin for RPTools.net and I am now the coordinator for MapTool builds.
</disclaimer>
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I don't know much about the other options, but TTopRPG http://www.ttoprpg.com/TTopRPG/index.htm is what I use.
It does what I need, but it's not really that multimedia-savy.
I second this one. We use it a a couple times a month for PFS and AP games and everyone in the games really like it. Very low learning curve and very intuitive design.
I'm glad this topic has come up, as I've been meaning to broach it myself.
I've been wanting to try an online game using some sort of visual tabletop and voice/ video system so that my old now far-flung group can both see and interact with the map and each other. We've been talking about testing the video chat out with Skype and I've been tentatively looking for the virtual tabletop.
My only concern has been the learning curve for using the vtt. Between trying to schedule games, put together the campaign and prepare the maps, I don't really have a lot of time to try and learn a complicated program. How easy is Maptools to use for the novice? Are people able to take the maps from the AP pdfs and easily incorporate them?
Can TTopRpg be used easily with Skype or some other audio/visual program?
Can TTopRpg be used easily with Skype or some other audio/visual program?
I've played in various TTopRPG + Skype games, and they usually worked fine (ditto for Maptools + Ventrilo). The only caveat would be if someone were trying to host both of those on the same low-memory computer or using a flaky internet connection.
Maptool + Skype has worked really well for our group for the last two years.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
I don't use Adobe Reader anymore, prefering Foxit Reader and I've been using SomePDF Image Extractor. I've also downloaded GIMP but I'm still figuring it out.
As stated before, I am willing to run "one-shots" to show anyone how to use MapTools or d20Pro. I just need to be able to fit the time into my schedule. My email is neofax99 <AT> gmail dot com.
I might seriously have to take you up on that offer. Unfortunately, now that the holiday madness has begun it'll probably have to wait until December is over.
I've only got Skype so far. Any advice on whether Skype or Ventrilo (or the others) works better for this kind of use?
I've only got Skype so far. Any advice on whether Skype or Ventrilo (or the others) works better for this kind of use?
I much prefer Skype (to me it seems more like a regular tabletop discussion), but others much prefer Ventrilo (for one thing, it's easier to mute the mike if you have background noise).
My uber-pc should be able to handle the server load for my group.
I will probably take you up on your offer neofax once I've gotten through the last of my F2F campaign for this month and a CAD conference I'm off to.
I'm Reading through the options people suggested so far and I'm liking d20pro.
Just about to delve into maptools.
Two points to clarify:
First. I have decided to obtain the hero lab pathfinder licences. Just cos that piece of software is easier to use for creating accurate Npc/ monsters as well as track character sheets via editable and PDF printable backups. In this regard I am hoping to save a lot of prep time and I am loathe to lose such an advantage in my proposed VTT campaign.
So which of these vtt are compatable with hero lab? I saw in the other thread that map tools could use hero lab stat blocks as 'tokens' and lone wolf development seems to like d20 pro.
Second. While as I'll be hosting using a Pc. One of my players uses a Mac. Another uses a laptop cobbled together with some open source software (Linux? Ubuntu?). And a few of us have iPhones and androids etc.
So the question is: which VTT's are compatable with these computers/devices?
Hmm so for me this has been narrowed down to Maptool and D20pro.
Both are Pfrpg compateable.
Both are Hero lab compateable.
Both are multimedia friendly.
I will be focussing my own research on these, but first I ask the experts:
What are the pro's and cons of each?
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We use Maptools for our games, even though we're in the same room. I pop up a player map on my 52" LCD using a Windows machine and my GM uses his Macbook Pro for all his GM'ing needs including rolling dice. It runs real nice except for when I have network issues but that's going to be a problem with anything.
For those with Android phones, using PDA Net will get a laptop connected to the web through the phone's network. This may be an option for those with limited web access.