I do some online playing, and it does lose something, but it's still fun. I use Roll20, mostly because it's free, but it's not difficult to use either.
It usually requires a little advance work to use tactical maps, because it's a little slower than drawing by hand. It's also fairly important to keep focused, because, at least for me, it's easier to get distracted when you're not sitting down to the table.
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Maptool (rptools.net), Roll20 (roll20.net), and RPGTonight are the most popular VTT's currently.
As far as websites, thetangledweb.net is a VTT themed site, and there are a few others throughout the internet that service our crowd.
Been an *almost* VTT Only gamer since '05. Feel free to private message me if you have any questions about it.
I feel Roll20 is best.
Tell your girlfriend that I said that's a sign of a pathologically codependent relationship.
Roll20.net is what I use, and it's the only way that I am able to play (I refuse to do anything play-by-post). And yeah, making maps in roll20 is that easy. But it can also be fairly time-consuming as well. There are a number of free tokens to use in the Art Library section of the roll20 application, but they also have some things for sale.
Most people use Skype for voice chat, some just use the roll20 chat and go text. Not many use the built-in voice/video chat system of roll20, as it is really inferior, and captures every little sound from people's microphones.
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Kinda. I believe there's a tutorial on their site about adding itcand aligning the grid.itcand? What's that?
Would anyone be interested in running an online game sometime with me? So I can learn the ropes? Maybe just the beginner box adventure?
cell phone typo.
i run a weekly maptool game (with skype), you're more than welcome to join us this Sunday if you want to sit through it. we run from 8pm - 11pm US Central time. pm here, email at archmagi1 at yahoo.com, or skype name archmagi1.
I've been playing online for years using Fantasy Grounds, and I think it's fantastic. It's slightly different from the others, in that it's not browser-based - it's purpose-built software. Also, the GM's machine acts as the server, and all the players connect to that. The software has been written to simulate the tabletop environment, with a lot of behind-the-scenes automation. They keep improving the software, too, and there's an extremely friendly and helpful community of users.
And where can you get maps for roll20 to import?
You can search the web for maps right on the images tab in Roll20.
Or you could pull them out of the PDF — a forum search will turn up a half dozen threads that discuss this. I'm too lazy to repeat it.
Would you say its fairly easy to find a game to join?
As you're playing Pathfinder, it should be fairly easy. It depends on what days and times you're available, and what sort of game you're looking for. If you only have the demo version of the software, you'll need to find a GM who has the Ultimate licence. But this weekend is the third Fantasy Grounds con, which should make it even easier to find a game!
Does anyone know how popular and widely-used the various tools are relative to each other? Most of the PFS online games I see are using Roll20, but that's a pretty narrow sample.
That's because Roll20 is relatively new, and it cannibalized at least one other recently emerging VTT (Tabletop Forge).
Those products both eliminated the awkward network issues that plague stand-alone VTTs like MapTool. There is a population for whom this is a non-issue, but for 80-90% of people, asking them to set up port forwarding to play a multi-user game may as well be greek.
Roll20 also has the advantage of being a product. I'm paying them $10* a month to add new features, and they have performed very well at this. It seems like every week I get a message on the face book that they've added something cool. Half the time it's something I wanted/requested, half the time it's a total surprise that is better than anything I thought possible.
*It's free. I choose to support them with money.
I hope there continues to be healthy competition in this market. Paizo itself is jumping into the fray. But right now, in my opinion, Roll20 is leading the pack. I hope someone else comes along and gives them a run for their money, it would only benefit the players.
I'm very happy with my Roll20 experience so far and am planning on buying a subscription once I have the extra cash.
DO IT! I want to see what these guys can do if it's their full-time job.
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I meet with my group in person, but since I am moving next summer I went looking for a VTT I could use with no additional costs. I hit upon Roll20 and we started testing it last week. We will be using it again this week.
Thus far it looks great and works very well. Surprisingly it cut down some prep time and some lulls in the game as I could have the maps ready to go right off the bat. Fog of war helps me beautifully in keeping them from seeing things in advance and everyone seemed to love it.
Our worst rolling player switched to the virtual dice roller. He rolled better using that than he does with real dice. They all switched to that as they noticed no difference between their dice rolls and the computer (aside from the guy who has rolled nat ones several times in a row with real dice). They also enjoyed setting up Macros fro their dice rolls so they could get it all done in one roll.
I saw more streamlined combat since they could just run through them easily and they loved the Turn Tracker. They actually mostly were ready on their turn. I just wish I could hide my dice rolls and use the roller as well. My players want me to keep my rolls a secret from them.
All in all so far it is a very positive experience. I am very much planning to pay them for getting even more features. I just need some money, but that will be resolved at some point as my mother has offered to pay for the sub. I also plan to point out they can donate money to help me pay for a subscription to them.
I just wish I could hide my dice rolls and use the roller as well. My players want me to keep my rolls a secret from them.
Your wish is granted!
/gmroll <whatever dice notation>
Does Roll20 allow you to setup either tabs of macros that you can click or associate them with icons? How they handled macros was one of my biggest problem that's kept me away from them even though I backed the kickstarter at a pretty high level.
I'm not quite sure what you mean, but I can say they've done a lot to change macro organization lately.
In the beginning you got one big list that was associated with your account. Now you can store macros on character sheets associated with tokens. Recently, they did a preview that allows you to access variables on specific tokens, which is something you could do in MapTool that I've missed.
Things have come a long way, and they're still progressing.
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I just wish I could hide my dice rolls and use the roller as well. My players want me to keep my rolls a secret from them.Your wish is granted!
/gmroll <whatever dice notation>
Thank you so much evil Lincoln! That will be very useful to me.. My friends will be very happy to see I can adjust as those virtual rolls were slaughtering them last week and they like to be surprised on what happens with my rolls.
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Does anyone know how popular and widely-used the various tools are relative to each other? Most of the PFS online games I see are using Roll20, but that's a pretty narrow sample.
I'm not sure how you'd be able to work that out - most answers to that question would be opinion or hearsay. Fantasy Grounds publishes an annual report that reports on the number of licences sold, but I don't know if any of the others do something similar. There are plenty of PFS games run in Fantasy Grounds, if that helps you. I'd say your best bet is to dip your toe in the waters of each community, and see whether it suits you, and how easy it is to get the sort of game you're looking for.
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I'd say your best bet is to dip your toe in the waters of each community, and see whether it suits you, and how easy it is to get the sort of game you're looking for.
This is probably some of the best advice given.
Roll20, for what its worth, seems to be on the uptick in growth, whereas FG and Maptool seem to have slowed a bit. Maptool, for instance, is over half a decade old (v1.0b112 files are dated 7/2006), whereas Roll20 is an infant (2012ish?). Given how things evolve on the internet, in a few years, Roll20 is likely to be the frontrunner (or will it be Paizo Game Space?), while Maptool 2.0, FG and RPGTonight are all trying to reinnovate and retake their once held leads. Fortunately, VTT is still a competitive market, so even though there are lags of innovation for each product, eventually, the market corrects itself and we see leaps in usability and customization.
Roll20, if only I didn't have years of developing detailed Maptool macros, I'd probably use you.
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Does Roll20 allow you to setup either tabs of macros that you can click or associate them with icons? How they handled macros was one of my biggest problem that's kept me away from them even though I backed the kickstarter at a pretty high level.I'm not quite sure what you mean, but I can say they've done a lot to change macro organization lately.
In the beginning you got one big list that was associated with your account. Now you can store macros on character sheets associated with tokens. Recently, they did a preview that allows you to access variables on specific tokens, which is something you could do in MapTool that I've missed.
Things have come a long way, and they're still progressing.
Sounds like I'll have to check it out once my group gets past the major areas I already have prepped in TTop
To the OP:
I suggest going to the Roll20 site and hit "Looking for Group."
You can narrow it to your available time frame.
There are groups that specifically invite newbies.
There are GM's that run one-off scenarios on a regular basis.
Plenty of ways to get your feet wet.
You could even promote yourself as "Group of Players new to Roll20 seek GM" kind of thing.
Try it as a player before trying to GM for your friends.
I have met some terrific people to game with there.
Maptool (rptools.net), Roll20 (roll20.net), and RPGTonight are the most popular VTT's currently.
RPGtonight has not been around for several months....but its genetically modified chimera offspring may see the light of day again...for totally different purposes.
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I've been using CA (Combat Assistant) since well before R20 came out (Maptool always felt too complicated).
When Roll20 got as much hype as it did, I gave it a go GMing with it for a few games and it still feels pretty complicated, at least in comparison with CA. Some people tell me their prep time is quick Roll20, but even when I felt like I knew what I was doing, the same prep in CA is 5 minute's work.
I paid for a R20 account to get the full experience with dynamic lighting, but I felt even that was pretty underwhelming - even problematic. I had players accidentally moving their tokens into darkened areas behind walls and not being able to get them out without my intervention. The best thing R20 has going for it, for me, is the zooming. Lighting can work for the game, but it feels like more work than it's worth.
In CA, players don't move their own tokens at all and there's no lighting support (you tell the GM where you want to move and you metagame what you can and can't see, although the GM can block areas the whole party can't see, just like you would on a real table). Tokens in CA aren't jpg's - they're just coloured circular tokens with letters on them. Everything hinges on abstract and simplicity, and it works surprisingly well.