So I'm aware there are many VTT programs out there: Rolld20, Maptools, Fantasy Grounds, and probably many more.
So here's our setup: We never play online; it's always a local game, and we always have the interactive PDFs downloaded from Paizo for the appropriate AP.
So we've got a laptop, and we've got a big-screen TV, and we'd like to display the maps on the wall so the players have a better understanding of where they are and what they're seeing.
REQUIREMENT #1: Display only the portions of the map that the PCs have already explored.
- I tried this using the "free" method (showing the PDF in Adobe Reader and putting a bunch of Notepad windows to hide what they haven't seen) and it's totally untenable. I'd like something where the software either recognizes "rooms" or lets me mask them off in a "sensible" way. I'd like to take under an hour to prep a map for display.
ALMOST A REQUIREMENT #1: An interactive battle mat where I can show where each PC/enemy is and move them with a simple, "Drag the icon to the new square."
NICE FEATURE I'M LOOKING FOR #1: If I enter difficult/impassible terrain on the map and each creature's movement speed and movement type, the software shows me where each creature can move during its turn.
NICE FEATURE I'M LOOKING FOR #2: If I enter a creature's senses and the lighting for the map, the software shows me what each creature can see.
I've heard that Rolld20 will do all this for me, but I've also heard people singing the praises of Fantasy Grounds, so before spending hours researching on my own, I figured I'd tap the wonderful Paizo community-at-large to get opinions.
Thanks!
I've only used Roll20, so keep that in mind:
1: Fog of War lets you do that.
2: Has a grid setup, assuming the maps can fit to the grid.
Nice1: Unfortunately this does not provide that.
Nice2: And this is also no. (from what I understand.)
I could be wrong.
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So I'm aware there are many VTT programs out there: Rolld20, Maptools, Fantasy Grounds, and probably many more.
So here's our setup: We never play online; it's always a local game, and we always have the interactive PDFs downloaded from Paizo for the appropriate AP.
So we've got a laptop, and we've got a big-screen TV, and we'd like to display the maps on the wall so the players have a better understanding of where they are and what they're seeing.
REQUIREMENT #1: Display only the portions of the map that the PCs have already explored.
- I tried this using the "free" method (showing the PDF in Adobe Reader and putting a bunch of Notepad windows to hide what they haven't seen) and it's totally untenable. I'd like something where the software either recognizes "rooms" or lets me mask them off in a "sensible" way. I'd like to take under an hour to prep a map for display.ALMOST A REQUIREMENT #1: An interactive battle mat where I can show where each PC/enemy is and move them with a simple, "Drag the icon to the new square."
NICE FEATURE I'M LOOKING FOR #1: If I enter difficult/impassible terrain on the map and each creature's movement speed and movement type, the software shows me where each creature can move during its turn.
NICE FEATURE I'M LOOKING FOR #2: If I enter a creature's senses and the lighting for the map, the software shows me what each creature can see.
Roll20.net is your best option due to all of the features, compatibility, and freedom.
Requirement #1 - Yes. Fog of War can be activated to cover the map, or just parts of it. Also, there is dynamic lighting in it now.
Almost Requirement #1 - Yes, it has this too.
Nice Feature #1 - I'm not 100% sure what you are asking... but there is a Ruler option that measures distance out from point to point for you. You can also just move the character, and press the spacebar 1-3 times to show your movement and distance traveled.
Nice Feature #2 - I'm not sure what you mean here. If you mean when they have blindsense and such, I don't believe that is automatically calculated. There is the option of marking a creature with a tag(right click their icon and choose a tag) to represent that they have tremorsense or whatever.
I'd recommend actually setting up a projector(mount on ceiling or high wall) with a mighty long VGA/DVI/HDMI cord, and projecting down onto a table. I actually have dry-erase(thin kind) board command stripped onto the table next to one another for the projector to display on. Sometimes the shine is irritating, but it's nice if the GM needs to draw on it. Anyways, Then, open a "player roll20 account" in a secondary browser and display it on the projector. Then use your "gm roll20 account" on your primary browser on your laptop. Things still stay secret for you, and surprising for your players. Not only that, but since you have your stuff with you, people can send/receive secret messages :)
That's my current setup, and GOD I LOVE IT. Money DAMN WELL SPENT.
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Really happy to see people jump on the bandwagon for "playing with Roll20 in the room". All my players have laptops, because they are middle class adults under 30. (I'm wondering when we'll get really preppy and move to tablets.) That means all of them have total control of all the information they need, in the same space as a character sheet and a few books.
I love having all my bells and whistles and still being able to have face-to-face interactions with my players. Plus, when one of them is out of town, almost nothing about our game has to change.
Roll20.net fanboys unite.
Roll20 has a "dynamic lighting" feature, where you can show the different light. You can give a character token darkvision (always having light out to 60 feet), you can turn light on for a character carrying a torch or such, and show the amount of light a torch on the wall emits. That way, you can have fog of war always on, and this also encourages someone to be "mapkeeper" when going into a dungeon. Downside to this, is that only those who pay a subscription (believe it is 5 bucks a month? could be wrong on that). Otherwise, you just have generic fog of war, but no lighting capabilities.
Roll20.net is completely free to use (minus a few features for paying people, but those are rather few), so you can try it out for yourself to get a feel for it. I believe MapTool is free as well, but not sure about Fantasygrounds. I know there is one out there that you have to purchase. One of the best things about Roll20 is that you don't have to download a program to use it.
Roll20 does this. The others, I dont know, but I do know roll20 is every easy to learn.
Don't worry, Kazumetsa, the projector's coming -- just have to save up enough for a decent one. From what I've read, the cheapo $300 ones don't have the contrast necessary for daytime games in our living room -- seems like I need to shell out $900-$1200 to get the brightness I'll need, and that'll take some time.
If you don't mind my asking, what make/model projector do you use?
P.S. OK, OK already! I'll grab Roll20 and start playing with it over the weekend! :-P
P.P.S. Yes, I'm one of those freaks who actually believes in supporting shareware/open source (I hesitate to admit how many checks I've sent out over the years for shareware that everyone else claims is "free"), so once I've tried Roll20 a bit, I'll almost certainly subscribe...
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Don't worry, Kazumetsa, the projector's coming -- just have to save up enough for a decent one. From what I've read, the cheapo $300 ones don't have the contrast necessary for daytime games in our living room -- seems like I need to shell out $900-$1200 to get the brightness I'll need, and that'll take some time.
If you don't mind my asking, what make/model projector do you use?
P.S. OK, OK already! I'll grab Roll20 and start playing with it over the weekend! :-P
P.P.S. Yes, I'm one of those freaks who actually believes in supporting shareware/open source (I hesitate to admit how many checks I've sent out over the years for shareware that everyone else claims is "free"), so once I've tried Roll20 a bit, I'll almost certainly subscribe...
Awesome! I honestly don't remember... as it was a "donation" from a previous employment :) It's a doodoo Dell, but it is crisp, clear, and bright enough for the job, surprisingly. The only problem is the DLP chip is slowly going out, leaving black pixels scattered on white colors and vice versa. :T Don't go with Dell - They aren't "long-run" products.... to say the least. Even with the CeilingLight on, we can still see the board clearly. Honestly, Dim Light is all ya need to work with. So don't go nuts on price my friend!
I donate to roll20 as well, just becasue they deserve it for their brilliant system. Cheers!
If you're looking to shell-out $900+, you might also consider embedding an LED HDTV in the tabletop. There was some discussion about this approach back in January in this thread.
As for MapTool, the setup is pretty much identical to to the Roll20 setup Kazumetsa described — one instance running as a server, the other connecting to that server as a player. In terms of features, it will handle R1, AR1, and NF2. NF2 (sight) will be revealed when you hover click upon a particular creature. In areas where everyone can see, you can quickly determine line-of-sight to/from a particular creature by hovering your mouse over its token, like so.
I play with my group mostly online, but it would equate just as well to the local version.
Fantasy Grounds is what we use. We tried using Roll20.net and some of the set up for players was a bit unintuitive. All of the rolls for just about everything are preset in FG II, and they've made targetting for combat very easy.
It has the same capabilities as Roll20.net as far as fog of war etc. It also gives you the ability to lock down tokens on the map, which puts a marker on the map when each person wants to move. The GM can then accept the move or modify it. With the community that FG II has, all of the effects for almost all of the spells are created for you already, and applying them is a drag and drop.
The FG II program takes far less set up time than Roll20.net too. Especially if you have HeroLab, which will export character sheets to a format that can be imported into FG II.
Roll20.net for the extended features, like dynamic lighting etc, comes with an annual fee, while the FG II software is $115 for the ultimate edition that allows for a GM, and an infinite number of players. If you split that between 6 people it's about $20 a person, and there's no further cost.
Ultimately it comes down to choice. My players did not like Roll20's interface, so we opted for FG II.
Kelarith...
Does Fantasy Grounds allow the Players to manipulate their own tokens? (Some of my players commission art, and want to have the latest and greatest artwork as their token.
What sort of rights does it give to the players, because Roll20 does require a lot of input from the DM.
How about existing maps? Does the community make/recreate maps for adventure paths?
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon
If you're looking to shell-out $900+, you might also consider embedding an LED HDTV in the tabletop.
LOL. One of our players has spent the last few months building a mahogany table with built-in TV for EXACTLY that purpose.
It's a work of art, but I'm Mr. "Lazy-how-can-I-throw-money-at-it-and-make-it-work?", so I like screwing a projector into the ceiling, getting software that does exactly what I want, and being done.
So yeah, everything we've read puts the decision squarely between Roll20 and FG. Since our players insist on maintaining their own character sheets and making their own rolls, the ability to export from Hero Labs (which we have) into FG is most likely a "plus that no one will ever use".
We'll see.
Since both programs have free trials, I'll play around over the next couple of weeks and post back here.
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If you're looking to shell-out $900+, you might also consider embedding an LED HDTV in the tabletop. There was some discussion about this approach back in January in this thread.
As for MapTool, the setup is pretty much identical to to the Roll20 setup Kazumetsa described — one instance running as a server, the other connecting to that server as a player. In terms of features, it will handle R1, AR1, and NF2. NF2 (sight) will be revealed when you hover click upon a particular creature. In areas where everyone can see, you can quickly determine line-of-sight to/from a particular creature by hovering your mouse over its token, like so.
That's the setup I almost went with initially, but then Spilling of Beer and Splattering of Food came to mind, along with scuffs, scratches, breaks, etc. Then I decided to go with the dry-erase boards covering most of the table. They're resistent to almost everything, easily swapped out and for cheap, fairly long lasting, and provide a nice bounce to dice.
...I'm Mr. "Lazy-how-can-I-throw-money-at-it-and-make-it-work?", so I like screwing a projector into the ceiling, getting software that does exactly what I want, and being done.
Heh, fair enough. I myself don't mind the upfront effort if it will result in what I perceive as a more hassle-free end product, but it IS a lot more effort, I'll give you that. :)
That's the setup I almost went with initially, but then Spilling of Beer and Splattering of Food came to mind, along with scuffs, scratches, breaks, etc.
Yeah, if one doesn't plan for those sort of mishaps in advance then I'd expect much sadness and wrath before too long. In that respect, glass (rather than plexiglass) would probably be a safer bet. As for smooth dice rolling, that's what these babies are for. :D
Well Maptools have everything you want in and is free. It has a fog of war and dynamic lighting is un surpassed by any other VTT. But it is a not very user friendly for programing and adding extra features. While it can do it, it just not easy to do. I notice dm using it have to down load other program to keep track of hp, init order stuff like that.
MapTool can be a bit hard to learn, but there's actually a KickStarter going on right now (9 days left) to support a new and improved version. Just $1G left until they meet goal.
KickStarter: Mote - A Powerful, Free, & User-Friendly Virtual Tabletop
Maptool is far more capable and easier to navigate the features you mention. My group has used both Roll20 and Maptool, so we have the experience to compare the two, and everyone prefers Maptool.
It's much easier to delineate rooms, windows, zoom in/out with a simple scroll wheel, etc. in Maptool. Many of these things can be done with Roll20, but are a pain in the neck compared to Maptool.
@Better With Bacon: You can drop just about any artwork into FGII for both character art and tokens. It allows for a user to set up a character to bring to a campaign, as well, so the artwork will travel.
There are also a lot of community members that have been converting the APs, so they're ready to play. Couple that with the Pathfinder ruleset built in, it makes playing the APs a snap.
They've made big improvements in the interface too. At this point, a character simply needs to click on their own token, and then ctrl-click the target, or targets. After that, casting a spell auto rolls saving throws for the targets (if needed). The same with combat, target, dbl click to hit, dbl click for damage if you hit. Effects are similarly easy to apply. You can drop the effects into a spell, making them castable. Target your targets, hit the effect button, and the effect, with duration, etc are applied. All of that functionality is built in.
There's another table out there too, EpicTable, which is a new arrival, and is super user-friendly. There are some great features, and still some great features coming.
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Yeah, if one doesn't plan for those sort of mishaps in advance then I'd expect much sadness and wrath before too long. In that respect, glass (rather than plexiglass) would probably be a safer bet. As for smooth dice rolling, that's what these babies are for. :D
YEESSS. A lot of sadness and wrath!!
I love those dice trays btw. Nothing has felt more perfect for rolling dice. I refuse to use anything else.
Dotting for interest.