Hi,
One of my players just bought a really big HDTV and since we usually play at his house i tought that we could connect that screen to my laptop and move our pathfinder game to a virtual tabletop.
Now i looked on this website, but there are so many!
Has someone had experience with any virtual tabletop (offline mode) and could recommend one to me?
You can call me Dot. Call me Dotty, and you die.
Or, IOW.....
Dot.
For simple, free, and functional I still think Ttop is the best out there.
http://www.ttoprpg.com/ttoprpg/index.htm
Does it need to be offline? Seems to me that you could still be connected to the internet and have the usual bells and whistles that go along with it.
Are you planning on having players have their own connection to it, or to have the GM do everything?
It doesn't need to be offline. I didin't explain the matter properly.
The players won't have their connection to the game, ideally they will look at the TV screen and see the map and the characters that only I will be able to move.With the word "offline" i was trying to say that i won't host the game online with players connected to it or something like that.
The computer will be connected to the internet but my players will continue to use paper and pencil.
You can call me Dot. Call me Dotty, and you die.
Or, IOW.....
Dot.
Hmm... I don't see your point.
For simple, free, and functional I still think Ttop is the best out there.
http://www.ttoprpg.com/ttoprpg/index.htm
Thanks, I gave it a look and it seems really neat to be free.
I will show it to my players soon, but in case they want something fancier, have you got another suggestion to make?The price isn't really a problem since is going to be split in seven.
my DM likes to use maptools
My vote would be map tools. It's by far the most powerful tool out there for VTT so far, it's free, and anything you design you can save to use later.
I do this with my live group, but we have a player also log in and control the other players (or multiple people log in and do their own pcs) and the GM runs the baddies and the map.
If your JUST using it as a battle map and for minis and don't want the tabletop to do anything else, Roll20 isn't a bad choice, and has an easier learning curve than map tools, though less piwer.
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maptools - free - very detailed, can totally run the entire Pathfinder/Dnd 3.5 framework and do all the work for you. Requires client to run on every player machine, Mac or PC compatible (Java based)
Ttop - fast to get up and running, simple to use, does not have all the bells and wistles. Windows only
D20pro - Very professional, co$ts, has dedicated programmer (paid) support. Client based - requires all machines to run the program: max and windows compatible
Roll20 - Web based, so can run on any machine that can run Chrome as a browser. Active community, constantly getting new updates.
I have played and used all of them, all of them are worth having and good to use. Part of it depends on how much time I have as a GM to set up the game or as a player to set up my character and import it into the game. Ttop is the fastest to get up and running, Maptools is the most detailed as far as spells, effects, feats, etc.
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I've tried using some before. At least for me, the attempt to impliment rule systems into a VTT simply gets in the way. I haven't tried it yet, but EpicTable looks like it's the perfect VTT for my preferences. It can support a grid or hexes, can import image files as maps or just draw on the grid akin to Paint, can share handouts and other files...and even take them back, and has the only handy mechanic I really think is useful for someone who doesn't want to spend more time prepping their VTT than their actual campaign - a dice roller.m it also has a text chat, but I'd probably ignore that and just use it alongside Skype.
And the lack of rules integration means it's good for pretty much ANY system. Pathfinder, 4e, 5e, Swords & Wizardry, Fate, Savage Worlds, Call of Cthulhu...you name it.
Thanks for all your suggestions.
I tried all the ones that have been mentioned in this thread, and my choice goes to Roll20, because it's the simplest to use, has just the functions i needed and it already has a good number of tokens/images.
I showed a preview of it to my players last night and they are enthusiastic about it.
Now i'm afraid i have one more thing to ask you.
I plan to import images from the pdf of published adventure whenever i can to use them as maps, like the ones from paizo's modules.
Sometimes this won't be an option and i will need a tool to design my own maps.
I would like something able to create maps as similar to those in the pathfinder modules as possible without the need to take advanced drawing lessons or photoshop course (Again the price isn't a big issue)
So far the only one i know is the dungeon designer addon of campaign cartographer but, again (I'm sorry), if you have any recomandation about a map-making program i would very pleased to hear it.
Dunjinni is a good one to use.
For map buiding Dundjinni is good if you have an extensive art file. However, I did use Maptools offline at home with big ass tv for VTT because of tech challenged players. Eventually moved fully online as non-tech (and cheating) players were kicked from group. I now have players all over country and when needed I can do local as well.
I use google hangouts for audio.
the down side is dundjinni site is defunct
We are having pretty good luck at roll 20 with a dedicated group that is all new to VTT. It seems to be the most intuitive for newbies. There might be better out there that we will move on too once we get proficient at playing this way, but for right now it seems ideally suited to our needs.
I will add roll20 as well. I have ran three game there and while not as powerful as some VTT's it is easy to grasp and is always "Up"
What, No mention of Fantasy Grounds?
If you want to do whatever-you-want and are willing to invest a little time on it, MapTool can do wonders most others can only dream about.
Or MOTE, which is MapTool's closest heir (as far as I understand) and is about to come out.
Always for free.