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Harles |
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First, apologies if this isn't the right forum to post these questions.
So we had a pretty bad experience with PF2 on Roll20. The character sheets were barely functional, the compendium didn't work well, and the Age of Ashes AP wasn't on there (so I had to manually add every map, create special monsters, etc.)
I've used Fantasy Grounds Classic for other systems, and I wasn't impressed with the UI at all. I had it for years and can barely run a basic encounter with it.
But I've heard great things about Foundry VTT for Pathfinder 2 play. The PDF importer alone sounds like a tool that would've saved me hours of prep every week when I was running Age of Ashes on Roll20.
I've watched nearly every video I could find on YouTube, but can't find information about how the PDF importer works. Is it pretty functional? Is it just adventures, or can it convert Bestiaries? How much work would it be if I were to buy something like a book of Abomination Vaults to get it playable in Foundry?
Is it easy for players? Can they pretty much come over from Roll20? Can you Import characters from Pathbuilder? Can I drag and drop from Archives of Nethys?
Sorry if this is too much to answer. I am just relunctant to try something new because I've bought so much in Roll20 and learned its weirdness.
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Maezer |
I am certainly no expert. (And you'd probably have 10x the luck posting on the VTT forums.) But this is my limited take.
The PDF to Foundry module is just for the adventures. It cover most, but not all of the paizo published mods completely. I don't think abomination vault is done yet. Though all of Agents of Edgewatch is.
From my experience it does a fairly good job importing the map (with wall and doors) and imports the mobs as stat blocks (you still need to grab art for them) and position them. Is it ready to play immediately...no. But its a good starting point and would reduce setup time.
The character sheet is vastly more functional. A lot more content can be dragged and dropped into the character sheet. There is a module to import from Pathbuild and/or herolab which seems to work fairly well (though not flawlessly.)
I think its worth the transition. (I personally think the doors alone are worth it for anything with a dungeon crawl.) Visual targeting and easier AoE effect drawing/manipulating is nice improvement. The pause button is nice. I think its probably worth the pain of transitioning, but I can't really judge that for anyone else.
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The Rot Grub |
![Seagull](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/gull1.jpg)
Foundry is absolutely worth it in my opinion. Running 6 campaigns in PF2 and D&D 5E, I tried Roll20 before moving on to Fantasy Grounds Unity, and then moving on to Foundry VTT.
I use the PDF Importer mod, and it imports all the art assets. The walls on the maps are generally correct.
The modmaker has to update it for each new adventure comes out, and there's a slight delay. It does not cover PF 1st edition modules and adventures.
A couple drawbacks in my opinion:
-It imports all the pictures, and not all the labels are clear. You will want to go through all the Journal entries called "npc01" and "npc02" for example, and rename them.
-All the assets go into a subfolder, made specifically for the PDF, of the root /data/ directory in your Foundry folder, and you can't change it. So when I imported Age of Ashes PDFs there were 6 subfolders in my root /data/ directory. I personally would prefer it not to collect clutter, but so it is.
Despite those caveats, it's been a big timesaver. It includes all the statblocks of the NPCs and monsters that come with the adventure as well. You do need to associate each Actor/statblock with its corresponding picture though.
It does not convert Bestiaries. However, that is largely unnecessary, because the PF2 game system for Foundry (which is frequently updated) includes all the statblocks that Paizo releases in its Bestiaries.
Foundry is easy for players: they just need the Invitation Link from you and they can play it in their browser. They don't even need to log-in like you do in Roll20.
If a player makes a character in Pathbuilder, if they pay the small fee to the developer they can export the JSON which you can then import into Foundry using a module.
What do you want to drag and drop from Archive of Nethys? I've found that I need statblocks, and everything in the Bestiaries is already in the PF2 system for Foundry.
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The Gleeful Grognard |
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![Vigliv](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9072-Vigliv_500.jpeg)
Vastly superior to Roll20, the pdf importer isn't really what you think. It is more of a DRM, text and image importer for pdfs with watermarks that has been told what to take manually. It doesn't actually convert anything automatically.
Fantasygrounds is leagues better for PF2e if you know how to use it and are into automation. But that isn't a slight on Foundry and the foundry ruleset is getting slowly better, it just has a long way to go to get the same level of automation and campaign management.
But yes, you will be MUCH happier with foundry than you were with R20, I can almost guarantee it. The character sheet is the prettiest of all three to boot :)
I do recommend getting a list of modules from other users though.
I use:
- Dice so Nice
- PDF foundry Importer
- Party sheet
- Always HP
- Backgroundless Pins
- Combat Enhancements
- Combat Ready (although this is for oneshots, keeps people on pace)
- Combat Template Cleanup
- Dice Tray (couldn't use the program without it)
- Easy Target (alt click targets)
- FX master (rudimentary but nice to have)
- Grid Scale Menu
- Group initiative
- Group roll checks and saves
- Health Estimate
- Illandril's token hud scaler
- Music Assist
- Party Overview
- Party Resources
- Pathfinder 2e Quick Rolls
- PF2e GM screen
- PF2e Shapeshifting
- PF2e Toolbox (couldn't use the program without some of these features)
- Playlist Importer (you need to grab the manifest from the github directly, but it lets you import youtube songs nad playlists)
- Quick encounters (a hacky way to do similar encounters to FG, lacks a lot of the strengths of the FG way but it is better than just having tokens everywhere.
- Simple Dice Roller (r20 style "quick" dice roller)
- The Furnace (needed for a few modules)
- Token action hud, pretty awesome for npcs
- Token Info icons, also awesome for npcs
- Torch
- Trust issues by blitz
- Universal Battlemap importer (also get dungeondraft)
Again, foundry is awesome value and I use it for quite a few games as well as oneshots. Not likely to be anywhere near FG anytime soon, but it is so far ahead of R20 most won't care :)
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Harles |
What do you want to drag and drop from Archive of Nethys? I've found that I need statblocks, and everything in the Bestiaries is already in the PF2 system for Foundry.
I was under the impression there was no rules content on Foundry and everything would have to be added manually: spells, monsters, feats, equipment, etc. So I thought I'd need to drag and drop from other sources. Guess I'm wrong?
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The Rot Grub |
![Seagull](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/gull1.jpg)
The Rot Grub wrote:I was under the impression there was no rules content on Foundry and everything would have to be added manually: spells, monsters, feats, equipment, etc. So I thought I'd need to drag and drop from other sources. Guess I'm wrong?
What do you want to drag and drop from Archive of Nethys? I've found that I need statblocks, and everything in the Bestiaries is already in the PF2 system for Foundry.
Installing Foundry by itself doesn't give you this content. Immediately after installing you can then add the free PF2e game system at the home screen.
Because many things Paizo releases are under the Open Gaming License, nothing prevents modmakers from including all the spells, feats, and monsters in the PF2e mod.
When you add the PF2e game system in Foundry, you will have compendia that have all the Classes, Class Features, Feats, Spells, and Bestiaries from the Core Rulebook, Advanced Player's Guide, Lost Omens books and Bestiaries. You can drag and drop from these compendia into character sheets, and import monster statblocks with a click.
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Shandyan |
![Hanspur Symbol](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/RK-Hanspur.jpg)
The only thing the Pathfinder 2 system doesn't have is artwork for the bestiaries, as Paizo's amazingly generous license doesn't cover this.
I find that it takes a about 10 seconds to add monster artwork from my pdf bestiaries, and so if you do this on an as-needed basis, it's pretty simple. There are modules in foundry that will help with applying a library of images to the entire bestiary if you want, but I've never seen the need personally.
A few more general bits of advise: there are a lot of optional modules in foundry. I'd recommend starting with no modules, and only adding them when you find yourself saying "Hmm, what's the best way to do X?". Otherwise you may find yourself overwhelmed with 30 different modules that you don't understand or need.
The foundry discord is very active and helpful, and is the best place to get support for the Pathfinder 2 implementation or general advice on how to use Foundry.
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Malk_Content |
The PF2 functionality is amazing. I had a completely new to PF2 player (5e previously) be able to make a character purely using its drag and drop compendium very easily. They only required me to describe the ABCs and proficiency. Everything else they did with the sheet and compendium.
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![Private Avatar Bob](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/private/Private-RVC-Bob.jpg)
Vastly superior to Roll20
I think you'll find a lot of table variation on that. Many people use Roll20 all the time without any issues or negative effects on gameplay. That is not to say that YOU might not prefer Foundry or FG or whatever, just that everyone should always add "IMO" to these types of statements as they are an opinion that is not universally true.
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Ravingdork |
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![Raegos](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/Raegos_Final.jpg)
The Gleeful Grognard wrote:Vastly superior to Roll20I think you'll find a lot of table variation on that. Many people use Roll20 all the time without any issues or negative effects on gameplay. That is not to say that YOU might not prefer Foundry or FG or whatever, just that everyone should always add "IMO" to these types of statements as they are an opinion that is not universally true.
Agreed. Some of the claims made about Roll20 in this thread simply aren't true. I can only guess that new tools were implemented after those making said claims had already moved on.
Take drag and drop functionality from the compendium, for example. I've been able to do that on Roll20 for a year or two now. It's not something unique to the other VTTs.
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Grankless |
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![Imrijka](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9227-Imrijka.jpg)
Yeah, roll20 has it, but it took them ages to get it in when it's a pretty basic feature. You also can only drag and drop things that you have purchased, and they've previously indicated they have no plans to put any of the Lost Omens line in. And then if you do drag and drop something, it doesn't actually automate anything.
Even if you don't have any issues with roll20, their support for 2e is a complete joke. They've already messed up by not finishing AV on release like they said they would.
And even if you think the program is fine, from a pretty objective standpoint there's not a single thing roll20 does better than Foundry than "can be used for free" (if you don't mind a tiny asset library, no lighting, and can deal with their insanely ugly and poorly laid out character sheet or their decaying servers).
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Ravingdork |
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![Raegos](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/Raegos_Final.jpg)
...with [Roll20's] insanely ugly and poorly laid out character sheet...
Would you mind sharing a screenshot or video of Foundry's default PF2 character sheet?
I keep seeing people throw shade on Roll20's default character sheet, which I don't get 'cause I think it's rather cool.
That being said, I've not yet used another VTT to have a decent basis of comparison.
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CrystalSeas |
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![Seahorse](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO1127-Seahorse_500.jpeg)
And even if you think the program is fine, from a pretty objective standpoint
What is "objective" from your point of view is "biased" from mine.
there's not a single thing roll20 does better than Foundry
There are a lot of things that Roll20 does better than Foundry. Perhaps not from your point of view, but from mine, the technical expertise needed to get a Foundry VTT up and running is not worth the hassle.
other than "can be used for free"
That too. You may be affluent enough that you can afford all the equipment and software necessary to make Foundry a pleasant experience for you and your players. Not everyone is.
(if you don't mind a tiny asset library, no lighting, and can deal with their insanely ugly and poorly laid out character sheet or their decaying servers)
Sneering at them certainly doesn't make playing Pathfinder more pleasant for anyone.
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Travelling Sasha |
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![Sylph](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO1116-Slyph_90.jpeg)
Uhm, well, assuming that OP hasn't taken the plunge yet — I'd like to butt in myself.
I've used roll20 for years now, and still actively use it as a player. I've GMed many games in there, including the first and second edition of Pathfinder. I started using Foundry a few months ago, and I would say that overall I greatly do lean towards Foundry. Coming from roll20 though, there was a pretty punishing adjustment time for me. Heck, I even considered refunding it right in the beginning! Foundry does a lot of things differently from roll20, but that's just what they are: Different ways of doing things. How tokens are supposed to be dragged around the map, how you deal with assets, etc.
It's astonishing how complete PF2eE feels on Foundry. I remember running the last books from this AP I was GMing on roll20, back when I played PF1e, and oh god I hate to like pour in at least one to two hours nightly to have more or less everything set on roll20 at the day of the game. On Foundry? Get the software, download the (free, as others mentioned) Pathfinder 2e system thing, and just... Drag the monsters into map, swap the generic token to a cool you got, and there you go. It's all in there, almost always working very properly. The speed at that they bring updates is also amazing, and the community is incredibly warm. The amount of mods that there is that bring into more incredible automation to the game though? Amazing. Do you keep forgetting the speed of your monster? Well, there's a mod that lets you drag'em and it changes colors per action spent in base of the speed. So if a monster has 20ft movement and I drag them 30ft? It changes the colour beyond the 20th feet. Does I drag it for 60 feet? The first 20ft are green, the second 20ft are blue, and the rest are red.
I rotate the GM seat with one of my fellow players and we always switch games from time to time. He likes to GM Savage Worlds and doesn't have Foundry, and I'm not gonna lie... Going back to roll20 does feel a little precarious, I guess.
But! It's not all roses and peaches. I think that at least in half of my sessions there was something going wrong. Something that we thought would be automated but wasn't, or some player doesn't see the map(because it's too big/heavy and their PC isn't the best), or... My players just can't connect. A good few times it's a problem that it's very ignorable! But sometimes I have to go running to their Discord to see if someone has a solution. To this day, we "only" missed a session because of technical problems. It's... Honestly a little stressing.
Roll20 also supports a whole lot of other systems than Foundry. Alternatively, some of the weirder systems are better supported on Foundry(Like Fantasy Flight's Star Wars, or so I hear. Because of the weird die, I guess).
Also, I insist that not everything is automated! A whole lot is, and i t's impressive, but not everything. The alchemist support is very barebones, and there's no official support for animal companions for example — though I guess that's an issue in roll20 too.
It's the best VTT to lessen your workload, of that I am sure, and I feel it's very worth the money. I insist that it's impressive how loving that community is, always willing to help you out! But it's also wip. The terminology also takes a good while to get used to, because it's very techie. But to be clear — I am horrible with math, and know 0 of coding, and I don't feel that it's, say, oppresive, or too much for me, or too much of a hassle.
I am also not the biggest fan of the PF2E character sheet on Foundry. It's much more informative, mind you, but aesthetically it's kind of an elevated version of Paizo's character sheet.
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Travelling Sasha |
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![Sylph](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO1116-Slyph_90.jpeg)
Would you mind sharing a screenshot or video of Foundry's default PF2 character sheet?
Not who you asked to, but here!
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Ravingdork |
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![Raegos](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/Raegos_Final.jpg)
Ravingdork wrote:Would you mind sharing a screenshot or video of Foundry's default PF2 character sheet?Not who you asked to, but here!
Nice! Thank you.
They certainly do look snazzy!
Does it allow for multiple spell lists, such as when playing a sorcerer with Wizard Dedication? That's one of the things I feel the Roll20 character sheet doesn't handle well, currently (though I've requested multiple spell list capabilities on the official Roll20 forums so hopefully it will be implemented soon).
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Gortle |
![Mockery](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9089-Mockery_500.jpeg)
Ravingdork wrote:Would you mind sharing a screenshot or video of Foundry's default PF2 character sheet?Not who you asked to, but here!
It is calculating the skill proficiency bonus wrong. Untrained skills do not get level added to them.
The level 10 wizard with 10 STR has a skill of +0 for untrained athletics.
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![The Gardener](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO90100-TheGardener_500.jpeg)
Travelling Sasha wrote:Ravingdork wrote:Would you mind sharing a screenshot or video of Foundry's default PF2 character sheet?Not who you asked to, but here!It is calculating the skill proficiency bonus wrong. Untrained skills do not get level added to them.
The level 10 wizard with 10 STR has a skill of +0 for untrained athletics.
They have Untrained Improvisation applied :) You can see it listed (but not applied, as it's a smaller bonus) in the skill page screenshot.
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Travelling Sasha |
![Sylph](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO1116-Slyph_90.jpeg)
They certainly do look snazzy!
Does it allow for multiple spell lists, such as when playing a sorcerer with Wizard Dedication? That's one of the things I feel the Roll20 character sheet doesn't handle well, currently (though I've requested multiple spell list capabilities on the official Roll20 forums so hopefully it will be implemented soon).
Aw, no problem! And hmm, I see. Well, hopefully as you said, it will be implemented soon enough!
And it does, yeah. You can have two, three, four, or however many spell lists you want. The system handles the spells tab modularly, meaning that you have to choose both the "magic tradition" and the "spellcasting type", and then you can just key it off a specific ability, give it a specific proficiency, and then it just auto-calculates and offers pullable values for the spells.
I say "magic tradition" and "spellcasting type" because they're not necessarily what they imply. The options for magic tradition are all the four traditions + focus, ritual, halcyon and wands. And well, spellcasting types can be prepared, spontaneous, innate and none.
So you can just quickly build whatever you need aaand it works itself out!
Gortle wrote:Travelling Sasha wrote:They have Untrained Improvisation applied :) You can see it listed (but not applied, as it's a smaller bonus) in the skill page screenshot.It is calculating the skill proficiency bonus wrong. Untrained skills do not get level added to them.
The level 10 wizard with 10 STR has a skill of +0 for untrained athletics.
Mhm! Exactly, what Arcaian just said.
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Harles |
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Not knocking anyone who likes Roll20, but I tried PF2 on there after purchasing the Core Rules and Bestiary, and it just didn't cut it for me. Even though I use it for 5e and other systems, the features I want for PF2 just aren't there. Pathfinder is a very involved system, and having to manually input adventure modules they don't put on the service, create many new monsters, classed NPCs, new items, and then not having automation for a lot of the compendium features, it just isn't good enough for me.
I was able to try out Plaguestone on the PDF importer this morning, and it worked pretty well, and that was the first time I even opened Foundry with no prior experience. Granted, I still don't know how to host a game or actually run a combat, but that's something I can likely figure out.
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The Gleeful Grognard |
![Vigliv](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9072-Vigliv_500.jpeg)
Anything Roll20 does "well" isn't something to do with its implementation of PF2e.
It has a free option, and hosts your files online. And with an AWS server (including free ones) you can have Foundry hosting your files online as well.
But sure, in my opinion nearly anyone who can afford either FVTT will find its implementation of Pathfinder 2e to be vastly superior to that of Roll20's. It updates more frequently, it has the same rough UI layout but has more options that can be plugged in and because it isn't hosted online by default, players will have less latency issues.
Given that the OP was asking about the other options, I am guessing that having to pay something isn't going to totally turn them off foundry, or the question wouldn't have been asked.
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![Private Avatar Bob](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/private/Private-RVC-Bob.jpg)
And then if you do drag and drop something, it doesn't actually automate anything.
That's no longer entirely true. I don't know how universal it is, but if you drag equipment to your inventory it will auto-populate your armor and weapon list on the first page. Some things are still manual but more automation is added regularly.
And even if you think the program is fine, from a pretty objective standpoint there's not a single thing roll20 does better than Foundry than "can be used for free" (if you don't mind a tiny asset library, no lighting, and can deal with their insanely ugly and poorly laid out character sheet or their decaying servers).
To be fair, that's not nothing. There is also the issue of experience. Someone who is very familiar/experienced with Roll20 has value based in staying put as opposed to changing to something new.
I cannot speak to Foundry's character sheet or server quality, but Roll20 works very well for myself, my regular players, and when I run org play, those players rarely grumble about my choice of VTT.As I said above, its just an opinion (subjective) thing. Everyone has their preferred VTT, but that doesn't make one onjectively better or worse than the others.
Don't take our word for it. Go and try all the VTTs a few times and see which one best meets your needs. Regardless of what anyone says, that one is the one for you. Good luck!
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![Cilios](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/11UndeadCleric.jpg)
The number of people who prefer Foundry is astounding though. And not to be discounted.
Also, Roll20 running after the functions of other systems is not a good sign. If an IT system was not designed to provide some functionalities, implementing them later on without a deep revamp is done by adding developments that make the whole system more complicated and more prone to failures.
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Malk_Content |
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So my take is largely this. If you just want a free tabletop that you are comfortable doing your own automation for, or happy with minimal automation, R20 is great. If you ever consider buying content or the premium features, go for Foundry. The content is free, better implemented, maintained by passionate fans (I haven't seen new content take longer than a weekend to be updated later than the SRD) and the feature set is as good as or better, and is updated and expanded regularly, and once you have it, it is your forever. Cheaper in the long run, guaranteed to last for as long as you keep a copy of the files and so long as you have internet, operational 100% of the time. Heck I loved that when my internet was down, I could still do prep work.
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Razcar |
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![Lamashtu (symbol)](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/Lamashtu_Symbol_final.jpg)
I think you'll find a lot of table variation on that. Many people use Roll20 all the time without any issues or negative effects on gameplay. That is not to say that YOU might not prefer Foundry or FG or whatever, just that everyone should always add "IMO" to these types of statements as they are an opinion that is not universally true.
In general, you are of course right, but, well, sometimes some things are just objectively better than others. I use both Roll20 and Foundry now in two campaigns and I think that this is one of those cases here. (Having said that, familiarity is a very valid factor. If you're very good and quick with a familiar ((but not as good)) tool that beats being slow and awkward with a better one. Also, prior investments are a valid aspect, both in money and time.)
OP, there's not much to add that other posters haven't already said, but when I started using Foundry two (small) things stood out to me:
1. While PDF to Foundry is great and the Bestiary stat blocks and game content included in the P2E ruleset are as well, I missed instant art. In Roll20 it's easy to just search for "goblin" and Bob's your uncle, or buy the AP and it's all there (Then again, seems Roll20 are kinda abandoning PF). In Foundry you have to prepare better when it comes to token and monster art - for now. Hopefully we can soon buy the Bestiaries and APs in Foundry from Paizo and you'll have it right there for off-piste adventuring.
2. Modulitis. There's soo many modules for Foundry, developed by the community, that you can easily get stuck in constant discovery mode. Which ones are good? What does this one do? Does it work for PF? Is it better than that one? A champagne problem for sure, but it can make you lose focus and turn your game sessions into badly-prepped Christmas trees. Or maybe that's just me... :-)
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Captain Morgan |
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![White Dragon](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO1126-WhiteDragon_500.jpeg)
So my take is largely this. If you just want a free tabletop that you are comfortable doing your own automation for, or happy with minimal automation, R20 is great. If you ever consider buying content or the premium features, go for Foundry. The content is free, better implemented, maintained by passionate fans (I haven't seen new content take longer than a weekend to be updated later than the SRD) and the feature set is as good as or better, and is updated and expanded regularly, and once you have it, it is your forever. Cheaper in the long run, guaranteed to last for as long as you keep a copy of the files and so long as you have internet, operational 100% of the time. Heck I loved that when my internet was down, I could still do prep work.
This basically sums it up. I will add Roll20 is probably easier to pick up and use as a GM, though. No installation, no setting up servers. As a player foundry is even easier though because you don't even need an account.
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![Mask](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/Plot-mask.jpg)
[...]
Even if you don't have any issues with roll20, their support for 2e is a complete joke. They've already messed up by not finishing AV on release like they said they would.
[...]
Hum... They recently said that Abomination Vault was not in the work and that there was no plan for it... :(
But yeah. I'll be honest, the only reason I have not switched to Fantasy Ground is that I really have a hard time with their Ui, and why I haven't switched to Foundry is because I really don't like the "you need to download a bunch of modules for every small feature you want" and that there was no "default pack" that I cant load AND the lack of licensed AP support.
(That last point, if what I heard between the branches is any indication, might be fixed at some point.)
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![Erilene Finch](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9263-Finch.jpg)
As someone who has used Roll20 for years, I downloaded Foundry yesterday and I am loving it so far. The GUI is way better looking and the UI seems very intutive.The ruleset is awesome (I have paid over 150 for CRB/B1/B2 on roll20 and the ruleset already adds more functionality (for free)) Cant wait to try it out in a game, but honestly it looks to fix alot of the issues i had woth Roll20.
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Harles |
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Grankless wrote:[...]
Even if you don't have any issues with roll20, their support for 2e is a complete joke. They've already messed up by not finishing AV on release like they said they would.
[...]Hum... They recently said that Abomination Vault was not in the work and that there was no plan for it... :(
But yeah. I'll be honest, the only reason I have not switched to Fantasy Ground is that I really have a hard time with their Ui, and why I haven't switched to Foundry is because I really don't like the "you need to download a bunch of modules for every small feature you want" and that there was no "default pack" that I cant load AND the lack of licensed AP support.
(That last point, if what I heard between the branches is any indication, might be fixed at some point.)
I was in a similar place until I tried Foundry yesterday morning. You can download the official rules for free and the Bestiaries are all downloadable. You can just take whatever monster you want, drag and drop it onto a map and bring up a sheet that has all its actions listed - and since it's from the SRD, you don't have to buy Bestiary add-ons like in Roll20.
(I've been on Roll20 for nearly a year now and was very hesitant to buy a Foundry license. I can say after playing with it for under an hour, I can already do more with it than I could with Roll20, all for free after the initial $50 license.)The PDF Importer I think does a bit to making up the difference of not having adventure modules for sale on Foundry. But honestly, the Roll20 offerings are so scattershot, that I'd rather just do the PDFs myself, instead of hoping they'll release Abomination Vaults one day (for example).
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Captain Morgan |
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![White Dragon](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO1126-WhiteDragon_500.jpeg)
Foundry also has the stat blocks for almost any AP specific NPC or monster you can name. All you really want to import is maps and token art, which is relatively easy to do without mods. Hot tip: Archive of Nethys monster pictures come in the correct format for Foundry (png) and already have transparent backgrounds. So anything out of the bestiaries is super easy.
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Rhatha |
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![Lizardfolk Sorcerer](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO1130-Lizardfolk2_90.jpeg)
It's because they can't have it in the compendiums due to OGL not allowing for the art. As the GM, if you have individual images on your computer (or your hosted webservice if you go that route) you can easily search and add them. Foundry doesn't have an arrangement with Paizo like Roll20 does to sell e.g. the bestiary and its art in VTT form. Instead, they include all the info that's free on the OGL (e.g. the statblocks) and have a default blank image in most cases. A few of the monsters have basic art that fan have created but most are the default.
If you own an AP PDF and use the importer module it will pull in all the monster images from that AP for you. I don't believe there's anything similar for the bestiaries at this time.
Unlike something like Roll20, almost all content on Foundry is created by the community, not necessarily by Foundry's creator.
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The Rot Grub |
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![Seagull](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/gull1.jpg)
But yeah. I'll be honest, the only reason I have not switched to Fantasy Ground is that I really have a hard time with their Ui, and why I haven't switched to Foundry is because I really don't like the "you need to download a bunch of modules for every small feature you want" and that there was no "default pack" that I cant load AND the lack of licensed AP support.
(That last point, if what I heard between the branches is any indication, might be fixed at some point.)
That was my exact public position in the forums with regard to Foundry which held me back for a couple months while I stuck with Fantasy Grounds. Once I had several hours to play with Foundry and look at some resources, the "hump" of finding and learning modules was pretty easy to surmount and brought much more back in immediate returns. Some things that help:
1. There is a "Pathfinder 2E module" that incorporates all the rules from all the PF2E releases, which you can use to drag and drop into character sheets and pull monster statblocks. Everything else is UI and bells and whistles from there.
2. The YouTube channel "Encounter Library" is the go-to channel to learn Foundry. He has a playlist that is a good introduction to Foundry. Here is the channel.
3. Don't feel like you need to "perfect" Foundry with all the modules you'll ever need before you can start running games for people. Similarly, don't add a bunch of modules at once. I've had very few problems with bugs - you just don't want to overwhelm yourself. Just add modules and learn as you go.
While Foundry is open, it is easy to turn individual modules on and off. (Note: all modules start "off" in each World you create... you have to turn them "on".) So there's very little stress in experimenting with them.
4. That said, this video is a nice overview of some modules that you may want to check out first. There are timestamps in the Description.
5. Whenever you feel like you're ready for more, or when a time comes up when using Foundry when you ask yourself "I wonder if it can do THIS?" Then type in some search terms at the Main Menu. You're sure to find something!
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Malk_Content |
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Yeah I started with only the PF2 module. During game people asked about a few features, I said I'd look into it between sessions. Took me maybe 10 minutes to look for modules adding those feature. Next session people are happy with them.
You don't need mountains of modules. Just loaded up to check and I have a grand total of 10 modules. 2 of which I could actually disable and make no difference and 1 of which I only have because paizo's adventure maps are just annoying to use without it.
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![Private Avatar Bob](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/private/Private-RVC-Bob.jpg)
Also one thing to consider is your participation in org play. As someone who was involved in organizing all the Paizo sponsored events last year and quite a few regional ones, I can tell you that Roll20 is by far the vastly preferred VTT for the community. That is not to say there isn't use of Foundry or that it couldn't eventually increase and surpass Roll20, just that there was very few non-Roll20 events offered and even fewer that had enough player to run. So, if you plan to participate in a healthy amount of online org play, be prepared to use Roll20 much more often than not. At least for the near future. Good luck!
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Razcar |
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![Lamashtu (symbol)](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/Lamashtu_Symbol_final.jpg)
Also one thing to consider is your participation in org play. As someone who was involved in organizing all the Paizo sponsored events last year and quite a few regional ones, I can tell you that Roll20 is by far the vastly preferred VTT for the community.
To add to that, if someone wants to play straight up pick-up games, I think that scene is much larger on Roll20 with their "Looking for Group" listing and similar listings elsewhere. And that will probably remain so (unless Foundry gets hosted on their own servers the way Roll20 does, which seems very unlikely).
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Thomas Keller |
Also one thing to consider is your participation in org play. As someone who was involved in organizing all the Paizo sponsored events last year and quite a few regional ones, I can tell you that Roll20 is by far the vastly preferred VTT for the community. That is not to say there isn't use of Foundry or that it couldn't eventually increase and surpass Roll20, just that there was very few non-Roll20 events offered and even fewer that had enough player to run. So, if you plan to participate in a healthy amount of online org play, be prepared to use Roll20 much more often than not. At least for the near future. Good luck!
Yeah, I've played a lot on roll20 with Pathfinder Society. I've also played some Fantasy Grounds and Foundry (which I prefer). You should learn to use all of the VTTs.
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The Rot Grub |
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![Seagull](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/gull1.jpg)
Also one thing to consider is your participation in org play. As someone who was involved in organizing all the Paizo sponsored events last year and quite a few regional ones, I can tell you that Roll20 is by far the vastly preferred VTT for the community. That is not to say there isn't use of Foundry or that it couldn't eventually increase and surpass Roll20, just that there was very few non-Roll20 events offered and even fewer that had enough player to run. So, if you plan to participate in a healthy amount of online org play, be prepared to use Roll20 much more often than not. At least for the near future. Good luck!
I'm sure that remains true to an extent, but this and other recent threads got me curious and so I created a poll on the Facebook PF 2E group. It looks like there is an even split between the number of Roll20 and Foundry users at the moment:
Facebook poll: 112 using Roll20, 111 using Foundry, 55 using Fantasy Grounds
Of course, this is not a scientific poll. But if I were to guess, with Foundry only officially releasing Mar. 2020 I'd say there is a migration going on since last summer towards Foundry. I myself made the switch in November/December 2020.
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![Allustan](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/Allustan.jpg)
I'm sure that remains true to an extent, but this and other recent threads got me curious and so I created a poll on the Facebook PF 2E group. It looks like there is an even split between the number of Roll20 and Foundry users at the moment:
Facebook poll: 112 using Roll20, 111 using Foundry, 55 using Fantasy Grounds
Of course, this is not a scientific poll. But if I were to guess, with Foundry only officially releasing Mar. 2020 I'd say there is a migration going on since last summer towards Foundry. I myself made the switch in November/December 2020.
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. The absence of Abomination Vaults on Roll20 seems to have some of us R20 Pathfinder players examining other options. Right now if I do a search on Warhorn for Pathfinder Society VTT games, I see games 88 listed for Roll 20, 23 listed for Foundry and 10 listed for Fantasy Grounds. For PFS, that still makes Roll20 my go-to place. But I wonder what the stats might be like in 6 months?
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The Rot Grub |
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![Seagull](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/gull1.jpg)
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. The absence of Abomination Vaults on Roll20 seems to have some of us R20 Pathfinder players examining other options. Right now if I do a search on Warhorn for Pathfinder Society VTT games, I see games 88 listed for Roll 20, 23 listed for Foundry and 10 listed for Fantasy Grounds. For PFS, that still makes Roll20 my go-to place. But I wonder what the stats might be like in 6 months?
Yeah, if there continues to be this lag with Roll20 support for official modules going into the future, I see this happening more and more. The developer for Foundry's mod that imports official PDFs posted Volume 1 of Abomination Vaults within a week. I was just watching a stream of Abomination Vaults last night where they announced at the end they were moving over to Foundry, and the GM said his main reason was the ability to import the PDF.
Over on the PF2 Discord channel's LFG chats, it looks like most games are Foundry, with Discord being second-most-common, and only one Roll20 game out of the most recent 20 that I saw.
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OrochiFuror |
![Maghara](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9258-GhostDragon_500.jpeg)
UI is the User Interface. The visual aspect of playing. Where the roll log is, what font that uses, what the buttons look like, etc.
All of that can be changed though. So I'm wondering if people are saying UI and meaning how the system generally has lots of windows and gets cluttered or something similar in how you interact with the UI and not how it looks, or if people don't know you can change it.
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Kasoh |
Kasoh wrote:All of that can be changed though. So I'm wondering if people are saying UI and meaning how the system generally has lots of windows and gets cluttered or something similar in how you interact with the UI and not how it looks, or if people don't know you can change it.UI is the User Interface. The visual aspect of playing. Where the roll log is, what font that uses, what the buttons look like, etc.
I dunno man. Depending on what VTT you're talking about, altering some of that is beyond the common abilities of the end user. I couldn't even begin to tell you how to alter any of Roll20's or Foundry's UI.
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![Sheyln (Symbol)](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/runelords_god_symbols_FINAL.jpg)
All of that can be changed though. So I'm wondering if people are saying UI and meaning how the system generally has lots of windows and gets cluttered or something similar in how you interact with the UI and not how it looks, or if people don't know you can change it.
Mostly I think with FGU it's how the program looks and feels like it time-traveled from the late 90s. I gave it a try while I was looking for alternatives to Roll20 and found it to be a very frustrating experience. I cannot even imagine trying to walk my less tech-savvy players through using it.
Foundry, on the other hand, has been great. Stuff that used to take me hours to prep in Roll20 now takes a fraction of the time and my players appreciate how much smoother it runs for them. What takes me the longest now is putting art on the enemy tokens, and getting my players used to the new VTT took about 10 minutes.
The one bit of difficulty I had was with port forwarding, which did require me to chat with my ISP. Once that was sorted out, it's worked perfectly.