Penny Arcade Forums› Critical Failures
As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
Options

Virtual Tabletop Software.

FallingmanFallingman Registered User regular
edited September 2007 in Critical Failures
After quite a long RPG drought, I finally caught up with a few good mates for some D&D fun. A great time was had by all, with a general agreement that we should do it more often. The thing is, geographically speaking, we're quite spread out. From the UK, to Taiwan, Canada, Australia and NZ you could say that another occasion when we can all get face to face might be a little ways off. In fact you dont really get much more "spread out" than NZ and the UK.

So this quickly lead to the musing that "there must be some software out there for hosting RPG's... surely". We were correct. Quite correct as it happens and there are a number to choose from.

So, does anyone out there have any experience with any of these virtual tabletop applications?

A few we're looking at are:

Fantasy Grounds - Looks really nice
OpenRPG - not as nice, but cross platform
Battlegrounds - Nice enough, but seems to have connection troubles for me...

I'd be interested to know if these things are widely used, and how people rate them.
We may have need for a cross platform app, just to make it interesting, but for now lets just focus on whether you guys make use of the intarweb for your RPG needs.

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Fallingman on

Posts

  • Options
    DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    If you search back a few months here you'll find a thread about exactly this kind of thing.
    Fallingman wrote: »
    =Fantasy Grounds - Looks really nice

    Expensive and prettier than it is function IMO. I have not used it extensively though.
    OpenRPG - not as nice, but cross platform

    Really unintuitive and complex. It works if you put forward the time to learn it though.
    Battlegrounds - Nice enough, but seems to have connection troubles for me...

    Wasn't impressed on a quick look. Isn't this the pay for service one?

    RPtools

    Is what I still suggest. Free, simple and gets the job done with the only complexity being genuinely useful (Line templates done correctly according to 3.5E, pretty rare.)

    Nice tool for making tokens out of any image you'd like. Though the built in dice roller is spoof-able.

    http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=28984&highlight=RPTools
    2nd,
    Oo...forgot this awesome thread.
    Last one

    DevoutlyApathetic on
    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • Options
    FallingmanFallingman Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    touche'

    Fallingman on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Options
    DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Wasn't saying that to be snippy or anything, I was just trying to point you to where you'll find some more discussion. We've already had this talk so you might not get as much discussion as you'd like.

    DevoutlyApathetic on
    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • Options
    DayspringDayspring the Phoenician Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    My brother ran a campaign all through uni, and when he and all hid friends graduated and moved around the country, the game moved online (and I joined). We've been gaming online for several years now and have used a few methods.
    We used to use OpenRPG, but then switched to IRC for multiple rooms ability (IC, OOC, if the party splits up etc).
    These days however we just use teamspeak. I wasn't a fan at first but just being able to talk really keeps the game moving quicker than waiting for typed replies.

    Dayspring on
    My Warhammer stuff online: Youtube Twitter Insta
  • Options
    minigunwielderminigunwielder __BANNED USERS regular
    edited July 2007
    www.paranoia-live.net

    minigunwielder on
  • Options
    SquashuaSquashua __BANNED USERS regular
    edited July 2007
    minigunwielder wrote: »
    [size=+7]www.paranoia-live.net[/size]

    Squashua on
  • Options
    herucaheruca Registered User regular
    edited September 2007
    Fallingman wrote: »
    Battlegrounds - Nice enough, but seems to have connection troubles for me...
    I'd be happy to help you troubleshoot any connection problems, if you're still having them. Just PM me, email me, or post something in the Battlegrounds forums, so that we don't derail this thread.

    Also, this thread may help you figure it out on your own.
    Fallingman wrote: »
    I'd be interested to know if these things are widely used, and how people rate them.
    We may have need for a cross platform app, just to make it interesting, but for now lets just focus on whether you guys make use of the intarweb for your RPG needs.

    You can find links to nearly 40 virtual tabletop programs here, as well as links to two VT comparison charts and two sites devoted to VTs in general.

    heruca on
    Battlegrounds: RPG Edition is new virtual tabletop software for both Macs and Windows PCs that allows you to play any RPG online or offline. It's very easy to use, and has useful features like Fog of War. For more information, please visit http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/
  • Options
    amateurhouramateurhour One day I'll be professionalhour The woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered User regular
    edited September 2007
    If you take the time to actually go to the forums and read up on how to use open it's a great system. You can configure specific rolls for your games, create access style tables to be used as character sheets with direct input capability, and you have a lot of dedicated servers out there that are really cool and willing to host your game as long as it fits your theme.

    The biggest problem with any online tabletop software is consistancy. I've started probably a dozen games since I got open eight months ago, and only one is actually still in play. I've tried shadowrun, final fantasy, marvel super hereoes, D&D, and anything else imaginable, but everyone just leaves, mostly because of the greater internet dickwad theory.

    Seriously though, I like open, it's a bitch to learn but damned if it can't do everything you'd ever need it to. Also they fixed a LOT of glitches with the on screen map and token positioning system.

    amateurhour on
    are YOU on the beer list?
  • Options
    Hahnsoo1Hahnsoo1 Make Ready. We Hunt.Registered User regular
    edited September 2007
    We've recently started using RPTools for a Shadowrun Campaign. Aside from the Dice Rolling, which can get a bit awkward for Shadowrun (we have to use the in-line dice rolling commands from the latest beta to see individual rolls. [d6+d6+d6+d6] for a skill of 4 *sigh*), it works GREAT. It is far superior to any other option we've used before (Screen Monkey and OpenRPG, mainly). The Token Tool is awesome, as well. My significant other (a gamer, but has never used an online whiteboard program before) was able to pick it up in one session (but she's quite intelligent to begin with... then again, that was her first Shadowrun session, too).

    The only beef I have is that I can't figure out how to migrate the Player Tokens from map to map, but this is just a simple drag and drop every time we load up a new map.

    Hahnsoo1 on
    8i1dt37buh2m.png
Sign In or Register to comment.
Penny Arcade Forums› Critical Failures