Been on D&D Beyond for a long time and not new to D&D, but I am new to the forums and posting here. I hope that this is an alright thing to post. I wanted to share my feedback regarding my experiences with Maps VTT and Above VTT and what I see the key differences are. My feedback is that Maps VTT could make some key changes that would place it above Above VTT's current level.
Everyone plays D&D a little differently when it comes to VTTs. I think depending on when you started, what your friend group does, how you prefer to interface with the world, and what content you're consuming (library, homebrew, etc.), your actual gameplay experience may vary. I'll explain how we play, which may or may not be how others play, as as kind of backstory for how I came to some of these conclusions.
How We Play
When we play, five players and a DM get in discord (but a VTT's voice is perfectly fine too) and we login to D&D Beyond, go to the campaign, launch it in Above VTT, and get situated. Almost all of our campaigns these days are built from scratch with our own original stories and backdrops, using D&D as the framework. I think this is perhaps the first key difference in how we play versus how others play.
As the DM, when we begin to tell the story and work through it, players are directly engaging with 4 main asset types: Maps, Scenes, Handouts, and Music.
In this context, I am defining these items as:
Maps: The above-view, gridded map where combat can take place and where tokens reside.
Scenes: A depiction of a particular setting (a town, an alley way, a tavern) that typically has high visual fidelity, helping to paint the picture. I personally show these scenes as modified maps backgrounds without a grid, but will sometimes simply make these scenes as Handouts as well.
Handouts: In Maps VTT, these are called Reveals, and we use these to showcase key NPCs. I think in some campaigns, Handouts and Scenes are depicted in the same format (a popup that is revealed to players at the DM's discretion, as I mentioned above).
Music: Just what you think, backdrop music. I like to use the app Pocket Bard while streaming on Discord, or I upload music assets to Above VTT and trigger it to play when a particular scene is selected.
So a typical session might have players transition to a scene depicting, say, a Tavern. This triggers background tavern music that plays while I explain key elements. I use Handouts to depict NPCs and, if combat happens, we switch to a map with tokens.
With that in mind, here's my Feedback:
The key differences that I have noticed between Maps VTT and Above VTT is that this workflow is interrupted by a lack of support for homebrew/outside content. While you can upload your own maps and even use them as scenes as I described above, I haven't found a way to import your own tokens or handouts/reveals. They're all assets taken directly from your Library.
I think Maps VTT would beat Roll 20, Above VTT, and Fantasy Grounds, and any other VTT if it made the following comprehensive changes:
Allow custom/homebrew assets. Make it easy to create a NPC or enemy with easy to use stat blocks that automatically translate to the game. (Above VTT does this, Maps VTT does not, to my knowledge). We could even create these in the homebrew section of D&D Beyond, assign them to a campaign, and use them.
Allow custom Handouts/Reveals. Self Explanatory -- another thing that I can easily do in Above VTT but can't in Maps VTT.
Create a Pocket Bard-style music library. If you haven't used it, Pocket Bard is great and very easy to use. It has music, but also soundbites that depict crowds talking, spooky whispers, bells chiming, etc. You can fire off single sound effects or play ambience in the background. Bonus points if this integrated with triggers within other parts of Maps.
Integrate the Character Sheet into Maps VTT. It's possible that this exists now, I haven't used it in a while since switching to AboveVTT. But when I did use it, I couldn't find a space for players to access their character sheet within Maps VTT. Above VTT has this and it's easy to use.
These are just my experiences. If there are features that I'm suggesting that do exist and that I just haven't found for whatever reason, please let me know. I love D&D Beyond and D&D in general and I hope this feedback is valuable.
Thank you!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hello,
Been on D&D Beyond for a long time and not new to D&D, but I am new to the forums and posting here. I hope that this is an alright thing to post. I wanted to share my feedback regarding my experiences with Maps VTT and Above VTT and what I see the key differences are. My feedback is that Maps VTT could make some key changes that would place it above Above VTT's current level.
Everyone plays D&D a little differently when it comes to VTTs. I think depending on when you started, what your friend group does, how you prefer to interface with the world, and what content you're consuming (library, homebrew, etc.), your actual gameplay experience may vary. I'll explain how we play, which may or may not be how others play, as as kind of backstory for how I came to some of these conclusions.
How We Play
When we play, five players and a DM get in discord (but a VTT's voice is perfectly fine too) and we login to D&D Beyond, go to the campaign, launch it in Above VTT, and get situated. Almost all of our campaigns these days are built from scratch with our own original stories and backdrops, using D&D as the framework. I think this is perhaps the first key difference in how we play versus how others play.
As the DM, when we begin to tell the story and work through it, players are directly engaging with 4 main asset types: Maps, Scenes, Handouts, and Music.
In this context, I am defining these items as:
So a typical session might have players transition to a scene depicting, say, a Tavern. This triggers background tavern music that plays while I explain key elements. I use Handouts to depict NPCs and, if combat happens, we switch to a map with tokens.
With that in mind, here's my Feedback:
The key differences that I have noticed between Maps VTT and Above VTT is that this workflow is interrupted by a lack of support for homebrew/outside content. While you can upload your own maps and even use them as scenes as I described above, I haven't found a way to import your own tokens or handouts/reveals. They're all assets taken directly from your Library.
I think Maps VTT would beat Roll 20, Above VTT, and Fantasy Grounds, and any other VTT if it made the following comprehensive changes:
These are just my experiences. If there are features that I'm suggesting that do exist and that I just haven't found for whatever reason, please let me know. I love D&D Beyond and D&D in general and I hope this feedback is valuable.
Thank you!