While the advanced fog of war is only available for payment, the basic fog of war is free. You don't need to import your characters to roll20 because you only want to move tokens on a map, so a free account of Roll20 will work.
Also, if you use any of the adventures in Beyond (or just like a map from one of the adventures) you can import maps into Roll20 by simply right clicking on the map in Beyond, saving it to a location on your computer and then importing the map into your campaign and viola... instant tabletop. The most time consuming part is scaling the map appropriately once it is imported into Roll20 but that usually doesn't take more than 5 minutes.
If your using a laptop plugged into the TV then any photo editing software will work, just do a separate layer of solid black over the map that you erase as they go. If you want to do markers on the map you can do those in a layer too. Just use the zoom function on the map to get the squares at the right size. Shouldn't take too much time in prep on your part. I'm actually looking at a Tabletop TV case on Etsy for this very thing.
I just started doing this and found Fantasy Grounds works well for me. Launch the DM client, then launch a second client for the players. Place the players screen on the TV. Import and share any map and just select the mask button to obscure it. Then just erase the areas the players are. All free and I enjoy the interface better than roll20. There's even an extension that can resize maps to 1 inch squares on your TV automatically after a quick setup. So my 42" tv makes full 36x20 inch maps. Pretty handy. We just move dudes around and there's plenty of player made tokens to move around on the map rather than just generics.
I personally use Tabletop Simulator on Steam. My group likes it because, while still electronic, you get to actually roll your dice rather than just type a command or click a button.
You can also import saved images, but fog of war is a bit tricky. You can draw boxes that you can turn opaque for anyone but the DM. I use it to to hold my mini collection when they're not in use, and to cover up rooms and areas the party can't see yet. It's far from perfect when used for the latter purpose I'll admit.
"Best" is a relative term based on who you ask, but for the longest time I didn't use a VTT because I couldn't find one that I felt was acceptable.
I have since purchase Foundry VTT. It does require a one-time investment of $50. But it is a great platform and is in very active development and they literally talk to their users about features and bugs and do live broadcasts and answer end-user questions.
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Info, Inflow, Overload. Knowledge Black Hole Imminent!
I use owlbear.rodeo for my games. tried a lot of other things, but I really like it. Before that I tried making maps in Paint 3d, Illwinters Floorplan Generator and TaleSpire. They all have strengths, but mostly I just didn't need the level of complexity they offer to communicate clearly to players what was going on and allow them to move their own characters while not requiring them to access a separate login service like FG or Roll20.
Owlbear.rodeo
Pros (some are ubiquitous, but the whole thing is so light, that I think it's worth mentioning them as a demonstration that it really does qualify as a VTT and not just a map tool):
runs in browser
runs on mobile
no account required
optional password
import and scale your own assets: (maps, tokens) or use the built in set
dungeon fog
using tokens as mounts works very well
integrated dice roller
simple
Cons:
If you leave it too long, maps can expire, making it impossible for players to access if locally stored resources are used, but with one click you can restore them.
freestyle drawing can be clunky, limited colors and shapes
no integrated rule sets
limited to 2D
simple
I currently use it in 2 games I am running on DDB PBP and one encounter right now is in a space that requires 3D spatial tracking. Despite this tool be limited to 2D, by running concurrent sideview and topview maps of the encounter, I find it works pretty well for the needs of the game.
I made the switch and have not looked back at all. Also, https://www.vtta.io/blog is a great way to bring DDB content into Foundry, especially if you are a Patreon supporter.
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Want to see Virtual Table Top like no other before it built within DnDBeyond.com? Upvote the feature request. It's 2nd highest voted so far:
NOTE: You will need to setup a zendesk account (which is not your DnDBeyond.com account, the team uses this 3rd party software). It's easy to do and your votes are needed!
I love using D&D Beyond, as it has everything that I need, included the adventures that I've purchased.
What I'm trying to figure out the best way to do is, use a VTT at our table.
The idea is to let my players use DDB for their characters / rules lookups, while we setup a TV on our table that we can put minis on.
So, I need to be able to present a map with 1"x1" squares, and have a fog of war layer that I can remove for them.
The ability to use some tokens (whether for bad guys, or player markers, or objects) would be handy as well.
I already pay for DDB, so I'm not overly interested in paying anymore, and really just want the map / fog of war functionality.
I've tried using GIMP with different layers, but that can be cumbersome.
Any advice is appreciated!!
Roll20
While the advanced fog of war is only available for payment, the basic fog of war is free. You don't need to import your characters to roll20 because you only want to move tokens on a map, so a free account of Roll20 will work.
Also, if you use any of the adventures in Beyond (or just like a map from one of the adventures) you can import maps into Roll20 by simply right clicking on the map in Beyond, saving it to a location on your computer and then importing the map into your campaign and viola... instant tabletop. The most time consuming part is scaling the map appropriately once it is imported into Roll20 but that usually doesn't take more than 5 minutes.
Cool, thanks! I tried Roll20 a ways back, but wasn't overly impressed (somethings just weren't intuitive).
I'll give it another go.
If your using a laptop plugged into the TV then any photo editing software will work, just do a separate layer of solid black over the map that you erase as they go. If you want to do markers on the map you can do those in a layer too. Just use the zoom function on the map to get the squares at the right size. Shouldn't take too much time in prep on your part. I'm actually looking at a Tabletop TV case on Etsy for this very thing.
I just started doing this and found Fantasy Grounds works well for me. Launch the DM client, then launch a second client for the players. Place the players screen on the TV. Import and share any map and just select the mask button to obscure it. Then just erase the areas the players are. All free and I enjoy the interface better than roll20. There's even an extension that can resize maps to 1 inch squares on your TV automatically after a quick setup. So my 42" tv makes full 36x20 inch maps. Pretty handy. We just move dudes around and there's plenty of player made tokens to move around on the map rather than just generics.
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ModeratorI personally use Tabletop Simulator on Steam. My group likes it because, while still electronic, you get to actually roll your dice rather than just type a command or click a button.
You can also import saved images, but fog of war is a bit tricky. You can draw boxes that you can turn opaque for anyone but the DM. I use it to to hold my mini collection when they're not in use, and to cover up rooms and areas the party can't see yet. It's far from perfect when used for the latter purpose I'll admit.
Astral. I am still amazed how little people know about this gem!
It has been made in threads far more recent than 14th July 2018.
"Best" is a relative term based on who you ask, but for the longest time I didn't use a VTT because I couldn't find one that I felt was acceptable.
I have since purchase Foundry VTT. It does require a one-time investment of $50. But it is a great platform and is in very active development and they literally talk to their users about features and bugs and do live broadcasts and answer end-user questions.
Info, Inflow, Overload. Knowledge Black Hole Imminent!
I use owlbear.rodeo for my games. tried a lot of other things, but I really like it. Before that I tried making maps in Paint 3d, Illwinters Floorplan Generator and TaleSpire. They all have strengths, but mostly I just didn't need the level of complexity they offer to communicate clearly to players what was going on and allow them to move their own characters while not requiring them to access a separate login service like FG or Roll20.
Owlbear.rodeo
Pros (some are ubiquitous, but the whole thing is so light, that I think it's worth mentioning them as a demonstration that it really does qualify as a VTT and not just a map tool):
runs in browser
runs on mobile
no account required
optional password
import and scale your own assets: (maps, tokens) or use the built in set
dungeon fog
using tokens as mounts works very well
integrated dice roller
simple
Cons:
If you leave it too long, maps can expire, making it impossible for players to access if locally stored resources are used, but with one click you can restore them.
freestyle drawing can be clunky, limited colors and shapes
no integrated rule sets
limited to 2D
simple
I currently use it in 2 games I am running on DDB PBP and one encounter right now is in a space that requires 3D spatial tracking. Despite this tool be limited to 2D, by running concurrent sideview and topview maps of the encounter, I find it works pretty well for the needs of the game.
I made the switch and have not looked back at all. Also, https://www.vtta.io/blog is a great way to bring DDB content into Foundry, especially if you are a Patreon supporter.
Want to see Virtual Table Top like no other before it built within DnDBeyond.com? Upvote the feature request. It's 2nd highest voted so far:
https://dndbeyond.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115008597088-Virtual-Tabletop-Gameboard
NOTE: You will need to setup a zendesk account (which is not your DnDBeyond.com account, the team uses this 3rd party software). It's easy to do and your votes are needed!
Although still in alpha, above vtt is very simple and integrates brilliantly with dndbeyond.
Worth looking at as a free and simple option.