I had absolutely no luck with Roll20, I found it terrible to use. I admit I'm not the most tech savvy person. Foundry made no sense to me, and Fantasy Grounds was a bit over the top for me.
I've really been enjoying Shard, free until 26 Jan when their Kickstarter begins. From my understanding it's going to be subscription based, similar to other VTT's and DDB.
Lots of free goodies in the meantime, and I've run a couple adventures on it already. Players liked it, I like it!
As much as I love open competition, and like the idea of D&D Beyond allowing other VTT's to use their character sheets & such via some form of API access(Foundry in particular has an EXCELLENT module to import D&DB character sheets), I also hope D&D Beyond develops their own VTT that can integrate more tightly with the rest of the resources available on here such as the compendium info, digital dice, encounter builder, combat tracker, campaign groups, etc. There is something to be said for having everything in one place running on the same platform.
A D&D-specific VTT would have a limited market. Much better if their parent company purchased one of the already-existing VTTs and made D&D 5E just one of the many systems available on it. (Parent company purchase so that it won't be entirely devoted ONLY to D&D 5E).
Rather than DDB developing their own VTT, I'd like to see them create their own modules for integrating DDB with existing VTT's like Foundry, Roll20, Shard, Etc... Similar to how Avrae integrates with Discord. Maybe a version of "Avrae-VTT" for each of the more popular VTT's. That way they do not have to reinvent the wheel, DM's and players get to use the VTT they are most comfortable with, and the integration can be deep and rich. Beyond20 is incredible, so is VTA on Foundry, but an official "Avrae-VTT" module from DDB could be even better, and hopefully browser agnostic.
If it ever actually happens, it's going to be at least a couple of years, I would think. Personally, i don't believe they will ever have a working VTT, at least not during the lifespan of 5th edition.
With the speed at which they develop features for dndbeyond, I'd expect a VTT project to take the them 10-15 years. It's more than they can chew honestly.
It would be fantastic if they partner with or purchased Roll 20. Their website directs you Roll 20 already. I worry about buying modules on Roll 20, cause if Beyond creates their own VTT I am sure they’ll pull their online content for Roll 20 and Fantasy Grounds.
Don't worry about that though. They're probably not capable of creating a VTT.
Honestly, I have tried and tested so many VTTs that my mind gets overwhelmed. Each one of them has pros, and each one of them has cons. Speaking of this, is there a list of VTTs so I can check some new ones so I can just look at them and features till my eyes gloss over and I give up?
Right now I don't play with one because I am not playing much now. I am considering getting a campaign up and running in the next few weeks and I am still doing background work
If it ever actually happens, it's going to be at least a couple of years, I would think. Personally, i don't believe they will ever have a working VTT, at least not during the lifespan of 5th edition.
lol then you under-estimate the lifespan of 5th edition. They haven't even published a majority of the possible adventures they could do in the forgotten realms alone. We dont even have setting books for the rest of the continent yet! 5th edition could very well go on another 10-15 years.
Foundry has a one time upfront cost that is equivalent of a half dozen fast food orders. Not a barrier for the majority of the player base I suspect. If you can afford two expansion books you can afford Foundry.
it is not complicated IF you watch a few videos on how to use it. There is one video author who has a long series of YouTube videos to walk you through it. Highly recommend giving it a go.
Funny though, once you start using it, especially scene building, there are a ton of Patreon’s out there that you can subscribe to that significantly improve player immersion (Dynamic Dungeons, BaliWiki just to name a few).
That’s where the real cost can come from! Beware 😎
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Husband, Father, Veteran, Gamer, DM, Player, and Friend | Author of the "World of Eirador" | http://world-guild.com "The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." ~Gary Gygax
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
https://www.shardtabletop.com/
I had absolutely no luck with Roll20, I found it terrible to use. I admit I'm not the most tech savvy person. Foundry made no sense to me, and Fantasy Grounds was a bit over the top for me.
I've really been enjoying Shard, free until 26 Jan when their Kickstarter begins. From my understanding it's going to be subscription based, similar to other VTT's and DDB.
Lots of free goodies in the meantime, and I've run a couple adventures on it already. Players liked it, I like it!
As much as I love open competition, and like the idea of D&D Beyond allowing other VTT's to use their character sheets & such via some form of API access(Foundry in particular has an EXCELLENT module to import D&DB character sheets), I also hope D&D Beyond develops their own VTT that can integrate more tightly with the rest of the resources available on here such as the compendium info, digital dice, encounter builder, combat tracker, campaign groups, etc. There is something to be said for having everything in one place running on the same platform.
A D&D-specific VTT would have a limited market. Much better if their parent company purchased one of the already-existing VTTs and made D&D 5E just one of the many systems available on it. (Parent company purchase so that it won't be entirely devoted ONLY to D&D 5E).
Rather than DDB developing their own VTT, I'd like to see them create their own modules for integrating DDB with existing VTT's like Foundry, Roll20, Shard, Etc... Similar to how Avrae integrates with Discord. Maybe a version of "Avrae-VTT" for each of the more popular VTT's. That way they do not have to reinvent the wheel, DM's and players get to use the VTT they are most comfortable with, and the integration can be deep and rich. Beyond20 is incredible, so is VTA on Foundry, but an official "Avrae-VTT" module from DDB could be even better, and hopefully browser agnostic.
With the speed at which they develop features for dndbeyond, I'd expect a VTT project to take the them 10-15 years. It's more than they can chew honestly.
Altrazin Aghanes - Wizard/Fighter
Varpulis Windhowl - Fighter
Skolson Demjon - Cleric/Fighter
Don't worry about that though. They're probably not capable of creating a VTT.
Altrazin Aghanes - Wizard/Fighter
Varpulis Windhowl - Fighter
Skolson Demjon - Cleric/Fighter
how about integrating with owlbear rodeo?
You could develop the browser add-on that integrates with that VTT, just like beyond20 supports both roll20 and Foundry.
You mean like this?
https://youtu.be/CJ2RUdov7jw
I Cancelled my Master Tier Subscription January 12th 2023 because of "OGL" 1.1 - Resubscribed 28th of Jan, now the SRD is in CC-BY-4.0
Thats awesome.. looks like the developer of it, posted on DDB already.
For all of you, waiting for DDB to release a VTT...
Honestly, I have tried and tested so many VTTs that my mind gets overwhelmed. Each one of them has pros, and each one of them has cons. Speaking of this, is there a list of VTTs so I can check some new ones so I can just look at them and features till my eyes gloss over and I give up?
Right now I don't play with one because I am not playing much now. I am considering getting a campaign up and running in the next few weeks and I am still doing background work
lol then you under-estimate the lifespan of 5th edition. They haven't even published a majority of the possible adventures they could do in the forgotten realms alone. We dont even have setting books for the rest of the continent yet! 5th edition could very well go on another 10-15 years.
Foundry has a one time upfront cost that is equivalent of a half dozen fast food orders. Not a barrier for the majority of the player base I suspect. If you can afford two expansion books you can afford Foundry.
it is not complicated IF you watch a few videos on how to use it. There is one video author who has a long series of YouTube videos to walk you through it. Highly recommend giving it a go.
Funny though, once you start using it, especially scene building, there are a ton of Patreon’s out there that you can subscribe to that significantly improve player immersion (Dynamic Dungeons, BaliWiki just to name a few).
That’s where the real cost can come from! Beware 😎
Husband, Father, Veteran, Gamer, DM, Player, and Friend | Author of the "World of Eirador" | http://world-guild.com
"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." ~Gary Gygax