Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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A few weeks ago I got my hands on a cheap TV to use for displaying digital maps. I started searching for some good software to actually display those maps, and eventually came across a free open source solution called VeilCast-VTT. At the time, it had only been "released" for two months, but it already had most of the basic functionality: the ability to load in an image or .uvtt map, run a separate DM and player screen, fog of war, walls, player tokens, basic effects. It can even run completely offline - no login or internet connection required! If you need an in-person option and already have a collection of digital maps, you should give it a try. It can be run right in a browser, or you can install it via a chrome-based browser by clicking Install as app in the Table tab for a windowed, offline-capable install.
The original version, which the author is in the process of upgrading after collecting some user feedback, is here: https://github.com/cr-lolo/VeilCast-VTT
Wait... "Original??"
Well I like to tinker, so since the software is open source I forked the repo and started playing around with my own changes because I was bored. So my version has a couple upgrades (which I hope the original author decides to use!) including:
My version is here: https://github.com/jeff-o/VeilCast-VTT
But why am I posting this? Primarily, to get the word out about this great tool that it already super useful, and has even greater potential as features are added. And, to collect feedback, bug reports, feature requests, etc. Let me know here, or post on the github pages.
Have you tried Arkenforge VTT?
Not only can it display beautiful animated maps, but you can also use touch-screen to move your mini, and the maps changes as you move... VERY cool!
Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty.
Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers;
Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas.
Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
I have tried Arkenforge, but it's more than I need. And also not free! But it is indeed a powerful piece of software.
Perhaps touchscreen support can be added to VeilCast!
Yeah, I'm sorry dude, but with the range of options out there that already exist I hate to say that I just don't see a market for this. The offline thing is pretty cool, but for the times when offline truly matters I'm not using a software or screens. I'm using good old fashioned grid paper or a whiteboard. In lieu of that the folks I know who like to do things offline will do minis and terrain. I know one dude how makes his terrain out of scrap materials like cardboard, so with the exception of glue and paint his material costs are almost nothing.
If a VTT is required in person Owlbear Rodeo is free, has all the features (and more) that yours does, and it handles actual image files rather than the uvtt format which kinda sucks. Frankly if yours runs in a browser anyway, I may as well use Owlbear and cast owlbear to a player screen.
I don't mean to be harsh, but the market is flooded already with a lot of stuff.
Sadly now I need to be harsh. You didn't even code this thing yourself. Now I'm a product of the 90s having learnt to wield assembly, pascal, C (not C+ or C#, C). I once wrote an entire program by hand on the balcony of a hotel during a family holiday, on returning home and typing it there were zero errors or bugs. Granted it was Visual Basic so not the most complex code in the world, and it was ugly as sin, but if I could manage that at the age of 15 anyone can. Anyone using an GenAI or LLMs to build a piece of software is in my opinion lazy and not worth supporting. I'm sorry to make it so blunt, but it's not that uncommon a position.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
Hey, that's fair. I'm not a fan of genAI either. The original project was created with the help of claude so I kept that warning in the readme.
I should mention that you CAN import images into veilcast, too! I just mentioned uvtt because it'll often contain convenient walls and light source data. But yeah, you can totally import an image, add a grid, add walls, etc.
And while Owlbear Rodeo does have a free version, it's limited to 200MB of storage and only two rooms, which some mind find an impediment.