I am planning to DM my first campaign and was looking to use a virtual tabletop. We are usually able to meet at one of our houses and I was hoping to find a virtual tabletop that I could put up on a separate screen and use that as the player map. I would prefer free. What would yall recommend?
Check out Roll20. It's free, and apparently accessible enough to gain more popularity than other free virtual table tops I've heard of. I know nothing else about it, though, since it became a thing after I no longer used virtual table tops for my own games.
You could possibly use tabletop simulator on steam, but its even clunkier than roll20. On the bright side, you can have 3D models and shit. If you want to use many hours figuring how to insert them. And making maps can be rather frustrating at times. Also it can be more preformence required for your computer. Lastly the game isn't cheap, in addition to the "D&D" community is way smaller than roll20 which is dedicated for it. Im not even sure why im recomending it here in the first place. I would say go for roll20.
While Roll20 takes some getting used to, imo it is by far the easiest to learn of all the VTTs because you don't have to use all the special features to run an adventure if you don't want to, and you don't have to figure out all the windows like you do with Fantasy Grounds. While Fantasy Grounds may have more advanced features that are easier to use in the long run that isn't necessarily best for beginners because of the cost.
I recommend as a starting point that you use Roll20. Each of your players can also get a free account, no one needs to pay anything. The next level up from that gives you extra storage space, and "dynamic lightning", but you don't need either of these for your first game.
Once you've run a game with Roll20 you know whether or not you like using VTTs at all. At that point you can start looking at the differences between Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds and decide where you want to invest you time and money.
Below are some links to Roll20 how-to videos on YouTube for beginners.
@VanRichter: DDB have said repeatedly they have no plans to ever ad a VTT. They are trying to pursue partnerships with Roll20 and FG to allow characters to export from DDB and import to those VTTs. Curse is owned by Twitch, and they intend to add Twitch streaming to DDB at some point in the future. They'd rather have people using Twitch to stream games rather than be in a VTT.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing) You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
The problem with FREE is that it means SRD only, and the SRD, sucks. To that end, i would not recommend a free VTT. Either A) Dive into it feet first (and better yet, convince your players to pitch in 5 bucks a week, or 20 bucks before the campaign starts, or just go pen and paper. VTTs aren't really easier than pen and paper is, they just look better. Arguably, they are actually more work.
The problem with FREE is that it means SRD only, and the SRD, sucks. To that end, i would not recommend a free VTT. Either A) Dive into it feet first (and better yet, convince your players to pitch in 5 bucks a week, or 20 bucks before the campaign starts, or just go pen and paper. VTTs aren't really easier than pen and paper is, they just look better. Arguably, they are actually more work.
Not sure if you are comparing the "Free" of Roll20 to "purchasing" Fantasy Grounds here, but buying a Fantasy Grounds subscription does NOT give you anything more than the SRD as well. To get the full PHB you have to pay extra. So "FREE" ROll20 is pretty much equivalent to "FREE" Fantasy Grounds, except that to run a game on FG at least one person needs to have a paid subscription. On Roll20, you can host a game even with a Free account.
And of course if you've bought the PHB, etc from D&D BEyond, there is Copy & Paste.
As for why use a VTT instead of Pen & paper, for a lot of users it's because of distance. Not everyone can get together in person every week. If it weren't for VTTs, I likely wouldn't get to play D&D at all because getting my friends together in person to play every week is nigh impossible. With Roll20 we can meet every Wednesday and play a three hour session without worrying about getting to sleep on time for work the next day, because there is no travel time involved. You can sit in bed and play on your tablet or laptop, and when the game is done, turn it off, roll over, and go to sleep.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing) You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
Surprised to not see more support for Fantasy Grounds here. In my opinion it is far superior to any other VTT on the market. Granted when you're using it as a home game tool it might be overkill. However it certainly can be used that way. Connect your PC to the TV via HDMI or similar, fire up the game on the main screen for DMing, then fire up another instance of the client, connect to localhost and drag it to the TV for the players to see the action. Optimally they could have their own client with a mouse/keyboard available and swap it around, but that requires another license. If you intend to create everything outside the SRD manually, free roll20 might be a better option. But that is a lot of work.
Like I said, for a home game tool, you might be better off with a simple map display or something like that, but (if im allowed to stray from the original question for a sec) if you're looking for a full VTT program for running games online there is nothing better.
FG is $39 for the full version (or a $3.99/mo sub), or free if your GM has the ultimate version. However the modules like the PHB, DMG, MM, Xanathar's, official adventures are far cheaper than on Roll20 or as hardcovers. I refer to this comparison video between FG and roll20. But to give you a general idea, a $30 module on FG is usually $50 on roll20.
As a GM running an adventure I'd recommend the client license + PHB + the adventure module at least.
As a GM creating a homebrew campaign I'd recommend at least the PHB + the MM. However I'd say these VTTs are best for running the high production quality official modules.
There is a high amount of automation available due to the way FG uses it's combat tracker. Saves, attacks, damage, initiative, conditions and buffs etc.
Here is a screenshot from the GM's view. I was running the Forge of Fury adventure from Tales From the Yawning Portal.
Fantasy Grounds is a great application, but it has its drawbacks, and it is more expensive if you're just starting out. If you are new to VTTs, I recommend trying Roll20 to see if it's even something you would enjoy, and then make a decision between the two.
Roll 20 allows FREE accounts to both run games for other free accounts (as the DM) and play in any game hosted by a free account or higher (the levels are Free, Plus and Pro)
By comparison, Fantasy Grounds only allows Free accounts to play in games run by Ultimate level accounts. FG free accounts cannot DM games like Roll20 can.
So your options for a standard game of 4 players + 1 DM look like this:
Fantasy Grounds option 1: DM has an Ultimate account for $149, and the four players have Free accounts. Only the person with the Ultimate account can run games. Total = $149.00
Fantasy Grounds option 2: All five people have Standard accounts for $39 each, any one of them can DM for the others, but NO free accounts can play. Total = $195.00
Roll20 option 1: All 5 players have FREE accounts. Any one of them can host/run a game. They can all play for free. The main limitation is that each account has a total of 100 MB of storage space for maps and images. Total = FREE
Roll20 option 2: 4 players have Free accounts, and the DM has a PLUS account. At the Plus level you get more storage space. The Plus account costs $50/year, so it would take 3 years of playing to equal the one-time fee of the Fantasy Grounds Ultimate $149.00 account. Total = $50 for one year of play, or $149 over 3 years.
So, if you are okay with limited storage space (ie. using lower-res maps, deleting old stuff after you are done with it), you can host a game (DM) and all players can play in that game for FREE for ever on Roll20. You can also also take turns DMing. You could take it for a spin and see if you like using a VTT at all with NO upfront cost. You can't do that with Fantasy Grounds. On Fantasy Grounds someone has to pay something to even test it out.
Don't get me wrong, FG is cool, but the costs are very different.
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"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing) You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
It's worth adding that Fantasy Grounds does have the option of paying a subscription price instead of the one-and-done-forever style price, so the options mjsoctober presents have a sub-option of trying out the software for a month by spending $9.99 on the DM having an Ultimate subscription.
It doesn't accumulate towards the one-time-purchase license, though, so it will cost a little extra in the long-run, but it is a valid way to get a few sessions worth of try-out time before committing to a high purchase price.
I have a question about Roll 20. I will be soon running my first game for my brother and my niece. We have our character sheets set up here, we have physical dice, but since it a distance we are going to play over Skype or Discord, and only need a virtual table top for mapping combat encounters. Will they only need 1 account for moving 2 tokens?
I have a question about Roll 20. I will be soon running my first game for my brother and my niece. We have our character sheets set up here, we have physical dice, but since it a distance we are going to play over Skype or Discord, and only need a virtual table top for mapping combat encounters. Will they only need 1 account for moving 2 tokens?
Yes. Players can control as many tokens as the GM gives them permission to.
I have a question about Roll 20. I will be soon running my first game for my brother and my niece. We have our character sheets set up here, we have physical dice, but since it a distance we are going to play over Skype or Discord, and only need a virtual table top for mapping combat encounters. Will they only need 1 account for moving 2 tokens?
Yes. Players can control as many tokens as the GM gives them permission to.
And thank God for that - makes it so much easier to let one of the other players to run a PC if the group is in a dungeon and the player for that PC can't make it to the session.
Third for Maptools. Its what our DM uses at my house. I am currently learning to run my side game I am starting in a few weeks.
Have not tried anything else though. There are probably easier ones to use, its just what I have been shown.
We use a projector over our game table
While it might work great in a home setting, how about over the internet? i have a server and set up my router, but it looks like you have to have them also install a client to see it. Not sure on FG, but i was told Roll20 all they need to do is access a website which would be ideal. I just hate Roll20 that i really don't want to use it, but if i must i must. Also, i have players that use their phones so using a client is probably out of the question.
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I just want to tell everyone "happy gaming" and actually mean it. Whatever your game is, just have fun with it, it is after all, just a game.
seeing as your asking from dnd beyond and you are looking for something which is just for player maps and battles I would also strongly recommend doing tabletop simulator.
I have been playing dnd on and off for about 3-4 years now trying all of the different VTT's however I keep on going back to tabletop sim because my players are comfortable with dice and adding their different stats etc to the rolls without needing the system to do it for them and it means that we don't have to work with what has been added onto the game by others, we can add whatever we want onto it and make some pretty elaborate things!
On the Steam workshop there are a bunch of 3d models and things already done however there are premade dungeon tiles which, with abit of care, can be used to make some amazing battle maps and make them 3d adding a whole new dimension to play which I haven't gotten on roll20 or fantasy grounds.
Yeah its nice to have everything in one place like Fantasy ground and the above screenshot from Rhymfaxe, if you have a second screen or even a screen big enough you can have dnd beyond and a pdf or two open on one screen and then tabletop sim open in the other, there are also tools available so that you can hide things from players and pull things out super quickly, I used to have a full virtual table of encounters and minis lined up with a folder of battle maps that I had made ready to pull out and quickly upload onto the game to start a very quick and easy encounter. if you have things ready it can take a few seconds to pull out a battle map and get people rolling initiative.
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I am planning to DM my first campaign and was looking to use a virtual tabletop. We are usually able to meet at one of our houses and I was hoping to find a virtual tabletop that I could put up on a separate screen and use that as the player map. I would prefer free. What would yall recommend?
Check out Roll20. It's free, and apparently accessible enough to gain more popularity than other free virtual table tops I've heard of. I know nothing else about it, though, since it became a thing after I no longer used virtual table tops for my own games.
Roll20 works but I found it to be clunky and cumbersome. DDB needs to integrate one that is super user friendly as a selling point for future modules.
You could possibly use tabletop simulator on steam, but its even clunkier than roll20. On the bright side, you can have 3D models and shit. If you want to use many hours figuring how to insert them. And making maps can be rather frustrating at times. Also it can be more preformence required for your computer. Lastly the game isn't cheap, in addition to the "D&D" community is way smaller than roll20 which is dedicated for it. Im not even sure why im recomending it here in the first place. I would say go for roll20.
While Roll20 takes some getting used to, imo it is by far the easiest to learn of all the VTTs because you don't have to use all the special features to run an adventure if you don't want to, and you don't have to figure out all the windows like you do with Fantasy Grounds. While Fantasy Grounds may have more advanced features that are easier to use in the long run that isn't necessarily best for beginners because of the cost.
I recommend as a starting point that you use Roll20. Each of your players can also get a free account, no one needs to pay anything. The next level up from that gives you extra storage space, and "dynamic lightning", but you don't need either of these for your first game.
Once you've run a game with Roll20 you know whether or not you like using VTTs at all. At that point you can start looking at the differences between Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds and decide where you want to invest you time and money.
Below are some links to Roll20 how-to videos on YouTube for beginners.
@VanRichter: DDB have said repeatedly they have no plans to ever ad a VTT. They are trying to pursue partnerships with Roll20 and FG to allow characters to export from DDB and import to those VTTs. Curse is owned by Twitch, and they intend to add Twitch streaming to DDB at some point in the future. They'd rather have people using Twitch to stream games rather than be in a VTT.
ROLL 20 VIDEOS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svG0RmIGBPU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwBpT0O7eJ4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGZj-28A_wQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nNKBjNmD_M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTF8pJwfyD4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiVEzvvkovI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrbqdkGIa00&list=PL4ihyL-PTq4N5DRmy72zCqD1eQhnqaCTp < PLAYLIST. Check out the video on building a monster manual.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing)
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
The problem with FREE is that it means SRD only, and the SRD, sucks. To that end, i would not recommend a free VTT. Either A) Dive into it feet first (and better yet, convince your players to pitch in 5 bucks a week, or 20 bucks before the campaign starts, or just go pen and paper. VTTs aren't really easier than pen and paper is, they just look better. Arguably, they are actually more work.
http://www.rptools.net/toolbox/maptool/ Should do exactly what your asking.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing)
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
yes
Long Time Player. Child of the 80's. Public School Educator, Administrator, Coach, Dad.
IOS V 11.1.2 IPHONE X
Surprised to not see more support for Fantasy Grounds here. In my opinion it is far superior to any other VTT on the market. Granted when you're using it as a home game tool it might be overkill. However it certainly can be used that way. Connect your PC to the TV via HDMI or similar, fire up the game on the main screen for DMing, then fire up another instance of the client, connect to localhost and drag it to the TV for the players to see the action. Optimally they could have their own client with a mouse/keyboard available and swap it around, but that requires another license. If you intend to create everything outside the SRD manually, free roll20 might be a better option. But that is a lot of work.
Like I said, for a home game tool, you might be better off with a simple map display or something like that, but (if im allowed to stray from the original question for a sec) if you're looking for a full VTT program for running games online there is nothing better.
FG is $39 for the full version (or a $3.99/mo sub), or free if your GM has the ultimate version. However the modules like the PHB, DMG, MM, Xanathar's, official adventures are far cheaper than on Roll20 or as hardcovers. I refer to this comparison video between FG and roll20. But to give you a general idea, a $30 module on FG is usually $50 on roll20.
As a GM running an adventure I'd recommend the client license + PHB + the adventure module at least.
As a GM creating a homebrew campaign I'd recommend at least the PHB + the MM. However I'd say these VTTs are best for running the high production quality official modules.
There is a high amount of automation available due to the way FG uses it's combat tracker. Saves, attacks, damage, initiative, conditions and buffs etc.
Here is a screenshot from the GM's view. I was running the Forge of Fury adventure from Tales From the Yawning Portal.
DnDBeyond Tooltip Syntax
Third for Maptools. Its what our DM uses at my house. I am currently learning to run my side game I am starting in a few weeks.
Have not tried anything else though. There are probably easier ones to use, its just what I have been shown.
We use a projector over our game table
Fantasy Grounds is a great application, but it has its drawbacks, and it is more expensive if you're just starting out. If you are new to VTTs, I recommend trying Roll20 to see if it's even something you would enjoy, and then make a decision between the two.
Roll 20 allows FREE accounts to both run games for other free accounts (as the DM) and play in any game hosted by a free account or higher (the levels are Free, Plus and Pro)
By comparison, Fantasy Grounds only allows Free accounts to play in games run by Ultimate level accounts. FG free accounts cannot DM games like Roll20 can.
So your options for a standard game of 4 players + 1 DM look like this:
Fantasy Grounds option 1: DM has an Ultimate account for $149, and the four players have Free accounts. Only the person with the Ultimate account can run games. Total = $149.00
Fantasy Grounds option 2: All five people have Standard accounts for $39 each, any one of them can DM for the others, but NO free accounts can play. Total = $195.00
Roll20 option 1: All 5 players have FREE accounts. Any one of them can host/run a game. They can all play for free. The main limitation is that each account has a total of 100 MB of storage space for maps and images. Total = FREE
Roll20 option 2: 4 players have Free accounts, and the DM has a PLUS account. At the Plus level you get more storage space. The Plus account costs $50/year, so it would take 3 years of playing to equal the one-time fee of the Fantasy Grounds Ultimate $149.00 account. Total = $50 for one year of play, or $149 over 3 years.
So, if you are okay with limited storage space (ie. using lower-res maps, deleting old stuff after you are done with it), you can host a game (DM) and all players can play in that game for FREE for ever on Roll20. You can also also take turns DMing. You could take it for a spin and see if you like using a VTT at all with NO upfront cost. You can't do that with Fantasy Grounds. On Fantasy Grounds someone has to pay something to even test it out.
Don't get me wrong, FG is cool, but the costs are very different.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing)
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
It's worth adding that Fantasy Grounds does have the option of paying a subscription price instead of the one-and-done-forever style price, so the options mjsoctober presents have a sub-option of trying out the software for a month by spending $9.99 on the DM having an Ultimate subscription.
It doesn't accumulate towards the one-time-purchase license, though, so it will cost a little extra in the long-run, but it is a valid way to get a few sessions worth of try-out time before committing to a high purchase price.
I have a question about Roll 20. I will be soon running my first game for my brother and my niece. We have our character sheets set up here, we have physical dice, but since it a distance we are going to play over Skype or Discord, and only need a virtual table top for mapping combat encounters. Will they only need 1 account for moving 2 tokens?
ok cool
While it might work great in a home setting, how about over the internet? i have a server and set up my router, but it looks like you have to have them also install a client to see it. Not sure on FG, but i was told Roll20 all they need to do is access a website which would be ideal. I just hate Roll20 that i really don't want to use it, but if i must i must. Also, i have players that use their phones so using a client is probably out of the question.
I just want to tell everyone "happy gaming" and actually mean it. Whatever your game is, just have fun with it, it is after all, just a game.
seeing as your asking from dnd beyond and you are looking for something which is just for player maps and battles I would also strongly recommend doing tabletop simulator.
I have been playing dnd on and off for about 3-4 years now trying all of the different VTT's however I keep on going back to tabletop sim because my players are comfortable with dice and adding their different stats etc to the rolls without needing the system to do it for them and it means that we don't have to work with what has been added onto the game by others, we can add whatever we want onto it and make some pretty elaborate things!
On the Steam workshop there are a bunch of 3d models and things already done however there are premade dungeon tiles which, with abit of care, can be used to make some amazing battle maps and make them 3d adding a whole new dimension to play which I haven't gotten on roll20 or fantasy grounds.
Yeah its nice to have everything in one place like Fantasy ground and the above screenshot from Rhymfaxe, if you have a second screen or even a screen big enough you can have dnd beyond and a pdf or two open on one screen and then tabletop sim open in the other, there are also tools available so that you can hide things from players and pull things out super quickly, I used to have a full virtual table of encounters and minis lined up with a folder of battle maps that I had made ready to pull out and quickly upload onto the game to start a very quick and easy encounter. if you have things ready it can take a few seconds to pull out a battle map and get people rolling initiative.