Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Recommendations for best virtual tabletop

mook · 08-11-2017, 07:40 PM

I've been giving this a lot of thought the past few months; personally, this is where I'm at.

First, not all groups actually need a VTT. Particularly for situations like yours, kmunoz -- an established group that finds itself geographically dispersed -- you might be able to just all hook up on a Discord server (audio) or Google Hangout (audio and video) and call it a day.

Assuming you want to easily share maps, pics, handouts, etc. though, a VTT will be super helpful. To my mind, that means either Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds (with an honorable mention for Tabletop Simulator -- I personally don't prefer it, but I've heard from many others who do).

There is no shortage of posts and opinions on Roll20 and FG, both singly and in comparison, all across the 'net. They both can be used for GURPS with a little effort, but ultimately I have thrown my lot in with Fantasy Grounds -- I just prefer the UI, and I think it handles things like multiple modifiers in a much cleaner way. But it isn't like "FG all the way, Roll20 is garbage!" It's much more like "60/40, they're both pretty good but I prefer FG."

The monthly subscription fee for either is only 4 or 5 bucks a month. FG actually turned out cheaper than Roll20 for me, since I went with the Ultimate License when Steam had their semi-annual super sale. Now I don't need to worry about it anymore, whereas Roll20 is an indefinite $100/year.

The nice thing is, you can easily give both a free test drive and see which you prefer. Here are good starting points to get up and running with both Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 (and character sheet). Both allow hex overlays on maps, mini/token movement, dice rolls from character sheets, etc. I know Roll20 can import characters from GCS, and Fantasy Grounds can import characters from GCA -- that was another tipping point for me, since I prefer GCA over GCS.

Whichever you choose, unless you're using it simply as a glorified shared whiteboard, prepare to do a lot of typing and data entry. You can add whatever you want to your own, personal ruleset as long as you don't share it with others, but as I'm sure you know, Steve Jackson Games doesn't (yet? :: prays ::) officially support online play. So, all those modifiers, postures, hit locations, maneuvers, trait/spell descriptions, etc... if you want them in the VTT, you're gonna have to add them yourself.

Good luck!

08-11-2017, 07:40 PM	#6
mook Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Los Angeles	Re: Recommendations for best virtual tabletop I've been giving this a lot of thought the past few months; personally, this is where I'm at. First, not all groups actually need a VTT. Particularly for situations like yours, kmunoz -- an established group that finds itself geographically dispersed -- you might be able to just all hook up on a Discord server (audio) or Google Hangout (audio and video) and call it a day. Assuming you want to easily share maps, pics, handouts, etc. though, a VTT will be super helpful. To my mind, that means either Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds (with an honorable mention for Tabletop Simulator -- I personally don't prefer it, but I've heard from many others who do). There is no shortage of posts and opinions on Roll20 and FG, both singly and in comparison, all across the 'net. They both can be used for GURPS with a little effort, but ultimately I have thrown my lot in with Fantasy Grounds -- I just prefer the UI, and I think it handles things like multiple modifiers in a much cleaner way. But it isn't like "FG all the way, Roll20 is garbage!" It's much more like "60/40, they're both pretty good but I prefer FG." The monthly subscription fee for either is only 4 or 5 bucks a month. FG actually turned out cheaper than Roll20 for me, since I went with the Ultimate License when Steam had their semi-annual super sale. Now I don't need to worry about it anymore, whereas Roll20 is an indefinite $100/year. The nice thing is, you can easily give both a free test drive and see which you prefer. Here are good starting points to get up and running with both Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 (and character sheet). Both allow hex overlays on maps, mini/token movement, dice rolls from character sheets, etc. I know Roll20 can import characters from GCS, and Fantasy Grounds can import characters from GCA -- that was another tipping point for me, since I prefer GCA over GCS. Whichever you choose, unless you're using it simply as a glorified shared whiteboard, prepare to do a lot of typing and data entry. You can add whatever you want to your own, personal ruleset as long as you don't share it with others, but as I'm sure you know, Steve Jackson Games doesn't (yet? :: prays ::) officially support online play. So, all those modifiers, postures, hit locations, maneuvers, trait/spell descriptions, etc... if you want them in the VTT, you're gonna have to add them yourself. Good luck! __________________ How to Be a GURPS GM, author Game Geekery, Blog (GURPS combat examples, fillable PDF sheets, rules summaries, campaigns and one-shots, beginners' intro) GURPS Discord, unofficial hangout and real-time chat Last edited by mook; 08-11-2017 at 07:46 PM.