What Virtual Tabletops are out there?

[Zuki]

Is there a nice resource I can look at with a list of all those interestingly named bits of software listed when I joined this place?

Personally I have heard of fantasy grounds, and am vaguely aware of OpenRPG but thats about it..but I looks like theres lots more I should be checking out - preferably free ones too...hehe.

I have run Unknown Armies once on IRC with a scripted dice roller, and other systems on chat rooms with built in dice too, but am interested in more directed software which is easy to roll out to other players with the minimum of learning time.

[trevor]

Here's a decent list:

http://rpgvirtualtabletop.com/vts.html

[trevor]

(Personally I recommend MapTool at http://rptools.net but I'm biased ;) )

[Brennen Reece]

In my opinion, the main players are:

MapTool - free, multi-platform, good support, Trevor is a member here, a little confusing on the interface side, no easy-to-use character sheets.

Fantasy Grounds - pretty as hell, cool 3d dice, d20 centric but customizable if you have mad skillz and tons of time, expensive, Windows only.

Battlegrounds - multi-platform, a bit clunky, good for wargaming, mini-centric, system agnostic (game-wise) to a flaw.

and in development:

EpicTable - windows only, built by someone with experience in hippy games (John Lammers) who is also a member of this community.

[trevor]

Out of curiosity, what specifically makes battlegrounds good for wargaming ?

[Brennen Reece]

Honestly? The fact that Heruca says so and seems to be building a wargaming edition. I'm no expert.

[Ben]

I have been using MapTool for a year now. In both RPGs and Wargames. It is quite flexible. for my purposes we play many different games all the time. I don't expect (read that want) a VT that enforces a rules set. I like VTs that are just that virtual table tops. I have no issue, nor the people I play with, handling the rules and the die rolls on our own. I understand that does not appeal to all, but it really works well for crew.

[Brennen Reece]

Most of the folks here come from indie rpgs and story games, so we're big on changing games frequently. d20 Pro, for instance isn't going to go over here as a main app. System-agnostic is the way to go!

[Zuki]

Yes I definitely agree with this, though perhaps even further as I never see the need for any miniatures either in most of the games I play. Some rule sets might get helped along by in game support but they dont really help with the variety of new things I like to get involved with...so fantasy grounds seems like a non-starter to me...

If i can find a nice workable simple interface with dice, logging, maybe voice chat and the like Id be happy. It pays to trust the players sometimes!

[trevor]

Speaking of narrative games and VTs, here's a session report back of an experiment with MT and a narrative style game:

http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php?t=3471

[Saint&Sinner]

Now that's what I'm talking about. That is exactly what I want my VT to do. Act as a place to draw and throw out pictures, letters, etc.

[trevor]

Snikle, the guy that ran it, sent me the polaroid image that would be pretty easy to make into a TokenTool overlay, which would make creating polaroid images for VTs crazy simple

[Zuki]

Thats a cool idea, definitely some kind of shared canvas and a map that players can draw on and erase from easily would be a nice addition.

Voice is something else that really helps, most IRC games I played were pretty slowed by typing, tho I think its a bone of contention for some people, who prefer text RP.