Virtual table-top
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I would still recommend Foundry.
It integrates with dndbeyond which is a company that makes managing character sheets for players and DMs as easy as possible. It has all the rules present and easy to look up. It also has encounter creators and Foundry itself has roll tables and as mentioned before it has relationships with DnD patreon creators to provide fully ready to go maps with tokens with stats all in there.
I think roll20 would accomplish the same thing but be ready to $$$ every now and again since what you're asking for is basically content. Community or Creator provided plug and play content when it comes to aid in creating stuff on the fly now sheet management.
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GMing on VTT is better than on roll20. Roll20 is fine as a player but as a GM I found it to be a Struggle.
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Is it correct to say that if you wanted to DM D&D 5E with the various non-OGL books you could potentially have to buy them three or four times if you were spread around the different VTT options out there?
For example, does a physical copy give you a virtual copy on D&D Beyond or would you have to buy it again?
Same with buying a virtual copy on Roll20. You don't get access to it on D&D Beyond or Fantasy Grounds, just Roll20.
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No but if you download beyond20 you can use your dndbeyond for roll20 or VTT. Also anyone in your dndbeyond campaign can use your books if you enable content sharing. Also they expanded the number of campaigns subscribers can share their stuff with due to pandemic which I thought was pretty cool.
This as for dndbeyond brought to you by...
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@saosmash What do you actually buy when you purchase a D&D handbook (not an adventure) over one of the various VTTs?
And are any of them transferable to other VTTs? I.e. is there a better bang-for-the-buck purchase where you buy the book in one place and they can be accessed by all of these different clients?
For example FGU has these D&D bundles. Would it be a mistake to purchase them from here in order to access the DM Guide, PHB, etc compared to spending the same money elsewhere?
- He who takes offense when not intended is a fool. He who takes offense when intended is a greater fool.
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VTTs generally do not have transferability. The benefit of buying a book on say dndbeyond is that some people have integrated dndbeyond with VTTs like foundry / roll20.
Normally when you buy an online handbook you get access to character sheet support so drop down, interactive, options. You also get access to monster stats, tokens, pictures. You get access to quick searching rules, feats, class abilities, etc. You will sometimes get some sample maps.
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With nearly 7k hours on Roll20 almost exclusively as a DM, I can say with absolute certainty that Foundry is by far the better product IF you're looking to get into the deep end of using VTTs. I'm talking special effects, animated maps, looping status effects, weather effects, all that fancy stuff... Definitely go for Foundry.
If you're just looking for something to hold your character sheets, help you with a dice roller, give you a dry-erase mat for basic and quick maps to help with ToTM, and maybe have some music and sound effect options, the basic (read: free) Roll20 account is more than enough to get you where you need to be, and probably a little further with a few extras you didn't think you'd want and that I haven't mentioned.
IIRC, the 5E sheets have D&D Beyond integration as well without the need for a better-than-basic account, but I'm... Not positive. Don't quote me. I don't run much 5E.
ETA: Combat support on the three big VTTs (Roll20, Foundry, and FG) is pretty much a core feature. How usable and how much you get out of it sort of depends on the VTT and what you put into it (I don't have any experience with FG, so speaking primarily about Foundry and R20 here), but they all do the basics like NPC stat tracking including health and AC. They also all have initiative trackers built in and other QoL stuff. Out of the box, neither Foundry nor R20 do any sort of easy encounter generation, but I'd eat my hat if Foundry didn't have some sort of 5E module to help with it and if R20 didn't have some sort of script (a paid feature). Both have compendium support though, which is going to be all your OGL content like rules and stat blocks in a searchable, encyclopedia type format. Roll20 lets you purchase rulebooks through them that add the non-OGL content in and Foundry I think you can just import it if someone provides it, but again... I don't run 5E so I don't know.
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@MarsGrad said in Virtual table-top:
Foundry I think you can just import it if someone provides it
I am curious how this works with Foundry. But someone else provides does it mean someone gives you access in D&D Beyond and it imports that over some how?
Or someone has written a plugin involving all those non-OGL rules and you can install it
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Jeshin could probably answer that question more completely, but I do know of a module that works with a website that's full of tools for 5E that allows importing.
So the module method exists for sure. You can also just painstakingly go through your PDF or physical copy of the book and do it all by hand if you were in a mood to sit around copying an entire book into your Foundry game, rule segment by rule segment, stat block by stat block.
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Lessons on ROLL20 and ethics.
Roll20 locks content behind paywalls. They lock stuff like fog of war, dynamic lighting, blah blah blah. They do not however -really- lock the content. Instead they just toggle a little thing on your browser and enable it.
A program called tampermonkey allows you to just turn on everything with the appropriate script.
Should you feel so inclined you could run this program, gain access to every single adventure module on the website, and proceed to port it using one of several modules that allow you to import entire campaigns from roll20 to foundry. Ostensibly these modules are to remove transition pains or to allow people to buy roll20 adventures and port them or use this script and port them.
Once ported you will have all tokens, all maps (with walls), and all the handouts etc etc that you would have with the roll20 adventure module.
There is also a module to port characters or NPCs from dndbeyond into Foundry so the character or monster sheets are within the platform instead of say on dndbeyond (how I run my games).
The group that maintains the tampermonkey script to enable roll20 paywall removal has stated they are switching to supporting foundry going forward. Foundry is kind of taking the vtt space by storm with a lot of creators opting into its environment.
https://www.patreon.com/kakaroto
http://vttassets.com/edit - Note if you do not want to circumvent roll20 paywall and do not want to BUY roll20 adventures to port VTTassets.com is creating adventure modules with community created VTT ready maps with walls, lighting, notes, etc etc even tokens.
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When you run a 5E game in Foundry do your players need to have two windows open? One for Foundry and another for DND Beyond? Or can it be all self contained like Roll20?
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You can self contain on Foundry. It has full sheet, item, spell support for custom or book content. I choose to maintain dndbeyond because I find that the usability they provide exceeds the benefits of being self contained.
Foundry is a 100% standalone and ready to rock program. They just have a lot of community maintained modules that enable a wide variety of DM options for HOW to run and organize their game.
EDIT - There is a dnd 5e system module (comes with the download because it's the flagship system for vtt atm) that has every allowed by the OGL that wizard's of the coast provides. There are community maintained modules to expand this and you can equally expand this yourself.
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@WildBaboons said in Virtual table-top:
When you run a 5E game in Foundry do your players need to have two windows open? One for Foundry and another for DND Beyond? Or can it be all self contained like Roll20?
I play in a game @Jeshin runs. I don't mind having two windows open. Partially because it means I also have all my reference material right there (since all us players get access to his books on Beyond).
Technically I personally have a lot more windows open since I also stream our sessions, but just from the player perspective: that two-window thing isn't a big deal and IMO has its benefits.
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I made a foundry post sometime last year, this year, if anyone wants to try foundry or do a one shot of dnd 5e or just get a little hands on time with it. I am happy to open my server and let you faff around or run a one shot for you and your friends just to push Foundry into your orbit. It's a great platform and the 1 time purchase / you own all your shit and if the "servers shut down" you don't lose it is a big selling point for me.
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I use Foundry with D&D Beyond. It means my players don't have to pay anything to play and I have control over the VTT. Foundry is fantastic and the support from the developers is also fantastic. We use the Firefox/Chrome extension that lets you roll from your D&D Beyond sheet into Foundry. You can also import D&D Beyond characters into Foundry and roll there directly. Tons of customizations to be made. It's worth the money and Roll20 is not.
