WoTC have now announced official 5e support for Foundry, including the rules refresh coming later in 2024. Once the new sourcebooks release and I have a chance to try the new Foundry 5e support I may make a follow up video. For now I can't say how good this official support is as I haven't tried it (and it's still in early days). If in the future you can buy the DnD sourcebooks on Foundry and use everything without any extra setup or configuration, it will significantly improve how well 5e works in Foundry out of the box. While most of what I talk about in this video is system agnostic, anything I said that's specific to DnD 5e may now be outdated.
There is official support for games, for ie Pathfinder 2e, campaings, rulesets and .... well everything in between from Paizo. Foundry was never focused on DnD5e, as the video makes it sound. Atropos(the creator of both foundry and dnd5e system) did state multiple times that he wants to just provide to provide the tools needed for a creator to be able to create everything that he needs, and seeing Foundry's 3d potential(theripper93 module) the tool itself is not even close to what it can fully do.Another mention is the content, to a similar idea does exist(ie tome of beasts, tome of heroes), just not material from WotC. I feel like this also deserves a mention as5e was developed by 1 guy based on SRD(till recently where he expanded the team).
Good points. I was thinking that most people that are watching the video are likely to be running/playing 5e but I did mention that for most other systems, Foundry tends to handle it a lot better than Roll20. Foundry's 5e implementation is actually really good in my opinion (it's what I've been using for my 5e game for the past year or so), it just has a bit more of a learning curve than Roll20 for newer users.
You forgot a few things: First, WebGL (the graphics for Foundry) is not compatible with all graphics cards. If you have a player that doesn't have a graphics card that supports it, the GM will have to shut off all the special lighting effects for all of the players or make that player look at a big black box for the whole mission. Second, while settings things up in Roll20 may take longer, you can choose not to overload the chat box with useless information. On Foundry, the information put in the chat box is word-for-word straight out of the source. Third, good or bad, you can use GIFs on Roll20 but not on Foundry.
I hadn't run into this problem but it does seem from google that WebGL isn't supported on some very old GPUs, although just about every GPU released after 2012 supports it since it's based on OpenGL ES. I guess this is a definite consideration if you're playing with people who's machines are over a decade old. I can't imagine any VTT is going to give a good experience with hardware that ancient though. Foundry does output a lot into text chat by default, although with the huge amounts of add-ons available you can fix that. I think like in most cases, Foundry has more customisability to fix those things but Roll20 comes better configured out of the box (assuming you're ok without much automation).
I have played in both extensively and I have to say, there is no choice, FOUNDRY VTT!!! If you have to spend any amount of time in a VTT, choose the modern VTT (Foundry). Roll20 gets the job done but it is clunky and old and every aspect of the platform shows it. Foundry does have a learning curve but it isn't that much more to get up and running than with Roll20. And you know what, its true, you can go to insane depths with Foundry but the basics, don't take long to master at all.
Finally a fair review that isn't just Foundry VTT fanboying. Roll20 is still better at navigating around the map, doing basic token interaction, dropping a token onto the map and being able to simply edit numbers on it, and a few other things. Also easier to make a custom system for quickly. Foundry still doesn't have things like basic trackpad scrolling support on a laptop (without installing a module for every campaign). Foundry seems better for power gamers, but Roll20 is far more accessible and requires a lot less clicks, setup, and troubleshooting. That's valuable for a lot of people. It does the fundamentals smoother and better.
Your insane. Roll 20 is a garbage program. everything good is behind a paywall. It's unintuitive, I couldn't figure out how to change a scene without watching the tutorial. But just keep paying those monthly fees lol
Wrong. There's a literal ton of modules you can install that 1. Allows you to fully automate a lot of the combat, making the sessions flow much better. 2. Animate literally every spell and attack in the game with sound effects 3. And this is the big one, import EVERY SINGLE D&D book for free without needing to give WOTC your money 2 or three times like Roll20 and D&D Beyond expect. You can also do a million more things with mods for Foundry. It's no competition, Roll20 is literally just dead for anyone who wants to play D&D past vanilla
I'm late to the party, but definitely wanted to comment and more-so since this didn't get much attention. Your coverage was exactly what I was looking for. A great overview and things to keep in mind for switching away from roll20. Ironically i am the type who was going through multiple custom macros because I didn't like how restrictive some of the setups in roll20 were for pathfinder 1e. I had the 'joy' of creating a custom multi-attack macro for my altered draconic druid class character (no animal companion benefit except for theme, like a familiar, gets dragon form sooner, damage/dragon abilities scale with level, work in progress). I'm starting to really consider other VTTs for my eventual 'power rangers but using star wars 5e' custom campaign. I'm hopeful Foundry will give me what I'm looking for in generating custom content more easily but already being huge on automating things so more time can be spent role-playing or enjoying the combat, I think I'm in the right place already.
Yeah that's a good point. It's looking like Foundry will be the best place to play DnD by far. I've been planning on running a campaign when the new Players Handbook comes out to test the new rules so I'll probably make a follow up video after that
One big benefit for roll20 is for west marches servers, you just need one account and can make many rooms and give it to many DMs, in comparison to 1 license for 1 DM with Foundry
@@Buzerio Not strictly true. Foundry, you can set up muliple games and have a different GM per game. The limitation is that the individual GMS can't start their game, but if you've started the game (as the holder of the license), you can play as a player and have someone else do all the prep work/configuration of the game they're GM for. So you can have multiple GMs on multiple games. Just can't run them in parallel, and you'd need to start the game instance before they can log in. Additional imitation is that they'd be limited to the modules you've installed on your server. But if it's installed, fair game for them to use it. I have two licenses, and let other GMs prep/etc. on the second license as they need it.
It's very easy for me because I already have a home server with a reverse proxy set up. I think for people who've never hosted a server or anything before it might be a bit of a barrier, especially with port forwarding and downloading Node. Still though, the free version of Roll20 is pretty limited and it's no harder to pay for a subscription to a Foundry host than it is for Roll20
WoTC have now announced official 5e support for Foundry, including the rules refresh coming later in 2024.
Once the new sourcebooks release and I have a chance to try the new Foundry 5e support I may make a follow up video.
For now I can't say how good this official support is as I haven't tried it (and it's still in early days). If in the future you can buy the DnD sourcebooks on Foundry and use everything without any extra setup or configuration, it will significantly improve how well 5e works in Foundry out of the box.
While most of what I talk about in this video is system agnostic, anything I said that's specific to DnD 5e may now be outdated.
My favorite is Fantasy grounds.
Now it's like 30 bucks for the ultimate license....
There is official support for games, for ie Pathfinder 2e, campaings, rulesets and .... well everything in between from Paizo. Foundry was never focused on DnD5e, as the video makes it sound. Atropos(the creator of both foundry and dnd5e system) did state multiple times that he wants to just provide to provide the tools needed for a creator to be able to create everything that he needs, and seeing Foundry's 3d potential(theripper93 module) the tool itself is not even close to what it can fully do.Another mention is the content, to a similar idea does exist(ie tome of beasts, tome of heroes), just not material from WotC. I feel like this also deserves a mention as5e was developed by 1 guy based on SRD(till recently where he expanded the team).
Good points. I was thinking that most people that are watching the video are likely to be running/playing 5e but I did mention that for most other systems, Foundry tends to handle it a lot better than Roll20. Foundry's 5e implementation is actually really good in my opinion (it's what I've been using for my 5e game for the past year or so), it just has a bit more of a learning curve than Roll20 for newer users.
You forgot a few things:
First, WebGL (the graphics for Foundry) is not compatible with all graphics cards. If you have a player that doesn't have a graphics card that supports it, the GM will have to shut off all the special lighting effects for all of the players or make that player look at a big black box for the whole mission.
Second, while settings things up in Roll20 may take longer, you can choose not to overload the chat box with useless information. On Foundry, the information put in the chat box is word-for-word straight out of the source.
Third, good or bad, you can use GIFs on Roll20 but not on Foundry.
I hadn't run into this problem but it does seem from google that WebGL isn't supported on some very old GPUs, although just about every GPU released after 2012 supports it since it's based on OpenGL ES. I guess this is a definite consideration if you're playing with people who's machines are over a decade old. I can't imagine any VTT is going to give a good experience with hardware that ancient though.
Foundry does output a lot into text chat by default, although with the huge amounts of add-ons available you can fix that. I think like in most cases, Foundry has more customisability to fix those things but Roll20 comes better configured out of the box (assuming you're ok without much automation).
My computer is only 3 years old.
Foundry, and it isn’t even close. I have played a bit on Roll 20, and it is downright abysmal in comparison.
This is very informative. Thank you for the review.
Anderson Edward Perez Helen Clark Donna
I have played in both extensively and I have to say, there is no choice, FOUNDRY VTT!!! If you have to spend any amount of time in a VTT, choose the modern VTT (Foundry). Roll20 gets the job done but it is clunky and old and every aspect of the platform shows it. Foundry does have a learning curve but it isn't that much more to get up and running than with Roll20. And you know what, its true, you can go to insane depths with Foundry but the basics, don't take long to master at all.
Finally a fair review that isn't just Foundry VTT fanboying.
Roll20 is still better at navigating around the map, doing basic token interaction, dropping a token onto the map and being able to simply edit numbers on it, and a few other things. Also easier to make a custom system for quickly. Foundry still doesn't have things like basic trackpad scrolling support on a laptop (without installing a module for every campaign).
Foundry seems better for power gamers, but Roll20 is far more accessible and requires a lot less clicks, setup, and troubleshooting. That's valuable for a lot of people. It does the fundamentals smoother and better.
Your insane. Roll 20 is a garbage program. everything good is behind a paywall. It's unintuitive, I couldn't figure out how to change a scene without watching the tutorial. But just keep paying those monthly fees lol
Wrong. There's a literal ton of modules you can install that
1. Allows you to fully automate a lot of the combat, making the sessions flow much better.
2. Animate literally every spell and attack in the game with sound effects
3. And this is the big one, import EVERY SINGLE D&D book for free without needing to give WOTC your money 2 or three times like Roll20 and D&D Beyond expect.
You can also do a million more things with mods for Foundry. It's no competition, Roll20 is literally just dead for anyone who wants to play D&D past vanilla
@@dylanbyrne441 Hey I know its been a while, but can you tell me how to get all the DnD books for free on foundry?
I'm late to the party, but definitely wanted to comment and more-so since this didn't get much attention. Your coverage was exactly what I was looking for. A great overview and things to keep in mind for switching away from roll20.
Ironically i am the type who was going through multiple custom macros because I didn't like how restrictive some of the setups in roll20 were for pathfinder 1e. I had the 'joy' of creating a custom multi-attack macro for my altered draconic druid class character (no animal companion benefit except for theme, like a familiar, gets dragon form sooner, damage/dragon abilities scale with level, work in progress). I'm starting to really consider other VTTs for my eventual 'power rangers but using star wars 5e' custom campaign. I'm hopeful Foundry will give me what I'm looking for in generating custom content more easily but already being huge on automating things so more time can be spent role-playing or enjoying the combat, I think I'm in the right place already.
Great summary, exactly what I was looking for.
Would recommend making a follow-up video since Foundry recently announced official 5e support.
Yeah that's a good point. It's looking like Foundry will be the best place to play DnD by far. I've been planning on running a campaign when the new Players Handbook comes out to test the new rules so I'll probably make a follow up video after that
Roll20 wins in one criteria: If all you play is vanilla 5e, roll20 with its charactermancer wins.
One big benefit for roll20 is for west marches servers, you just need one account and can make many rooms and give it to many DMs, in comparison to 1 license for 1 DM with Foundry
That's a good point, I haven't done anything with multiple GMs on any VTT
@@Buzerio Not strictly true.
Foundry, you can set up muliple games and have a different GM per game. The limitation is that the individual GMS can't start their game, but if you've started the game (as the holder of the license), you can play as a player and have someone else do all the prep work/configuration of the game they're GM for.
So you can have multiple GMs on multiple games. Just can't run them in parallel, and you'd need to start the game instance before they can log in.
Additional imitation is that they'd be limited to the modules you've installed on your server. But if it's installed, fair game for them to use it.
I have two licenses, and let other GMs prep/etc. on the second license as they need it.
But self hosting (either free VPS, or home network) is so easy ... hard to ding for that!
It's very easy for me because I already have a home server with a reverse proxy set up. I think for people who've never hosted a server or anything before it might be a bit of a barrier, especially with port forwarding and downloading Node.
Still though, the free version of Roll20 is pretty limited and it's no harder to pay for a subscription to a Foundry host than it is for Roll20