Honored to be mentioned in this video! One update for Bag of Mapping is the recently released srd monster compendium for both dnd and pathfinder! This video rocks :)
Thank you for taking the time to include Foundry VTT in your overview of all these great options. I'm thrilled you spotlighted some really positive features and the caveats you mentioned are all really fair points. Great video!
My friend started a Pathfinder campaign in Foundry and it has been a blast. There are things that we find that took a few sessions to get used to, but the effects, music and everything that he has been able to do as well as having multiple floor levels on a map has been amazing. Foundry is definitely an awesome VTT and Im planning to use it for my Alien TTRPG. You guys have an amazing program!
Our DM switched is over to Foundry a couple weeks ago after playing on TTS for ~6 months. I'm not a big fan of VTT's in general, but Foundry does seem quite a bit better than when I played on Roll20...9 years ago 😅
Thanks for enjoying using our VTT and mentioning us amongst these great options for playing our favourite TTRPGs. We'll keep trying to show what is people for a free VTT using D&D Beyond,
Not on the video but my all time favourite vtt’s is encounter plus. It’s only for MacBook or iPad but it’s really cool.theyre updating it constantly and it’s growing well. I’m running a campaign with a few friends and we are loving it so much.
It depends a bit on the game i'm playing - For longer campaigns in old-school games: Shmeppy - For oneshot in rules-light games: TLDraw - For oneshots/campaigns in more complex games: FoundryVTT
And one note to all 3D VTTs. Beside building maps taking way more time than 2D battlemaps, there's tons of ttRPG players that use old PCs, macbook airs or other potato devices (even tablets) that can get slow with just the browser and discord running, so having them launch/view 3D maps will kill their performance completely. I think your scoring could use another category of hardware requirements, low quality setting in Foundry will work way better than talespire or tabletop simulator on low-end devices
THIS exactly. While I personally have quite a powerful gaming-rig, some of my players have trouble even running foundryvtt (eg. old mac book with poor webgl support), as such owlbear which even works on mobile (some of my players used their phone while on holiday) is the perfect fit.
yup. I would take 3D maps from the coolest videogames right now if my players could actually handle it. hell, having a animated maps or even just an animation often fucks them up, and that affects both connection and hardware, with them even freezing up. some people use a 2005 laptop to play and they are more than most could imagine
Foundry VTT also has services like the Forge, which you can pay monthly for them to host a server for you so that you don’t have to port forward and they also allow some of the mods which in my opinion is a better experience than Roll 20. Alternatively, you could use a free service such as Hamachi to imitate being on the same network, which should allow you to connect anyway. There are also TH-cam channels dedicated to making tutorials for Foundry and the mods available, some by the mod creators themselves.
As a sidenote, my favorite module creators that have subscriptions on Patreon are BaileyWiki3D, theripper93, KibblesTasty, WarHead’s software bakery, Caeora, and Moulinette!
If you search for Foundry setup in Oracle Cloud, you will get a link to a very very very very very well made document telling you how to set up Foundry on the Oracle Cloud using the free tier. Granted, I work in computers and IT so I am familiar with Ubuntu a bit, or at least enough to go update stuff and software using the terminal, but it is completely free to use. I am loving working with Foundry like this and not having to host it.
Just a note for Foundry, most if not all future DND 5e/5.5e etc from now on since Wizards is finally partnered with FVTT so there will be official content. Foundry is my go-to and has been for a while, it's amazing what it can do.
Alchemy is my go-to VTT, as my GM style is very "cinematographic"; theater of the mind enhanced by background images. I used to do it on Roll 20, adding bunch of background images and inserting tokens on the appropiate one. With Alchemy i can do that way easily, the scenes and motion really enhance my style!
Fantastic video, thanks for making it! I'm currently all-in on Foundry. I ran the PF2e beginner box recently and I cannot express how smooth it was to run. Sound effects, music, ambience, lighting, automation, etc. Truly incredible.
dude, this rocks! there's a lot of videos about different vtt's but they're from a couple years ago so this is a very updated compilation Two things to consider: 1- Talespire has a great mod community which allows you to download even more assets and character sheets with barely any effort whatsoever. 2- for a next time, you should consider hardware requirements: In low-end/old pc's or laptops, most of them could work when designing a map, but the moment you try to share the screen throught discord it will lag the hell out of it. I know it because i have a potato laptop (2015 ideapad) and while i can design maps with talespire, dungeon alchemist, dnd beyond maps or owlbear rodeo i cant use them at the same time i have discord open.
Man, this video obviously took a lot of work! It's a great overview of available VTT's and their respective strengtht, thanks for making this! There are definitely some options I'm going to be checking out!
I should note that Talespire is pretty fun to use in real-life sessions as well. We have one laptop for the DM, and one computer showing on the TV screen for all the players with a wireless mouse going around the table. Also consider it's still considered pre-release. My main advantages: unlimited assets vs. real-life mini's and tiles (want to battle 100+ monsters? You can), height/line-of-sight/cover/AoE are easier to track in 3D, community content for building maps, regular progress updates by devs, esthetics The main disadvantage: often fiddly to move creatures in cramped spaces, detailed maps can take away from theater of the mind, tracking the game from DM standpoint is not the easiest with one monitor (I don't feel that symbiotes are quite there yet)
For fantasy grounds, the "no port forwarding" is probably related to how in the last version (which was windows only) you had to connect directly. They're probably mentioning it as an improvement over the previous iteration of the software. Honestly though, I just love the built in automation features in fantasy grounds. I like foundry well enough, and I pay for a vps so I can run it as a website, but fantasy grounds is my first vtt love, and there are some aspects that have yet to be beaten by any other vtt I've ever come across, such as how easy it is to group items into parcels, and npcs into encounters, and to create templates for each so you can create random encounters and random loot that exists within the game before going onto a player's character sheet. I love how the combat tracker does not require maps and tokens to work, making theatre of the mind so much easier to do, but you can use them in combination if you want to. The biggest downside to it is the price, but the price is greatly improved over how it used to be. That said, the level of automation built into all the official stuff is amazing, and while you could do it yourself for free, it would take a really long time.
Your last point is the biggest point IMO. Fantasy Grounds is a double edged sword. If you are using official content that you've bought its the greatest experience you can find. Everything works beautifully, everything is smooth. It's awesome. But when you step outside of that official content, the further away from it you go the more time consuming designing things becomes. Its a fantastic VTT when you are in the garden, but if you are trying to use it with Just the initial purchase of the system it fights you every step of the way. On the flip side Foundry at its best is just as good, or better(Looking at PF2e ruleset), but since its community driven most things don't get close to the same level of polish FantasyGrounds has, but its easier in foundry to set up your game to be functional even if you don't have everything added in and automated.
Also the UI is likely to get a facelift in the near future as they just hired the lead developer behind D&D Beyond and most recently Demiplane. His insight should help make the most powerful VTT become more approachable.
Concerning the wow factor for FGU for me it's a 3 : dynamic lighting and animated maps and animated tokens, FX on maps and the possibility to switch to 3D whenever you want (2.5D in fact because you use 2D tokens). 3D dices of course. And don't forget the integrated map creation tool and probably the biggest store with an incredible number of rulesets and adventure modules. The only problem: there is a big learning curve for it, but it is worth the time investment. My second VTT is Foundry which I use whenever there is no matching ruleset for FGU (i.e. Blade Runner RPG) Also a wow factor of 3 (missing the 2.5D though) and a deep learning curve.
Fantasy grounds is easily may favourite and I bought in before the fantasy grounds unity days when it wasn't nearly as good. It's the best simply because it handles the basics the best (simple 2d maps, easy to use after the initial learning curve, simple "coding" for making custom abilities and effects). The fact you can quickly and easily do line of sight and dynamic lighting and all that stuff now is just icing on the cake.
Foundry has been my go to, you can pay a server to host it. I love the modules cause it lets me tailor my game to my party with useful things. I love it for playing Lancer
Hey man! I just wanted to say that I need to make time to catch up on more vids from your channel. Yours have been occasionally popping up lately, and they are all killer content with extremely helpful info. Kudos to you and your channel, and I hope others keep catching on as well.
Loooving Alchemy, I backed them early and use it for the therapeutically-applied TTRPG that I run. The immersion is just wonderful, though i wish they had dynamic lighting.
My favourite is Fantasy Grounds. I have tried a bunch but the ease of entering your own data plus all the DLC already available is just not touched by anything else. You do need some time to learn the program, but the UI is actually good for a VTT and becomes second nature pretty quickly.
A couple of things you may not know about Fantasy Grounds - First, prior to the Unity update, Fantasy Grounds also required port forwarding. Hence the mention in its FAQ. Most of us were SO glad when the need to Port Forward was removed! Second, they have an arrangement with Paizo. If you purchase a book or module for Fantasy Grounds, you also get the .pdf version of the same content, from Paizo for free. Conversely, if you purchase a book or .pdf from Paizo, you get a discount on the same content for Fantasy Grounds. They don't believe that folks should have to pay for content twice, and all of this takes place by linking your Fantasy Grounds and Paizo accounts together, and syncing them. :) That being said - thanks a lot for doing this. While FG is my go-to, and has-been for a number of years, it was nice to investigate some other options. For my part, I do enough online roleplaying, that a full VTT makes a lot of sense for me, and although I home-brew and it takes a lot of setup, I find that once a campaign is in FG, it stays there. I simply bring my laptop to any in-person games, and I can project the maps and tokens onto a second screen so my in-person players can see what's happening. This dual functionality has been a major bonus for me. While I'm staying with FG as my main VTT, I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation, and you introduced me to a few things I might investigate for map-making or other quick options. (I *really* wish dscryb would integrate with Fantasy Grounds! Great stuff there!). I give this review 3's across the board! ;)
Thank you for the survey. Your selection had some eye-openers on it. TY for sharing and providing so much context and perspective to make sense of the options.
play in foundry and a fantasy grounds game every week, foundry seems to have more problems with updates , also the note taking in fantasy grounds is sooo nice :D
Specifically for Pathfinder 2E, no VTT comes close to Foundry VTT. It's nothing short of magical, the amount of insane integration and automation that team (of volunteers!) has done to make that VTT the de facto place to play Pathfinder. For other systems, it varies a lot, and your video breaks it down incredibly well.
Sometimes it's a bit moon logic but once you get used to it, Foundry PF2E is reeeeallly handy. Just make sure you have the compendiums on speed-dial because you will be dragging a lot from them. Including cover
Wow. What a terrific walk-through and comparison of these various systems. I'm so glad you did this, because I sure don't have time to, but really wanted to know this info. Thanks so much! You've helped me make some decisions about toolsets I want to use. Also: your mustache rocks! Subscribing now.
The Fantasy Grounds dig on 'no port forwarding' was not aimed at Foundry, but to themselves. 🤣 FG Classic--the pre-2020 version of FG--needed port-forwarding and it was the number one troubleshooting issue. FG Unity (the current iteration) did away with that, and so they made sure to make that clear.
I went in the video expecting a perspective only focused on 5e and was pleasantly surprised. IMO you did a good job of considering the needs of both your game and other's. Since I GM Pathfinder, Foundry is definitely a no brainer. The automation features from the base module really speed up my game, which is specially appreciated in 2e since you end up having to track more stuff. Being able to customize the game to be exactly what you want is definitely the cherry on top.
Only issue I have with these ratings are the cost of books should factor into the cost score, above vtt is cheap until you realize that you need to buy all of the books if you want to be able to run it without having to swap to a different vtt
unless you're playing pathfinder, which has all of their rules for free, can just hop on Foundry, and have every class, feature, feat, item etc. all available for free. huge props to them for that
It`s like saying to play TTRPG you need books. You can use them or make thing on your own, VTT are just a way to display this things. Foundry (like other VTTs) lets you build things from scratch or copy things from your books
If you're going to grade Roll20 on price by going with the highest tier you need to talk about it's features, the API is leagues above the macro in terms of flexibility and power to help DMs run games. On the flip side is does increase complexity and initial setup (but then you can just go watch Nick Olivo's videos).
Foundry has been my go-to since I made the switch from Roll20 years ago. If the system is well supported you will not find a smoother experience. But for something more rules lite or narrative-focused I have also used Owlbear with no issues either.
Great points made in the comparisons. Another thing I value is homebrew-ability and how easy it is to customize things while still keeping QOL features like automation. I've had a great experience with Foundry for my needs, and use a server hosting service for $4 a month so I never had to figure out port forwarding which also helps take the load off of my mediocre internet. Also bonus points for mentioning DC20 at the end!
This is the video I wish had been available a year ago when I started DM'ing. I use AboveVTT and backed DC20 as well - feels like this vid was made just for me and my group. Another great one!
Thank you for the video! I've been using a vtt as a display for my in-person game. Bag of mapping is perfect for what I was looking for since I don't need a lot of the vtt tools. Just an easy setup and grid and full display. Thanks! Also, just a note on the roll 20 discord feature that has been handy for one of The players in a different game that wasn't able to be at a computern so being able to see the roll 20 on discord would have been a huge help
Fantasy grounds allowed me to do things that I don't think are possible in other ones due to the sheer amount of time it's been around and how much modularity. My group adapted within a couple sessions and we still talk about how great it was. I would still be using it if I didn't love playing in person so much, but even playing in person makes me miss some of the things FG did.
I'm honestly considering reintegrating Foundry into my in person games, just for all of the quality of life things it can provide. I've yet to watch this video, so I'm excited to see if a different VTT looks more appealing nowadays.
I watched a streamer running a game on Fantasy grounds and all the windows made me say "Nope!" right away. Nothing I dislike more as a DM to have to deal with than a massive amount of windows all over the place lol Headache inducing XD
I use fantasy grounds to do all the combat tracking for my in person game. My players use paper sheets, but using fantasy grounds encounters saves me so much effort.
Amazing video. I appreciate your video. I did find one area lacking in the reviews, and that is long-term prep and campaign management. I think some of these are better than others in that regard, such as Foundry. Its compendium and self-storage assets can be a huge advantage. Another two categories not really mentioned are in person play and connection types ( however, some are implied), for example, if an online server goes down and stability.
I've been using tabletop simulator for 2.5 years now and while it doesn't have the features a lot of others have, I've found that it's significantly more immersive than especially the browser based VTTs but than most VTTs in general. even a lot of the 3D ones just feel like a slightly higher fidelity 2D VTT, which isn't what I want. It feels the most like sitting around an actual table with my friends out of everything I've tried
I’m pretty brainless on TH-cam- hardly like, comment, or subscribe and am always just consuming content. Had to stop and do all three for this, as this video gave awesome insight to my upcoming DnD project. Thank you for this in depth overview, and articulating so many features with transparency. I think I’ll be going for Foundry!
next time if do another video like this recommend performance on pc and laptop if possible? primarily use laptop when head out to run games, one is literally in a shed with group of friends. foundry got issues running on my laptop (heating up is one, same for others joining in if use laptops so ended up using roll20 or alchemy depending on the system + easier for those with laptops/tablets to join and play.
I would suggest to try out Let's Role. It is a smaller free VTT with a great community. There are quirks but it is easy to use and you can yourself implement any system within it. For free.
Our (homebrew) group picked up FGU very fast during the pandemic while Foundry felt counterintuitive for me as DM. I love Owlbear for my VTM games, but it can only handle the lowest graphic quality of the maps I try to upload (made with Dungeon Alchemist). Came here to see whether there is an owlbear system that can handle high res big maps made with DA, but it seems non existent.
As a person who is technical but just starting to learn Foundry VTT, I can't overstate how intimidating trying to get everything setup THEN having to learn how to build a world and story in it is. It's a HIGH skill ceiling tool, but has power capabilities with no subscription fee.
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I've prefered Let's Role. Also, dungeon alchemist is amazing
This was really helpful. Glad I spend my money for Foundry VTT. I would love a rated list like this for map making tools and one for campaign managers like world anvil.
Feel the same! At this point I think it’ll take less time for me to get used to the jank than it would to deal with the hassle of porting all the Dndbeyond material to another VTT.
Thanks for the review! I've got (at least) DnD Beyond, Foundry, Talespire, Tabletop simulator and Alchemy, but mostly we still play locally around the table and I'm not really using these are all 😄 When you have a lot of time, you can build awesome maps in Foundry and I really like it. The UI seems a bit outdated compared to Alchemy, which is currently my number one VTT.
Foundry VTT still gives its updates for free after the initial purchase. I started off on v8 and I've steadily moved up to v12 at no extra cost. It also sometimes goes on sale for the December holidays.
I like the Tabletop Simulator the most for playing DnD, because it gives the most vanilla experience. You only got a sheet of paper, map, tokens and dice. I like it, because it doesn't automate anything, giving it a strong vibe of IRL playing.
Great video! Personally, I don't really like using VTTs too much but I've used Owlbear Rodeo before and it was always quick and easy for me and my players so I recommend it if anyone is looking for a beginner friendly VTT!
In my opinion, the best TTRPG experience is face to face but also with a VTT for support. The VTT can do mapping, maintain character sheets, do some math, and maybe even allow private communication or rolls. It's the best of both worlds. As a bonus, if someone has to be out of town then they have the possibility of remotely connecting to the gaming session since everything is in place for that. It increases the chances that everyone will be able to make it on gaming night.
I actually do the same! Play aboveVTT for the rules and talespire for the heroforge and map integration. You can use symbiotes to show dnd game log. I recently just switched to a combo of foundry (for shadowdark) and talespire. Great videos as usual!
Very nice rundown, there's probably a few you didn't catch (D20pro is one I have, but not one I would suggest for new players..."purchase once" but has seats, 2d/top-down, dated interface, obviously intended for d20 systems but can be hacked for other systems...it's not bad, just lacks a lot of extensibility provided by newer VTTs)
Foundry is the best suited to my games. I run high-homebrew games with lots of changes to characters, so it’s convenient to have a way to keep track of that and automate things. It’s also nice to be able to drag and drop features onto monster and character sheets, so I can give a monster a feat or a spell and not have to keep track of that myself.
It's been like 10 years - but I still absolutely love DM Tools. Getting it to work over the internet was a pain, but I just used a projector to the maps, tokens, and monsters up on the wall so that we didn't need to sit around a small table.
As someone who uses D&D beyond as you said you do, I'm surprised you didn't showcase D&D beyond maps. It's very solid so far and has added a bunch of features very quickly and seamlessly integrates with your character sheets and monsters as well as all the maps released for all of the adventures.
Wow! This randomly popped up for me right as I’m ready to start being a dm again! This video is so helpful! You got a new sub from me for sure! I’ve used foundry before but no other software.
Foundry being community driven; support for nearly every game via modules; low cost; and NOT tied to WOTC products to work makes it our go to VTT across systems. You can choose what level of depth to engage the engine with makes it very adaptable. The learning curve is NOT that steep compared to engines such as Fantasy Grounds.
thanks for this video! great that you're focusing on 5e and not trying to move here and there with different systems (with all my respect to someone, who like to do that). and... it looks like I need to give one more look to Foundry VTT... heh :) any way - thank you for this review!
With tale spire you get 4 seats if you buy the full program at 25 dollars, then you can buy additional seats. All players in a session share the accumulative total seats, as in if you and a friend buy the full program at 25 dollars, between the both of you in a campaign you should have 8 seats available to the group (up to a max of 12 people, at least according to what their FAQ says). Basically if a GM and a player both bought the program you should be able to host 6 other free tier players of tale spire (I believe the seats include you so with 8 between you and the other player, 8-2 = 6 free slots). In theory it should've only cost your table 50 dollars to host everyone not 120 something....
Even still, if you are complaining about a one time cost of $25, which is the cost of a pizza these days, you really need to reconsider your priorities. Not to mention that many of the other platforms charge for assets when Talespire does not.
Talespire's community maps and the ease of copy and pasting building assets is a very nice time saving feature. I do wish they implement Fog of War into the game. Been patiently waiting for 3 years now. I do like the updates. Although I don't play currently. I made some really awesome maps/ Dungeons with it. Some on the community are on another level, which is awesome to see the commitment to the product.
I dm for an in person group, but use VTTs to supplement our play. I find Talespire to be awesome for in person games. My other go-to is Arkenforge, which imo is best used if you have a tv table (or just a tv lying on its back loke I do) and play with physical minis/terrain on top.
Just stumbled on this channel and loved the content, the presentation, the quality, and the honest evaluation. Now, if I could somehow find a way to not focus entirely on the moustache while watching I might be able to see other things that I'm sure are important... ; ) Cheers!
No one ever mentions AboveVTT! I started using it temporarily and it may become my permanent VTT. I’m using it to supplement my in person game, not replace it.
I loved the video, it was good, detailed and informative but jeezo 17 ad breaks and two promos was a chore. I know most of that is on YT but it was a good video so go get that bag 💰
TaleSpire is so beautiful. I haven't used it in play yet as (thankfully) our campaign is IRL, but love building in it! I have some 3D dungeon tiles for IRL play, but could also export the TaleSpire map as a photo for 2D.
Extremely useful content, thank you! I'm a regular player on Roll20 who loathes everything about the platform. Just awful. LOL. I DM my own games on Foundry and DDB, with Beyond 20 to integrate them. I'm very happy with Foundry but am glad to see competition heating up in the field! It's good for all of us when so many cool ideas get built out like that. I'll have to try out Above VTT, sounds excellent.
Alchemy Mentioned! I'm a big fan of Alchemy and hope they iron out the issues that do exist on their platform, but I'm glad to see their name being thrown around haha
I want something that simulates the experience of playing at a table with whiteboards as closely as possible, and that's owlbear. No fluff. Really dig it (until Draw Steel has its own VTT, that is - then we might make the switch)
You should have included a score for Ease of Finding Games (for players). There's a HUGE difference between the VTTs in this realm, and is probably why Roll20 still reigns supreme.
Honored to be mentioned in this video! One update for Bag of Mapping is the recently released srd monster compendium for both dnd and pathfinder! This video rocks :)
Awesome! Ill have to go check it out!
Me and my group are now looking at using @bagofmapping for our GooeyCube games. Loving it.
Thank you for taking the time to include Foundry VTT in your overview of all these great options. I'm thrilled you spotlighted some really positive features and the caveats you mentioned are all really fair points. Great video!
Foundry is just absolutely amazing, you guys rock
My friend started a Pathfinder campaign in Foundry and it has been a blast. There are things that we find that took a few sessions to get used to, but the effects, music and everything that he has been able to do as well as having multiple floor levels on a map has been amazing. Foundry is definitely an awesome VTT and Im planning to use it for my Alien TTRPG. You guys have an amazing program!
Our DM switched is over to Foundry a couple weeks ago after playing on TTS for ~6 months. I'm not a big fan of VTT's in general, but Foundry does seem quite a bit better than when I played on Roll20...9 years ago 😅
I've used fantasy grounds, roll 20 and Foundry. Foundry was easily the best experience of the three
Foundry is amazing! I'm so glad I picked it up.
Thanks for enjoying using our VTT and mentioning us amongst these great options for playing our favourite TTRPGs. We'll keep trying to show what is people for a free VTT using D&D Beyond,
We have used AboveVTT weekly for years. Absolutely love it! Bravo and Thank you!
huh
I forgot to say it in the video, but I'm not affiliated with any of these VTTs and I paid for them all with my own money. What's your favourite VTT?
Not on the video but my all time favourite vtt’s is encounter plus. It’s only for MacBook or iPad but it’s really cool.theyre updating it constantly and it’s growing well. I’m running a campaign with a few friends and we are loving it so much.
Our favorite VTT is RPG Stories cause we created it ha ha. Thank you for reviewing :) Next time feel free to ask for a key! Keep it up!
You neglected to mention that Foundry can be hosted on a remote server such as the forge or my personal favorite, Molten hosting.
You also forgot that foundry supports animated maps
It depends a bit on the game i'm playing
- For longer campaigns in old-school games: Shmeppy
- For oneshot in rules-light games: TLDraw
- For oneshots/campaigns in more complex games: FoundryVTT
And one note to all 3D VTTs. Beside building maps taking way more time than 2D battlemaps, there's tons of ttRPG players that use old PCs, macbook airs or other potato devices (even tablets) that can get slow with just the browser and discord running, so having them launch/view 3D maps will kill their performance completely. I think your scoring could use another category of hardware requirements, low quality setting in Foundry will work way better than talespire or tabletop simulator on low-end devices
THIS exactly. While I personally have quite a powerful gaming-rig, some of my players have trouble even running foundryvtt (eg. old mac book with poor webgl support), as such owlbear which even works on mobile (some of my players used their phone while on holiday) is the perfect fit.
Yeah, my old laptop struggles playing Roll20 on the browser! I can't even dream playing on any 3D VTT
I open a Roll VTT and the performance was to the floor
yup.
I would take 3D maps from the coolest videogames right now if my players could actually handle it.
hell, having a animated maps or even just an animation often fucks them up, and that affects both connection and hardware, with them even freezing up.
some people use a 2005 laptop to play and they are more than most could imagine
2 of my players don't have a PC in any form, just phones and/or tablets. So anything that doesn't run on those are immediately no go for me.
Foundry VTT also has services like the Forge, which you can pay monthly for them to host a server for you so that you don’t have to port forward and they also allow some of the mods which in my opinion is a better experience than Roll 20. Alternatively, you could use a free service such as Hamachi to imitate being on the same network, which should allow you to connect anyway. There are also TH-cam channels dedicated to making tutorials for Foundry and the mods available, some by the mod creators themselves.
As a sidenote, my favorite module creators that have subscriptions on Patreon are BaileyWiki3D, theripper93, KibblesTasty, WarHead’s software bakery, Caeora, and Moulinette!
Hamachi doesn't always work. Usually it does, but not always.
Would highly recommend ngrok for this over hamachi
@@Mitchyzdabossor cloudflared ngrok started limiting me
If you search for Foundry setup in Oracle Cloud, you will get a link to a very very very very very well made document telling you how to set up Foundry on the Oracle Cloud using the free tier. Granted, I work in computers and IT so I am familiar with Ubuntu a bit, or at least enough to go update stuff and software using the terminal, but it is completely free to use. I am loving working with Foundry like this and not having to host it.
Just a note for Foundry, most if not all future DND 5e/5.5e etc from now on since Wizards is finally partnered with FVTT so there will be official content.
Foundry is my go-to and has been for a while, it's amazing what it can do.
i really appreciate what some companies (Paizo) do with foundry packs for their APs.
Alchemy is my go-to VTT, as my GM style is very "cinematographic"; theater of the mind enhanced by background images.
I used to do it on Roll 20, adding bunch of background images and inserting tokens on the appropiate one. With Alchemy i can do that way easily, the scenes and motion really enhance my style!
Fantastic video, thanks for making it! I'm currently all-in on Foundry. I ran the PF2e beginner box recently and I cannot express how smooth it was to run. Sound effects, music, ambience, lighting, automation, etc. Truly incredible.
We recently moved to foundry from browser based and it just seems like we all love it! Thanks for the video! Love to see other vtts out there 😊
dude, this rocks! there's a lot of videos about different vtt's but they're from a couple years ago so this is a very updated compilation
Two things to consider:
1- Talespire has a great mod community which allows you to download even more assets and character sheets with barely any effort whatsoever.
2- for a next time, you should consider hardware requirements: In low-end/old pc's or laptops, most of them could work when designing a map, but the moment you try to share the screen throught discord it will lag the hell out of it. I know it because i have a potato laptop (2015 ideapad) and while i can design maps with talespire, dungeon alchemist, dnd beyond maps or owlbear rodeo i cant use them at the same time i have discord open.
Man, this video obviously took a lot of work! It's a great overview of available VTT's and their respective strengtht, thanks for making this! There are definitely some options I'm going to be checking out!
I came for the VTT info and stayed for the mustache.😀
Yes. His mustache is on a whole new level. I agree. 😊
I also like on Above VTT being able to share images and spell descriptions to the game log. It makes it fun.
We started with AboveVTT and will stay with it. It is so easy and grows even futher.
I should note that Talespire is pretty fun to use in real-life sessions as well. We have one laptop for the DM, and one computer showing on the TV screen for all the players with a wireless mouse going around the table. Also consider it's still considered pre-release.
My main advantages: unlimited assets vs. real-life mini's and tiles (want to battle 100+ monsters? You can), height/line-of-sight/cover/AoE are easier to track in 3D, community content for building maps, regular progress updates by devs, esthetics
The main disadvantage: often fiddly to move creatures in cramped spaces, detailed maps can take away from theater of the mind, tracking the game from DM standpoint is not the easiest with one monitor (I don't feel that symbiotes are quite there yet)
For fantasy grounds, the "no port forwarding" is probably related to how in the last version (which was windows only) you had to connect directly. They're probably mentioning it as an improvement over the previous iteration of the software.
Honestly though, I just love the built in automation features in fantasy grounds. I like foundry well enough, and I pay for a vps so I can run it as a website, but fantasy grounds is my first vtt love, and there are some aspects that have yet to be beaten by any other vtt I've ever come across, such as how easy it is to group items into parcels, and npcs into encounters, and to create templates for each so you can create random encounters and random loot that exists within the game before going onto a player's character sheet. I love how the combat tracker does not require maps and tokens to work, making theatre of the mind so much easier to do, but you can use them in combination if you want to.
The biggest downside to it is the price, but the price is greatly improved over how it used to be. That said, the level of automation built into all the official stuff is amazing, and while you could do it yourself for free, it would take a really long time.
Your last point is the biggest point IMO. Fantasy Grounds is a double edged sword. If you are using official content that you've bought its the greatest experience you can find. Everything works beautifully, everything is smooth. It's awesome. But when you step outside of that official content, the further away from it you go the more time consuming designing things becomes. Its a fantastic VTT when you are in the garden, but if you are trying to use it with Just the initial purchase of the system it fights you every step of the way.
On the flip side Foundry at its best is just as good, or better(Looking at PF2e ruleset), but since its community driven most things don't get close to the same level of polish FantasyGrounds has, but its easier in foundry to set up your game to be functional even if you don't have everything added in and automated.
Also the UI is likely to get a facelift in the near future as they just hired the lead developer behind D&D Beyond and most recently Demiplane. His insight should help make the most powerful VTT become more approachable.
Concerning the wow factor for FGU for me it's a 3 : dynamic lighting and animated maps and animated tokens, FX on maps and the possibility to switch to 3D whenever you want (2.5D in fact because you use 2D tokens). 3D dices of course. And don't forget the integrated map creation tool and probably the biggest store with an incredible number of rulesets and adventure modules. The only problem: there is a big learning curve for it, but it is worth the time investment. My second VTT is Foundry which I use whenever there is no matching ruleset for FGU (i.e. Blade Runner RPG) Also a wow factor of 3 (missing the 2.5D though) and a deep learning curve.
Fantasy grounds is easily may favourite and I bought in before the fantasy grounds unity days when it wasn't nearly as good. It's the best simply because it handles the basics the best (simple 2d maps, easy to use after the initial learning curve, simple "coding" for making custom abilities and effects). The fact you can quickly and easily do line of sight and dynamic lighting and all that stuff now is just icing on the cake.
Foundry has been my go to, you can pay a server to host it. I love the modules cause it lets me tailor my game to my party with useful things. I love it for playing Lancer
The Lancer support is so damn good in Foundry
Thanks for doing this, I am looking at VTT's at the moment and this has been really useful.
FOUNDRY IS THE GOAT I JUST SWITCHED FROM ROLL20 and I’m in love
Hey man! I just wanted to say that I need to make time to catch up on more vids from your channel. Yours have been occasionally popping up lately, and they are all killer content with extremely helpful info. Kudos to you and your channel, and I hope others keep catching on as well.
First video I've watched of yours and I really appreciate your presentational style while you keep things informative and moving! Subscribed!
This was a really well made and enormously helpful overview! Thank you so much!
Loooving Alchemy, I backed them early and use it for the therapeutically-applied TTRPG that I run. The immersion is just wonderful, though i wish they had dynamic lighting.
My favourite is Fantasy Grounds. I have tried a bunch but the ease of entering your own data plus all the DLC already available is just not touched by anything else. You do need some time to learn the program, but the UI is actually good for a VTT and becomes second nature pretty quickly.
I really like Fantasy Grounds Unity and don't find it hard to learn at all, neither has any of my players.
A couple of things you may not know about Fantasy Grounds - First, prior to the Unity update, Fantasy Grounds also required port forwarding. Hence the mention in its FAQ. Most of us were SO glad when the need to Port Forward was removed! Second, they have an arrangement with Paizo. If you purchase a book or module for Fantasy Grounds, you also get the .pdf version of the same content, from Paizo for free. Conversely, if you purchase a book or .pdf from Paizo, you get a discount on the same content for Fantasy Grounds. They don't believe that folks should have to pay for content twice, and all of this takes place by linking your Fantasy Grounds and Paizo accounts together, and syncing them. :)
That being said - thanks a lot for doing this. While FG is my go-to, and has-been for a number of years, it was nice to investigate some other options. For my part, I do enough online roleplaying, that a full VTT makes a lot of sense for me, and although I home-brew and it takes a lot of setup, I find that once a campaign is in FG, it stays there. I simply bring my laptop to any in-person games, and I can project the maps and tokens onto a second screen so my in-person players can see what's happening. This dual functionality has been a major bonus for me. While I'm staying with FG as my main VTT, I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation, and you introduced me to a few things I might investigate for map-making or other quick options. (I *really* wish dscryb would integrate with Fantasy Grounds! Great stuff there!). I give this review 3's across the board! ;)
Thank you for the survey. Your selection had some eye-openers on it. TY for sharing and providing so much context and perspective to make sense of the options.
play in foundry and a fantasy grounds game every week, foundry seems to have more problems with updates , also the note taking in fantasy grounds is sooo nice :D
Specifically for Pathfinder 2E, no VTT comes close to Foundry VTT. It's nothing short of magical, the amount of insane integration and automation that team (of volunteers!) has done to make that VTT the de facto place to play Pathfinder. For other systems, it varies a lot, and your video breaks it down incredibly well.
Sometimes it's a bit moon logic but once you get used to it, Foundry PF2E is reeeeallly handy.
Just make sure you have the compendiums on speed-dial because you will be dragging a lot from them. Including cover
Wow. What a terrific walk-through and comparison of these various systems. I'm so glad you did this, because I sure don't have time to, but really wanted to know this info. Thanks so much! You've helped me make some decisions about toolsets I want to use.
Also: your mustache rocks!
Subscribing now.
Of all the dScryb ads I've seen on RPG channels, this one might be the one to finally make me try it out. Great demonstration.
The Fantasy Grounds dig on 'no port forwarding' was not aimed at Foundry, but to themselves. 🤣 FG Classic--the pre-2020 version of FG--needed port-forwarding and it was the number one troubleshooting issue. FG Unity (the current iteration) did away with that, and so they made sure to make that clear.
Came to say this. It was a reason many chose Roll 20 instead of them and this line is more of a "Look, we finally did it!"
I went in the video expecting a perspective only focused on 5e and was pleasantly surprised. IMO you did a good job of considering the needs of both your game and other's.
Since I GM Pathfinder, Foundry is definitely a no brainer. The automation features from the base module really speed up my game, which is specially appreciated in 2e since you end up having to track more stuff. Being able to customize the game to be exactly what you want is definitely the cherry on top.
Owlbear is goated
It has horns? Or a beard?
@@finncullengreatest of all time, then abbreviated, then turned into a verb.
@@mimipeahes5848 whoosh?
Only issue I have with these ratings are the cost of books should factor into the cost score, above vtt is cheap until you realize that you need to buy all of the books if you want to be able to run it without having to swap to a different vtt
unless you're playing pathfinder, which has all of their rules for free, can just hop on Foundry, and have every class, feature, feat, item etc. all available for free. huge props to them for that
I mean unless you are pirating content you will need to buy/own the books for any vtt platform.
It`s like saying to play TTRPG you need books. You can use them or make thing on your own, VTT are just a way to display this things. Foundry (like other VTTs) lets you build things from scratch or copy things from your books
I'm really happy to see your channel growing. Your content is top tier and you have great delivery. Best of luck going forward
If you're going to grade Roll20 on price by going with the highest tier you need to talk about it's features, the API is leagues above the macro in terms of flexibility and power to help DMs run games. On the flip side is does increase complexity and initial setup (but then you can just go watch Nick Olivo's videos).
I was expecting to see Role on here too.
The one I'm most interested in trying out is using Miro as a VTT.
Foundry has been my go-to since I made the switch from Roll20 years ago. If the system is well supported you will not find a smoother experience. But for something more rules lite or narrative-focused I have also used Owlbear with no issues either.
Great points made in the comparisons. Another thing I value is homebrew-ability and how easy it is to customize things while still keeping QOL features like automation. I've had a great experience with Foundry for my needs, and use a server hosting service for $4 a month so I never had to figure out port forwarding which also helps take the load off of my mediocre internet.
Also bonus points for mentioning DC20 at the end!
Fantasy Grounds has the ability for animated maps and tokens.
This is the video I wish had been available a year ago when I started DM'ing. I use AboveVTT and backed DC20 as well - feels like this vid was made just for me and my group. Another great one!
Thank you for the video! I've been using a vtt as a display for my in-person game. Bag of mapping is perfect for what I was looking for since I don't need a lot of the vtt tools. Just an easy setup and grid and full display. Thanks!
Also, just a note on the roll 20 discord feature that has been handy for one of The players in a different game that wasn't able to be at a computern so being able to see the roll 20 on discord would have been a huge help
Fantasy grounds allowed me to do things that I don't think are possible in other ones due to the sheer amount of time it's been around and how much modularity. My group adapted within a couple sessions and we still talk about how great it was. I would still be using it if I didn't love playing in person so much, but even playing in person makes me miss some of the things FG did.
I'm honestly considering reintegrating Foundry into my in person games, just for all of the quality of life things it can provide. I've yet to watch this video, so I'm excited to see if a different VTT looks more appealing nowadays.
@@meobotbotbot9631Rule of thumb:
Foundry has better visuals and cheaper
FGU has better automation and performance, more expensive
I watched a streamer running a game on Fantasy grounds and all the windows made me say "Nope!" right away. Nothing I dislike more as a DM to have to deal with than a massive amount of windows all over the place lol
Headache inducing XD
I use FG in my in-person sessions too. I just built a TV table and use FG through my laptop.
I use fantasy grounds to do all the combat tracking for my in person game. My players use paper sheets, but using fantasy grounds encounters saves me so much effort.
Amazing video. I appreciate your video. I did find one area lacking in the reviews, and that is long-term prep and campaign management. I think some of these are better than others in that regard, such as Foundry. Its compendium and self-storage assets can be a huge advantage. Another two categories not really mentioned are in person play and connection types ( however, some are implied), for example, if an online server goes down and stability.
Thanks for reviewing all of these. Very informative.
I've been using tabletop simulator for 2.5 years now and while it doesn't have the features a lot of others have, I've found that it's significantly more immersive than especially the browser based VTTs but than most VTTs in general. even a lot of the 3D ones just feel like a slightly higher fidelity 2D VTT, which isn't what I want. It feels the most like sitting around an actual table with my friends out of everything I've tried
I’m pretty brainless on TH-cam- hardly like, comment, or subscribe and am always just consuming content. Had to stop and do all three for this, as this video gave awesome insight to my upcoming DnD project. Thank you for this in depth overview, and articulating so many features with transparency. I think I’ll be going for Foundry!
next time if do another video like this recommend performance on pc and laptop if possible?
primarily use laptop when head out to run games, one is literally in a shed with group of friends. foundry got issues running on my laptop (heating up is one, same for others joining in if use laptops so ended up using roll20 or alchemy depending on the system + easier for those with laptops/tablets to join and play.
Yeah for sure! I tested all of these on my MacBook m1 air, unless they were windows only. The only one that gave me issues was RPG Engine
I would suggest to try out Let's Role. It is a smaller free VTT with a great community. There are quirks but it is easy to use and you can yourself implement any system within it. For free.
Our (homebrew) group picked up FGU very fast during the pandemic while Foundry felt counterintuitive for me as DM. I love Owlbear for my VTM games, but it can only handle the lowest graphic quality of the maps I try to upload (made with Dungeon Alchemist). Came here to see whether there is an owlbear system that can handle high res big maps made with DA, but it seems non existent.
OMG I just got it. "Above and Beyond", that's brilliant.
As a person who is technical but just starting to learn Foundry VTT, I can't overstate how intimidating trying to get everything setup THEN having to learn how to build a world and story in it is. It's a HIGH skill ceiling tool, but has power capabilities with no subscription fee.
I've prefered Let's Role. Also, dungeon alchemist is amazing
I use AboveVTT and support them. I also make my maps on Dungeon Alchemist. Excellent combo!
I literally waited a year for this Video before buying one system, thank you ❤
This was really helpful.
Glad I spend my money for Foundry VTT.
I would love a rated list like this for map making tools and one for campaign managers like world anvil.
Above VTT can be janky but it is impeccable if you are invested in dnd beyond resources or have a friend sharing their content with you!
Feel the same! At this point I think it’ll take less time for me to get used to the jank than it would to deal with the hassle of porting all the Dndbeyond material to another VTT.
Above VTT is way less janky than roll20 and is free. I love it and use it faithfully
Yeah Alchemy. 😀
But no Shard Tabletop? 🤔
I was disappointed not to see Shard Tabletop
I've been using Shard for a year and a half and love it. Why does no one ever include it in these VTT review videos??
Great review. Can't wait for next year's update!
We use AboveVTT for years and have loved it!
Thanks for the review! I've got (at least) DnD Beyond, Foundry, Talespire, Tabletop simulator and Alchemy, but mostly we still play locally around the table and I'm not really using these are all 😄
When you have a lot of time, you can build awesome maps in Foundry and I really like it. The UI seems a bit outdated compared to Alchemy, which is currently my number one VTT.
Foundry VTT still gives its updates for free after the initial purchase. I started off on v8 and I've steadily moved up to v12 at no extra cost. It also sometimes goes on sale for the December holidays.
0:02 love the book of humanoids you’ve got on your desk.
I like the Tabletop Simulator the most for playing DnD, because it gives the most vanilla experience. You only got a sheet of paper, map, tokens and dice. I like it, because it doesn't automate anything, giving it a strong vibe of IRL playing.
Great video! Personally, I don't really like using VTTs too much but I've used Owlbear Rodeo before and it was always quick and easy for me and my players so I recommend it if anyone is looking for a beginner friendly VTT!
In my opinion, the best TTRPG experience is face to face but also with a VTT for support. The VTT can do mapping, maintain character sheets, do some math, and maybe even allow private communication or rolls. It's the best of both worlds.
As a bonus, if someone has to be out of town then they have the possibility of remotely connecting to the gaming session since everything is in place for that. It increases the chances that everyone will be able to make it on gaming night.
I actually do the same! Play aboveVTT for the rules and talespire for the heroforge and map integration. You can use symbiotes to show dnd game log. I recently just switched to a combo of foundry (for shadowdark) and talespire. Great videos as usual!
Wow! Very thorough. Thanks for the useful overview.
Very nice rundown, there's probably a few you didn't catch (D20pro is one I have, but not one I would suggest for new players..."purchase once" but has seats, 2d/top-down, dated interface, obviously intended for d20 systems but can be hacked for other systems...it's not bad, just lacks a lot of extensibility provided by newer VTTs)
It was nice to see some of these, especially the couple I hadn’t heard of; but it would have been nice to see your review of Shard VTT
Foundry is the best suited to my games. I run high-homebrew games with lots of changes to characters, so it’s convenient to have a way to keep track of that and automate things. It’s also nice to be able to drag and drop features onto monster and character sheets, so I can give a monster a feat or a spell and not have to keep track of that myself.
Nice research! I haven't heard about some of these. Bag of Mapping is cool since it also supports Blades in the Dark.
It's been like 10 years - but I still absolutely love DM Tools. Getting it to work over the internet was a pain, but I just used a projector to the maps, tokens, and monsters up on the wall so that we didn't need to sit around a small table.
Owlbear Rodeo FTW !!!!
simple smooth table top experience without bells and whistles. love it
@@ruolbu amen
Several of the extensions support stat blocks.
Also there are more extensions available than those directly listed on the OBR extension page.
Good to see a lot of aspirant VTTs emerging. I hope the established players are feeling motivated to excel in this increasingly populated marketplace.
As someone who uses D&D beyond as you said you do, I'm surprised you didn't showcase D&D beyond maps. It's very solid so far and has added a bunch of features very quickly and seamlessly integrates with your character sheets and monsters as well as all the maps released for all of the adventures.
Wow! This randomly popped up for me right as I’m ready to start being a dm again! This video is so helpful! You got a new sub from me for sure! I’ve used foundry before but no other software.
Always enjoy your content. Thanks for this info .
Foundry being community driven; support for nearly every game via modules; low cost; and NOT tied to WOTC products to work makes it our go to VTT across systems. You can choose what level of depth to engage the engine with makes it very adaptable.
The learning curve is NOT that steep compared to engines such as Fantasy Grounds.
thanks for this video! great that you're focusing on 5e and not trying to move here and there with different systems (with all my respect to someone, who like to do that).
and... it looks like I need to give one more look to Foundry VTT... heh :) any way - thank you for this review!
With tale spire you get 4 seats if you buy the full program at 25 dollars, then you can buy additional seats. All players in a session share the accumulative total seats, as in if you and a friend buy the full program at 25 dollars, between the both of you in a campaign you should have 8 seats available to the group (up to a max of 12 people, at least according to what their FAQ says).
Basically if a GM and a player both bought the program you should be able to host 6 other free tier players of tale spire (I believe the seats include you so with 8 between you and the other player, 8-2 = 6 free slots). In theory it should've only cost your table 50 dollars to host everyone not 120 something....
No, he's right. Talespire doesn't provide free seats with a full copy.
Even still, if you are complaining about a one time cost of $25, which is the cost of a pizza these days, you really need to reconsider your priorities. Not to mention that many of the other platforms charge for assets when Talespire does not.
Talespire's community maps and the ease of copy and pasting building assets is a very nice time saving feature. I do wish they implement Fog of War into the game. Been patiently waiting for 3 years now. I do like the updates. Although I don't play currently. I made some really awesome maps/ Dungeons with it. Some on the community are on another level, which is awesome to see the commitment to the product.
Impressive work! This is a great overview.
I dm for an in person group, but use VTTs to supplement our play. I find Talespire to be awesome for in person games. My other go-to is Arkenforge, which imo is best used if you have a tv table (or just a tv lying on its back loke I do) and play with physical minis/terrain on top.
Just stumbled on this channel and loved the content, the presentation, the quality, and the honest evaluation. Now, if I could somehow find a way to not focus entirely on the moustache while watching I might be able to see other things that I'm sure are important... ; ) Cheers!
No one ever mentions AboveVTT!
I started using it temporarily and it may become my permanent VTT. I’m using it to supplement my in person game, not replace it.
I mainly use r20 but have used a few of these before too. Thanks for the video, it was interesting seeing all the ones I wasn't familiar with.
Terrific video! Appreciate the effort and love the long format. Also big fan of Little Guy, who did you get to play him??
I loved the video, it was good, detailed and informative but jeezo 17 ad breaks and two promos was a chore. I know most of that is on YT but it was a good video so go get that bag 💰
Owlbear does have an extension that gives statblock functionality. I use it all the time.
it does?? i'm new to owlbear can you tell me which one you us?
@@morrohir Clash! and HP Tracker both have stat block support. (I wrote Clash)
@@mdjxbl nice! Gonna try them, thx!
@@morrohir there are video tutorials for HP Tracker: th-cam.com/video/_ooRIDPhBhI/w-d-xo.html
TaleSpire is so beautiful. I haven't used it in play yet as (thankfully) our campaign is IRL, but love building in it! I have some 3D dungeon tiles for IRL play, but could also export the TaleSpire map as a photo for 2D.
Extremely useful content, thank you! I'm a regular player on Roll20 who loathes everything about the platform. Just awful. LOL. I DM my own games on Foundry and DDB, with Beyond 20 to integrate them. I'm very happy with Foundry but am glad to see competition heating up in the field! It's good for all of us when so many cool ideas get built out like that. I'll have to try out Above VTT, sounds excellent.
Note:
3D ones are already automatically disqualified for anyone using lower-end hardware
great video!! Surprised you didn't include Maptool though!!!
Alchemy Mentioned! I'm a big fan of Alchemy and hope they iron out the issues that do exist on their platform, but I'm glad to see their name being thrown around haha
I want something that simulates the experience of playing at a table with whiteboards as closely as possible, and that's owlbear. No fluff. Really dig it (until Draw Steel has its own VTT, that is - then we might make the switch)
You should have included a score for Ease of Finding Games (for players). There's a HUGE difference between the VTTs in this realm, and is probably why Roll20 still reigns supreme.