WRT Fantasy Grounds it is $39 one time purchase for each user - it is free for each player IF you by the $150 license as the host. Secondly It comes with PF 1+2 D&D5/ 2E 3E, Starfinder, Numenara rules and more built in. The player's handbooks you can purchase- but you don't HAVE to- you simply add the information in manually - the combat rules and Character sheets are built in. You can add all the monster stats in manually too. If you're really cheap you can add all that stuff in for free AND you can export your monster collection, Race, Class information to a Module that you can load in and use over and over again. You can also build your own modules with maps from PDFs.
I'm looking for a very basic (ideally free) VTT that a) lets me share handouts, notes and maps, b) gives me a digital dice roller and c) is system agnostic, letting me run whatever indie or homebrew RPG I desire. It sounds like Owlbear might be the tool for me, so I'll have to take a closer look. Thank you for the insight!
Someone who spent time on Owlbear and spent some time on it with friends: Owlbear is definitely more straight forward out of the 3 option shown here, and since there is alot of Extension added, you can add things such as Initiatives tracker, Dice Rolling, Personal Notes Tracker (So people can keep of their OWN note in the VTT), Music player and even a basic character sheet too. It's definitely GREAT from what I've seen for getting a game started. There's really only 2 draw back 1) If you use it for Free, and when you plan to say do a BIG campaign, there is only a 200mb Cloud storage limit so that might be a draw-back for some (Saving custom maps/tokens/etc etc). If you however pay 5 or 6USD a month, you get access to 5gb of Cloud Space so then it becomes less of a problem. (And it's still MUCH cheaper than Roll20( 2) Because there's no dedicated Character Sheet + Spell List + Automatic calculator for spells/attacks/etc, you'll still have to calculate those on your own UNLESS a new extension get's built in but, yet to see anything like that. But from what I find, if you and your player is happy to keep track of their own character sheet either on a seperate app or irl, roll dice irl or use the simply dice-roller Owlbear has and do calculation from there, it's definitely a VERY solid Free VTT.
Good comparison, but before doing a video about the VTT in general, test it and use it. Ignoring FGU, make the comparison not complete. but thanks for the video.
I've been playing starfinder aventure paths, but as party we've been having problems with maps, lights and doors. Maybe is the best of all in some modules
Is that the case? I started with Fantasy Grounds Unity (actually with Fantasy Grounds Classic, but I failed because not all my players could connect). I ran several campaigns with FGU, and even though I felt it was the most automated (at least with add-on modules), it still had some issues. Overall, this had me switching to Foundry VTT, which also has its quirks and problems, but on balance I liked it more. But maybe Fantasy Grounds has been improved enough in the meantime to fix some of the problems... 1. disconnect behavior I always had someone disconnect during a session in FGU, usually there were 1-3 disconnects per session. Oh... this is also true for Foundry, where it even tends to be a little more frequent, only the reconnect takes significantly less time in Foundry VTT. In FGU, we sometimes had to wait an unbelievable 5 minutes before the instance was back with a player, in Foundry, depending on the world size, the instance can usually be used again in a few seconds to a maximum of half a minute. 2. multi-monitor operation FGU didn't do a very good job here, especially when not all monitors were the same size. With Foundry VTT there is at least a module (Popout) with which you can detach individual windows. 3. automations are great if they work Basically, FGU was further along with automation than Foundry, but if something didn't work, then there were sometimes crashes (because one of the modules was perhaps not upgraded 100% cleanly to the latest version, or what do I know...). All in all, I'm a bit annoyed with both of them when I have to fix it manually. Although I can undo something in Foundry more easily than in FGU. 4. many unnecessary duplications etc. You have several modules and the adventure and suddenly all kinds of effects, spell descriptions, etc. are very common in the search and you have to see what should be used first. 5. actually the biggest obstacle for me: character creation and level advancement I don't find any VTT good so far as this option is concerned, but for Foundry I at least have a pretty good import from dndbeyond, which is simply the leader here. Don't get me wrong: I didn't think FGU was bad, and I'm sure it can do a few things better. But I also ask myself: what. And whether these things really make it better for certain use cases. I'd even be interested to know if anything has improved, or if it really is better than Foundry for certain use cases. I could think of at least one case where FGU might actually be better (it didn't feel quite okay the last time I used FGU, but at the time Foundry was superior): Lines of sight. In Foundry I have the problem that e.g. a "darkness" does not block the players' view. I think FGU at least faded out the effect area in the version I last used, but I think the area behind it was still not faded out (although I could imagine that this should work by now, they had done a lot in the area of light and lines of sight back then).
If you would like to try out Fantasy Grounds, there are free Game Days every Thursday. Only need the free Demo account to play in those. Demo accounts are good if your GM has the Ultimate account ($149) or a player can get a Standard license ($39)if the GM has the Standard.
You really don't need the pro option for Roll 20 as a DM though, I have been doing it for years now. I've also played in campaigns where the DM had only the free account, although that is rather challenging.
Roll20 is the VTT for me. I think Foundry is more powerful, but it’s inconsistent between modules and takes too much setup. I usually import my own maps and tokens and stuff, though, I rarely buy modules on Roll20.
@@DungeonMasterJosh Ginni Di was their "spokesperson" for a bit. It's better than Owlbear, but probably not as good as the other ones on your video.... but it's mobile friendly 😊
@DungeonMasterJosh I know right!!! All I have is my phone, my tablet, and a laptop from 2006..that uses my phones Hotspot.. lol, yeah..I prefer mobile vtt.
wow, great video about vtt. Thats rare! Gj! Did you maybe try Alchemy? Im kinda between roll20 and alchemy, but now you sold me on foundry vs alchemy hahah
I am using Owlbear Rodeo, but the paid version /Fledgling. I also own Foundry. We play Alien RPG, but we are completely frustrated by Foundry. Yes, I need to manually make everything (maps, tokens etc) into Owlbear, but that sparks creativity. But it's so extremely user-friendly. The character sheet (costume) is the only thing that is not available that I would like to see there. For me it's Owlbear. Foundry has the best of everything but is extremely sh*tty to use. For players and GMs. That was our experience.
So in Foundry if I don't see an option for my game type, I can create one? I am designing a scifi/space game but never see those options in VTT, usually fantasy or D&D styles
Okay... nice, but i dont want to use it online, but in my living room with my mac connected to a TV laying horizontaly on our gaming table.. So basically, the DM has to controll everything. Players have their characters on their tablet and roll real dice.. Could Foundry work well? with the DM controlling all tokens?
WRT Fantasy Grounds it is $39 one time purchase for each user - it is free for each player IF you by the $150 license as the host.
Secondly It comes with PF 1+2 D&D5/ 2E 3E, Starfinder, Numenara rules and more built in. The player's handbooks you can purchase- but you don't HAVE to- you simply add the information in manually - the combat rules and Character sheets are built in. You can add all the monster stats in manually too. If you're really cheap you can add all that stuff in for free AND you can export your monster collection, Race, Class information to a Module that you can load in and use over and over again. You can also build your own modules with maps from PDFs.
I'm looking for a very basic (ideally free) VTT that a) lets me share handouts, notes and maps, b) gives me a digital dice roller and c) is system agnostic, letting me run whatever indie or homebrew RPG I desire. It sounds like Owlbear might be the tool for me, so I'll have to take a closer look. Thank you for the insight!
Owlbear is 100% your solution! Never looked back once I started using it.
Someone who spent time on Owlbear and spent some time on it with friends:
Owlbear is definitely more straight forward out of the 3 option shown here, and since there is alot of Extension added, you can add things such as Initiatives tracker, Dice Rolling, Personal Notes Tracker (So people can keep of their OWN note in the VTT), Music player and even a basic character sheet too.
It's definitely GREAT from what I've seen for getting a game started.
There's really only 2 draw back
1) If you use it for Free, and when you plan to say do a BIG campaign, there is only a 200mb Cloud storage limit so that might be a draw-back for some (Saving custom maps/tokens/etc etc). If you however pay 5 or 6USD a month, you get access to 5gb of Cloud Space so then it becomes less of a problem. (And it's still MUCH cheaper than Roll20(
2) Because there's no dedicated Character Sheet + Spell List + Automatic calculator for spells/attacks/etc, you'll still have to calculate those on your own UNLESS a new extension get's built in but, yet to see anything like that.
But from what I find, if you and your player is happy to keep track of their own character sheet either on a seperate app or irl, roll dice irl or use the simply dice-roller Owlbear has and do calculation from there, it's definitely a VERY solid Free VTT.
For DnD, fantasy grounds unity is the way to go. No question
Good comparison, but before doing a video about the VTT in general, test it and use it. Ignoring FGU, make the comparison not complete. but thanks for the video.
Fantasy grounds by far the best of all. Everything is easy to use and automated.
I've been playing starfinder aventure paths, but as party we've been having problems with maps, lights and doors. Maybe is the best of all in some modules
Is that the case? I started with Fantasy Grounds Unity (actually with Fantasy Grounds Classic, but I failed because not all my players could connect). I ran several campaigns with FGU, and even though I felt it was the most automated (at least with add-on modules), it still had some issues. Overall, this had me switching to Foundry VTT, which also has its quirks and problems, but on balance I liked it more.
But maybe Fantasy Grounds has been improved enough in the meantime to fix some of the problems...
1. disconnect behavior
I always had someone disconnect during a session in FGU, usually there were 1-3 disconnects per session. Oh... this is also true for Foundry, where it even tends to be a little more frequent, only the reconnect takes significantly less time in Foundry VTT. In FGU, we sometimes had to wait an unbelievable 5 minutes before the instance was back with a player, in Foundry, depending on the world size, the instance can usually be used again in a few seconds to a maximum of half a minute.
2. multi-monitor operation
FGU didn't do a very good job here, especially when not all monitors were the same size. With Foundry VTT there is at least a module (Popout) with which you can detach individual windows.
3. automations are great if they work
Basically, FGU was further along with automation than Foundry, but if something didn't work, then there were sometimes crashes (because one of the modules was perhaps not upgraded 100% cleanly to the latest version, or what do I know...). All in all, I'm a bit annoyed with both of them when I have to fix it manually. Although I can undo something in Foundry more easily than in FGU.
4. many unnecessary duplications etc.
You have several modules and the adventure and suddenly all kinds of effects, spell descriptions, etc. are very common in the search and you have to see what should be used first.
5. actually the biggest obstacle for me: character creation and level advancement
I don't find any VTT good so far as this option is concerned, but for Foundry I at least have a pretty good import from dndbeyond, which is simply the leader here.
Don't get me wrong: I didn't think FGU was bad, and I'm sure it can do a few things better. But I also ask myself: what. And whether these things really make it better for certain use cases. I'd even be interested to know if anything has improved, or if it really is better than Foundry for certain use cases.
I could think of at least one case where FGU might actually be better (it didn't feel quite okay the last time I used FGU, but at the time Foundry was superior): Lines of sight. In Foundry I have the problem that e.g. a "darkness" does not block the players' view. I think FGU at least faded out the effect area in the version I last used, but I think the area behind it was still not faded out (although I could imagine that this should work by now, they had done a lot in the area of light and lines of sight back then).
If you would like to try out Fantasy Grounds, there are free Game Days every Thursday. Only need the free Demo account to play in those. Demo accounts are good if your GM has the Ultimate account ($149) or a player can get a Standard license ($39)if the GM has the Standard.
"it's as free as hitting the like button" LMAO just snuck that in there.
Haha, gotta do what you gotta do.
You really don't need the pro option for Roll 20 as a DM though, I have been doing it for years now. I've also played in campaigns where the DM had only the free account, although that is rather challenging.
Roll20 is the VTT for me. I think Foundry is more powerful, but it’s inconsistent between modules and takes too much setup.
I usually import my own maps and tokens and stuff, though, I rarely buy modules on Roll20.
No one ever talks about Shard Tabletop... that's the one I like.
I'll have to check that one out. To be honest I've never even heard of Shard Tabletop
@@DungeonMasterJosh Ginni Di was their "spokesperson" for a bit. It's better than Owlbear, but probably not as good as the other ones on your video.... but it's mobile friendly 😊
@@Venjax420 idk why more aren't mobile friendly. That's something I really like with owlbear.
@DungeonMasterJosh I know right!!! All I have is my phone, my tablet, and a laptop from 2006..that uses my phones Hotspot.. lol, yeah..I prefer mobile vtt.
wow, great video about vtt. Thats rare! Gj! Did you maybe try Alchemy? Im kinda between roll20 and alchemy, but now you sold me on foundry vs alchemy hahah
I have not tried alchemy. I might have to take a look at that one.
Interesting information
pro-tip: don't include a product you've never actually used in your product review video (IE Fantasy Grounds). lol.
I am using Owlbear Rodeo, but the paid version /Fledgling. I also own Foundry. We play Alien RPG, but we are completely frustrated by Foundry. Yes, I need to manually make everything (maps, tokens etc) into Owlbear, but that sparks creativity. But it's so extremely user-friendly. The character sheet (costume) is the only thing that is not available that I would like to see there. For me it's Owlbear. Foundry has the best of everything but is extremely sh*tty to use. For players and GMs. That was our experience.
So in Foundry if I don't see an option for my game type, I can create one? I am designing a scifi/space game but never see those options in VTT, usually fantasy or D&D styles
Op never remembers to post links below 😅
buen video super útil, me dio flojera traducir esto al ingles pero saludos
Foundry has honestly been a frustrating experience
Okay... nice, but i dont want to use it online, but in my living room with my mac connected to a TV laying horizontaly on our gaming table.. So basically, the DM has to controll everything. Players have their characters on their tablet and roll real dice.. Could Foundry work well? with the DM controlling all tokens?
Foundry could work but if you just want something to show tokens and maps on a screen/table I would recommend owlbear rodeo
Roll20's vtt format is poorly made and feels cheap. Extremely convoluted
Completely agree though I did just hear that they're about to rework it so maybe it will be better soon.