I currently have something like 141 modules installed in Foundry ranging from map packs, automation improvements, music packs, UI, Level design improvement, and even one that puts an image of the Pathfinder rules lawyer up on a banner whenever someone hit's by a +1. Can't name another VTT that allows me to do all that at no extra cost with just a button click. Foundry is truly one of a kind, and imo the best at what it does.
Bro I imagine you have some information about format choice and scene management that makes all that run well? Do you self host or use a service? I've been trying to go webm/webp when I can.
@@Numberi i self host, and most of my stuff is automation, macros, ui, stuff that isn't too hefty, so far my players have no complaints other than the occasional slow down if I have a particularly large encounter or map. I also have a beast PC which likely helps.
For real, Foundry's pay-to-own model on top of the incredible support means that it has no peers! I seriously look forward to prepping for the next session, especially in new systems, because I get to push the envelope and learn more about what Foundry can do.
I have tried most of the main VTTs. I think owlbear rodeo and roll20 are fine starting points for beginners. They both offer free jumping in points with a small learning curve. I played through one campaign in Fantasy Grounds. The automated combat was excellent however the UI for me was not very intuitive. I feel like Fantasy Grounds has the highest learning curve and unless you are a big fan of the 90's style aesthetic, Foundry VTT does what it does better in my opinion. Foundry VTT having the one time purchase, easy UI and modding community easily make it the best for me.
That is an interesting point. Fantasy Grounds seems really really awesome to me, as it can do so much work for you if you want to, but has the flexiblity to easily ignore that automation. (Also the classic edition really will run on a potato PC just fine). But having been a FG user for a very long time now (as it was the only particularly good business model VTT and just about the only VTT that worked with many rulesets and the coreRPG engine lets you play any other rules), so that learning curve is so far in the past for me, and its pretty easy to teach your players any bit that isn't immediately apparent to them. Foundry looks good, actually is pretty similar really, but it definitely falls short of FG in some areas as well. So if I was starting out now I'd be at least a little torn.
I appreciate your perspective, and I play twice a week in a game that uses Foundry. It's a good, solid VTT. That said, I still prefer Fantasy Grounds: the automation support native to Fantasy Grounds is just better than the automation in Foundry. They both have their strengths: No slight on either one. I've just been using Fantasy Grounds for almost 20 years at this point... it's where I am. Still, I appreciate the video and your perspective on Foundry. Peace to you!
Foundry is crazy good. Great ongoing creator support and an exceptionally helpful community with endless mods. Beautiful, functional, reliable. I cannot say enough good things about it, honestly.
I run Lancer, a tactical mech ttrpg, in foundry with an isometric mod, with animations and automations. I’ve made interactive narrative scenes and player menus that allow players to pull up their own codex in an immersive UI, or check the mission brief in an imbedded animated external page. I payed 30$ years ago and none of my players need to pay for or even download a single thing. I can’t imagine going back to anything else. You can do SO MUCH.
I think that the absolutely BEST tabletop experience is meeting in person and also having a VTT going. The VTT can handle the math, maps, and bookkeeping, plus allow private messages and maybe rolls between players & DM. And you still have the face to face experience that is so valuable. As a bonus, if someone has to be out of town for a session, they can still play because everything is in place.
100% this. Sadly the barrier to entry for this can be too steep for some. Physical space, proper set up, leaving the house, etc. But in my experience it is the best option currently.
I think it all depends on what you are looking for and where you want to spend your time and resources. Without a doubt, FGU is the most "out of the box ready with the most features" vtt out there. It also has the most commercial products ready to go (yes you have to buy each one...but then it's yours forever). And they've changed their pricing model to a one time fee. I tried Foundry and found it to be a lot of work to get what I wanted out of it when FGU just had it right out of the box. So I think Foundry had more potential but FGU is more ready and is much easier to use and has a dedicated development team who works on improving it non stop (foundry may as well...I just don't keep up with it since discovering FGU). Different strokes for different folks I guess. But nothing out there compares to those two.
I downloaded foundry and ran my first session that weekend. Easy to learn, easy to run, and powerful. I had never used a VTT before, and kind of figured that Foundry was a normal VTT. I've looked at other VVTs recently, and I'm extremely confused as to how they even exist.
I've played 2 different campaigns on Foundry now, and while it's really good and objectively the best VTT, it takes away some of the organic "table top" experience for me; meaning that it feels more like a slow paced video game than a roleplaying experience. Personally, my favorite is Owlbear Rodeo v2. Quick and Easy. It doesn't have a ton of mods but it's got the ones I need for managing status effects. That's all I need! I enjoy the Fog of War in Owlbear Rodeo as well. I just find it way easier to get playing right away.
@@abettermind I could spend time setting up Foundry to mimic Owlbear, or I can just use Owlbear :P Yes, You can do everything you can do in Owlbear with Foundry and much more. It's not about having the fanciest tool, it's about having a tool that does what you want it to and that I can use with swiftness and ease. That's the appeal of Owlbear, it's simplicity; It's so quick and easy to use.
Hey, is it possible to use foundry in a gaming group where we all sit together at the same table and the GM uses a TV connected to his Laptop to show the scenery. Like in Arkenforge where the players experience the fog of war on the TV and the GM controls everything from his Laptop? Thanks 🙏😊
Of course you can! 😁 You just have to have two different web browsers open with foundry. One to display the game with the players perspective, and another to control the game from the GMs perspective. I think there's also some mods that make the process easier, but I don't know of any off the top of my head. 🤔 But I have used this method to use foundry for in-person sessions and it's worked really well in my experience. 👍
I have used Roll20, Tale Spire, Owlbear, and about half a dozen others. I have nearly 700 hours of use with Foundry. Nothing else even comes close to it. Just nothing.
I played on Roll20 for years. Tried Rodeo which I wouldn´t even consider being a VTT because of the lack of character implementation. Alchemy is very limited in their support for different systems. Everybody told me how complicated Foundry is and the paywall (55 €) held me always back. But now I am using it for 5 days (on Mac OS btw) and it is brilliant- and I am not a tech or software guy but the support and help on RUclips alone makes the entry easy and I love to learn more about the tools and free modules. There is no way back.
I like Foundry just for the modding potential. There are a ton of 3rd party books that I have purchased, content that I like letting my players use for character options. The current limitations with DND Beyond means I have no way to add new classes (like that provided in Valda’s Spire of Secrets or Heliana’s Guide to Monster Hunting). My online groups are not able to use these new class options because there is no homebrew capability to do so. Additionally, if one of my players had an interest in using a character option (such as a spell, feat, or subclass) from one of these books I have offered them, they or I get stuck having to homebrew each item of interest which can take considerable time. This is workable but inconvenient. Having the ability to purchase the VTT Bundles for Foundry has let me fully integrate these new options into my games. This means my players get more character options, and we aren’t stuck losing time to homebrew building. It’s all around my favorite convenience. Could I do the same on Roll20? Sure. Many of the books I provide have Roll20 bundles as well, but Foundry has provided the smoothest feel to gameplay and is the VTT that works best for my group and my wants.
FGU user. Have been for ages. Recently picked up Foundry just to try it out. I keep reading how the UI is better, and I don't know wtf everyone is talking about. Can someone give a SPECIFIC EXAMPLE of how it's better? I haven't found anything in Foundry to be a better experience for me than FGU, especially as a DM. Adventures/campaigns have been harder to build, creating a monster manual to reference in a campaign has been a mess, and currently I've got 40+ modules installed to kind of mimic what FGU does out of the box, all of which require me to count on a host of developers to update them (the all broke recently with v12) and also hope they don't decide to require patreon someday. I bought my ultimate license for FGU when it came out, and I've never looked back. Everything in FGU just... works. Nothing in Foundry has felt more intuitive, or more streamlined, or better arranged. What am I missing?
I wanna preface this by saying that if you prefer Fantasy Grounds, then don't let anyone force you into using a VTT you don't like. While many people like Foundry, it doesn't mean that it's for everyone. 🔨 I think that the reason many people like the Foundry UI is because it feels more modern and (in my opinion) is easier to navigate than other VTTs that offer the same features that Foundry does in the way of customization, modding, automation, and organization. Plus, from what my players have told me, it feels a lot more neat and they appreciate that you can customize the UI with mods. And from a gamemaster's standpoint, I really appreciate how easy it is to manage my worlds, game systems, and mods. Plus, there are tons of settings and features that you can easily tweak in a world to customize your mods, game system, and rules however you would like. I'm not sure what you mean by "monster manual" but I assume you mean like a monster NPC sheet, compendium, or something like that. 🤔 In my experience i haven't had any issues making monsters or organizing them, but if you're having problems then I'd recommend popping into the Foundry discord server and asking for some assistance because they're extremely friendly over there and are more than willing to help you if you're experiencing some issues with mods, compatibility, hosting, etc. 😁 Regarding using newer versions of FVTT and mods, sadly with Foundry's current policy of not sharing new/in-progress builds with modders, it makes things tricky. The way things currently are, you shouldn't upgrade to the newest version of Foundry as soon as it's released AND expect to keep mod compatibility. This is because Foundry versions normally come with a lot of new code, features, and changes, and it's unrealistic to expect modders to release a new version of their mod the day of or week when a new version of Foundry comes out. ☹️ When a new version of Foundry is released, it normally takes the modders anywhere from a week to a month to get things sorted out because many of them are not being paid to maintain their mods, so they work on them in their free time (and sometimes they do it without any help). So as a general rule of thumb, the modding community advises that if you want to continue using mods in your worlds, you should wait for a stable build of a Foundry version to be released, then check every now and then to see if your favorite mods have been updated to work with the new version of Foundry. And sadly, not all modders work on a set schedule or are very vocal about when they plan to release a new version of their mod that's compatible with the new version of Foundry. I know it's a bit annoying, but that's the give and take of using mods on Foundry as it currently is. I hope this was useful in explaining things or clearing things up. Happy gaming! 🧙♂️
Just don't update your foundry after you have it set up how you want it set up. There is no reason to update your mods or OS if everything is working for you. I don't know FGU, but I'm willing to bet that foundry could be set up to operate just like it, while offering other options, should you want them. I have a theater of the mind campaign, a tactical shooter, and a traditional VTT style game running on foundry. If you didn't know better, you would think they were entirely different VTTs, due to how drastically different they operate. I had my first game up and running 2 days after I downloaded Foundry, and it was my first VTT. Maybe it's not as intuitive as some others, I don't know, but it's definitely intuitive enough.
Not sure what game system you're working in. But if you are referring to the character sheets for monsters in d&d, I can understand your frustration. I would very much recommend tidy 5e sheet which will give you a much better sheet for NPCs and frankly players. While the new player sheet looks nice, it still has a bit to go before it is holy featured. With regards to foundry V12 , I don't believe that is even unstable yet. Foundry does make it quite clear that you should not upgrade major versions until they are stable. And as the video author mentioned, most mods are not going to be updated on day one. I will push back on him saying that foundry doesn't give module developers early builds. They definitely do. The issue. Is that the builds change rapidly. The big modules that have large patreon support bases can be updated on lunch day or within a few days. But, the smaller mod developers who either don't actively follow the updates to the core software or get around to it once it's completely released due in fact, take a little bit of time.
As a player, I was shocked at how fast battles are in Fantasy Grounds Unity. 5x faster.... easy. My very first session my DM kept throwing Zombies at us, one per PC every round until we figured out how to stop them.... so, many, zombies. It was super fun, but only took about 30 minutes. The same battle in Roll 20 or Foundry would have taken 2 and a half hours. Heck, a simple fight on Roll 20 or Foundry can take an hour. Rolling down the well is a simple function that all VTTs can do, but FGU just does right... another great separator IMO.
@@nattertot re: Monster Manual - I have a library module in FGU that has every 5E D&D creature published, with tokens and pictures. If I want to build an encounter on the fly, I just open the module, search for what I want (by name, cr, type, abilities, etc) and then close the module when I'm done. Or I can just drop it right into the combat tracker and everything is ready to go. Token on the map is linked to the entry, all modifiers, effects, everything is set up. I've tinkered around with Foundry quite a bit still just trying to find what the allure is, and the only answer I've been able to come up with is "people who haven't used FGU". The "ease of interface" thing is especially headscratching because nothing about the interface was intuitive. Customizable UI? FGU has that too. Anyway, I just wanted to explain what I meant by MM.
I love foundry, but the only nerve-wrecking thing that I have to do is port forwarding. I don't know what I'm doing and too afraid if I messed up a setting for my network.
Hello Could someone tell me which module is the cool initiative order bar on top of the screen at 6:40 please ? I searched and found nothing... Cheers !
@@Iridescence93 How hard is it to find one on Fantasy Grounds or your home play table? Why are you using a VTT to find a group? This isn't a MMO group finder.
@@christopherg2347 I don't have people where I live that are into TT RPGs so I don't have much choice. Roll 20 is probably the worst site as a VTT but it has the most people playing on it so that is a consideration for me.
I mentioned this in another comment, but I'd definitely still use the Levels and Wall Height mods because they work a lot better than the non-mod method detailed below. 👇 You can combine foreground and background images for a scene to achieve a multilevel effect, and then if you add in some tiles for things like wooden guard towers, tree tops, building roofs, and stuff like that, you can place a token on top of it if you change the tokens elevation. But, things get a little wonky with walls and vision, which is why the creator of the Wall Height and Levels mod expanded on this basic feature and made it so much better. From what I understand the FVTT team want to eventually make these features a part of the base software, but with great mods like Levels and Wall Height existing, it's probably not on their priority list. Hope this helps! 🧙♂️
What's the mod you're using that puts the initiative order at the top? That would make it so much easier for my players to keep track of it without having to tab over to that section of the menu.
Ran on roll20 for several years as part of a larger group that needed DMs to do that. Couldn't really stand it. Eventually left that group and started messing around with Foundry. THANK YOU FOUNDRY. It is SO much better, it's not even funny. Roll20 seems like it would have been acceptable about 15 years ago.
You're able to disable certain rules and settings if you want to, which is nice. And if you don't want to use certain features, then you don't have to, which is really nice if you want to homebrew.
I don't think anyone can catch up on Foundry, at least not in many years. Once, Astral was the promising child, but I noticed that Foundry did things faster and better. ... In order to surpass Foundry you'd need a mix of: *Big money (to afford a big team) *Tech advantage (E.g. custom "AI" to create maps, NPCs, conversations etc.)_ *A revolutionary feature. E.g. Unreal 3d graphics, integrated spells effects, attacks etc.
It's actually completely optional to update Foundry and mods when a new version for either of them comes out. 😁 Like right now, the latest version of Foundry was just released, (version 12) but I'm purposely staying on version 11.315 because a lot of my mods haven't released a V 12 version yet. But once they all do, all I have to do is click "Update All" and then all of the mods update themselves to version 12 (which is really convenient!). And in the case where some of them are still a little buggy, or maybe I just don't like the new version of Foundry, I can just revert back to a previous version if I want to (as long as I backed up my data at least once).
my current favorite VTT that's free is bag of mapping - it doesn't have all the features that foundry does, but it's so much easier to use. Though it is brand new
@@nattertot is it 5e only? I'm an old school essentials nerd. I was hoping there would be something built into targeting that would allow successful attacks to auto apply across the various systems. Still love foundry but this would be the cherry on top.
@@deckape67 Oh I see, well in that case yes, sadly it is meant for 5e. ☹️ I'm not familiar with the mod scene for old school essentials, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a mod that helps with this or if there's a foundry setting that helps speed up the combat process. I myself have never played OSE tho so I can't share any personal experience or recommendations for mods.
FoundryVTT is good, but it misses a big thing for me. Well, not for me, I'm fine without it, but my players. My players are from the generation that do everything with a touch screen, to the point of fully ignoring a laptop's trackpad. Foundry simply does not work with touchscreens or smaller, iPad-sized screens. There are mods for it, such as TouchVTT, but that has problems in itself (e.g. registering a tap as a hover and a click at the same time, triggering two separate actions from Foundry).
Yeah it is definitely lacking in that aspect. There have been votes to to better integrate mobile support but they never win. I must confess I never vote for it just because I don't use it and none of my players do either. All are late millennial or early gen z so they aren't nearly as touch screen dependent.
Especially as a PF2E fan I really like Foundry but after using Talespire and now RPG Stories for years 2D VTTs can never be the best for me anymore. 2D just looks like...well, what it is - a map. 3D is a much more immersive world.
I love using 3D VTTs as well. The scenes you can create on a VTT like Tailspire will always be more immersive than a 2D scene/map, but they also take a lot longer to make (or at least in my experience).
@@nattertotThey definitely can take a lot longer. Thankfully RPG Stories and Talespire both have the option to share & download community creations. RPG Stories also has a quick room builder option if you just need something simple, and is adding AI generation in their upcoming expansion so you won't have to worry about extra prep time.
@@Oniphire I've been meaning to check out RPG Stories since they're one of the newer ones, but I haven't gotten around to it quite yet. I might need to make a video about it and Talespire sometime soon. 👀 I need to give the 3D VTT community some love and appreciation.
I have both Foundry and Fantasy Grounds Unity. Foundry has the larger number of rulesets available, but FGU has better automation, is consistently stable and much easier to run, as well as built in cloud support. That last part is huge. It’s only negative is the lack of more independent RPGs on there-but it has Pathfinder 2e and D&D which are the most played games. Playing Parhfinder 2e on there now and the automation is top notch. Does the UI look dated? Yes. But they are fixing that soon as they have been renovating their aesthetic to look more modern-which is good because everyone seems attracted to the shiny exterior and less of what is going on under the hood.
If one person has purchased foundry, can others join in using just the one purchase, or does everyone need to purchase their own version of the software?
Only one person (the GM/person who wants to host) needs to purchase a foundry license. foundryvtt.com/article/faq/#:~:text=Each%20license%20allows%20for%20hosting,need%20to%20purchase%20the%20software).
That's for if you want to self host, which is worth it imo if you don't want to pay for a third party to host your server. However if you do want it to be hosted, most of the third party hosting services that I know of offer hosting for fairly cheap.
Nope, not at all. There are some mods that allow you to get super programy if you want to, but the vast VAST majority of them are really user friendly and only require you to check boxes for what options/features you want enabled at max. 👍
Foundry is just leagues above the others. I started playing 5e on roll20 and used that platform for like 7 years. I tried other platforms but kept coming back to Roll20. Then foundry came out and I got it when it was in beta and super cheap. I liked it so much I moved over my D&D campaign to it and never looked back. Eventually I switched over to PF2e because it just had better support on Foundry. Recently I was talking to my friend about trying out some 5e and I figured I would run a game on Roll20 because I already own so much content for 5e over there. I tried opening a game up, and oh my gosh does it feel so clunky. I could never go back to Roll20 nor could I ever play on other platforms. Once you've been spoiled on foundry vtt it's really hard to go back to systems that are outdated.
Foundry is probably pretty good if you're using a really mainstream ruleset that has a ton of support to get the UI dialled in and all of the content and automation working, but even for huge rulesets like PF1e the fan modules aren't really fully functional, which is to be expected considering that it's a tiny number of people doing all of the programming and all. I have settled on making an automation suite in MS excel (as it handles things like journals better than Foundry) for any game I want to play and using Talespire for the graphical half. Still though foundry is 100% worth the money on it. Especially if you're able to do a little programming yourself to get the rulesets you want to use fully working.
You can combine foreground and background images for a scene to achieve a multilevel effect, and then if you add in some tiles for things like wooden guard towers, tree tops, building roofs, and stuff like that, you can place a token on top of it if you change the tokens elevation. OR, if you want to get a little more complicated for the sake of making super intricate multilevel maps, you can download the "Levels" and "Wall Height" mods. I'd heavily recommend looking into them. 😁
@@nattertot I used those mods to set up a 5 story Wizard Tower, home made maps and everything, it took a while yes, but damn did the players love it. =)
As much as I love Foundry's functionality, the learning curve is STEEP, and patching often breaks things. I really liked what Astral Tabletop was doing, but they unfortunately folded and sold off their assets to Roll20.
I find that first the basic program has far too many button presses to do anything. Second we have imagination which no video game can ever match, and no VTT is going to match any video game. SO making people move there little token around when there is no combat, or having animations when there is combat is just going to be compared to being a really crappy video game. I just use VTT's for a visualization of only certain areas, like a complicated trap or puzzle room in a dungeon, once its done I take it away, or if a fight encounter breaks out then again take it away. I do not and never will layout an entire dungeon or area where I make them move their little token around, its boring and time consuming.
Any product should strive for community first. It’s awful when the community needs to wait developers to make a simple feature, the community itself could have solved their needs long time ago already…
Foundry has it all don’t get me wrong. That being said, Alchemy’s UI designer needs a pat on the back. Shit is beautiful. And the features will get more plentiful overtime with their weekly updates.
Sorry. That UI,might graphically look nice when you're not actually using it. But the functionality lacks a single workflow that gets close to being intuitive.
Main issue with Foundry is that is not optimised and take too much RAM and CPU. In understand it is for not bringing down the Game master PC if they don’t have a server, but it is very annoying to need an advanced PC configuration to play a VTT
From my experience as a player, Fantasy Grounds has been the best.... the speed of battle alone wins, literally 5x faster than Roll20 and Foundry has been. This is all with Pro DMs so it's skewed for sure.
For the same starting price FGU is way more interesting. It does everything that Foundry does (except for the ingame sounds that requires more work lmho). Plus easy and sturdy direct connexion, an integrated map builder and 2.5d maps. I only use Foundry when I need a ruleset that is not in FGU (Blade Runner and Lex Arcana). Foundry is nice but not the best vtt. I put it in second place but can understand it could be the best. And it is for one ruleset: Pathfinder 2e (only because it is nearly free on Foundry, but cost a lot on FGU).
As somebody whose understanding of computers is next to nill, having incredible problems modding (in fact understanding the theory of modding) I am actually afraid of Foundry. I heard so many people calling Foundry the linux of VTTs. I want a plug and play solution, no putting endless hours into it to make it work. So.... probably not for me?
I would still recommend giving it a try if you're still unsure, but I definitely get being intimidated by all the talk of mods surrounding Foundry, and it's easy to get carried away with mods (especially since they're so easy to download and one of the biggest selling points for FVTT) but you can still utilize the base features of foundry, have maybe 3 or 4 mods for 3D dice + additional skins and maybe some quality of life improvements, and not be overwhelmed. And you don't even have to download any mods if you don't want to, and it's still a great VTT imo. But if you're looking for simplistic VTTs that aren't very complicated, then Roll20 or Owlbear Rodeo are great ones to check out as well. Hope this helps, and happy gaming! 🎲🧝♂️
@@nattertot Thanks. I used to be into Fantasy Grounds but switched to roll 20 since all my friends preferred that. I do see the limits of roll 20 especially with some rpgs that I would like to play but are only available on Foundry. I guess at some point I will have to try it out....
I totally agree here. Foundry shines with its community, but is as good direcly out of the Box. I tried so many VTT over the year. Everybody who says another VTT is better, haven´t tried Foundry or is a biased fanboy^^
While this is a glowing review of Foundry's advantages, you fail to mention the downsides and tradeoffs. Self-hosting, inconsistent behaviours from one game to another (because they use different mods), and the sheer quantity of mods available can be substantial turn-offs to people looking for a simpler experience.
"The best" will always be dependent upon needs and perspective. But with regard to hosting, there are services out there that will host your games for relatively cheap (I pay $4.50/mo for The Forge).
You can also use radmin/hamachi or any apps that simulates network to do it so. I prefer the self hosting because my pc and internet can handle it but it's too much for you or you don't feel safe, try the ones I mentioned (or go to the cloud configuration where you can get a free cloud server to host foundry, you fan find on the wiki ai think)
These points can probably be turn-offs, but they are some of Foundry main advantages to me. I self host and it's a cheap, versatile and powerful option. Ther numerous modules and the possibility to customize your experience is also a big plus to me.
My issue with tailspire is that it has been in beta forever and the features are not coming in in any reasonable sort of time. Also, at this time they don't really have much plans for rules implementation for any game systems. Everything is rather manual.
No rules built in but they are going to add ways to build rules yourself. Personally, that's one reason why I love TaleSpire so much. I don't want to play a CRPG. Foundry is awesome but it's not really a virtual tabletop. By that I mean it does not simply replicate the experience of sitting at a table with a battle map and/or terrain and miniatures. TaleSpire is exactly that. Foundry with all its bells and whistles is moving the game closer and closer to CRPG territory. That's fine if it's what you want to play, but that's not me. My players and I use TaleSpire only as a way to represent tactical situations IN 3D. People playing Foundry and Roll20 and other 2D VTTs (for lack of a better name) really miss out on the immersion and tactical difference that having the vertical element presents. Yes, TaleSpire is still in Early Access and the big features of the game come slowly, but it's being developed by a very small, passionate, dedicated, and responsive team. Their community engagement on their Discord channel is awesome. I was working on setting up a Roll20 campaign when TaleSpire came out and as GM I found I spent all my time in Roll20 programming macros and filling out monster and NPC character sheets. Foundry is, or can be, just as labor intensive for the GM if you want to put in all the special stuff. Personally, I don't need character sheets and rulebooks and macros to roll dice. Old school, baby. Pen & paper all the way. But, of course, YMMV!
It's also a program that forces you to pay for the seats your players need to sit in to play your campaigns. Certainly more expensive than a 1-time purchase of 50 bucks (heard the seats for 4 people cost 60 on talespire).
No one's forcing anyone to pay for their players' seats. All the players in my campaign took one look at it and bought their own. It doesn't sound ridiculous to me to make people pay for a game. And the price isn't that ridiculous. It's like the cost of one meal at a non-fast-food restaurant.. Back in the old pen-and-paper days we all shelled out for our own players handbooks. No one was complaining that they had to buy something. I really hate this "it should be free" mentality.
@@emdotambient in the vtt space, it is rather common for the DM to be the only one who needs to Shell out for a license. Mostly because the vast majority of the tools are just for the DM. The player clients are significantly inferior and demanding that every player pay the same fee is a little ridiculous.
@@belphegor_dev It sucks, alot of people don't even have cameras so you can't even see them. How are you meant to roleplay with no social clues such as facial expressions? Your getting a real crappy version of what should be a great game. I guess it's OK if your a power gamer, but for role-playing it sucks. Get off your computer and into the real world!! I mean if their personal friends that live away from each other then I get it. Otherwise it sucks. Rolling digital dice? That's so sh*t.
FoundryVTT is *explicitives*. It's business model and it's technical model is bad. It cannot sustain it's ecosystem if people only pay one-time subscription, people should NEVER allow connections to their own personal computer and modding, while on surface looks good, will break your game EVERYTIME you update underlaying software. Take Foundry and you will be mired in pool of shit.
The best VTT is the one where you replace your maps, miniatures, dice, rulebooks, paper maps, friends, DM and even your table with....a video game. You guys are losing the point of tabletop RPG's experience in way too many cases...
I currently have something like 141 modules installed in Foundry ranging from map packs, automation improvements, music packs, UI, Level design improvement, and even one that puts an image of the Pathfinder rules lawyer up on a banner whenever someone hit's by a +1. Can't name another VTT that allows me to do all that at no extra cost with just a button click. Foundry is truly one of a kind, and imo the best at what it does.
Bro I imagine you have some information about format choice and scene management that makes all that run well? Do you self host or use a service? I've been trying to go webm/webp when I can.
@@Numberi i self host, and most of my stuff is automation, macros, ui, stuff that isn't too hefty, so far my players have no complaints other than the occasional slow down if I have a particularly large encounter or map. I also have a beast PC which likely helps.
For real, Foundry's pay-to-own model on top of the incredible support means that it has no peers! I seriously look forward to prepping for the next session, especially in new systems, because I get to push the envelope and learn more about what Foundry can do.
I have tried most of the main VTTs. I think owlbear rodeo and roll20 are fine starting points for beginners. They both offer free jumping in points with a small learning curve. I played through one campaign in Fantasy Grounds. The automated combat was excellent however the UI for me was not very intuitive. I feel like Fantasy Grounds has the highest learning curve and unless you are a big fan of the 90's style aesthetic, Foundry VTT does what it does better in my opinion. Foundry VTT having the one time purchase, easy UI and modding community easily make it the best for me.
I completely agree. Roll20 is great for beginners and even moreso in Owlbear Rodeo's case since it's free and fairly intuitive.
That is an interesting point. Fantasy Grounds seems really really awesome to me, as it can do so much work for you if you want to, but has the flexiblity to easily ignore that automation. (Also the classic edition really will run on a potato PC just fine). But having been a FG user for a very long time now (as it was the only particularly good business model VTT and just about the only VTT that worked with many rulesets and the coreRPG engine lets you play any other rules), so that learning curve is so far in the past for me, and its pretty easy to teach your players any bit that isn't immediately apparent to them.
Foundry looks good, actually is pretty similar really, but it definitely falls short of FG in some areas as well. So if I was starting out now I'd be at least a little torn.
I appreciate your perspective, and I play twice a week in a game that uses Foundry. It's a good, solid VTT. That said, I still prefer Fantasy Grounds: the automation support native to Fantasy Grounds is just better than the automation in Foundry. They both have their strengths: No slight on either one. I've just been using Fantasy Grounds for almost 20 years at this point... it's where I am. Still, I appreciate the video and your perspective on Foundry.
Peace to you!
That's the first video Iof yours that I've seen, and it is great, so definitely not the last video of yours I'll watch 😊
Welcome aboard! Happy to hear you enjoyed the vid! 😁
Foundry is crazy good. Great ongoing creator support and an exceptionally helpful community with endless mods. Beautiful, functional, reliable. I cannot say enough good things about it, honestly.
I run Lancer, a tactical mech ttrpg, in foundry with an isometric mod, with animations and automations. I’ve made interactive narrative scenes and player menus that allow players to pull up their own codex in an immersive UI, or check the mission brief in an imbedded animated external page. I payed 30$ years ago and none of my players need to pay for or even download a single thing.
I can’t imagine going back to anything else. You can do SO MUCH.
I think that the absolutely BEST tabletop experience is meeting in person and also having a VTT going. The VTT can handle the math, maps, and bookkeeping, plus allow private messages and maybe rolls between players & DM. And you still have the face to face experience that is so valuable.
As a bonus, if someone has to be out of town for a session, they can still play because everything is in place.
100% this. Sadly the barrier to entry for this can be too steep for some. Physical space, proper set up, leaving the house, etc. But in my experience it is the best option currently.
I think it all depends on what you are looking for and where you want to spend your time and resources. Without a doubt, FGU is the most "out of the box ready with the most features" vtt out there. It also has the most commercial products ready to go (yes you have to buy each one...but then it's yours forever). And they've changed their pricing model to a one time fee. I tried Foundry and found it to be a lot of work to get what I wanted out of it when FGU just had it right out of the box. So I think Foundry had more potential but FGU is more ready and is much easier to use and has a dedicated development team who works on improving it non stop (foundry may as well...I just don't keep up with it since discovering FGU). Different strokes for different folks I guess. But nothing out there compares to those two.
Well said!
It's yours forever? You must be kidding right. A commercial product is never yours forever.
I downloaded foundry and ran my first session that weekend. Easy to learn, easy to run, and powerful. I had never used a VTT before, and kind of figured that Foundry was a normal VTT.
I've looked at other VVTs recently, and I'm extremely confused as to how they even exist.
So just out of curiosity, how many times saying "VTT" out loud did it take before it started sounding weird?
No joke, I considered adding a counter to the video when I was editing it. Towards the end of editing I just started hearing vee-tea-tea. 😂
That accent at the beginning got me! That was really good
Hahaha 😆 well I'm happy to hear you got a kick out of it!
Have you used Fantasy Grounds Unity?
I've played 2 different campaigns on Foundry now, and while it's really good and objectively the best VTT, it takes away some of the organic "table top" experience for me; meaning that it feels more like a slow paced video game than a roleplaying experience. Personally, my favorite is Owlbear Rodeo v2. Quick and Easy. It doesn't have a ton of mods but it's got the ones I need for managing status effects. That's all I need! I enjoy the Fog of War in Owlbear Rodeo as well. I just find it way easier to get playing right away.
I haven't used owlbear, but I'm willing to bet that foundry could become a clone of it, if you set it up properly.
@@abettermind I could spend time setting up Foundry to mimic Owlbear, or I can just use Owlbear :P
Yes, You can do everything you can do in Owlbear with Foundry and much more. It's not about having the fanciest tool, it's about having a tool that does what you want it to and that I can use with swiftness and ease. That's the appeal of Owlbear, it's simplicity; It's so quick and easy to use.
I've played through roll20 and foundry, and i can say that foundry takes the cake by far, in every single aspect.
Hey, is it possible to use foundry in a gaming group where we all sit together at the same table and the GM uses a TV connected to his Laptop to show the scenery. Like in Arkenforge where the players experience the fog of war on the TV and the GM controls everything from his Laptop? Thanks 🙏😊
Of course you can! 😁 You just have to have two different web browsers open with foundry. One to display the game with the players perspective, and another to control the game from the GMs perspective. I think there's also some mods that make the process easier, but I don't know of any off the top of my head. 🤔 But I have used this method to use foundry for in-person sessions and it's worked really well in my experience. 👍
Thanks, I found it. It’s called Monks Common Display. 🥳
I have used Roll20, Tale Spire, Owlbear, and about half a dozen others. I have nearly 700 hours of use with Foundry. Nothing else even comes close to it. Just nothing.
I played on Roll20 for years. Tried Rodeo which I wouldn´t even consider being a VTT because of the lack of character implementation. Alchemy is very limited in their support for different systems. Everybody told me how complicated Foundry is and the paywall (55 €) held me always back. But now I am using it for 5 days (on Mac OS btw) and it is brilliant- and I am not a tech or software guy but the support and help on RUclips alone makes the entry easy and I love to learn more about the tools and free modules. There is no way back.
I like Foundry just for the modding potential. There are a ton of 3rd party books that I have purchased, content that I like letting my players use for character options. The current limitations with DND Beyond means I have no way to add new classes (like that provided in Valda’s Spire of Secrets or Heliana’s Guide to Monster Hunting). My online groups are not able to use these new class options because there is no homebrew capability to do so. Additionally, if one of my players had an interest in using a character option (such as a spell, feat, or subclass) from one of these books I have offered them, they or I get stuck having to homebrew each item of interest which can take considerable time. This is workable but inconvenient.
Having the ability to purchase the VTT Bundles for Foundry has let me fully integrate these new options into my games. This means my players get more character options, and we aren’t stuck losing time to homebrew building.
It’s all around my favorite convenience. Could I do the same on Roll20? Sure. Many of the books I provide have Roll20 bundles as well, but Foundry has provided the smoothest feel to gameplay and is the VTT that works best for my group and my wants.
FGU user. Have been for ages. Recently picked up Foundry just to try it out. I keep reading how the UI is better, and I don't know wtf everyone is talking about. Can someone give a SPECIFIC EXAMPLE of how it's better? I haven't found anything in Foundry to be a better experience for me than FGU, especially as a DM. Adventures/campaigns have been harder to build, creating a monster manual to reference in a campaign has been a mess, and currently I've got 40+ modules installed to kind of mimic what FGU does out of the box, all of which require me to count on a host of developers to update them (the all broke recently with v12) and also hope they don't decide to require patreon someday. I bought my ultimate license for FGU when it came out, and I've never looked back.
Everything in FGU just... works. Nothing in Foundry has felt more intuitive, or more streamlined, or better arranged. What am I missing?
I wanna preface this by saying that if you prefer Fantasy Grounds, then don't let anyone force you into using a VTT you don't like. While many people like Foundry, it doesn't mean that it's for everyone. 🔨
I think that the reason many people like the Foundry UI is because it feels more modern and (in my opinion) is easier to navigate than other VTTs that offer the same features that Foundry does in the way of customization, modding, automation, and organization. Plus, from what my players have told me, it feels a lot more neat and they appreciate that you can customize the UI with mods. And from a gamemaster's standpoint, I really appreciate how easy it is to manage my worlds, game systems, and mods. Plus, there are tons of settings and features that you can easily tweak in a world to customize your mods, game system, and rules however you would like.
I'm not sure what you mean by "monster manual" but I assume you mean like a monster NPC sheet, compendium, or something like that. 🤔 In my experience i haven't had any issues making monsters or organizing them, but if you're having problems then I'd recommend popping into the Foundry discord server and asking for some assistance because they're extremely friendly over there and are more than willing to help you if you're experiencing some issues with mods, compatibility, hosting, etc. 😁
Regarding using newer versions of FVTT and mods, sadly with Foundry's current policy of not sharing new/in-progress builds with modders, it makes things tricky. The way things currently are, you shouldn't upgrade to the newest version of Foundry as soon as it's released AND expect to keep mod compatibility. This is because Foundry versions normally come with a lot of new code, features, and changes, and it's unrealistic to expect modders to release a new version of their mod the day of or week when a new version of Foundry comes out. ☹️
When a new version of Foundry is released, it normally takes the modders anywhere from a week to a month to get things sorted out because many of them are not being paid to maintain their mods, so they work on them in their free time (and sometimes they do it without any help). So as a general rule of thumb, the modding community advises that if you want to continue using mods in your worlds, you should wait for a stable build of a Foundry version to be released, then check every now and then to see if your favorite mods have been updated to work with the new version of Foundry. And sadly, not all modders work on a set schedule or are very vocal about when they plan to release a new version of their mod that's compatible with the new version of Foundry. I know it's a bit annoying, but that's the give and take of using mods on Foundry as it currently is.
I hope this was useful in explaining things or clearing things up. Happy gaming! 🧙♂️
Just don't update your foundry after you have it set up how you want it set up. There is no reason to update your mods or OS if everything is working for you.
I don't know FGU, but I'm willing to bet that foundry could be set up to operate just like it, while offering other options, should you want them.
I have a theater of the mind campaign, a tactical shooter, and a traditional VTT style game running on foundry. If you didn't know better, you would think they were entirely different VTTs, due to how drastically different they operate.
I had my first game up and running 2 days after I downloaded Foundry, and it was my first VTT. Maybe it's not as intuitive as some others, I don't know, but it's definitely intuitive enough.
Not sure what game system you're working in. But if you are referring to the character sheets for monsters in d&d, I can understand your frustration. I would very much recommend tidy 5e sheet which will give you a much better sheet for NPCs and frankly players. While the new player sheet looks nice, it still has a bit to go before it is holy featured.
With regards to foundry V12 , I don't believe that is even unstable yet. Foundry does make it quite clear that you should not upgrade major versions until they are stable. And as the video author mentioned, most mods are not going to be updated on day one. I will push back on him saying that foundry doesn't give module developers early builds. They definitely do. The issue. Is that the builds change rapidly. The big modules that have large patreon support bases can be updated on lunch day or within a few days. But, the smaller mod developers who either don't actively follow the updates to the core software or get around to it once it's completely released due in fact, take a little bit of time.
As a player, I was shocked at how fast battles are in Fantasy Grounds Unity. 5x faster.... easy.
My very first session my DM kept throwing Zombies at us, one per PC every round until we figured out how to stop them.... so, many, zombies. It was super fun, but only took about 30 minutes. The same battle in Roll 20 or Foundry would have taken 2 and a half hours. Heck, a simple fight on Roll 20 or Foundry can take an hour.
Rolling down the well is a simple function that all VTTs can do, but FGU just does right... another great separator IMO.
@@nattertot re: Monster Manual - I have a library module in FGU that has every 5E D&D creature published, with tokens and pictures. If I want to build an encounter on the fly, I just open the module, search for what I want (by name, cr, type, abilities, etc) and then close the module when I'm done. Or I can just drop it right into the combat tracker and everything is ready to go. Token on the map is linked to the entry, all modifiers, effects, everything is set up.
I've tinkered around with Foundry quite a bit still just trying to find what the allure is, and the only answer I've been able to come up with is "people who haven't used FGU". The "ease of interface" thing is especially headscratching because nothing about the interface was intuitive. Customizable UI? FGU has that too. Anyway, I just wanted to explain what I meant by MM.
I love foundry, but the only nerve-wrecking thing that I have to do is port forwarding. I don't know what I'm doing and too afraid if I messed up a setting for my network.
Hello
Could someone tell me which module is the cool initiative order bar on top of the screen at 6:40 please ?
I searched and found nothing...
Cheers !
Hi. I use "Carousel combat Tracker". It might not be this module but it looks very similar.
@@ausoleil8269 Hello !
Thanks mate, That's exactly what I needed ^^
Cheers
Foundry _is_ what other VTTs _aim to be_ some day.
How hard is it to find a group on it?
@@Iridescence93 How hard is it to find one on Fantasy Grounds or your home play table?
Why are you using a VTT to find a group? This isn't a MMO group finder.
@@christopherg2347 I don't have people where I live that are into TT RPGs so I don't have much choice. Roll 20 is probably the worst site as a VTT but it has the most people playing on it so that is a consideration for me.
Wait how do you do mutlileveled scenes without mods? I've been using the levels mod to do that
I mentioned this in another comment, but I'd definitely still use the Levels and Wall Height mods because they work a lot better than the non-mod method detailed below. 👇
You can combine foreground and background images for a scene to achieve a multilevel effect, and then if you add in some tiles for things like wooden guard towers, tree tops, building roofs, and stuff like that, you can place a token on top of it if you change the tokens elevation. But, things get a little wonky with walls and vision, which is why the creator of the Wall Height and Levels mod expanded on this basic feature and made it so much better. From what I understand the FVTT team want to eventually make these features a part of the base software, but with great mods like Levels and Wall Height existing, it's probably not on their priority list.
Hope this helps! 🧙♂️
Does everyone have to buy foundry in order to play a game, or only the GM?
What's the mod you're using that puts the initiative order at the top? That would make it so much easier for my players to keep track of it without having to tab over to that section of the menu.
Carousel Combat Tracker by theripper93. 🧙♂️
@nattertot Thanks, this module is super cool upon testing, and hopefully keeps a good indicator for my players now.
Ran on roll20 for several years as part of a larger group that needed DMs to do that. Couldn't really stand it. Eventually left that group and started messing around with Foundry.
THANK YOU FOUNDRY. It is SO much better, it's not even funny.
Roll20 seems like it would have been acceptable about 15 years ago.
But is there a mod that allows you to watch the entire Bee Movie in Foundry?
There is a RUclips widget premium mod, and I think there's a browser widget mod, so probably! 😆
What if you like 95% of a game system but have a few house rules? Is that easy to set up on Foundry?
You're able to disable certain rules and settings if you want to, which is nice. And if you don't want to use certain features, then you don't have to, which is really nice if you want to homebrew.
I really like Foundry. Even if it doesn't fully support Cyberpunk2020, it supports it enough.
This sold me. Thank you so much for the video!
I don't think anyone can catch up on Foundry, at least not in many years.
Once, Astral was the promising child, but I noticed that Foundry did things faster and better.
...
In order to surpass Foundry you'd need a mix of:
*Big money (to afford a big team)
*Tech advantage (E.g. custom "AI" to create maps, NPCs, conversations etc.)_
*A revolutionary feature. E.g. Unreal 3d graphics, integrated spells effects, attacks etc.
But don't the mods have to be updated with every software update and updates happen often?
It's actually completely optional to update Foundry and mods when a new version for either of them comes out. 😁
Like right now, the latest version of Foundry was just released, (version 12) but I'm purposely staying on version 11.315 because a lot of my mods haven't released a V 12 version yet. But once they all do, all I have to do is click "Update All" and then all of the mods update themselves to version 12 (which is really convenient!). And in the case where some of them are still a little buggy, or maybe I just don't like the new version of Foundry, I can just revert back to a previous version if I want to (as long as I backed up my data at least once).
my current favorite VTT that's free is bag of mapping - it doesn't have all the features that foundry does, but it's so much easier to use. Though it is brand new
I'll have to check it out! Sounds interesting. 😁
Foundry VTT is amazing!
I love foundry but if I could have one feature, it would be automatic damage application.
The mod Midi Quality of Life Improvements (Midi QOL) adds a setting that lets you do this and more! 😁 I'd definitely recommend checking it out.
@@nattertot is it 5e only? I'm an old school essentials nerd.
I was hoping there would be something built into targeting that would allow successful attacks to auto apply across the various systems.
Still love foundry but this would be the cherry on top.
@@deckape67 Oh I see, well in that case yes, sadly it is meant for 5e. ☹️ I'm not familiar with the mod scene for old school essentials, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a mod that helps with this or if there's a foundry setting that helps speed up the combat process. I myself have never played OSE tho so I can't share any personal experience or recommendations for mods.
FoundryVTT is good, but it misses a big thing for me. Well, not for me, I'm fine without it, but my players. My players are from the generation that do everything with a touch screen, to the point of fully ignoring a laptop's trackpad.
Foundry simply does not work with touchscreens or smaller, iPad-sized screens. There are mods for it, such as TouchVTT, but that has problems in itself (e.g. registering a tap as a hover and a click at the same time, triggering two separate actions from Foundry).
Yeah it is definitely lacking in that aspect. There have been votes to to better integrate mobile support but they never win. I must confess I never vote for it just because I don't use it and none of my players do either. All are late millennial or early gen z so they aren't nearly as touch screen dependent.
Especially as a PF2E fan I really like Foundry but after using Talespire and now RPG Stories for years 2D VTTs can never be the best for me anymore. 2D just looks like...well, what it is - a map. 3D is a much more immersive world.
I love using 3D VTTs as well. The scenes you can create on a VTT like Tailspire will always be more immersive than a 2D scene/map, but they also take a lot longer to make (or at least in my experience).
@@nattertotThey definitely can take a lot longer. Thankfully RPG Stories and Talespire both have the option to share & download community creations. RPG Stories also has a quick room builder option if you just need something simple, and is adding AI generation in their upcoming expansion so you won't have to worry about extra prep time.
@@Oniphire I've been meaning to check out RPG Stories since they're one of the newer ones, but I haven't gotten around to it quite yet. I might need to make a video about it and Talespire sometime soon. 👀 I need to give the 3D VTT community some love and appreciation.
I have both Foundry and Fantasy Grounds Unity. Foundry has the larger number of rulesets available, but FGU has better automation, is consistently stable and much easier to run, as well as built in cloud support. That last part is huge. It’s only negative is the lack of more independent RPGs on there-but it has Pathfinder 2e and D&D which are the most played games. Playing Parhfinder 2e on there now and the automation is top notch. Does the UI look dated? Yes. But they are fixing that soon as they have been renovating their aesthetic to look more modern-which is good because everyone seems attracted to the shiny exterior and less of what is going on under the hood.
GFU - another $57 to buy Pathfinder on top of VTT's cost, Foundry - free. This is a steep cost.
If one person has purchased foundry, can others join in using just the one purchase, or does everyone need to purchase their own version of the software?
Only one person (the GM/person who wants to host) needs to purchase a foundry license.
foundryvtt.com/article/faq/#:~:text=Each%20license%20allows%20for%20hosting,need%20to%20purchase%20the%20software).
@@nattertot thank you so much
I would rather use Foundry, but all the modules I want to play are not on Foundry sadly.
Looks real good, I prefer Fantasy Grounds though.
I tried foundry once, but I had to do port forwarding and all this extra stuff for multiplayer.
That's for if you want to self host, which is worth it imo if you don't want to pay for a third party to host your server. However if you do want it to be hosted, most of the third party hosting services that I know of offer hosting for fairly cheap.
do i need to be programmer savvy to use foundry?, i don't have time to master and also learn something new
Nope, not at all. There are some mods that allow you to get super programy if you want to, but the vast VAST majority of them are really user friendly and only require you to check boxes for what options/features you want enabled at max. 👍
Foundry is just leagues above the others.
I started playing 5e on roll20 and used that platform for like 7 years. I tried other platforms but kept coming back to Roll20.
Then foundry came out and I got it when it was in beta and super cheap. I liked it so much I moved over my D&D campaign to it and never looked back. Eventually I switched over to PF2e because it just had better support on Foundry.
Recently I was talking to my friend about trying out some 5e and I figured I would run a game on Roll20 because I already own so much content for 5e over there.
I tried opening a game up, and oh my gosh does it feel so clunky. I could never go back to Roll20 nor could I ever play on other platforms. Once you've been spoiled on foundry vtt it's really hard to go back to systems that are outdated.
Foundry is probably pretty good if you're using a really mainstream ruleset that has a ton of support to get the UI dialled in and all of the content and automation working, but even for huge rulesets like PF1e the fan modules aren't really fully functional, which is to be expected considering that it's a tiny number of people doing all of the programming and all. I have settled on making an automation suite in MS excel (as it handles things like journals better than Foundry) for any game I want to play and using Talespire for the graphical half.
Still though foundry is 100% worth the money on it. Especially if you're able to do a little programming yourself to get the rulesets you want to use fully working.
Recently started messing with Foundry and it’s great.
Multi level maps without mods?
Haven’t seen that yet.
You can combine foreground and background images for a scene to achieve a multilevel effect, and then if you add in some tiles for things like wooden guard towers, tree tops, building roofs, and stuff like that, you can place a token on top of it if you change the tokens elevation. OR, if you want to get a little more complicated for the sake of making super intricate multilevel maps, you can download the "Levels" and "Wall Height" mods. I'd heavily recommend looking into them. 😁
@@nattertot I used those mods to set up a 5 story Wizard Tower, home made maps and everything, it took a while yes, but damn did the players love it. =)
I wanted D&D 2e but nope no one has it
Fantasy Grounds Unity has supported AD&D. 1e and 2e.
As much as I love Foundry's functionality, the learning curve is STEEP, and patching often breaks things.
I really liked what Astral Tabletop was doing, but they unfortunately folded and sold off their assets to Roll20.
Yeah I was rooting for Astral and hoping it'd be able to go toe-to-toe with the big boi VTTs. I was sad to see em' go. ☹️
I find that first the basic program has far too many button presses to do anything. Second we have imagination which no video game can ever match, and no VTT is going to match any video game. SO making people move there little token around when there is no combat, or having animations when there is combat is just going to be compared to being a really crappy video game.
I just use VTT's for a visualization of only certain areas, like a complicated trap or puzzle room in a dungeon, once its done I take it away, or if a fight encounter breaks out then again take it away.
I do not and never will layout an entire dungeon or area where I make them move their little token around, its boring and time consuming.
Remington Lights
I tried it. The learning curve was too steep.
Talespires customisation puts Foundry in the dust
Glen Common
can i pirate the PDF and put them i foundry?
Any product should strive for community first.
It’s awful when the community needs to wait developers to make a simple feature, the community itself could have solved their needs long time ago already…
Foundry has it all don’t get me wrong. That being said, Alchemy’s UI designer needs a pat on the back. Shit is beautiful. And the features will get more plentiful overtime with their weekly updates.
Sorry. That UI,might graphically look nice when you're not actually using it. But the functionality lacks a single workflow that gets close to being intuitive.
Main issue with Foundry is that is not optimised and take too much RAM and CPU. In understand it is for not bringing down the Game master PC if they don’t have a server, but it is very annoying to need an advanced PC configuration to play a VTT
as someone that has played on both foundry and roll20 I would rather use roll20 every time since you have more control over your sheet
From my experience as a player, Fantasy Grounds has been the best.... the speed of battle alone wins, literally 5x faster than Roll20 and Foundry has been.
This is all with Pro DMs so it's skewed for sure.
You can automate almost as much of Foundry combat if you want to. I had to refrain with my players : they want to keep rolling dices.
Martinez Scott Lee Daniel Lopez Richard
For the same starting price FGU is way more interesting. It does everything that Foundry does (except for the ingame sounds that requires more work lmho). Plus easy and sturdy direct connexion, an integrated map builder and 2.5d maps. I only use Foundry when I need a ruleset that is not in FGU (Blade Runner and Lex Arcana). Foundry is nice but not the best vtt. I put it in second place but can understand it could be the best. And it is for one ruleset: Pathfinder 2e (only because it is nearly free on Foundry, but cost a lot on FGU).
I haven't heard your answer but it's Foundry.
Every time I hear someone say they use Roll20, I gag.
Lewis Richard Brown Helen Miller Lisa
As somebody whose understanding of computers is next to nill, having incredible problems modding (in fact understanding the theory of modding) I am actually afraid of Foundry. I heard so many people calling Foundry the linux of VTTs. I want a plug and play solution, no putting endless hours into it to make it work. So.... probably not for me?
I would still recommend giving it a try if you're still unsure, but I definitely get being intimidated by all the talk of mods surrounding Foundry, and it's easy to get carried away with mods (especially since they're so easy to download and one of the biggest selling points for FVTT) but you can still utilize the base features of foundry, have maybe 3 or 4 mods for 3D dice + additional skins and maybe some quality of life improvements, and not be overwhelmed. And you don't even have to download any mods if you don't want to, and it's still a great VTT imo.
But if you're looking for simplistic VTTs that aren't very complicated, then Roll20 or Owlbear Rodeo are great ones to check out as well. Hope this helps, and happy gaming! 🎲🧝♂️
@@nattertot Thanks. I used to be into Fantasy Grounds but switched to roll 20 since all my friends preferred that. I do see the limits of roll 20 especially with some rpgs that I would like to play but are only available on Foundry. I guess at some point I will have to try it out....
I totally agree here. Foundry shines with its community, but is as good direcly out of the Box. I tried so many VTT over the year. Everybody who says another VTT is better, haven´t tried Foundry or is a biased fanboy^^
I use both FGU and Foundry (for obscure systems). FGU is better.
You forgot to add "In my opinion" to the title.
Baldur's Gate 3 should be converted into a VTT.
They kinda could... Larian already did that with their Destiny: Original Sin 2 game.
No.
While this is a glowing review of Foundry's advantages, you fail to mention the downsides and tradeoffs. Self-hosting, inconsistent behaviours from one game to another (because they use different mods), and the sheer quantity of mods available can be substantial turn-offs to people looking for a simpler experience.
"The best" will always be dependent upon needs and perspective. But with regard to hosting, there are services out there that will host your games for relatively cheap (I pay $4.50/mo for The Forge).
@@this_epic_nameAbsolutely, but this rather undermines the review's emphasis on "only one thing to buy, ever!" stance.
You can also use radmin/hamachi or any apps that simulates network to do it so. I prefer the self hosting because my pc and internet can handle it but it's too much for you or you don't feel safe, try the ones I mentioned (or go to the cloud configuration where you can get a free cloud server to host foundry, you fan find on the wiki ai think)
These points can probably be turn-offs, but they are some of Foundry main advantages to me. I self host and it's a cheap, versatile and powerful option. Ther numerous modules and the possibility to customize your experience is also a big plus to me.
@@ausoleil8269 Absolutely fair, I just expect a review to objectively cover all the bases and not leave out major factors (positive or negative).
Sorry,,, but TALESPIRE is the one,,, and has mods and is in early access AND is just getting better and better
My issue with tailspire is that it has been in beta forever and the features are not coming in in any reasonable sort of time. Also, at this time they don't really have much plans for rules implementation for any game systems. Everything is rather manual.
No rules built in but they are going to add ways to build rules yourself. Personally, that's one reason why I love TaleSpire so much. I don't want to play a CRPG. Foundry is awesome but it's not really a virtual tabletop. By that I mean it does not simply replicate the experience of sitting at a table with a battle map and/or terrain and miniatures. TaleSpire is exactly that. Foundry with all its bells and whistles is moving the game closer and closer to CRPG territory. That's fine if it's what you want to play, but that's not me. My players and I use TaleSpire only as a way to represent tactical situations IN 3D. People playing Foundry and Roll20 and other 2D VTTs (for lack of a better name) really miss out on the immersion and tactical difference that having the vertical element presents. Yes, TaleSpire is still in Early Access and the big features of the game come slowly, but it's being developed by a very small, passionate, dedicated, and responsive team. Their community engagement on their Discord channel is awesome. I was working on setting up a Roll20 campaign when TaleSpire came out and as GM I found I spent all my time in Roll20 programming macros and filling out monster and NPC character sheets. Foundry is, or can be, just as labor intensive for the GM if you want to put in all the special stuff. Personally, I don't need character sheets and rulebooks and macros to roll dice. Old school, baby. Pen & paper all the way. But, of course, YMMV!
It's also a program that forces you to pay for the seats your players need to sit in to play your campaigns. Certainly more expensive than a 1-time purchase of 50 bucks (heard the seats for 4 people cost 60 on talespire).
No one's forcing anyone to pay for their players' seats. All the players in my campaign took one look at it and bought their own. It doesn't sound ridiculous to me to make people pay for a game. And the price isn't that ridiculous. It's like the cost of one meal at a non-fast-food restaurant.. Back in the old pen-and-paper days we all shelled out for our own players handbooks. No one was complaining that they had to buy something. I really hate this "it should be free" mentality.
@@emdotambient in the vtt space, it is rather common for the DM to be the only one who needs to Shell out for a license. Mostly because the vast majority of the tools are just for the DM. The player clients are significantly inferior and demanding that every player pay the same fee is a little ridiculous.
Playing digitally is so horrible 🤢 🤕 😢
Wrong.
@@belphegor_dev It sucks, alot of people don't even have cameras so you can't even see them. How are you meant to roleplay with no social clues such as facial expressions? Your getting a real crappy version of what should be a great game. I guess it's OK if your a power gamer, but for role-playing it sucks. Get off your computer and into the real world!! I mean if their personal friends that live away from each other then I get it. Otherwise it sucks. Rolling digital dice? That's so sh*t.
Transparent shilling.
Is everyone else in the comments shilling, too? Not saying it's impossible, but look around you, FFS.
Lee Jennifer Williams Karen Thomas Edward
FoundryVTT is *explicitives*. It's business model and it's technical model is bad. It cannot sustain it's ecosystem if people only pay one-time subscription, people should NEVER allow connections to their own personal computer and modding, while on surface looks good, will break your game EVERYTIME you update underlaying software. Take Foundry and you will be mired in pool of shit.
Meh. Don't agree. To each their own and all that.
Say no to digital dice
Say no to screens. Say no to digital.
The best VTT is the one where you replace your maps, miniatures, dice, rulebooks, paper maps, friends, DM and even your table with....a video game. You guys are losing the point of tabletop RPG's experience in way too many cases...