I'm a big fan of what the guys at iTabletop / Silvetable are working on. When Silvertable is complete I'll have a VTT that supports pretty much everything that Fantasy Grounds 2 does (although with far less automation) with voice and video built into the software. Heck, you can even link sound effects to play in certain locations of the map. Silvertable is still in Beta and will be for an unknown amount of time, and I'm itching to get a game going of Labyrinth Lord.
So, my foot dragging must come to an end. FG2 will be the tool, using the LL ruleset. I'll dig up a short PDF adventure for it, rip the map, scrub the room numbers and see how it plays. I've been meaning to do this for a while... tooling around trying to design my own One Page Dungeon has got me itching.
This post reminded me of my experiment with video and roleplaying.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, I moved from Michigan to Florida and left behind a gaming group. After a few months we began discussing how we might keep things going. We ended up having the rest of the group get together normally, and I was linked to them via video, voice, and other online tools for showing maps and images. This was before Fantasy Grounds became available.
I bought two network cameras and sent one to Michigan. For voice we used phones, with a conference phone in Michigan. We also used a network whiteboard application called Cochinella to show images, maps, and combat positions.
This setup actually worked very well. Once the session started, we would get immersed in play and the technology seemed to recede. I was GM about half the time.
After a number of sessions, the video stared to seem superfluous. Being able to see the other guys didn't add anything to the game and we stopped using the cameras.
Overall, it was a successful experiment that lasted most of two years, although the present virtual tabletop software is an even better experience. I bring up this anecdote to illustrate that, in my opinion, the video portion of iTabletop doesn't add anything to the game. In fact, after using Fantasy Grounds for two years, I have come to like the intense roleplaying engendered by typing and often find that even voice intrudes and breaks up the mood. Our group generally uses voice only for out-of-character discussions.
The group I want to get up and running loves their bells and whistles ;)
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