PDA

View Full Version : Fantasy Grounds?



ElFi
2016-02-15, 02:01 PM
The topic is in the title. Is it a good system? The reviews are "Mostly Positive" and most people on Steam say it's useful, but I'd like the opinion of this forum. Is it a good alternative to meeting in person? What are the advantages? The flaws? Is the system really as obtuse and difficult to understand as some people say it is?

Let me know. Thanks, Playground.

Gallade
2016-02-15, 02:32 PM
I know it and RPTools as far as online virtual playing tables, and I have to say...personally, I prefer RPTools much more.While FG is much more visually appealing, RPTools is both intuitive to use for both Masters and Players, and VERY flexible in the type of board games you can play with it (Heck, you could play Risiko or Monopoly or Warhammer if you wanted) and while the macro use regular-ass Windows interface, it still helps a lot considering it's free.

Anyway, just to keep it in the topic of IRL play versus Online play...

Well, Online play, for some people, is the only way to play a tabletop RPG. People who either have problems being with others, or can't move from home, or live in isolated places without many to share their interests, so that's to consider. But for someone that ideally could use both forms, I'll take a look at the pros of both.

Pros of IRL Play:
-More involvement from the players, especially if they get to keep their character sheets, tokens and miniatures.
-A get-together or dinner before each game can help "set the mood"
-Collecting the books and figurines can become a nice hobby
-You get used enough to become able to play at conventions or occasional quick games
-You get to roll the dice in person. That makes for nice emotional moments.
-You do get to see each other "face to face". Well, unless you have a video chat.

Pros of Online Play:
- It's either very cheap or free, unless you want to include rules from books which aren't available online
- You can write macros to speed up the game considerably. For instance, simply writing a macro that rolls both to-hit and damage and then rolls to confirm critical threats can pretty much halve the duration of a turn.
- You can add effects such as Fog of War for better immersion.
- Creating tokens and maps is as easy as you are good with your graphic program of choice
- You can save the entire campaign on a file and switch maps with a click. Also, very little prep time and almost no setup needed
- You can alt-tab to consult rulebooks either in a browser or in PDF format. Or you know, from your desk.
- Players can't peek behind your screen, and you can message them in private instead of passing notes around
- If you keep in touch with all your players in IM, you can choose to continue the campaign any time everyone has the time to spare
-No need for notes, character sheets or cards = More Eco-Friendly :smallwink: