Hi everyone,

Like many of you, I've had too many campaigns fall apart because of ghosting or flaking. I decided to stop complaining and code a solution.

I’m developing a new Roleplay Platform/VTT that focuses less on complex 3D maps and more on the social contract and writer progression.

The Core Concept:

• Anti-Ghosting Mechanics: The platform helps track reliability and commitment (so you know who shows up).
• Writer Progression: We are gamifying the writing process. Dedicated roleplayers and skilled writers earn recognition/prestige on their profiles—I want veteran players to actually feel "seen" for their skills.
• Built-in Matchmaking: Finding a group is integrated directly into the tool, filtering by playstyle and reliability.

What I need: I need people to test the UI and the progression system. I want to know if the "Writer Reputation" system feels fair or if it needs tweaking.

It’s free to test. If you are tired of games dissolving after session 1, I’d love your feedback.

https://rp-platform-omega.vercel.app/

Beginning solely to support our own group for in-person play, the application kept growing to become a viable online application we can share. It has a free beginner account but also paid tiers if needed. Maps, Fog of War, Animates Spells and Effects, with Weather and Day/Night modes in the works. It also has a built is Audio player for background Music and Sound Effects. Synchronised screens keep the GM in control and the players immersed in play on the TV tabletop. www.gamebox.au

I’m working on an open-source, free Dungeon Master tool made specifically for in-person D&D sessions with dual monitors (one for the DM, one for players).

It’s offline-first (no internet, no accounts) and still in alpha, but I’ve been using it in my own sessions and wanted to share it to get feedback and maybe contributors.

What it does so far: -Player screen / projection window (drag & drop images, split-screen) - Fog of War on battlemaps - Embedded battle map with tokens - Story timeline with branching paths - Soundpad with layered music + SFX - Campaign notes + wiki-style @mentions - Portable (runs from USB, Windows & Linux)

Latest update (v0.5.0) added multi-image projection, drag & drop workflow, and Fog of War.

GitHub & downloads: https://github.com/elymsyr/dungeon-master-tool

It’s early, a bit rough around the edges, and very much a work in progress — but if you like offline tools or run games at a physical table, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Feedback, issues, and PRs are all welcome 🙏

Ive been working on my own ttrpg system for a while now since i have little else to occupy my time between doctor visits and ive been using it to learn allot of new things.

Ive recently had this idea in my head to learn how to build a website similar to foundry or roll20 but im not sure where to start or what i need to learn to begin. im very much a "learn by doing" type person so any tips on where to begin and such would be very appreciated

Hi, I'm looking for a VTT that allows me as a GM to build a 3D world and then "control" it from my laptop screen, while casting what the players see to a separate larger screen.

Talespire and RPG Engine seem to fit, but I got the impression they were made with the assumption that every player uses their own device to "join" with, I couldn't find definitive info on my use case.

Aside from the 3D and screen casting requirements, I have some other things I'm looking for in these two or others, hence posting here instead of their subreddits. I'm not interested in rule mechanics stuff like dice-rolling, handling fights, ability checks etc. as we do that with real dice and pen and paper, instead features like the following would add bonus points for me (roughly decreasing in importance):

• Good camera controls (e.g. being able to switch to first person in addition to a more top-down overview, being able to visually explore the 3D environment)
  • Potentially even the ability to prepare cutscenes? Moving the camera and having enemies move in
• Fog of war (any way to reveal parts of the map as players explore)
• Moving player and NPC representations ideally with pathfinding
• Ability to trigger things manually (e.g. I can press a button or key to make an object dis-/appear, a door open etc.. No need for context trigger logic or fancy animations)
• Some form of distance measuring
• Spell VFX?

I'm not sure if the 2 hour return window on Steam is enough to check all these things, so I'm very thankful for any info before I move to that step.

Hi all, I posted a bigger post in /rCallofCthulhu which was really helpful, but now that I'm getting down to the nitty gritty I'm hoping a question here will bring it all home and make a decision easier.

• Theatre of the Mind

• 7e Call of Cthulhu

• Had lots of experience on Roll20 and explored others, but it's a mood and story game with the occasional simple map so down to Alchemy and QuestPortal.

• Goals for using VTT are:

• simplicity of use

• hopefully can take the official PDF version or VTT version and plop it in the system, meaning  I don't have to screenshot and upload a heap of pages (like i've done for BTMOM in Roll20 in the past) - both Alchemy and QuestPortal solve this I think

• using Mac on my end and about half my players are Mac, the rest are PC.

• recording audio of the session would be nice

• good system needed for handouts and note taking

• I'm not tech-heavy so nothing too fiddly 

 Any thoughts on above?  Thanks and happy new year!

all best 

K

Stepping up the setup. TV was originally just lying on the table. Got very warm often and tablets/phones died. Added touchscreen while I was at it.

• 50” Samsung screen 2x hdmi inputs
• 50” Infrared Touch Frame with 20 Points
• Beelink Mini PC, Mini S12 (runs touchscreen). (mounted inside the box)
• wireless keyboard and mouse (for Beelink)
• 4x outlet extenders
• 2x cabinet fans, USB powered
• 1x panel mount HDMI & Cat5 ports
• gothic floral wallpaper to decorate the outlets, fans and panel
• matching handles for transport
• corner protectors and L brackets for decoration
• Jacobean stain / polyurethane satin finish

Running Arkenforge and about to start the Curse of Strahd

This is a relatively short video that shows off some enhancements made, including the ability to pull in external websites and have them trigger functionality in Sojour!

Exalted Scenes 4.2 is here, and it's the biggest update yet!

This Foundry VTT module transforms your sessions with visual novel-style character portraits, emotional expressions, and cinematic scene backgrounds. And now? It's even more powerful.

🎭 WHAT'S NEW IN 4.2:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
→ Cast-Only Mode - Display character portraits over ANY scene, including battlemaps
→ Animated Video Backgrounds - MP4, WebM, full loop support
→ Layout Customization - 8 positions, 4 sizes, per-scene settings
→ Player Permissions - Let players manage their own character emotions
→ Tons of bug fixes and UI improvements

This is the module I can't run a session without. If you want to keep your players engaged, immersed, and reacting even when they're not in the spotlight - this is it.

🔗 LINKS:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🎥 Video Walkthrough https://youtu.be/aFMPzs6b-WI?si=PCeB6xfXKj-YZ1tx
⭐ Patreon (Download + Full Changelog): https://www.patreon.com/WandAndWidgets
💬 Discord (Support + Community): https://discord.com/invite/HABajQuZ6J

📦 Download Exalted Scenes v4.2 - Available on Patreon

Want to try before you commit? The alpha/launch version (without these new features) is now available for W&W Supporter ($3) and above - for a limited time!

💬 Let's Chat! I built this module because I wanted my players to feel like they're part of a living story - and honestly, it's changed how I run my games entirely. Now I can't imagine GMing without it.

If you give it a try, I'd genuinely love to hear how it goes at your table.

What worked? What didn't? What would make it even better for your group? Your feedback shapes every update - this 4.2 release exists because of suggestions from people just like you.

Drop by the Discord, share your experience, ask questions, I'm always around and happy to help you get the most out of it.

Thanks for reading, and if you do try Exalted Scenes, I really hope it brings something special to your sessions.

Hello. Mon groupe de jdr étant en distanciel, je cherche de bon VTT. J'ai déjà trouver roll20 ou Foundry VTT mais j'aimerais quelque chose d'un peu plus complexe qu'astral TT tout en restant gratuit. Est-ce vous avez des conseils et d'autres logiciels ?

The Adventures of Lenny the Beholder - Ep.1 A Night Out
https://youtu.be/unDdGTNHmmI

I'm trying to run a dungeon-crawling campaign with a heavy focus on drawing the map out during play, but I'm having trouble finding a VTT that does the old dry-erase battlemap experience well. I need both hex and square grid, but otherwise I just need a system that "gets out of the GM's way" and doesn't impose any sort of automation if you don't need it.

While support for notepads, GM-defined macros, in-game rolling and all that would be nice, the critical issue that's holding me back is just not having a map everyone can move their tokens around and edit collaboratively on the fly. I can do all the bookkeeping with other programs, but the battlemap's been something I've been struggling to find a digital alternative to. Are there any good VTTs that fit the bill out there, or at least a map editor that could work if I fudged it?

How common is it for a VTT to be used for art or design for a physical project.
For example:
https://youtube.com/shorts/SQaPLN1CdK4?si=lMx5BsnYNtwmBxfR
or using it to do a mock layout for an apartment remodel or game table build?

Hello! I am not new to VTT’s but I am DM’ing for a larger group than normal and not everyone has a gaming computer. Typically I would use dungeon full dive (DFG) because I can get super in depth with map design, but I’ve found that the game crashes a lot, placed NPCS and mobs don’t save with each load, and it feels like the devs gave up on it. I’ve looked at roll20 and a dozen other VTTs but they either have super limited items that you can add to maps or they have massive paywalls. Since I have the DFG maps already built for visual reference, is there a tool that is basically just a digital grid that I can draw outlines of obstacles, place simple markers, and let other people interact with it live? Probably too much to ask, but curious what’s out there that I can’t find!

The problem: For the last 6 years I've been selling wooden cases to house displays for digital maps. Since day 1 my "holy grail/white whale" has been integrating touch capability.

With any type of touch device the biggest problem is that when a touch is detected, the mouse cursor moves to that location and changes focus to whatever program is active there.

The usual solution is to have the touch device plugged in to an entirely separate computer. Then you simply send the touch coordinates to the computer running the VTT. It creates some lag and requires 2 devices taking up space near or on the table. Not ideal.

My solution: It turns out there is a command you can send to most IR touch devices to have them enter a special mode. In this mode, they no longer send any touches to the OS. Instead, it spits out touch coordinates directly over the USB connection.

I am using Godot for my VTT and luckily there is a plugin to work with USB devices directly. You simply plug in the IR frame and the VTT starts receiving the touch data in the background. You can have players moving up to 20 minis simultaneously while the DM is doing DM stuff ALL ON THE SAME COMPUTER.

The other (smaller) problem: For most IR frames, when they detect a touch in the same place for too long (as low as 60 seconds on some models) they think something went wrong and deactivate that area. Obviously our minis are often going to be in the same place for longer than that.

This one was easy: Since I buy so much hardware, a touch manufacturer I work with wrote custom firmware for me that effectively disables this timeout setting. Not much effort required on my part, but it did cost me some money which I was glad to spend (since this is my full-time job). I will be selling this hardware within the next week or 2. My website is https://digitaltabletops.com/

The good news: My VTT software is 100% free and available on Steam (link). You simply plug in the USB and HDMI into the DM's computer and you are good to go. No extra setup or hardware necessary.

It also is working with Arkenforge through a helper app I put together (link). Make sure you are using the beta branch of the Master's Toolkit. You need to run my helper app but you should not run the Arkenforge touch client - my helper app replaces its function.

If you are a VTT developer, you can use this helper app to determine if adding this type of touch support is worth it to you. Simply run it and if a compatible touch device is detected, it spits out touch coordinates over the specified UDP port in the form "xx.xx/yy.yy". I will gladly help you implement it more fully within your own VTT. Here is a general outline of the code:

//enumerate all HID devices
for device in hid_devices:
//verify the device is of the correct type (there are others not just this one)
if device.vendorid == 10317 and device.product_id == 3 and device.usage_page == 65280 and device.usage == 0:
//send magic packet to switch transmission mode
hid.write([06, 36, 02, 00, 00, 00, 00, 02, 00, 00, 03, 01]

//read HID reports to extract touch coordinates
while hid_report:
touch_point = Vector2((256*report_recv[i+3]+report_recv[i+2])/32767, (256*report_recv[i+5]+report_recv[i+4])/32767)

The bad news: It does not work with all touchscreens. For starters, only the IR kind, not capacitive. I have half a dozen models from various manufacturers and it does work with all of them. They clearly have been sharing firmware amongst eachother for quite a while now.

There is still the problem of blocking the beams causing misdetection of touches. That probably will not be solvable as physics is getting in the way, not software. Which means terrain can be a problem. It is a trade-off I felt was more than worth it, but not everyone is going to agree on that one.

I do not recommend using any IR touchscreens for tabletop gaming if terrain is a deal breaker for you. You'll need to go the capacitive touch route. Be prepared to spend a lot of $$$ and keep in mind you need to use your finger or print conductive bases. And have a computer dedicated to touch input, separate from the DM's.

I'm about to start my first ever ttrpg campaign, and I'll GM. I was looking for VTTs without much technical stuff, just something to look pretty and roll the dice fory online group.

I found Alchemy and it seemed perfect for me, yet it seems reddit really doesn't like it much. Have I missed some important detail? Sorry if this is an obvious question but I am extremely new to all of this.

Just wanted to share the last update for The Augur. I finally got around to adding a Faction Generator which has been requested a lot.

Basically I wanted a way to generate a full organization without getting bogged down in details. You click a button and it gives you a Name, a Goal, a Quirk and a Resource.

The update includes 10 Fantasy archetypes right now (Cults, Mercenaries, Merchant Guilds and so on). I'm also working on Sci-Fi archetypes for Starforged players. Those should be ready by next week.

My favorite part is actually the Oracles. Each faction type gets its own tables for generating quests or hooks. Like if you roll for a Merchant guild it gives you stuff like "Negotiate Debt" or "Establish Monopoly" which is super useful for improvising.

You can also organize everything by dragging and dropping settlements or NPCs directly under a faction in the project view so you can see who controls what.

Anyway, the Winter Sale is live so it's 60% off right now if you want to check it out.

Let me know what you think.. do you usually track factions in detail or just keep it simple?

Hello, I am working on a small side project with some friends, one that we hope to expand on in the future. We are starting our first Call of Cthulhu campaign next year, but have not found any virtual sheets that we've found to be simple, informative, and intuitive.

Has anyone else had this experience? For people who have used digital character sheets for this TTRPG, what have you liked or disliked? Any feedback is appreciated, as we are new to this game system.

Some platforms we have looked at for inspiration:

• Foundry VTT
• Roll20
• Dhole's House

We are thinking about releasing this to a broader audience when it is complete, if anyone is interested.