Colin the Virtual DM

Add Music and Sound Effects to Your RPG Virtual Tabletop Sessions

September 10, 2020 by Colin the Virtual DM Leave a Comment

I am going to start by saying that once you begin you are going to wonder why it took you so long to add music and sound effects to your RPG virtual tabletop sessions. It adds to the atmosphere and helps draw the players into the story and the moment. It just adds more fun!!

A properly placed sound effect of the low, guttural growl of a watchful dragon is much more effective at adding suspense than trying to describe a low, guttural growl. The responses I have received to these types of moments let me know that my players love it as well.

The sound tools available to a DM these days are fantastic, easy to use, and getting better every month. I have a wide array of tools that I use, so I would like to share those with you today.

I generally group the sound tools that I use into two categories; “ready-made” and “do-it-yourself”. There is a cross over between the two, but we will look at them separately.

“Ready-Made” Music and Sound Effects Tools

I define “ready-made” music and sound effects tools as those that have a prepared array of soundboards that only require you to select the music and/or sound effect you are looking for, press a button and it starts playing. These are available both as stand-alone applications and browser-based applications. The ones that I have used the most are:

Syrinscape – https://syrinscape.com/

Syrinscape is my main music and sound effects tool, and it is, in my opinion, the best. Their large library of music and sound effects has something to fit any moment including soundboards that are built specifically for RPG adventures for D&D 5e, Pathfinder, Starfinder, Call of Cthulhu, and many others. There is also the ability to mix the music and sound effects into custom soundboards which I enjoy doing. Syrinscape is a paid subscription, but it is worth every copper piece.

Battlebards – https://battlebards.com/#/home

Battlebards has a large library of music and sound effects. I particularly like the music that is available on their service. It is fantastic to set the mood on a transition in your session. I have not used this service much in the past year, so I can’t comment much more on it. Battlebards has a large user base which I think speaks for itself. Battlebards is a paid subscription.

Tabletop Audio – https://tabletopaudio.com/

Tabletop Audio has a decent-sized library of music and sound effects. Its library is not as in-depth as Syrinscape or Battlebards, but its SoundPad application is a fantastic way to add to already existing ambient tracks without having to prepare them ahead of time. Tabletop Audio is free to use but does accept donations. Please donate if you use this application.

Ambient Mixer – https://www.ambient-mixer.com/

Ambient Mixer allows you to use existing ambient sound creations or to build your own. This is a great way to build a very specific ambient soundtrack for a particular point in your session. You can upload sounds to your account if you can’t find the perfect one. Ambient Mixer is free to use but does accept donations. Please donate if you use this application.

Spotify – https://www.spotify.com/ca-en/

I was surprised when I first learned that Spotify has so much music available that suits RPGs. You can gain access to this music with only a free account. Here are a couple of examples. One is an album and one is a playlist.

Album – Massive Ambient Music, Vol.1 | Playlist – Field Music

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/

I have been listening to great RPG soundtracks on YouTube for years. I didn’t think about adding them to my RPG music and sound effects toolbox until I started to find some great channels and playlist that were dedicated to creating ambient videos. The one thing that you do need to make sure with your chosen videos is that they do not have commercials injected unexpectedly. There is nothing worse than getting to a dramatic moment in your session and having a commercial start on your soundtrack. Here are a couple of examples. One is a channel and one is a playlist.

Channel – Brian Davis | Playlist – RPG / D&D Ambiences

“Do it Yourself” Music and Sound Effects Tools

I define “do it yourself” music and sound effects tools as those that require you to find the sound clips you need, edit it as required, and load it onto your soundboard. I am a bit of a sound geek, so I really enjoy building my own music and sound effect this way. There are a ton of tools available to make this happen, but I am going to discuss the two that I use. I use these tools because they are free and work very well. That is all that I need.

Audacity – https://www.audacityteam.org/

I use Audacity to mix and edit music and sounds that I find into the finished products that I need. This is a fairly simple application to learn and has most everything that is needed for basic audio production. Audacity is free to use but does accept donations. Please donate if you use this application.

Jingle Palette – https://www.jinglepalette.com/

I use Jingle Palette to load my newly created music and sound effects for easy triggering during my session. This soundboard is dead easy to use. I have tried a bunch of others, but I keep coming back to this one.

Music and Sound Effects

There are lots of places to find music and sound effects to mix into your creations. As long as you are not using your creations for commercial ventures, you can use any music and sound effects you wish for your session. Here are some of the places that I go for music and sound effects when creating mine.

FreeSound – https://freesound.org/

Free Music Archive – https://freemusicarchive.org/

FIndSounds – https://www.findsounds.com/

FreeSFX – https://freesfx.co.uk/

Sound Jay – https://www.soundjay.com/

Sound Bible – http://soundbible.com/royalty-free-sounds-1.html

So, there you have it. Lots of great ways to bring music and sound effects to your RPG virtual tabletop sessions. There are lots of different ways to get your music and sound effects to your players during your sessions depending on what you use for video, audio, and text chat. I will discuss my setup in a future post.

Do you use music and sound effects in your RPG virtual tabletop sessions? What do you use and why? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading.

Review of the Top RPG Virtual Tabletops for 2020

August 6, 2020 by Colin the Virtual DM Leave a Comment

I began this review of the Top RPG Virtual Tabletops for 2020 with a comprehensive search for potential VTTs to consider. I found well over 60 possibilities with the vast majority of them having closed the doors on their projects.

At first, this surprised me a little, but I needed to remind myself that the virtual tabletop landscape has evolved greatly over the past ten years. Those that chose to focus on the wrong features fell by the wayside pretty quickly.

The two current giants in the RPG virtual tabletop world are Fantasy Grounds and Roll20. I can say this with absolute confidence. These are both great products, and I would recommend either one.

Astral is a really solid contender to give these two a run for their money. Their dynamic maps are just incredible.

I have added in D20PRO and Battlegrounds: RPG Edition to round out the list. These two are lacking a little compared to the top three, but they are still solid products with a solid user base.

So here are my top five for 2020 so far. This list is my preference, but I will easily admit that Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 could easily be switched depending on your preference for features.

Top RPG Virtual Tabletops

Fantasy Grounds RPG Virtual Tabletop VTT Review — Fantasy Grounds RPG Virtual Tabletop (VTT) Review

Fantasy Grounds – http://www.fantasygrounds.com/

• Cost: Standard $3.99/mth or $39 one-time. Ultimate $9.99/mth or $149 one-time. See Pricing.
• Platform: Stand-alone (Windows and Mac)
• Dice Rolling: Dice-based with full animation.
• Map Creation: No. – Default Assets: N/A. – Import Assets: N/A. – Asset Store: N/A.
• Interactive Maps: Yes. – Grid Tools: Yes. – Tokens: Yes. – Fog of War: Yes. – Dynamic Lighting: No. – Other: N/A
• Chat Options: Text
• Music / Sound FX Integration: No. – Default Assets: N/A. – Import Assets: N/A. – Asset Store: N/A.
• Compendium / Module Integration: Reference and full rules automation. – Default Assets: Yes – Import Assets: Yes – Asset Store: Yes
• Character Creation and Leveling: Full automation.
• Game Mechanics: Full automation.
• Support Material: Reference material. Extensive Forum. YouTube tutorial videos.
Pros:
• Visual dice with full automation.
• Full automation of character creation and leveling.
• Full automation of game mechanics.
Cons:
• No map creation.
• No dynamic lighting.
• No music / sound integration.

Roll20 RPG Virtual Tabletop VTT Review — Roll20 RPG Virtual Tabletop (VTT) Review

Roll20 – http://roll20.net/

• Cost: Free. Plus $49.99/yr. Pro $99.99/yr. See Pricing.
• Platform: Browser-based.
• Dice Rolling: Text-based
• Map Creation: Yes. – Default Assets: Yes. – Import Assets: Yes. – Asset Store: Yes. Extensive.
• Interactive Maps: Yes. – Grid Tools: Yes. – Tokens: Yes. – Fog of War: Yes. – Dynamic Lighting: Yes. – Other: N/A
• Chat Options: Video / Audio / Text
• Music / Sound FX Integration: Yes. – Default Assets: Yes. – Import Assets: Yes. – Asset Store: Yes.
• Compendium / Module Integration: Reference. – Default Assets: Yes – Import Assets: Yes – Asset Store: Yes
• Character Creation and Leveling: Some automation.
• Game Mechanics: Some automation with script / macro building.
• Support Material: Reference material. Extensive Forum. YouTube tutorial videos.
Pros:
• Free for GM and players.
• Excellent map creations tools and assets.
• Built-in video / audio chat and music / sound effects player.
Cons:
• Text-based dice.
• Limited character creation automation.
• Limited game mechanics automation.

Astral RPG Virtual Tabletop VTT Review — Astral RPG Virtual Tabletop (VTT) Review

Astral – https://www.astraltabletop.com/

• Cost: Free. Upgrade to Pro $8.25/mth. See Pricing.
• Platform: Browser-based.
• Dice Rolling: Text-based.
• Map Creation Tools: Yes. – Default Assets: Yes. – Import Assets: Yes. – Asset Store: Yes.
• Interactive Maps: Yes. – Grid Tools: Yes. – Fog of War: Yes. – Dynamic Lighting: Yes. – Other: Dynamic maps with visual effects.
• Chat Options: Text.
• Music / Sound FX Integration: Yes. – Default Assets: Yes. – Import Assets: Yes. – Asset Store: Yes. Minimal.
• Compendium / Module Integration: Reference. – Default Assets: No. – Import Assets: Yes. – Asset Store: No.
• Character Creation and Leveling: Manual
• Game Mechanics: Some programmable automation.
• Support Material: Reference material. Minimal forum. YouTube videos. Very good in-game tutorial.
Pros:
• Full GM and Player access with free account.
• Extensive map building assets.
• Dynamic maps and visual FX.
Cons:
• Text only dice.
• Manual compendium integration.
• Minimal character and game mechanics automation.

D20PRO RPG Virtual Tabletop (VTT) Review

D20PRO – http://d20pro.com/

• Cost: GM $50.00. Player $10. See Pricing.
• Platform: Stand-alone (Windows and Mac)
• Dice Rolling: Dice-based with no animation.
• Map Creation: Yes – Default Assets: No – Import Assets: Yes – Asset Store: Yes
• Interactive Maps: Yes – Grid Tools: Yes – Tokens: Yes – Fog of War: Yes – Dynamic Lighting: Yes – Other: N/A
• Chat Options: Text
• Music / Sound FX Integration: No – Default Assets: N/A. – Import Assets: N/A. – Asset Store: N/A.
• Compendium / Module Integration: Reference. – Default Assets: Yes – Import Assets: Yes – Asset Store: Yes
• Character Creation and Leveling: Manual. Import from 3^rd party character builders.
• Game Mechanics: Some programmable automation.
• Support Material: Reference material. Forum. YouTube tutorial videos.
Pros:
• Fully featured trial version available to evaluate product.
• Visual dice.
• Some automation of game mechanics.
Cons:
• No default assets for map building.
• No music / sound integration.
• No character integration.

Battlegrounds: RPG Edition RPG Virtual Tabletop (VTT) Review

Battlegrounds: RPG Edition – http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/nutshell.html

• Cost: GM $28.00. Player $14.00. See Pricing.
• Platform: Stand-alone (Windows and Mac).
• Dice Rolling: Dice-based with no animation.
• Map Creation Tools: Yes. – Default Assets: Yes. – Import Assets: Yes. – Asset Store: Yes.
• Interactive Maps: Yes. – Grid Tools: Yes. – Tokens: Yes. – Fog of War: Yes. – Dynamic Lighting: No. – Other: Dynamic Objects.
• Chat Options: Text.
• Music / Sound FX Integration: Yes. Limited. – Default Assets: Yes. – Import Assets: Yes. – Asset Store: No.
• Compendium / Module Integration: None. – Default Assets: N/A. – Import Assets: N/A. – Asset Store: N/A.
• Character Creation and Leveling: Manual.
• Game Mechanics: No automation.
• Support Material: Reference material. Minimal forum. YouTube tutorial videos.
Pros:
• Fully featured demo version available to evaluate product.
• Visual dice.
• Decent amount of map building assets.
Cons:
• Limited map size.
• No compendium integration.
• No automation of game mechanics.

Here is a list of others that look good. I have not had a chance to fully explore these products or they are still in development.

Arkenforge, Fantasy Ground Unity, Foundry VTT, Let’s Role, and Skirmish VT look particularly good. I look forward to giving them a proper test drive sometime this year.

Arkenforge – https://arkenforge.com/
Beyond Tabletop – http://www.beyondtabletop.com/
EpicTable – http://www.epictable.com/
Fantasy Grounds Unity – https://www.fantasygrounds.com/home/FantasyGroundsUnity.php – Still in Beta
FoundryVTT – https://foundryvtt.com/ – Releases May 22
iTabletop Pandoren – http://www.itabletop.com/
kLoOge.Werks – http://www.kloogeinc.com/
Let’s Role – https://lets-role.com/ – Still in Alpha
MapTool – http://www.rptools.net/index.php?page=maptool
Mythic Table – http://www.mythictable.com/ – Still in Alpha
Rolisteam – http://www.rolisteam.org/
RPG Plus – https://www.appmindedapps.com/rpg.html
Skirmish VT – http://www.skirmish-vt.com/ – Still in Beta
Skwyre – http://www.nbos.com/products/skwyre
TabletopRPG.io – https://tabletoprpg.io/

So, there you have it. The Top RPG Virtual Tabletops for 2020. I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of the year has to offer for RPG virtual tabletop development. There are lots of good contenders, and the current champions continue to improve their products on a regular basis.

Did I miss a really good VTT? What do you use and why? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading.

How to Start Playing Tabletop RPGs Online

July 9, 2020 by Colin the Virtual DM Leave a Comment

I will begin by saying that I believe that playing tabletop RPGs online has gotten very accessible, very affordable and very easy. The abundance of video/voice chat services, online tools and virtual tabletops mean that you can create a gaming environment that is as good as, if not better than, sitting around a physical table. Now I know that I am a little bias in this area, as I truly enjoy DMing on a virtual tabletop, but it really can be a fantastic experience.

With the recent isolation caused by the virus pandemic throughout the world, I have noticed lots of discussion on how to play tabletop RPGs online. In this article, I will take you through some options to help you get started.

A Simple Start

If your chosen RPG and gaming method does not require map and token use, you can get yourself started very quickly and easily. You will most likely just require a voice chat service, a dice roller, and possibility, a way to share files.

There are plenty of voice chat services out there, but the one that I would recommend is Discord. I recommend it for three reasons. It is easy to set up, it works well, and it is free. Those are three really good reasons to use it. Get started using Discord. As a bonus, Discord has a text chat feature that will allow you to speak directly to all or just one of the group. Learn how to send a private message.

For most RPGs, you will need to roll dice to determine the outcomes of situations in your game. I know that some folks like to roll their own dice and let the group know the results. If you would prefer to use virtual dice, there is no shortage of options. Just do a Google search for virtual or online dice, and there will be pages to choose from. One virtual dice option that I think is a good choice is Roll Dice with Friends. This site allows everyone to join a single room and see each other’s rolls. This removes the possibility of “fudging” the results and allows for an instant reaction from the group. Get started using Roll Dice with Friends.

At some point, you will likely need to share a file of some type with the group; be it a map, an image, a note or similar. If you are using Discord, this is as easy as dragging the file into the text chat window. This will allow everyone to access it.

Discord | Roll Dice with Friends | Zoom | Skype | World Anvil | Kanka | Fantasy Grounds | Roll20

Adding to the Experience

Now that you have a start, let’s look at some of the additions you can add to your online tabletop experience.

The first option is to add a video chat service. Once again, there are plenty of options available, but I would suggest using one of these two popular free video conferencing options. They are Zoom and Skype. Both services are simple to set up and simple to use. As a bonus, these options have text chat, file sharing, and screen sharing. Get started using Zoom. Get started using Skype.

The next option is to start using an online campaign manager. These services allow you to create the campaign components you need such as maps, images, NPCs, storylines, character sheets, ETC. You get your players to log into the campaign manager then share the campaign components as they are revealed during gameplay. There are lots of choices in this area as well, but I will warn you that there is a steep learning curve with most of these options. Two of the best that I have used are World Anvil and Kanka. World Anvil is considerably more complex than Kanka, but they both have their place depending on how you want to use them. Although it is not a quick or easy addition to your online RPG play, it can greatly add to the experience once you get the hang of it. Get started using World Anvil. Get started using Kanka.

The final option is to move into a virtual tabletop. This is the granddaddy option for playing tabletop RPGs online. Sometimes referred to as VTTs, virtual tabletops give you everything you could need to play your favourite RPG online. Features include map views with moveable tokens, image sharing, character sheets, virtual dice, and built-in compendiums and modules. Some virtual tabletops include audio/video/text chat services, music/sound effects players and map builders as well. Like campaign managers, these have a steep learning curve. Know that once you get the hang of it, you will wonder why you tried to play RPGs online without one. The two giants in the RPG virtual tabletop world right now are Fantasy Grounds and Roll20. I wrote an article comparing the two that you can read here. Get started with Fantasy Grounds. Get started with Roll20.

So there you have it, everything you need to start playing your favourite RPGs online. Give it a try. I know that you will love it.

Have you ever played tabletop RPGs online? How did you do it? What did you use? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading.

The RPG Virtual Tabletop Giants – Fantasy Grounds and Roll20

June 11, 2020 by Colin the Virtual DM Leave a Comment

In the RPG virtual tabletop world, there are currently two clear giants in terms of userbase, and arguably, functionality. These are Fantasy Grounds and Roll20. In this article, I am going to do a little comparison shopping on some of the key factors that should be considered when choosing one of these virtual tabletops over the other.

I will begin with a little disclosure. I am a Fantasy Grounds Classic Ultimate License owner, and I run all my RPG sessions on this platform. It was the first RPG virtual tabletop that I was introduced to. (Thanks to Barry at d20adventurer.com). I am still learning to use all its features, and I love it. That being said, I regularly seek out and learn other virtual tabletops to see what options are out there. I believe that Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 are both fantastic choices. I would be happy to play on either.

Supported Role-Playing Games

Both Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 support all the most popular RPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons 5e, Call of Cthulhu, Pathfinder, ETC. These two giants deal with these RPGs in very different ways.

Fantasy Grounds uses fully integrated RPG compendiums (rulesets and data libraries) to create all the necessary game mechanics such as character creation, character sheets, actions, spell effects, dice macros, ETC. This requires little or no additional configuration by the DM or the players to begin playing.

Roll20 does not directly integrate compendiums to create game mechanics. They instead leave the game mechanics completely open to the DM’s understanding and manual configuration. This flexibility makes it very easy to configure Roll20 for any RPG without any additional purchases, but it comes at the cost of being more cumbersome to set up and use at times.

WINNER: Tied. Fantasy Grounds wins for ease of use. Roll20 wins for flexibility although the Fantasy Grounds CoreRPG compendium can be used in a similar way.

RPG Virtual Tabletop Platform

Like so many things between these two giants, they deal with their virtual tabletops in very different ways.

Fantasy Grounds is a standalone application that is downloaded on to the participant’s computers. The DM hosts the session on their computer, and players access that session. Roll 20 is a browser-based application and requires no downloads. The DM hosts the session on the Roll20 servers and players access that session. There are pros and cons to both methods.

The Fantasy Grounds method relies heavily on the quality of the DM’s computer and the internet connection to determine the quality of play as it acts as the game server. Thankfully, this method is not resource-heavy for the DM’s computer and the data transfer between the DM and player’s computers is minimal. This method can require some router configuration to ensure that everyone can get connected which can be difficult if you are not computer savvy.

The Roll20 method relies less on the quality of all participant’s computers and internet connections to determine the quality of play. This method can suffer from lag issues when the number of session users increases and/or the internet connection is slow as there is a lot of data transfer between the participant’s computers and the Roll20 servers.

WINNER: Tied. With a good computer and a good internet connection, both are equal.

The Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop — The Fantasy Grounds RPG Virtual Tabletop

Support for Video Conferencing and Music/Sound Effects

Audio and/or video conferencing is a must-have, no-brainer for effective virtual tabletop play. You simply are not going to run a good session through a chat window. I am also a huge believer in the use of music and sound effects to build atmosphere in your gameplay.

When comparing Fantasy Grounds to Roll20 in these areas, Roll 20 is the hands-down winner. Fantasy Grounds has very little integration in these areas. Roll20 has both a built-in audio/video conferencing option and a built-in music/sound effects player. Fantasy Grounds has a few addons available to support music/sound effects, but they do require a fair amount of additional effort to set up and configure.

WINNER: Roll20 kicks butt in this area over Fantasy Grounds, but there are lots of external options to make up for this short-coming.

Support for Mapping and Map Use

Having a great map for use in any RPG session goes a long way in raising the quality of that session. (I know the “theater-of-the-mind” crowd just rolled their eyes.) Both virtual tabletops display maps and images very nicely.

Roll20 has the ability to create some great maps integrated into the platform. This paired with an amazing image marketplace is a very nice feature. All maps used in Fantasy Grounds must be imported. With all the amazing map tools that are available these days, the end product can look the same. The advantage with Roll20 is you can easily modify your map right in the game.

As far as map use goes, both platforms have fog-of-war. Only Roll20 has dynamic lighting.

It should be noted that Fantasy Grounds Unity has stepped things up greatly in this area including integrated map creation and dynamic lighting.

WINNER: Roll20 wins this for now, but I suspect that Fantasy Grounds Unity will bring this one to a tie.

The Roll20 Virtual Tabletop — The Roll20 RPG Virtual Tabletop

Game Mechanics

Understandably, game mechanics are vital to producing a virtual tabletop that is as good or better than a traditional face-to-face, pen-and-paper session. If poor game mechanics are bogging down the play, everyone will lose interest very quickly.

Fantasy Grounds has chosen the path of integrating, and in many cases, automating all the required game mechanics into their platform to a level unavailable in any other. Dice rolls for initiative, attacks, spells, effects, saves along with their required proficiencies and modifiers are all automated with the click of a button. Character sheets automatically adjust to level increases, damage, healing, effects, encumbrance, and more. There is no other RPG virtual tabletop that has this level of integration and automation. This can help greatly with players that are new or still learning an RPG. They do not need to know all the rules to get going. The game will help them to learn it.

Roll20 can achieve some of this integration and automation, but it requires a lot of setup, configuration, time and knowledge of the rules for each RPG that you want to play.

WINNER: Fantasy Grounds. I will admit that if you don’t like having the game take care of so much of the game mechanics for you that you would disagree. I find that it frees me up to get more into role-playing.

Cost

Both Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 have free and paid options but comparing the two is no easy task as the pricing and options are so different. Here are links to both so you can compare for yourself.

Fantasy Grounds Pricing | Roll20 Pricing

The big difference to me is in what a free account offers and long-term costs. You can certainly do more with a free Roll20 account which could lead you to never require an upgraded account. If you do decide that you need the options available in an upgraded account, Fantasy Grounds is cheaper in the long term. Pricing for compendiums is, for the most part, the same.

WINNER: FREE – Roll 20

WINNER: UPGRADES – Fantasy Grounds

I hope that this comparison helps to give you some additional insight into these two RPG virtual tabletops. Both companies have a fantastic product and an equally fantastic community. As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, I would be happy to play on either.