So after I wrote that last post and getting some good info from a friend I have been thinking more about the VTT options.

These following statements are simply the truth FOR ME and to some extent our campaign group.

When considering other VTTs, I ask myself “Beyond eliminating the very rare problems with Roll20, will a different VTT really improve our game?” No matter how many bells and whistle and shiny new features they throw at me, the answer has always been and still is “no.” The things that have made our Traveller game a success for over 8 years now have nothing to do with animations on the VTT. Hearing a door open or shut on the VTT simply isn’t really an enhancement of our game.

I’m not interested in “automation” of anything, in any game I run or play. For me, part of the joy of playing these games is understanding the rules and doing things “by hand.” I want, for the most part, the VTT to be pretty much like an in-person table. I don’t want it to roll the to-hit roll for me (us) and hide all the modifiers. We are all smart enough to add or substract a few numbers quickly. I don’t want it to calculate damage for us. I want my players to know, for instance, that their auto pistol does 3d6 damage. Our brains can hold that information, which is also found on the character record sheet. It is fun to exclaim “I hit” and then actually roll the damage." I don’t think clicking the “attack” button and then seeing the results sounds very satisfying.

The other question I have to ask myself is “Will going to this new system turn my currently enjoyable and joyous game prep into a computer-based beatdown nightmare and ruin my hobby for me.” The answer has always been “yes” and continues to be. I have limited time and energy. I LOVE sitting down in my chair and either writing up stuff in a notebook or typing it on my laptop. I draw some maps on my iPad and upload them to Roll20. It’s all simple, fast, and gets the job done. I love doing it. My players are happy with the game. Maybe I buy a cool map and upload it. I guess my point is I’m doing some tedious shit where before I was having fun.

To be fair, this is all the same reason I don’t spend a bunch of time in my D&D game building model dungeons and all that for the table. While I do enjoy miniature painting, none of that is really the core of the game. The game happens on the table in front of us and in our minds. I don’t want to spend my time building little forts and stuff. Not my thing.

So, yes, Roll20 is clunky. The messed up it’s functionality in Google Chrome sometime recently. They’ll probably fix it. They don’t do any serious updates or improvements of it, as least any that will improve our game. That’s fair. We play a game from 1977. Clunky or not, at this point it still gets the job done as I need it.