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Where do you play virtual games? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 4 days ago by SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/rpg@ttrpg.network
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I'm trying to get away from corporate owned software and support FOSS stuff.

Normally if I wanted to play a game online I would use a discord server and some kind of vtt. Since discord is not looking great rn, where would you guys recommend playing?

Any vtt recs are good too but I don't strictly need one. A way to chat and roll dice is essential though

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[-] Azzu@lemm.ee 14 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

FoundryVTT. It's a one time license fee and though the code is not completely open source, it's mostly just client side JavaScript that is completely unobfuscated and supposed to be able to be viewed so everyone can modify it with addons. The server is obfuscated JavaScript.

It's completely and easily self-hostable.

So far, the company/people behind are just TTRPG nerds just wanting a good and friendly VTT (...wanting to make money with it).

It is a full VTT though. If you really only want chat+dice rolling, I would suggest a matrix server with a dice roll plugin/bot.

[-] techognito@lemmy.world 6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Probably worth mentioning foundryVTT has voice chat integrated.

I personally use FoundryVTT, matrix, and rallly.co (with 3 "l"s) for my games

[-] SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 days ago

I'll look into Foundry. Not sure what the specs are that I would need in order to host.

How would I set up a dice bot for matrix? Would I need to self host or is there an existing server I could create a space in?

[-] Azzu@lemm.ee 2 points 4 days ago

The foundry specs are so low you can probably use a toaster for the hosting. The client (web browser) uses graphics for the tabletop so the requirements are a bit higher, but still every device currently available will be able to run it I'm pretty sure.

The main difficult requirement is the networking, whereever you host it will need an open port for people to connect to. I don't know how hard that will be for you.

Don't know much about the Matrix stuff, I've just seen it before.

[-] SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 days ago

Ok, gotcha! Thanks for the info!

[-] DosDude@retrolemmy.com 2 points 4 days ago

Finally! A use for my 486!

[-] Drewfro66@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 4 days ago

I run a West Marches server on Foundry that had a few dozen active players at it's height. I ended up just renting a server on ForgeVTT, a cloud hosting service for Foundry. I believe they had a free option that's good for more casual users but even I'm only paying like $5/mo.

[-] theblips@lemm.ee 1 points 3 days ago

For The One Ring I just run a discord server with the Narvi bot, although I run combat, journeys and counsils myself because I couldn't be bothered learning the contexts and such.
For any duet sessions with my SO (we've done Mothership and Delta Green) we just call each other over Whatsapp or Signal and I trust her not to cheat the rolls, then we track everything on pen and paper ourselves. It works pretty great for how ultra minimalistic it is

[-] Samdell@lemmy.eco.br 4 points 4 days ago

I've mostly run Lancer games since last year, so my go-to tools were Owlbear Rodeo VTT and WitchDice for rolls, and recently upgraded to Foundry. However, when it comes to Voice Chat, we were still using Discord.

With the recent news, I've been considering moving our channel to Revolt and testing out how its Voice Chat works, even if its not as good as Discord.

[-] Lumun@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 days ago

I have really enjoyed using FoundryVTT. A one time payment for the software and then you can self-host the server easily. I don't know if that is outside your criteria. If you aren't looking for VTT battle mapping though, it's probably more than you need. I'm still using Discord for voice since that is where my players are at but I want to get away from it too.

[-] flibbertygibbit@ttrpg.network 3 points 4 days ago

For anybody else that hates needless acronyms, FOSS apparently stands for Free and Open Source Software.

[-] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 2 points 3 days ago

No reason to hate acronyms; they make communication much more efficient!
They are annoying when you're not in the clique that knows about them, I've found they can be hard to look up.

[-] flibbertygibbit@ttrpg.network 2 points 3 days ago

They do make communication more efficient, as long as everyone understands the definition. If they don't, then acronyms and initials quickly make the communication inefficient, or worse, make the person that isn't in the know feel excluded. In my professional life, I spend a lot of my time translating acronyms and trying to help people navigate the confusion of not knowing what things mean and wondering if they're in over their head, all due to the constant use of jargon.

My suggestion is to definite your acronyms the first time you use them or, if it's a short message, spell the whole thing out and don't mention the abbreviation at all.

[-] phase@lemmy.8th.world 1 points 3 days ago

Gatekeeping logic? Strange in a place like this...

[-] SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 4 days ago

I'm surprised anyone on Lemmy isn't aware of that one. I 100% would have spelled it out of not for the fact that this audience is 95% Linux nerds.

[-] phase@lemmy.8th.world 2 points 3 days ago

It means the bare is lower than before and some people out of this group can find interest and access the platform. This is very good. Let's welcome them.

[-] SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago

Oh, absolutely. I would love for lemmy (and fediverse generally) to have more reach.

[-] flibbertygibbit@ttrpg.network 1 points 3 days ago

I would have assumed the audience for this post is TTRPG nerds.

[-] SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 days ago

I mean it is 😅

But we're also on the fediverse. That does imply a certain demographic too.

[-] flibbertygibbit@ttrpg.network 1 points 3 days ago

I don't know what the implied demographic is, but I assume I am not in it. I suppose that vibe is part of why I don't feel the desire to venture further into the fediverse.

[-] phase@lemmy.8th.world 2 points 2 days ago

Please stay and voice this point of view. Itis needed for the medium to reach a healthy level.

[-] SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 days ago

I don't know what the implied demographic is, but I assume I am not in it.

The demographic is people who care more about being free from corporate controlled media than they care about a shiny, polished user experience. (i.e. free open source software [FOSS] enthusiasts) This is necessarily the case because of the relationship between sites like Lemmy and sites like, say Reddit. Reddit is absolutely more polished, but Lemmy is more resistant to enshittifcation.

Naturally tech nerds are both more aware of the dangers of corporate controlled software and more able to make the switch, so you get a lot of them as your early adopters.

I suppose that vibe is part of why I don't feel the desire to venture further into the fediverse.

I really hope you change your mind. Both because Lemmy definitely feels "further in" than something like mastodon or pixelfed, but also because these sites really do need mainstream adoption in order to compete with the tech giants.

[-] flibbertygibbit@ttrpg.network 2 points 2 days ago

That's a pretty good testimonial. Thank you for taking the time to share it with me.

[-] silverchase@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 days ago

Although it's now unmaintained, I've used Fari as a place for dice, index cards, and clocks.

[-] phase@lemmy.8th.world 1 points 4 days ago

It is still a bit maintained. When the backend provider broke, it has been updated. Nevertheless, the provider is still a company. I don't have the experience to switch to peer.js to make is really open source and free.

[-] TribblesBestFriend@startrek.website 1 points 4 days ago

Mostly roll20. I asked my crew sometimes ago to try Foundry (mostly because it’s self host if I understand it correctly) but they declined

[-] tiberius@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 days ago

I hope you're not a forever GM.

[-] TribblesBestFriend@startrek.website 1 points 3 days ago

No I’m not. Care to explain ? Foundry are better for forever GM ? Roll20 cost a lot for GM ?

[-] tiberius@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 days ago

No. It's that your players are already using roll20. At that point, they should be open to try a new VTT.

Like how they're open to try different RPGs.

[-] Geodad@lemm.ee 1 points 4 days ago

Albion is a FOSS friendly game. There's a Linux installer available on their download page, and a huge Linux guild.

[-] SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 days ago

I don't think that's a ttrpg, no?

[-] Geodad@lemm.ee 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I saw software mentioned and thought you wanted an MMO. My bad.

Still, you should check it out. It's a good game.

[-] Ziggurat@jlai.lu 1 points 4 days ago

Rolisteam is a FOSS (and self hosted) VTT. However, it hasn't evolved much in the previous 15 years. It has all the main function (Shared white board, load map with fog of war and move token on-it, roll dices, chat) even has a character sheet manager.

But definitely not as fancy as a modern payware one

[-] SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 days ago

I'll still keep it in mind, thank you!

this post was submitted on 01 May 2025
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