A little about VTTCloud and Me

Image taken in Foundry VTT

What are VTTs (Virtual Tabletops)?

Before we begin, I think it’s important that we get out of the way what this site is about; we’ll get into the why’s later when we talk a little about myself. VTTCloud is all about, you guessed it, Virtual Tabletops.

For those that aren’t aware of what a Virtual Tabletop is, I’ll define it quickly and simply: It is a software or website that allows you to play games with your friends, usually online. Unlike video games, the focus is to play games that are, well, played around a table. This includes board games, card games, but primarily, Tabletop Role-playing Games (TTRPG) like the ever rising in popularity, Dungeons & Dragons. The focus of this blog will be particularly on TTRPGs because, while VTTs do allow the previously mentioned games to be played with your friends, it gives the most versatility to TTRPGs.

Like I said, board games are not like Video Games, they often involve player interaction that is difficult to emulate in a video game. Video games follow strict rules in the way they execute mechanics: You can attack the dragon, sure, but it isn’t programmed to allow you to RIDE the dragon–board games allow this flexibility. VTTs allow us to continue to “rob the bank” in monopoly, and ride dragons as much as we want, whilst video games will limit things to what the developer was able to program in. There’s nothing inherently bad with the latter approach, but it does provide a more streamlined experience, which has its benefits, but is a topic for another occasion.

Virtual Tabletops allow us to continue to play games that give more freedom and leeway with our friends without having to actually be around a table. Then, what are the benefits of this over just playing over something like zoom or discord? The way that most Virtual Tabletops are designed.

Stay with me here because this is about to get a little bit technical. Virtual Tabletops are programmed and designed in a way that facilitate the game. Card games like war or Uno aren’t great examples because they remain simple enough that there is very little need for an external tool, but more complex games like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Shadowrun or Vampire: The Masquerade have a lot to gain from a semi-automating tool like a VTT.

There are several issues that make these games difficult to play unless you’re physically present: They have many rules (Often with lots of math), some of them have visual aspects like game tokens and dice, and some depend heavily on gridded game boards for strategic play. How could you possibly do any of that through zoom? I mean, you could, but lord, is that going to get awkward fast.

So here come the VTTs with all of their pluses:

1. Rules automation: What’s that? You don’t remember if you already cast that fancy fireball spell? Don’t worry, you pressed a button an hour ago to cast it and the system remembers. No, Johnny, you can’t cast it again.
2. Visual Feedback: You can keep it a simple as you like to as complex as you like. Draw stuff on the board or download expertly drawn maps. Some even have options for 3D maps and animations, especially Open Sourced VTTs.
3. Globally Accessible: If Johnny and Marta decide they’ll live a better life in Spain, you can still play with them as long as they have an active internet connection.
4. Ease of Communication: VTTs also, usually, come with their own suite of online communication. Video chat, text chat, even shared rolls for when you roll your big fat 20-sided die.
5. Heavy Customizability: Some of the best VTTs out there are written in programming languages that allow you to create plugins for them–the power behind this cannot be understated. The community that has risen for some of these tools have created plugins that rival what a professionally paid programmer could make (Many of them are professionals that make these things for free)
6. Amongst many more…

Who am I then?

Current Computer Science student, journalism dropout, ex-cook and giant fan of game design and software. My name is Christian. I live in Puerto Rico and have had my fair share of ups and downs, as you can see. I studied journalism in my early twenties, but was not able to finish that degree due to hurricane Maria, as well as discovering a career as a cook. Through most of this time, I was an avid PC gamer and general tech enthusiast. Becoming a chef didn’t pan out due to health reasons, so I decided to step back and reassess life, hence going back to school and focusing on my hobbies and health.

In those early days, I also developed a love for TTRPGs and have not been able to separate from it since. It really all started with video games, but once I discovered the freedom of TTRPGs, I have not been able to go back. It didn’t take very long before I found VTTs and fell in love further; It was the perfect mix of things I love to make me become obsessed.

It was hard to believe at the time that I could combine so many of my passions into one: Technology, Game Design and Storytelling. Here we are, hopefully I’ll be able to use that partial journalism degree now. Whatever the case may be I thank you for making it this far into the post and hope you enjoy the rest of the content.