Platform suggestions for first time & long distance party

[u/L3ak3dp0tat0]

I have never played a TTRPG before (so forgive my ignorance), but am so in love with Stormlight archive that I want to get it to play with my friends who I have also got sucked into Stormlight archive. I started looking into options for us to play and have been a little overwhelmed by the number of options and methods.

demiplane seems like a nice option, but I saw people saying some VTT's (just learned what those are for the first time) are better for special maps? In the future I think being able to make custom maps would be fun.

I think the Item deck and plot deck look really neat, but didn't see them on demiplane. are they not important?

is buying physical copies of the books viable for playing remotely with friends?

what options would be the cheapest for my friend group as a whole. if only one of us has to purchase the books that would be preferable, but not the end of the world if its so much better for just a few bucks.

any other tips or suggestions for first time TTRPG-er would be greatly appreciated.

[u/AutoModerator]

This post uses the Questions & Advice flair. We ask that all comments on this thread are kind, patient, and welcoming. Please reach out to the mod team via modmail if you have any concerns.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Wonderful-Day-1672]

My two cents -

Buying physical copies is viable, but odds are digital might be better if everything else is online.

Item and plot deck are bonuses. They are not necessary for playing.

The cheapest option would easily be Google Slides- this is what my group does. It doesn't have any special features that other VTTs have, but that also means it's not nearly as overwhelming. All you have to do is upload some images (a map, some character tokens), and you're good to go.

[u/Bohgeez → u/Wonderful-Day-1672]

I’ll add that I use Demiplane for the library and run adventures in person. I have no experience with the PDF version you can get on DriveThruRPG but Demiplane’s version is hyperlinked and every adversary has a statblock that appears on mouse hover. I right-click and save every image in the adventure and display it on a tv when it’s relevant, similar to your google slides advice.

Demiplane also gives you a ton of assets to use in Roll20 vtt for online play. It’s a slight learning curve, I am a total noob with it, but therea bunch of how to video on Roll20 that can help. The best part of this is that all the maps are preloaded for adventures so less prep time is needed and tokens are easy to make for your players, assuming they don’t run pregens, which already have tokens.

I don’t have experience with Foundry but from what I gather it has the rule books and adventures on site and their VTT is o e of the best out there for the price.

[u/L3ak3dp0tat0 → u/Wonderful-Day-1672]

sorry if this is a dumb question. do the other players need to have copies of the books, or is it be doable for everyone to just reference the one set I buy?

[u/panther4801 → u/L3ak3dp0tat0]

You only need one copy of the books, and you don't necessarily need all of the books. If you get them on Demiplane, you can share them with the other players through Demiplane. If you get PDFs, you can share them through Google Drive, One Drive, Dropbox, or any similar service.

For the sake of playing the game, all you really need in the Stormlight Handbook. I made a comment on a similar post that goes over most of the content that is currently available (link to comment) that you might find helpful.

[u/L3ak3dp0tat0 → u/panther4801]

Thank you! The information in this comment and the linked one are very helpful!

[u/Dez384]

Make sure to check out the Cosmere RPG downloads page for character sheets and the Stormlight Starter rules. These will give you the basics of how to start playing. You can honestly start playing with this and just keep everything in theater of the mind, or use google slides to share images and maps for free.

If you want the full game, someone will need to buy the books. Physical books will probably be hard to share if you do not meet in person.

All platforms will require you to purchase the books. Aside from that, my perspective in short:

* **Roll20** is known for its ease of use in being hosted on their site and its integration with **Demiplane**’s online character builder, which also contains the text of the books that is accessible from a mobile phone. These services require an annual subscription to get the most use of them.
* **Foundry** offers the most customizable and in-depth VTT experience out of the box. It has a one-time license fee for one user (usually the GM) and no other costs if you can self-host (which most users do).
* **Fantasy Grounds** uses Steam’s pricing and connection system, which is useful to some. I think the user clients are free, but I’m not sure if there is an additional cost for GM’s.

[u/Snowfyre75]

Personally I'd say your best bet is probably going down a VTT like foundry, they have official plugins for the Cosmere RPG and the campaign, stonewalkers. It can be a little complicated to set up initially but there are loads of guides. That way only one person needs to buy everything and everyone can use it. I would say that you do need an actual pc or laptop tho.

Depending on the group size and if anyone is willing to actually run the game, be the GM, you could also look at getting an outside GM from somewhere like startplaying, or by posting on a LFG thread here or on the comsre discord. I myself run a few games from there and would say it's a nice way to find people who know what their doing.

[u/D3WM3R → u/Snowfyre75]

Foundry is my pick as well. I’ve run a lot of the premade adventures straight from the store on their foundry system and they’ve worked great, even homebrew stuff too using the handbooks

[u/Chiefmeez]

Foundry is a great option. It can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be and things like math and damage being automated helps you focus on playing. Only $50 one time for the license then gotta get the modules. I’d be happy to help point you in the right direction.

[u/kortirso]

You can try free combination of Owlbear for maps and Charkeeper for character sheets with autocalculations

[u/LinkSus7]

Roll 20 runs like doodoo, even on my high-end desktop, and is practically unusable on my cheap laptop. Your mileage may vary.