Topic: Virtual Reality and tabletop gaming

[Colin-ICE]

If a virtual reality console was readily available which would allow your players to step into the world of your game and play as their PCs, would you use it? Or do you think that a big part of what makes tabletop RPGs great is the use of imagination and painting pictures of characters and their surroundings with words rather than images?

[Spectre771]

I think that would be amazing.  As long as adding my NPCs and structures are fairly easy to do.  If I need program the next mars lander just to add a tavern to the game, it's obviously not worth it.  If there were a drop down menu to drop the NPCs into it, that could work.  Race, male/female, AT, weapon.  Then preprogrammed animations for Hit, miss, blocked/parried attacks.  It could work..

[Peter R]

I am one of those people that likes to keep tech to a minimum so I would be reticent. Also I am a terrible world builder and often the world doesn't exist beyond the PCs and about 100m in every direction around them. As a VR experience it would be rather disappointing!

[Majyk]

Oh hells, yes please!

I’ve recently seen cityscape and Monster Manual-like scancodes on pieces of paper that turn into actual MM Encounters of the actual 3d modeled monsters or buildings, etc.!

It was amazing with just basic viewing vs actual combat implementation!
DO THIS...

I’ll try to sleuth the link to what was being bandied about for proof of concept.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2055557988/augmented-reality-and-dragons-arandd

And

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hologrid/hologrid-monster-battle-augmented-reality-board-ga

[Cory Magel]

Until we can, almost literally, accomplish something near the visual aspect of 'The Matrix' we'll likely keep it to traditional tabletop gaming.
But once we do... all bets are off.

[Hurin]

I would love to have access to a VR RPG experience! My old group -- the group I really started with and played all through high school and undergrad with -- is now far away geographically (I moved for work). I have found a great new group in my new home, but it would be awesome to also be able to play with the old group too; we already play videogames online (we loved Dungeons and Dragons Online). The old guys are big techies too, and some already have VR gear (Oculus and PSVR). It would be awesome.

[Peter R]

I would love to have access to a VR RPG experience! My old group -- the group I really started with and played all through high school and undergrad with -- is now far away geographically (I moved for work). I have found a great new group in my new home, but it would be awesome to also be able to play with the old group too; we already play videogames online (we loved Dungeons and Dragons Online). The old guys are big techies too, and some already have VR gear (Oculus and PSVR). It would be awesome.

My school group scattered in the same way, we rent a house a few times a year to get together and play for entire weekends.

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

As a player, definitely. As a GM... it'd depend on how hard it'd be to create the world. I mean, describing a unique character, monster or building with words is easy. Drawing it is usually waaaaaay harder.

[Majyk]

Same here, but for board, card and RPG games.
Whistler, B.C. multibed house for the Remembrance Day long weekend but we stretch it out a day or two before and after.
For the 6 or 7 of us the whole trip only ends up costing us a few hundred each, INCLUDING food.
Every second year to make it special.

My school group scattered in the same way, we rent a house a few times a year to get together and play for entire weekends.

[Hurin]

Yep, I get to game with my old group maybe once a year, when I go back to Toronto. We play videogames a lot together though.

[wispa]

We use - Tabletop Simulator from STEAM for Our Middle Earth Role Play sessions and podcast shows.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/286160/Tabletop_Simulator/

its desktop and VR ready. (cross platform), fun and easy to use, and has great workshop support group full of free extras and loads of free content,
https://steamcommunity.com/app/286160/workshop/

you need to create VR character sheets and spell cards but thats easy. - helps us bring players from all around the world together for adventures.

If you guys like i could run a demonstration. - just let me know.

[Peter R]

We use - Tabletop Simulator from STEAM for Our Middle Earth Role Play sessions and podcast shows.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/286160/Tabletop_Simulator/

its desktop and VR ready. (cross platform), fun and easy to use, and has great workshop support group full of free extras and loads of free content,
https://steamcommunity.com/app/286160/workshop/

you need to create VR character sheets and spell cards but thats easy. - helps us bring players from all around the world together for adventures.

If you guys like i could run a demonstration. - just let me know.

How much effort is that for the GM in world creation?

[Majyk]

Nice, yeah. 
TTS is definitely getting closer to being as robust as it needs to be for RPG games after this last year of growth.

When it started, most were using chess or other boardgame pieces for NPCs and such which made me laugh.
We all have proxied minis at one time or another, though.
“Ok, this eraser is the BIG BAD EVIL GUY...the dixie cups are haystacks in the field you’re in.”

[wispa]

I will plan a demonstration set up in the next few day and share a link.

Its really not that much of a set up for GM/DMs- and you will be presently surprised at how effective it is in bringing players together around the world to run tabletop adventures. We use it in the creation of our MERP/Rolemaster podcast adventures it really is good and can become fully immersive. - wispa

[arakish]

VR would be cool as 7734.  However, I ain't got the technical expertise.  I am a volcanologist helping to study Yellowstone.  And I hated the fact I could not get sent to Hawai'i to get as close to Fissure 8 and the lava river...

If I had someone who could do it for me, I might give it a try.  At present, the only technology I use is my laptop hooked into a large screen HDTV.  That way, I can pull up the graphics I have created and let the players see.  Otherwise, we usually only use PADDs for keeping up with the characters.  And I still use the old school rattle-the-dice-and-roll system instead of electronic versions.

But, it would be cool to give VR/AR a shot.

rmfr

Edit: corrected two misspellings