TFT VTT Or, What I'm Really Stoked About Now
Do you love TFT? But you're too far from your friends to meet around a table? Have we got a deal for you . . .
The TFT Virtual Tabletop (TFT VTT unless you can help us come up with a catchy name) is a dedicated tool that lets one or more GMs run Melee or Wizard for one or more players. Used along with a chat tool like Discord, it lets you play TFT with your chosen group, even if you are all over the world.
It implements dice and movement . . . that was easy. It implements all the combat maneuvers. It implements all the spells except for a few edge cases (and we are still working). But at every step the GM is in control. Any result that the GM doesn't like can be rolled back, just as in a live game.
There is no "AI" involved. The GM, or an assistant acting as Adversary, does all the thinking for your foes.
How much would you pay for this? Never mind. It's free. It's going to settle down, after testing, at either "still free" or "very, very cheap." The creators are not trying to make money here – they are doing it for love of the game. As for me, I make my money from selling the game, and have no wish to shake you down for playing it . . . The only cost to operate TFT VTT for you is Internet and server time, and as long as I can justifiably call that a marketing expense, I will.
TFT VTT has been in development for the last 8 years or so. For the last two, we've been running a TFT campaign, The Horn of Horish, with me, a few other staff members and writers, and (sharing GM duties) the creators of the code. Fun was had. Many bears were summoned, and our little band of murder hobos is now working for a great Duke, fighting beside his daughter to stop an extradimensional invasion. And we get to call ourselves "troubleshooters" now. (Still really murder hobos, though.)
(Ahem. I was about to tell you about my character, wasn't I? Stopping right now.)
Let me tell you about the program instead. It is written in Javascript and runs on Heroku. It was written by Karl Owen, Greg Jones, and Mitch Foster. They've been playing TFT together for about 40 years now. When life broke up their gaming table, they decided to code something to let them keep playing together. And they're still doing that.
They ran a brief demonstration for me at the last FnordCon. I liked it. And they liked the nature of my ideas for improving it. So we're still working together. Some software publishers would say it's now out of beta. We say it's now ready to start beta. You can help. (Did I mention, FREE?)
We're going to pick five or six applicants for the first beta slots. An applicant needs to bring with them a group of at least five players, and needs to be able to schedule at least one play session every two weeks. You may also have a co-GM or two – truly, that is not a bad idea, because it will let you see and test the way GMs can work together.
We'll supervise (not in the actual game sessions unless requested, but before and after). We'll answer questions and, who knows, maybe grant some feature requests. At the point where this seems smooth as silk, we'll start bringing in groups from the waiting list.
What your group will get:
• A custom URL for your own instance of the VTT, which you can share with your gaming group.
• Documentation for both players and GMs. (One of your biggest tasks will be to evaluate this docco and help us improve it for those who follow you.)
• Read access to the change log for both code and docco.
• A Discord area on the SJ Games server, private to us and the beta group. There is already a general TFT area there.
• Face time with us, details to be determined – maybe one Zoom-type meeting each month.
• Input.
So how do you apply?
Send mail to tftvttalpha@gmail.com. Tell us briefly why your group is both appropriate and awesome, and give us at least five player names. (BTW, a GM can run more than one group if they have the time, but we really suggest starting with just one.) We will notify selected candidates 2 weeks after this announcement. Yes, there will be a waitlist.
For more info, you can watch the YouTube video that Mitch made. There will no doubt be fancier ones later. You might be the one who makes them. This one is "merely" from the heart.