Comparison Chart
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Page One
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| Application Website |  |
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Environment |
Java, Webstart | Windows | Stand-alone application | Native program. |
OS support |
Windows, OSX, Linux | Windows 2000, WinXP, WinXP x64 | Mac OS X and Windows (some users have also reported that BRPG will run in Linux under WINE) | Microsoft Windows (various versions) with DirectX 9 |
RPG Systems |
AgNostic | No RPG rules built in | Any (No game rules are enforced) | d20 ruleset included, licensed game systems available from third parties |
Cost |
Free | £25 (approx $45) | GM Client: $29.95, Player Client: $14.95, Floating Licenses available (allows players to use just the free demo) | Full License $34.95, Lite License $19.95, substantial bundle discounts apply. |
If commercial app, is a Demo available? |
- | Yes - Web & iCon | Yes | Yes |
Demo limitations |
- | Web - No networking or import / export iCon - Networking active but limited functionality. |
Full-featured, with the following exceptions: session times out after 45 minutes; only up to twelve tokens can be deployed on a map; can't create custom card decks; can't export media asset bundles. A couple of times a year, a "Free Use" promo is held that removes all these limitations for a week or two. | No new campaigns or rulesets can be created. Characters created in the local character preparation mode are Not saved. The demo is Not compatible with the retail version of Fantasy Grounds. |
Chat |
Yes | Yes | Yes, in a resizable floating window; supports private and group messaging, as well as in-character and out-of-character dialogue; Chat Macros for frequently used text or pre-written "read-aloud" text; Chat log can be exported; Bell chime to get player's attention. | The roleplaying chat supports additional styles of dialogue: intended action -, emote- , and "out-of-character"-messages. |
Help feature |
- | Yes | Yes, basic instructions are provided on a popup screen, and a "Learning Mode" feature helps you learn the program gradually | Optional quick tutorial helps to grasp the essential features. The example adventure included contains information on managing a campaign and a help-command reviews essential shortcut options. |
User manual available |
Yes | Help is embedded and web based | Yes, a 64-page illustrated manual in hyper-linked PDF format which can be opened from within the app | Online manual includes for both users and developers here |
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Maps |
Yes | Yes | Served by GM, or loaded from a URL, or pre-distributed in a media asset bundle with optional password protection; maps can be dynamically resized to match the grid scale. Supports huge bitmaps up to 4000 x 4000 pixels. | Visualize tactical scenes using maps rich with features or create them on the fly. |
Map file format |
jpg, gif, png (most raster formats) | JPG, BMP, PNG | JPEG, BMP, PICT or PNG | jpeg, gif, png, bmp, tiff, (transparency layer applicable if format supports) and lots of other more exotic image formats. |
Map Zoom feature available |
Yes | Yes - Infinite | Yes, ranges from 20% to 200%. Zoom level can be set with hotkeys, with a popup menu, or using the mouse wheel. The GM can force the players' zoom level and view of the map. | Images zooming using the mouse wheel or by keeping the control key depressed while using the scroller gizmo and dragging up and down. |
Map measurement |
Yes | Via icons | Yes, with user-definable measurement units. | Yes |
Map fog |
Yes, can be revealed using token visions or manually by the GM. | Yes | Dynamic reveals based on user-definable light sources and vision types, plus manual reveals/conceals using a variety of drawing tools. "Persistent" Fog of War is optional. | Yes Gamemaster sees a semi-transparent overlay over the parts of the image Not shown to the players. |
Supports making maps from component tiles (rooms, hallways, etc.) |
Yes | Yes | Yes, and the tiles can be locked down to prevent accidentally moving them | Tokens can be utilized to create map elements. |
Hexgrid support |
Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Internal drawing tools |
Yes | Icon based | Rectangle, Circle, Polygon, and Freehand tools; hollow or filled shapes; many line widths and colors to choose from. Also includes a highly customizable dynamic text-label tool. | Yes, also support for pressure sensitive drawing tablets on drawing controls. |
Miniature Graphics |
Yes | Yes | Served by GM; supports pog-style, portrait-style, front-view, and top-down | Any bitmap images can be utilized to represent miniatures. |
Comes with tokens |
Yes | Comes with miniatures, extra miniatures and tokens are downloadable | Yes (primarily fantasy-themed). More free tokens are available for download on website's forums. | Yes |
Mini Rotation/Facing |
Yes | Yes | Yes, controlled by hotkeys. Diagonal facing is also supported. | Tokens can be rotated (by mouse wheel or menu option) to display facing. |
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Mini status Notes (Dead, Incap, etc) |
Yes | Yes | Yes, stackable and customizable text labels, and minis can have mouseover Notes | Combat tracker includes status fields. Tokens can have text labels designating arbitrary information. |
Miniature Autonumbering |
Yes | No | Yes | No. |
Mini movement |
Yes | Yes | Via drag-and-drop, or hotkeys; on remote screens, moved minis "animate" by sliding into place, so that moves aren't jarring to other players. |
If tokens are locked, players can designate an intended movement, which the Gamemaster can either accept or reject. If tokens are unlocked, anyone can move minis. |
Miniature permissions |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Miniature movement can be allowed or disallowed. |
Mini snap-to-grid |
Yes | Yes | Yes, can be disabled if Not desired | yes |
Suitable for offline use (with a projector, TV, or second display) |
Yes | Yes | Yes, Battlegrounds was largely designed with face-to-face use in mind. Includes Full-screen feature. | Yes, best setup benefits from a second (Lite) license. |
Audio support |
No | Yes | Yes. Music or sound effects can be sent or played locally at any volume level, with looping optional. Comes with some audio clips. Die rolls can be heard (optional). Interface sound effects (also optional). | Limited: Gamemaster can bell a sound to wake up players. |
File transfer support |
Yes, images are transferred among GM and players | Yes | Visual aids (bitmap graphics) can be sent via built-in peer-to-peer network. Media Asset Bundles (with optional password-protection) can be used to pre-distribute maps, tokens, audio clips, etc. to the players prior to the start of the game session. | Certain roleplaying elements (maps and images) entail file transfers. Especially transferring large images benefits from the image preload feature. |
Animation support |
No | Yes | Supports animated Flash files, and also includes some built-in animations (e.g., flickering campfire, light glows). | No. |
Area of Effect support |
Yes | Yes | Yes, several styles available (geometric shapes, grid-conforming shapes, light and dark transparent overlays) | Yes Cone, square, and circular areas of effect also hilight the affected map squares if grid is enabled. Also unique possibly semi-transparent tokens can be used to denote areas of effect. |
Character Sheets |
No | Yes | As fixed graphics only (but shared interactive character sheets are planned) | Yes |
Supports multiple characters per player |
Yes, arbitrary ownerships | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Character Sheet Autocalc |
No | No | No | Yes |
Character pre-saved rolls |
No | No | Custom Dice Macros can be globally available or attached to individual tokens on the map. |
Players can roll dice in advance, which can be stored or referred to from the chat history. |
Rolls can extract character info |
No | No | No | Yes |
Character HP tracking |
Possible but Not formal | No | Color-coded graphical indicator only (Not numerical) | Yes |
Automated combat |
No | No | No, but uses graphical attacker/target labels | No. |
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Initiative Manager |
interfaces with InitiativeTool | No | Turn sequence is currently ordered manually. Next version will feature automatic sorting and will support turn phases. | Yes |
Init Manager autorolls |
yes via InitiativeTool | No | No | No. |
Programmable encounters |
No | Presaved encounter setup | Encounters may be saved/loaded | No. |
Extendable (plugins) |
No | No | Flash "mini-apps" (e.g. a 3D dice roller, a calculator, etc.) may be imported into the map window. | Interface is completely customizable by xml modifications and images. |
Extendable (scripts) |
No | No | No | Yes, allows LUA scripting to program custom functionality |
Embedded (automated) game documentation |
chat history | Yes | None included, but charts & tables may be added by GM and easily referenced in-game | The chat history is automatically saved as formatted html. |
Other |
Pathing, layers, macros, gm vs player token Notes, unbounded maps, supports multiple simultaneous maps, fullscreen mode, token halos that represent state, unique environment interacting fog of war system based on vision areas. | Map browser is of No fixed scale, has No bounds or complexity limits. Networked dice roller has selectable visibility, 3D dice with physics, an expression parser and expression macros. |
Easy to use; clean interface, suitable for roleplaying in any genre; features a unique graphical dice roller (photographs of real dice, with many colors to choose from) that allows for dice pools and supports many common die rolling mechanics (e.g. open-ended rolls, tallying successes, criticals, table-lookups, etc.) without ANY scripting involved; browsable dice roll history; supports playing with card decks, including user-created decks; has a Sideboard feature for storing pre-deployed tokens off-screen until needed; customizable Auto-Save feature; export screenshot feature; GM can choose to "fudge" die rolls. Ideal for use with a projector or HDTV at face-to-face game sessions. Comes with a decent "Starter Set" of maps, tokens, and sound effects. Additional free maps and tokens are available for free download by all registered forum users. New features are added monthly in free updates. | The essence of pen & paper roleplaying is certainly quite unique for everyone. In Fantasy Grounds, each feature of traditional role playing is converted to the software in a way that retains the feel of pen & paper. The Gamemaster's decisions and the dialogue between the players drive the game. Thus, game mechanical checks, attack rolls, and moving tokens around, for example, don't cause any direct event resolution. Very importantly, Fantasy Grounds is completely devoid of office-look and offers a relaxed and carefully designed interface that is a pleasure to roleplay with. Fantasy Grounds is the gaming table that gives you the opportunity to really immerse into a roleplaying game without a significant need to adjust the way you and your friends are used to playing. Quite uniquely, Fantasy Grounds offers also one surprisingly important element of roleplaying, realistic 3D dice . |
Page Two
VT |
GRiP | OpenRPG+ | |
| Application Website |  |
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Environment |
PC | Java 1.5+ |
Python |
OS support |
Windows 98 onward | Windows, Mac |
Win32/*nix/OSX. |
RPG Systems |
Any | d20 based | Any |
Cost |
$35 DL, $40 CD Players Mod is Free |
$29.99 | Free |
If commercial app, is a Demo available? |
60 Days, No feature limits | Yes | - |
Demo limitations |
No feature limits | 14 days, No feature limits | - |
Chat |
Yes | Public chat room, private chat room for each player | HTML based allowing links and images to be sent via chat. Supports many chat types, whisper, emotes, Out of Character, and Group Whispers Moderation capabilities. |
Help feature |
Yes | Client links to Wiki | Command List as well as Wiki & Forum |
User manual available |
Yes | Wiki | - |
VT |
GRiP | ||
Maps |
Yes | Yes | From web |
Map file format |
jpg, gif, bmp | jpg, gif, png | jpg, gif, png, bmp |
Map Zoom feature available |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
Map measurement |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
Map fog |
Yes | Yes, GM controlled | Yes. GM sees a semitransparent overlay over the parts of the image not shown to the players. |
Supports making maps from component tiles (rooms, hallways, etc.) |
Tiles sets | Yes | Yes, and the tiles can be locked down to prevent accidentally moving them |
Hexgrid support |
Yes | No | Yes |
Internal drawing tools |
Pencil tool | Yes | Yes, Freehand with many line sizes and any color. Polydraw, and Text labels. |
Miniature Graphics |
Yes | Images in any supported format can be used as miniatures | Yes, from web |
Comes with tokens |
Yes | Yes | - |
Mini Rotation/Facing |
No | No | Face/Move arrows |
VT |
GRiP | ||
Mini status Notes (Dead, Incap, etc) |
Yes | Yes | Yes, can change label to whatever you want |
Miniature Autonumbering |
Yes | Yes, can be toggled on/off |
Yes |
Mini movement |
Yes | Yes | Click source, dest |
Miniature permissions |
Movement can be locked | Yes | Yes |
Mini snap-to-grid |
- | Yes | Yes |
Suitable for offline use (with a projector, TV, or second display) |
No | Yes. We have used d20Pro at various gaming conventions we've attended. We also use 2 laptops, projector, and screen during our regular weekly gaming sessions. |
Yes, the Map can be undocked and moved to the projector while the rest of the App remain on the main computer screen |
Audio support |
Yes | sounds can be used for many different alerts and indicators | Yes, will play most audio formats. GM's or players can send sound that will be auto played on all clients(Sound file must be accessible over the Internet). GM's are allowed to send looping sound for persistent background ambiance |
File transfer support |
Yes | Yes. Maps, creatures and items can be imported / exported between clients | Yes, can send any node, Map, or Miniature to any player |
Animation support |
No | No | - |
Area of Effect support |
No | Yes | - |
Character Sheets |
GRiP's strength lies in it's character sheets, which are fully programmable to handle skill checks, combat and chat responses. | Yes. Players cannot currently edit their sheets in game but can view full info, cast spells, and use skills and items. The GM can edit on the fly at any time. |
Via custom nodes |
Supports multiple characters per player |
Yes, sheets can be designed for this feature | Yes | Yes |
Character Sheet Autocalc |
Fully | Yes | Only for included, non-customizable sheets ( see below) |
Character pre-saved rolls |
Yes | Yes, user created | Yes |
Rolls can extract character info |
Fully | Yes | Yes |
Character HP tracking |
And Spell/Power | Yes | Yes, via included plugins |
Automated combat |
Yes | Yes | No |
VT |
GRiP | ||
Initiative Manager |
No | Yes | Yes |
Init Manager autorolls |
No | Yes | Yes, can be saved by the GM |
Programmable encounters |
Yes | Yes, maps can be created and saved with creature and item tokens in desired encounter positions |
No, but can use miniature loader to set up locations of minis to be loaded |
Extendable (plugins) |
No | Custom classes, feats and skills can be added by editing the appropriate file in a text editor |
Yes |
Extendable (scripts) |
No | Custom classes, feats and skills can be added by editing the appropriate file in a text editor |
No |
Embedded (automated) game documentation |
GM, Player Jounals | No | Some - premade char sheet has mundane weapon lists, skills have descriptions, etc. |
Other |
Tree-Node adventure editor, Campaign journals, File/pic/sound sharing, whisper w/dicerolls, full dice suite, card deck | Spell effect tracking, ruler feature, spell templates, persistent burst effects, tracks initiative across multiple maps, tracks daily spell allotment and spells remaining, allows adding custom character classes, GM client tracks hidden and invisible creatures, automated spell casting and saving throws | Dockable interface to allow the player and GM to optimize the client to their own needs Auto update abilities to stay current with the latest bug fixes and features. |