Did decent VTT's actually exist when 4e was released?

[windgate]

I have not been able to actually played the game for years at this point as nobody wants to do it locally, I am rambling mostly from memory here. I really wish I could though. After applying some house rules to hitpoint scaling I think I still prefer the system to modern 5e.

I don't think a proper platform existed for the game when it was released (as a physical TTRPG) back in 2008. In hindsight, I feel that 4th edition almost required a virtual tabletop to function optimally.


When Playing as a paper TTRPG:

I remember tracking all the modifiers created by powers (and static effects) becoming tedious and as a DM I avoided using controller monsters in order to speed up the game somewhat. We had a dry erase grid I drew maps on, and we used assorted objects to represent various effect's but people would frequently forget what the source and duration of each thing was.

People have commented that it would have been better as a Video game. Sure, that would have resolved the information tracking issues (with tooltips displaying and tracking modifiers and cooldowns). However, computer coding is not a common skill, nor can it be done quick enough to accommodate the desire for player to have true agency and freedom of choice.

A virtual tabletop would have been a middle ground, but did one (with the ability to notate the various (+/-) exist back in 2008?

[Kurald Galain]

Well, WOTC had one under development, and indeed the PHB1 contains advertisements for it (with the groanworthy pun to add anohter PC to your game, as in a Personal Computer).

Unfortunately, the development was a one-man effort and because of personal issues, it was never completed.

To my knowledge, the only VTT that existed at the time was Fantasy Grounds. I have no idea if it supported 4E though.

[Mando Knight]

There was also MapTool.

[RedWarlock]

Apologize for the tangent, but.. Why does everybody keep thinking 4e has cooldowns? They very specifically reduced any effect counted in rounds, switching between sustain-minor effects and save-ends, depending on which way they prefer it fail. Everything else is either at-will or per-encounter recharge. Am I missing some other source of WoW-style cooldown effects everyone sees?

[LibraryOgre]

Apologize for the tangent, but.. Why does everybody keep thinking 4e has cooldowns? They very specifically reduced any effect counted in rounds, switching between sustain-minor effects and save-ends, depending on which way they prefer it fail. Everything else is either at-will or per-encounter recharge. Am I missing some other source of WoW-style cooldown effects everyone sees?

Basically, that's what the "at-will", "encounter", and "daily" distinction is.

At-wills have a 1 round cooldown; you can use it again on the next round.
Encounter powers have a short rest cooldown.
Daily powers have a long rest cooldown.

It's not MMO-style "Three seconds", but "cooldowns" works as far as nomenclature goes.

[Beoric]

There was also MapTool.

Yes, I still use the Rumble "Fat" framework for 4e - much modified now. Looks like I found it in June 2011, but I know it was around for quite a while before that.

One of the nice things is that it had import tools that did a lot of the work of writing macros for PCs and monsters - I think I imported 5000+ creatures from the online compendium that way. And if they didn't quite work right, there were also tools for writing/editing your stat block and powers without actually having to know how to code - that is, it had a bunch of menus and check boxes that let you edit using 4e keywords and defined terms, as opposed to html.

[Beoric]

Basically, that's what the "at-will", "encounter", and "daily" distinction is.

At-wills have a 1 round cooldown; you can use it again on the next round.
Encounter powers have a short rest cooldown.
Daily powers have a long rest cooldown.

It's not MMO-style "Three seconds", but "cooldowns" works as far as nomenclature goes.

Don't forget rechargeable powers for monsters, and powers like Healing Word that could be used multiple times in an encounter, but no more than once per round (true at-wills don't usually have a cooldown, you can use them twice in a round if the power is a a minor or you blow an action point).

[windgate]

Apologize for the tangent, but.. Why does everybody keep thinking 4e has cooldowns? They very specifically reduced any effect counted in rounds, switching between sustain-minor effects and save-ends, depending on which way they prefer it fail. Everything else is either at-will or per-encounter recharge. Am I missing some other source of WoW-style cooldown effects everyone sees?

Sorry, using the word cooldowns perpetuated the WOW mindsight. I was using the word in the context of a time determined recharging resource (in the case of 4e, cooldowns recharge after an encounter or long rest).

[Calen]

When I played 4e we used an VTT called Virtual Daivve, have never heard of it outside our group so not sure how popular it was.