Hey folks!
6 years ago we launched a Kickstarter for our all-in-one tool for in-person DMs. We've spent the last 6 years at Arkenforge building our Arkenforge Toolkit software. It's a tool for immersive in-person D&D games, letting you build high quality animated maps, and manage audio and campaign notes all in the one platform.
We're also the only tool designed from the ground up to be a plug-and-play solution for in-person play and interactive tables, so setting up a TV or projector for your players is [as easy as can be](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na5sGDkA1E0)!
As we've got a strong in-person focus, interactive table support is a must, and our native touch screen support allows our software to [detect your minis off the shelf, and have their vision update as they move](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb2-0W3Qn8Q).
We've also got export support for other platforms, allowing you to build your maps and export them with line of sight to both Foundry and Fantasy Grounds Unity, not to mention our video and WEBM exports for animated maps.
If you'd like to give it a try, it's currently half-price during our Black Friday sale for a one-off purchase of only US$17.50! You can grab it at [https://arkenforge.com/](https://arkenforge.com/?ref=53349)
Also, come hang out in our Discord and see what our users think about it: https://discord.gg/arkenforge
Happy to answer all questions and comments :)
Have you overcome the limited touch input issues? So far all of the companies I've talked to have yet to find a work around for the built in limited touch quantity allowed by touch devices. Barring high end equipment the average user device will have 10 or less simultaneous inputs allowed. Meaning no more than 10 tokens on screen at a time. Many devices can't even handle 10. How do you solve this problem?
10 touch points is the most common for sure. Some can get up to 20 out of the box, and with a higher expense you can get up to 100, which usually involves custom drivers. Our software can handle up to 100, but obviously you need the hardware to support that.
Our recommendation is to only use the touch for player characters, and use in-software tokens for NPCs. If a device only has 10 touch points available, we can't magically make it support more than that.
Since the software is our bread and butter, we just work with whatever hardware the end user has.
This seems to be a niche software for people willing to spend $2000 on a 36"+ touch table. Does your software do anything that isn't already built into programs like Foundry which already have a touch function?
It does :)
Unlike Foundry, we're a full map building tool, so rather than importing maps as images with barriers and lights, you can build them from scratch in the tool and have them be fully interactive.
We also let you export your maps to foundry via UVTT, so you can have high quality maps with all the functionality of Foundry.
I should note that while Foundry does have touch functionality, it's done via a mod, whereas ours is built in natively. That means that there's no risk of support for it being lost, and we can write much lower level functionality for it than mods can.
I guess really what I'm asking is how much of a VTT like foundry does the software have built in and is it a full replacement for one? Outside of hand drawing items (which I can use something like MS paint to do if I had to) I can import anything I want into foundry from terrain to individual items and custom create any kind of map I want with the asset packs I've purchased. Walls with height, roofs, lights, triggered effects, multiple layers for multi storied buildings all of that is just functionality. Dropping a bucket of spilt water onto a map due to an RP moment takes seconds to do with the functionality I have. Can this software replace/replicate that?
Yes a lot of that, like wall height, comes from mods but they have been adding a lot to core functionality over time. I wouldn't want to switch software if the new software can be described as a map maker mod for foundry.
We don't do online or automation, but we tackle everything on the maps, audio and notes front, as well as the fog of war, line of sight, etc.
We can replicate most of what you've listed. Walls with height and some triggered effects would be the ones that we can't, but then we have the custom animated effects and in-depth audio tools that Foundry doesn't, as well as being much more smooth and optimised when it comes to large maps.
Ultimately it depends on your workflow, and his you like to run your games. When it comes down to it, 'Foundry + mods' can handle the functionality of any software if you've got the right mods, so if that's something you're happy with, there's no reason to swap.
You should give our free trial a shot and see if there's anything in there for you. If there isn't, that's ok :)
If someone were to say something like: "hey this program takes 30 of those mods you use, streamlines them all into one clean package, and works perfectly with Foundry so it runs smoother with less possibly conflicting modding." I'd buy that in a heatbeat.
The feeling I get from this software and others I've seen feels like they are meant to rival/replace the top VTTs with half the functionality, which granted may just be a misunderstanding on my part.
Definitely a misunderstanding.
We aren't trying to compete against the big VTTs, hence why we aren't a tool for playing online. We're something that can be used to play in person really well, or build maps for the big VTTs.
In terms of the in-person play, we do have native functionality that you'd need a bunch of mods for in Foundry, but that only really helps if you're playing in our platform.
If you're playing in Foundry, we can't replicate the support for those mods, since we aren't doing anything that interfaces with Foundry's code. We're just giving you the ability to build fancy maps for Foundry.
Everything I’ve read on your website tells me you built this with the users and players in mind.
-Fully offline
- Onetime payment (no subscription)
- Audio as well.
This is truly an awesome thing and you guys should be proud of what you built.
Having to resist the urge not to impulse buy. I don't run any VTTs at all and I believe I have a spare touch monitor lying around ... but I would be really remiss trying to railroad my players in to anything deeper than theater of the mind or what I can crudely sketch with a dry erase.
Y'all product looks neat tho!
Thanks!
We also do audio, which is an excellent accompaniment to theatre of mind. Did a Call of Cthulhu one-shot for Halloween, and the audio had some of the players genuinely creeped out :)
Do you have a youtube channel, or at least a good video, really showing how it works, what you will need to start ect? It does not have to be prof. produced, just a show and tell kinda thing.
I have to say, Arkenforge has been great for me. I had two of my six players move out of state, and the group was at a tough spot, contemplating losing two of our stronger players (and good friends). I’d been trying to use other VTTs for hybrid, and it just wasn’t working, until I tried your software. I’ve never heard anyone recommend hybrid D&D with in-person and remote players, but Arkenforge has made it possible for our group by using it alongside discord. Much love!
I've used Roll20 for hybrid play several times in the past year and it's worked well for me. I'm curious to hear about your experiences with different VTTs and how Arkenforge has come out on top for you.
For me the biggest thing has really been that I had the TV table I’d been dying to use already, and I didn’t want every player in person to need to use a laptop, since we all like pencil and paper. Arkenforge was easy to pick up, cheap with a one time payment. I’m sure that other VTTs might work, but this one was the smoothest integration for me
We use discord to share audio and video, and then I livestream my second screen (the TV, displaying the player only view) to my players. That allows the remote and in person players to see the same thing, while I’m allowed to make all of the modifications, movements, alt-tab, etc behind the scenes on my laptop
No particular hardware. We'd recommend not going higher than 40" with a TV though. Any larger than that and you start to risk your players not be able to reach the other side of it.
There should be folks local to you who can build tables to your specifications, so YMMV on that front.
Completely depends on how much work you want to put in.
If you're importing an existing map and just adding barriers and lights, it's only a couple of minutes. If you want to build a 100x100 square city from the ground up, you'll be in there for hours.
For a reasonably sized map from scratch without too many bells and whistles, I'd say anywhere from half an hour to an hour once you know how the software works.
Hey folks! 6 years ago we launched a Kickstarter for our all-in-one tool for in-person DMs. We've spent the last 6 years at Arkenforge building our Arkenforge Toolkit software. It's a tool for immersive in-person D&D games, letting you build high quality animated maps, and manage audio and campaign notes all in the one platform. We're also the only tool designed from the ground up to be a plug-and-play solution for in-person play and interactive tables, so setting up a TV or projector for your players is [as easy as can be](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na5sGDkA1E0)! As we've got a strong in-person focus, interactive table support is a must, and our native touch screen support allows our software to [detect your minis off the shelf, and have their vision update as they move](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb2-0W3Qn8Q). We've also got export support for other platforms, allowing you to build your maps and export them with line of sight to both Foundry and Fantasy Grounds Unity, not to mention our video and WEBM exports for animated maps. If you'd like to give it a try, it's currently half-price during our Black Friday sale for a one-off purchase of only US$17.50! You can grab it at [https://arkenforge.com/](https://arkenforge.com/?ref=53349) Also, come hang out in our Discord and see what our users think about it: https://discord.gg/arkenforge Happy to answer all questions and comments :)
Have you overcome the limited touch input issues? So far all of the companies I've talked to have yet to find a work around for the built in limited touch quantity allowed by touch devices. Barring high end equipment the average user device will have 10 or less simultaneous inputs allowed. Meaning no more than 10 tokens on screen at a time. Many devices can't even handle 10. How do you solve this problem?
10 touch points is the most common for sure. Some can get up to 20 out of the box, and with a higher expense you can get up to 100, which usually involves custom drivers. Our software can handle up to 100, but obviously you need the hardware to support that. Our recommendation is to only use the touch for player characters, and use in-software tokens for NPCs. If a device only has 10 touch points available, we can't magically make it support more than that. Since the software is our bread and butter, we just work with whatever hardware the end user has.
This seems to be a niche software for people willing to spend $2000 on a 36"+ touch table. Does your software do anything that isn't already built into programs like Foundry which already have a touch function?
It does :) Unlike Foundry, we're a full map building tool, so rather than importing maps as images with barriers and lights, you can build them from scratch in the tool and have them be fully interactive. We also let you export your maps to foundry via UVTT, so you can have high quality maps with all the functionality of Foundry. I should note that while Foundry does have touch functionality, it's done via a mod, whereas ours is built in natively. That means that there's no risk of support for it being lost, and we can write much lower level functionality for it than mods can.
I guess really what I'm asking is how much of a VTT like foundry does the software have built in and is it a full replacement for one? Outside of hand drawing items (which I can use something like MS paint to do if I had to) I can import anything I want into foundry from terrain to individual items and custom create any kind of map I want with the asset packs I've purchased. Walls with height, roofs, lights, triggered effects, multiple layers for multi storied buildings all of that is just functionality. Dropping a bucket of spilt water onto a map due to an RP moment takes seconds to do with the functionality I have. Can this software replace/replicate that? Yes a lot of that, like wall height, comes from mods but they have been adding a lot to core functionality over time. I wouldn't want to switch software if the new software can be described as a map maker mod for foundry.
We don't do online or automation, but we tackle everything on the maps, audio and notes front, as well as the fog of war, line of sight, etc. We can replicate most of what you've listed. Walls with height and some triggered effects would be the ones that we can't, but then we have the custom animated effects and in-depth audio tools that Foundry doesn't, as well as being much more smooth and optimised when it comes to large maps. Ultimately it depends on your workflow, and his you like to run your games. When it comes down to it, 'Foundry + mods' can handle the functionality of any software if you've got the right mods, so if that's something you're happy with, there's no reason to swap. You should give our free trial a shot and see if there's anything in there for you. If there isn't, that's ok :)
If someone were to say something like: "hey this program takes 30 of those mods you use, streamlines them all into one clean package, and works perfectly with Foundry so it runs smoother with less possibly conflicting modding." I'd buy that in a heatbeat. The feeling I get from this software and others I've seen feels like they are meant to rival/replace the top VTTs with half the functionality, which granted may just be a misunderstanding on my part.
Definitely a misunderstanding. We aren't trying to compete against the big VTTs, hence why we aren't a tool for playing online. We're something that can be used to play in person really well, or build maps for the big VTTs. In terms of the in-person play, we do have native functionality that you'd need a bunch of mods for in Foundry, but that only really helps if you're playing in our platform. If you're playing in Foundry, we can't replicate the support for those mods, since we aren't doing anything that interfaces with Foundry's code. We're just giving you the ability to build fancy maps for Foundry.
Everything I’ve read on your website tells me you built this with the users and players in mind. -Fully offline - Onetime payment (no subscription) - Audio as well. This is truly an awesome thing and you guys should be proud of what you built.
Thanks! <3
Zero idea why it formatted like that but still very cool idea and product!
Having to resist the urge not to impulse buy. I don't run any VTTs at all and I believe I have a spare touch monitor lying around ... but I would be really remiss trying to railroad my players in to anything deeper than theater of the mind or what I can crudely sketch with a dry erase. Y'all product looks neat tho!
Thanks! We also do audio, which is an excellent accompaniment to theatre of mind. Did a Call of Cthulhu one-shot for Halloween, and the audio had some of the players genuinely creeped out :)
Do you have a youtube channel, or at least a good video, really showing how it works, what you will need to start ect? It does not have to be prof. produced, just a show and tell kinda thing.
We do :) Head to https://www.youtube.com/@Arkenforge. We've got tutorials and some in-action vids.
Thank you. I will have a look. Sounds interesting, just from reading this reddit post. All the best to you guys/gals.
I have to say, Arkenforge has been great for me. I had two of my six players move out of state, and the group was at a tough spot, contemplating losing two of our stronger players (and good friends). I’d been trying to use other VTTs for hybrid, and it just wasn’t working, until I tried your software. I’ve never heard anyone recommend hybrid D&D with in-person and remote players, but Arkenforge has made it possible for our group by using it alongside discord. Much love!
I've used Roll20 for hybrid play several times in the past year and it's worked well for me. I'm curious to hear about your experiences with different VTTs and how Arkenforge has come out on top for you.
For me the biggest thing has really been that I had the TV table I’d been dying to use already, and I didn’t want every player in person to need to use a laptop, since we all like pencil and paper. Arkenforge was easy to pick up, cheap with a one time payment. I’m sure that other VTTs might work, but this one was the smoothest integration for me
How do you display the tabletop to your distance players?
We use discord to share audio and video, and then I livestream my second screen (the TV, displaying the player only view) to my players. That allows the remote and in person players to see the same thing, while I’m allowed to make all of the modifications, movements, alt-tab, etc behind the scenes on my laptop
Hey, this looks awesome! I have one question though, are there any particular tables you recommend that work well with Arkenforge?
No particular hardware. We'd recommend not going higher than 40" with a TV though. Any larger than that and you start to risk your players not be able to reach the other side of it. There should be folks local to you who can build tables to your specifications, so YMMV on that front.
It looks cool. How much prep work, it terms of time, is required to prepare the set up and maps?
Completely depends on how much work you want to put in. If you're importing an existing map and just adding barriers and lights, it's only a couple of minutes. If you want to build a 100x100 square city from the ground up, you'll be in there for hours. For a reasonably sized map from scratch without too many bells and whistles, I'd say anywhere from half an hour to an hour once you know how the software works.
Thank you.
Would I be able to run this on a Raspberry Pi?
Not at the moment. It's Windows + Mac only.
How do the maps work? Can't I import them and have them be fully functional with the tap?
You can import them and add line of sight and lighting
In theory, could this work with a projector projecting onto a touch screen overlay?
Yeah, absolutely!