Battlegrounds is a virtual tabletop for playing pen-and-paper RPGs online. It’s set for release by July of 2006, and it looks pretty robust. (It also just looks pretty, too.)
At $29.95 for the GM Client and $14.95 for each Player Client (which I think is how it works), it isn’t cheap — but if you’re interested in visually appealing internet gaming, it’s definitely worth a look.
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I’ve been following heruca’s progress with Battlegrounds for a while now. It looks interesting and heruca is fairly creative.
While I don’t want to discourage anyone from any form of internet gaming, if you can’t wait for the release, or you want something that is more established, I have been playing with Fantasy Grounds for over a year. It is a well developed and supported system that has a great community of users.
I normally don’t make “alternative” posts, I thought that with this being such a friendly site, I would feel bad if I didn’t mention my experience to all of you. (Martin, you should let me know if this post wasn’t appreciated!)
In any event, take a close look at any system you select because there are differences that affect the quality of the virtual tabletop gaming experience.
Thanks for the writeup, Martin. I really appreciate it. Being a new startup company with no advertising budget, every bit of exposure really helps.
I want to point out that Battlegrounds isn’t just for online play. It can also be used in face-to-face game sessions with a projector or large TV.
I also wanted to mention that the Player client is actually only $12.95 right now, and a 5-pack of Floating Licenses are $57 ($11.40 each). Players can play for free with just the unlicensed Demo, if the GM has an available Floating License installed.
Here’s a price comparison to put this into perspective.
GM Client (or equivalent):
Battlegrounds, $29.95
KloogeWerks, $30.00
Fantasy Grounds, $34.95
ScreenMonkey, $34.95
Player Client (or equivalent):
Battlegrounds, $12.95
KloogeWerks, $15.00
Fantasy Grounds, $19.95
ScreenMonkey, free for players
* Battlegrounds, KloogeWerks and Fantasy Grounds all offer discounts for large orders.
Ramza: Post comments are for all sorts of things, and your discussion of one of the alternatives to BG was certainly welcome. 🙂
Heruca: No problem — it looks like a pretty good setup, and I thought it would be a topic of interest for TT readers.
Thanks for expanding on the pricing scheme — and pointing out BG’s utility for tabletop play, too. 🙂