This post is more of a note to myself to remind me later… but I figured I’d share the discoveries with my limited audience as well…

What do you do if your gaming friends are spread too far apart to get together and join in on a game? Or you just don’t have a local group? Virtual Tabletops on the Internet is becoming more and more popular. Some people just use Skype or Google Plus Hangouts, but the virtual tabletops add a few extra elements.

There are many to pick from, but for this article I am going to focus on two newer ones.

Roll20. Available as a free version which will work for most players, though GMs will probably want to get the paid version. This has a built in video/chat function, or you can integrate it with Google Plus Hangouts (which is apparently more stable at the moment). Can handle card games as well, though really, I’d probably stick with OCTGN for virtual card games that don’t have dedicated apps. It can also apparently handle board games as well.

Tabletop Connect 3D. Available now via Kickstarter. Near as I can tell this will cost a little bit even from basic players. However, this tabletop seems to be much closer to what I had in mind if I was a good enough programmer to make one myself. It adds a 3D element, and some other features that make it likely to become the king, though Roll20 is more full featured right now. I don’t know if they are going to expand to include support for modern designer board games or if they are going to be strictly a RPG type virtual tabletop. Well worth checking out though.

Both are well worth checking out if you need a way to play D&D, Pathfinder, Star Wars: Edge of the Empire or the like over a virtual table. There are many others out there, but these seem to be the two big rising stars of the moment.