Vorpal Board

Just signed up for Vorpal Board virtual table top. The plan is to use this to run my new campaign group through adventures using the live streaming features and my Dwarven Forge terrain. 

Drawbacks to other VTTs include the amount of time it takes to artistically design maps and other materials to import, or to find some that are close enough to what you want, especially for homebrewed campaigns. That isn't as big a problem when dealing with published campaigns that make their maps compatible with whatever Virtual Table Top you are using, assuming you use one they make their stuff compatible with. 

Vorpal Board overcomes that issue by using your phone camera to display maps or terrain. Users of detailed terrain will be pleased that they can continue to use it and their miniatures even when the game is being played remotely. 

So far, during our testing it was discovered that players can upload things to the viewing area. This needs to be changed to let the host toggle that ability on or off to avoid having unrelated or unwelcome material tossed up on the screen. With limited screen real-estate, limiting crowding is important.

Also the host needs to be able to mute individual players. Someone like me with hearing loss might want to focus on an individual for a moment to make sure I don't miss something important. Also, if a player starts piping in distracting sounds it can be muted for however long is necessary. 

One feature that works great for playing board games is the ability for players to flip over face down cards on the screen. This is problematic for role-playing however since the DM may be keeping prepared elements concealed to prevent spoilers. A toggle off/on option is needed.

While those items might seem to indicate negative aspects, they really aren't a big issue when dealing with friendly and reasonable adults. Hopefully your game group fall into that category.

Something that is a big issue for me is the Mouse-Wheel Mayhem. Vorpal Board unfortunately allows anyone to use their mouse wheel to resize the screen. This would be fine if it only affect the individual user's screen, but no, it affects EVERYONE'S screen. This causes the images on the screen to also be displaced requiring you to arrange them again. Pain in the ass.

Don't let these issues dissuade you from giving Vorpal Board a try. The creators are working to address a lot of the things brought to their attention and I will absolutely be bringing these to their attention.

That said, I look forward to getting going with my new campaign using Vorpal Board.