Do you use Discord and a virtual tabletop even though the VTT has a video chat solution of its own?
Many people do, and that’s sometimes because the virtual tabletop’s video conferencing features aren’t good enough.
SendingStone solves that problem, offering advanced video chat features like AR face masks while also providing the basics of a virtual tabletop. And you can test it for free.
SendingStone is a web-based solution designed to rid you of the jumble of other apps you might use to recreate the tabletop experience online. As it’s web-based, there’s no download.
The site allows users to transform their appearance with augmented reality masks, just as you might find in Snapchat, to better look like their character. The site also supports multi-dimension backgrounds so the storyteller can set the mood for any scene or encounter by switching in an appropriate visual.
There’s a built-in audio ambience system, and you can use it to either overlay sound effects like rain or play background music. All you need is a YouTube URL of the sounds you want. SendingStone also gives the gamemaster the ability to allow, or not, voice chat across the group.
The virtual tabletop itself has maps with tokens, pencils, shapes, and rules, but you can also add videos and live cursors to what players see.
SendingStone doesn’t offer ruleset integration, which is often legally complex, but does offer a forked Beyond20 extension. The standard Beyond20 will not work with SendingStone. At least, it does not yet.
If you’ve already tried SendingStone, it may be worth checking out again as there have been recent improvements. The changelog shows changes such as adding notes on the tabletop, beginning with the camera off, toggle off GFX, a token search or cycle between map grid dots, squares, or turning it off.
Free trial rooms in SendingStone last 30 minutes, which isn’t long enough for a game, might be for a scene and certainly is to get a good feel for it.
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