Astral is a virtual tabletop to rival the likes of Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds. Like Roll20, Astral is browser-based, which means players, DMs and GMs can use it without downloading any extra software.
A recent update puts the focus on what people can upload to Astral. Now it’s possible to upload a PDF or image of the character sheet you want to use in an Astral powered game. This upload could be a scan from the back of a hardback, a screengrab from a DriveThruRPG download and even a standalone PDF supplied by a game studio.
Once uploaded, Astral users, can drag-and-drop interactive fields into place on the character sheet graphic for things like Stats and Actions. As a result, not only does the area on the character sheet become clickable and changeable, it means related rolls can be worked out automatically and displayed to the rest of the group.
The system is in beta and coincides with the launch of an Action Bar update to Astral which makes character actions accessible from the bottom of the game screen. This bar is also a drag-and-drop configurable so that players can slide their favourite character actions into the bar.
Astral CEO Tom Lackemann told press;
Our goal is always to make Astral intuitive and easy to use.”
The Character Sheets tool unlocks powerful automation that works with other Astral features. The process of setting up a sheet is familiar to anyone who has ever created a character for their favorite tabletop roleplaying games.”
Both of these tools were designed to make game play streamlined and more enjoyable/ We want our players and Game Masters to focus more on fun and less on setup.”
Astral has an important partner in the increasingly competitive world of virtual tabletops. They are supported by DriveThruRPG.
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