Call of Cthulhu online options: Roll20 v. others. Question for experienced online Keepers

[ulf]

Hi all! 

I'm an old school GM of a few systems and love CoC. I've finally convinced my old gaming group to jump in to one of the three most epic CoC campaigns (Masks -which I've played, Beyond MoM - which I've GMed about 20 years ago, and Orient Express - which I'm sure I'll eventually tackle) and am looking for the best way to run this online.

I should mention my preference for "best": not gonna break the bank, fairly easy for me to run, but especially easy to navigate and immersive for my players.

I've mainly been using roll20 over the years and have seen a number of Twitch streams with GMs running CoC with lots of maps and interactive features. Have any of you done this?

I'm comparing that to the official packages from Chaosium for Masks and Orient Express on Fantasy Grounds (which I haven't tried yet), and they look great in terms of packaging and unifying everything, and presenting attractive online searchable 'props' for players.

Would love your advice on how to create the best environment for my players to play in while it doesn't overwhelm me with lots of uploading and resizing.

*I have an original module of Beyond MoM which was the first choice of my players, but know Chaosium doesn't really have it on the radar for reprinting/online play. So maybe there are some pre-existing places I could get resources for that one too? Otherwise more than happy to run one of the other two.

There may be other followup questions but appreciate any help here. I'm on a Mac using Monterey.



Thanks!

[Vellcrow]

I recently ran The Lightless Beacon over Roll20 using maps from Lovemaps.  The scenario incorporated some background music and sound effects, along with some custom tokens and handouts.

[AeonDez]

I use Discord exclusively.

We have one category with multiple channels. There's a voice channel, a dice-rolling/bot channel, a general chat channel, and a "support materials" channel where all the documentation but none of the chatter goes. Support material is used for uploading character sheets at the end of a session, uploading any visual aids/props, and any text from things like journals.

I have used roll20 and other similar tools in the past but prefer to avoid them for my games. I strongly believe that the less things there are to click around on, the better the experience is. Finished 3 campaigns in 3 years, mostly with the same players, and none of them have any major complaints. (Two-Headed Serpent, Cold Fire Within, and Shadows Over Stillwater)

Edited August 6, 2022 by AeonDez

[Starthree16]

If you are going to use a virtual table top I would go with Fantasy Grounds over Roll 20.  I have used it for D&D, Pathfinder2E, and Call of Cthulhu and it is way easier (at least in my opinion) to use than Roll 20.