Some questions of using the tabletop.

H there, Im setting up a Fate campaign in and got together with the players a few nights back. We really struggled with how to do, what I thought would be, some very basic things with the Tabletop. * I wanted to put some text as some kind of Sticky note which I couyld create and everyone could edit. The text for maps seems to be a transparent block with no options and not ediable by players. * I was hoping there would be some basic tokens like beads or chits that we could use as Fate Points. Do I have to make my own? I'd thought that the "tabletop" would be a useful space for players and GMs to share stuff in a visual way, but it seems to be very heavily aimed at drawing combat map for games like D&D. We really struggled to get any use out of the tabletop. Am I missing something?

Yes. You will get better at doing anything-tabletop once you get a little more familiar with the options and take some prep time for set-up and learning as needed per-game-style. So basically Roll20 really is set up as a "system agnostic", general tabletop. Because of this you do need to tweak some settings and prep some set-up for playing any particular type of game that has different needs in terms of tokens, boards, text, pictures, cards, points, ammo, whatever different pieces you need to set up to make the blank tabletop, into your game. Sticky note -- make a "Handout" under the Journals tab, GM can designate that this handout can be edited by everyone. The GM can also force the handout to "Show To Players", or just tell them where to reference it whenever they want, depending on your game's needs. Tokens generic --- just search in the Art library (as GM under Art tab). You can find hundreds of free ones from around the web. You can also access ones for free, or for purchase in the Roll20 Marketplace. Personally I bought a nice set of A-B-C-D-E-F-G tokens from the Marketplace for around $2. I've used them for many hours of gameplay. The price was worth it. Still, you have the free option of importing your own tokens and images from anything you've got, you make, or you find elsewhere. That happens under the Art tab, click the Star, then click UPLOAD. To sum up: Get free tokens in the art tab; Upload your own tokens for free; or buy $2 generic tokens that supports Roll20 artists. Other chits etc -- you might want to look into Rollable Tables, and also Card Decks, as one of those might help in what you want. One more advisement, read in the Wiki. There are "tips and tricks" for a number of games, and someone may have written hints for the kind of game you want to set up.

This is how I set up a landing page when I was running a Fate game: If you'd like the tokens, let me know and I'll send you a link to my Google Drive. That way, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. I also have a post-it note graphic you could put on to the table top and then write over - however, I think that if I were to run a Fate game again I'd probably just stick to journal entries that are viewable and editable by all players. 90% of the game was spent on the landing page when I was running the game but making liberal use of handouts to keep the game interesting. On the rare occasions that zones or heavy combat came into play, I used a blank background page and just sketched out zones as needed.

Thanks for the replys Gold and Dave D, I must admit, at this stage I'm struggling to see the value that the table top brings to an online gaming session. It seems like I'd only use it for a shared whiteboard at best. When I see all the stuff to do with range calculations, dynamic lighting and Fog of war, and yet I can't do some very basic things, it seems like Roll20 isn't really built for the sort of game I want to run or play in, which is a shame, because the few features I need are very simple.

Frank H. said: H there, Im setting up a Fate campaign in and got together with the players a few nights back. We really struggled with how to do, what I thought would be, some very basic things with the Tabletop. * I wanted to put some text as some kind of Sticky note which I couyld create and everyone could edit. The text for maps seems to be a transparent block with no options and not ediable by players. * I was hoping there would be some basic tokens like beads or chits that we could use as Fate Points. Do I have to make my own? I'd thought that the "tabletop" would be a useful space for players and GMs to share stuff in a visual way, but it seems to be very heavily aimed at drawing combat map for games like D&D. We really struggled to get any use out of the tabletop. Am I missing something? While the text you create can't be edited by other players, the other players can create text of their own. Or, you could have a separate "sticky" for each player, or you could use Handouts as Gold suggests. You can make your own, or you can just search for something on the web from the Art Library tab. Another option besides making a bunch of tokens would be to make a card deck with the image you want, and set it to be an infinite deck, then deal those "cards" to the players. As far as what you can use the tabletop for, I've seen a number of GMs -- both for tactical combat games like D&D and for more story-focused games like FATE -- set a background image to the tabletop to set the mood. You could, for example, have a page in the campaign for each major location, and switch pages as the players move around. You could even create a little sticky note in the corner reminding them of the Aspects for that location.

Frank H. said: I must admit, at this stage I'm struggling to see the value that the table top brings to an online gaming session. It seems like I'd only use it for a shared whiteboard at best...it seems like Roll20 isn't really built for the sort of game I want to run or play in, which is a shame, because the few features I need are very simple. I hear you - when I was running a Fate game, where Roll20 shined was in having an active community to draw from with a userbase largely familiar with the VTT and the system we were playing. Have you looked into dedicated online white boards like Twiddla? For what you want -and with a group already established- that might suit your needs better. Twiddla specifically is very user friendly and a bit more intuitive and handy than Roll20 is in some situations.

Kristin, Thanks for the tips on using a Card deck for fate points. Also the video was very useful indeed. I'll see if I can set up a tabletop using these features for my next game.

Those tips look like they will work great for savage worlds also.