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Ember, Crucible, and V13!
🕑 Added 2024-09-29 15:05:53 +0000 UTC
Hello wonderful Patrons. Andrew here to share some news with you all about Ember, about Crucible, and about Foundry Virtual Tabletop version 13. I want to start by thanking you all so much for your unwavering support of Foundry Virtual Tabletop. I am a bit embarrassed to not post here on Patreon more frequently, so I want to begin by assuring each of you how meaningful your support here has been for our development.
Foundry VTT Version 13 Progress
Our team is working hard on Version 13 which focuses on innovation for our measurement systems with a brand new core ruler approach heavily inspired by the popular Drag Ruler module. This new approach to measurement includes support for 3d coordinates (with an elevation dimension) and allows measuring distance or planning movement which incorporates elevation difference into its accurate measurement and handling.
Furthermore, we are working on an overarching redesign of our user interface. At a technical level this involves migrating and converting our applications to use the new ApplicationV2 framework. At a visual level, it involves refining the UI/UX of those applications as we go to make them more intuitive, consistent, localization friendly, and accessibility-enabled. The V13 user interface is more minimalistic. UI elements have a smaller profile and fade away when “at rest” - while elements are slightly larger and more spaciously arranged when actively in use.
ABOVE: A screenshot of the V13 UI showcasing more minimalistic interface elements that fade away when not in use. The Calendar bar at the top of the screen is a feature added by Ember.
Patreon supporter funds have contributed towards the budget for bringing additional Foundry VTT core development resources on-board including Eber (dev7355608) who is currently masterminding our core Drag Ruler implementation for V13 and Richard (stwlam) who is contributing to our ongoing V13 ApplicationV2 redesign and ensuring Pathfinder 2e support for of our V13 changes. This work is really meaningful and continues to make Foundry VTT better in major ways, so thank you all for your generosity in making that happen.
Ember - A Digital Roleplaying Game
Ember is an online tabletop roleplaying game of unprecedented scope from the creators of Foundry Virtual Tabletop. Ember is a game of open-world exploration in an imaginative fantasy setting featuring an epic-length campaign, groundbreaking features, and game systems designed for online play for a Gamemaster and group of players.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/foundryvtt/ember-rpg
Ember is an online tabletop roleplaying game which is a hybrid between a tabletop RPG and a multiplayer digital game. It has all the elements of a traditional pen and paper RPG but is enhanced with features inspired by video games to create a compelling hybrid of dynamic gameplay and a classical foundation. It is a collaborative storytelling experience for a gamemaster and group of players. Ember has been made specifically to be played online in Foundry Virtual Tabletop and has a ton of additional features, systems, and mechanics to facilitate and enhance gameplay.
There are two ways to play Ember; using the familiar Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition ruleset or using the innovative digital roleplaying system Crucible developed exclusively for Foundry Virtual Tabletop. If you’re interested in seeing a sample of what Ember is all about, there is no better explanation than to watch our wonderful limited series in collaboration with the Glass Cannon Network. This 4 episode series provides an unfiltered look at Ember gameplay starting at the beginning of Chapter 1.
https://youtu.be/CYj0b3aLewg?si=TgOvs-MuUMb3vOSO
Ember is live NOW on Kickstarter until 11am Eastern time on Thursday, October 3, 2024. By supporting this Kickstarter campaign you will receive the full Ember game - added to your Foundry Virtual Tabletop user account - as soon as it is complete along with lifetime access to patches, content updates, and customer support.
Crucible Alpha Playtest
A few days ago I finally finished work on the V12 overhaul of the Crucible game system. As many of you know, development of the Crucible system is one of the items directly sponsored by the generosity of you here on Patreon. While it’s important for me to acknowledge that I have not met my own expectations for timeliness on this project, I am absolutely still working on it and the new V12 version of Crucible is a huge step forward for the system.
This new version adds a rebalanced action economy, an expanded talent tree, new specialized grid measurement and movement mechanics, iconic spells as part of the spellcraft system, heroism which can be spent on high-impact actions, and a comprehensive UI overhaul that brings the entire system into the ApplicationV2 framework under a consistent Crucible theme.
ABOVE: The redesigned Crucible character sheet in the Version 12 Alpha playtest.
As many of you know, another HUGE announcement for Crucible is that it will be officially supported for Ember. I am so excited about this, and I really believe that Crucible+Ember will be a remarkable accomplishment in the roleplaying space.
If you would like to learn more about Crucible, there are a few great resources that I can refer you towards. Firstly, a survey article that highlights the major features and design principles of the game system. Secondly, a deep-dive stream and audience Q&A from last Friday provides a visual walkthrough of all of the system’s major components.
https://youtu.be/fyvD7mAK0mM?si=SwHO9pLhkYeOkaHV
Crucible is available to be installed as a game system in Foundry Virtual Tabletop version 12. If you create a world using Crucible, you can import the “Ring of Valor” playtest from the Playtests compendium pack provided by the system for a hands-on introduction and tutorial to how the system works!
Until Next Time
Let me conclude by reiterating how appreciated your support is for everything the team and I are doing with Foundry Virtual Tabletop, with Ember which I believe can revolutionize the digital TTRPG space, and with Crucible which I hope will be the sort of automated and tactically satisfying game system that so many of you have expressed interest in. Please keep in touch and let me know in the comments here or in Discord what you think about these projects and if there are any questions that I can answer for you.
Thank you for your support!
Comments
Foundry Virtual Tabletop
Hey Christopher, thanks so much for your positivity and interest in getting involved. It's too late for the Kickstarter BUT Ember is available for pre-order from our official marketplace at https://www.foundryvtt.store/products/ember-early-access This gets you "Early Access" which is anticipated to begin in late December (our original target date) or early 2026 (if there is a delay).
Christopher Sloan
I just joined Patreon a few days ago. Is there gonna be an chance to late pledge for Ember? That concept is fantastic and would love to be involved at the least as a backer if not as an investor. I absolutely love Foundry - but would love some help with becoming better with it. I've been a GM for 40ish years but still getting up to speed using VTT and other electronic sources as far as running games.
T Wolli
Crucible is now in open beta as a system, and I really wish more energy would be invested in finalizing it soon. I confess, I even joined the Patreon specifically to test the system in the closed beta back then. I think it's an excellent system, and initial tests have convinced me that I'd gladly start a campaign in it. Unfortunately, it's not ready enough for me to dare to at the current time. I'm still missing a few functions (a button on the character sheet for recovery/rest phases, cantrips like "Light" or "Identify Magic," or even the option to level up to 18 or more). Even if it's not nearing completion yet, I'd appreciate a roadmap or at least more input. The last post about Crucible was from September 2024 – I'd really like to see more.
Foundry Virtual Tabletop
A great many features initially prototyped and developed in the context of Ember will ultimately become core Foundry VTT features. Some have already - like the SceneManager API or support for animated doors. Others will be coming to core later - for example we are using Ember to prototype the Scene Levels feature that will be a flagship component of core Foundry V14.
T Wolli
Just an idea: Is it possible to create a (paid) construction kit for those who want to use the functions but not the setting itself?
T Wolli
Hello Ember-Team, I (unfortunately) have to admit that I wasn't convinced by Ember as a setting. It was too colourful for me, too much like a computer game and so on, BUT I think many elements of Ember are great. For example, the token- or the map-generator. With my group, we're playing in our own setting and will then switch to Crusible as our system at the start of the next campaign. Now it would be interesting to know whether the generators will also be available as stand-alone modules or whether new races can be added to Ember in order to adapt them to our setting. We would then use Ember as a construction kit for our own setting, but not the game world itself. Thanks in advance for your feedback! Best regards Torsten
Shay Solo
Very excited for V13!!
Foundry Virtual Tabletop
The technical features of the maps in Ember (using GPU-optimized textures, built-in interactivity and animations, etc...) mean that they require the underlying JavaScript support that the Ember module provides. That means that they will only be usable in the game systems that the Ember module can be activated for (dnd5e or crucible). Sorry :(
Justin K
On the subject of boundaries for Ember, fair enough if Vistas aren't going to be translatable from one system to another. What about the battlemaps themselves? I like many folks have moved away from 5e in the last year or two to PF2E. I know it was an open question whether the entire ember system would be ported over to PF2E or not, but will there be a compendium of system-agnostic maps to import into other systems?
paercebal
@marco neumann : Exactly. Just having a core set of features, like the one I proposed would be enough. Then, it would be easy for mods creators to try to experiment with it.
paercebal
I believe battlemaps and the vistas I envision (perhaps naively) should be very similar, with the following differences: 1 - You cannot zoom a vista. You are constrained to something like the css property "object-fit : constrain" (or cover) for the background. 2 - actors could have a third (optional) image, in addition to the portrait and the token, called "avatar" that would be used in the context of a Vista (like a token is in a battlemap). In addition to moving around the "avatar", maybe the gamemaster could zoom in/out that "avatar" with the scroll button of the mouse for convenience 3 - optional: A bubble could be used when a specific actor speaks, or even could be used to convey the mood. This feature would enable the gamemaster to show something akin to visual novels, like Vampire: The Masquerade: Cotteries of New York. Of course, the gamemaster still have to find and potentially customize the art, but this is already what is done with battlemaps, and tokens, so this is nothing new, I believe.
Marco Neumann
Regarding Vistas: I'm wondering if there are authoring / creation tools and maybe a dedicated scene type that would help others to create something like that, even without a core set of artwork. I think that the creation of theatre-like scenes (especially for theatre of the Mind) is rather hacky in Foundry.
Foundry Virtual Tabletop
Hey paercebal, it's not *entirely* clear to us yet either where we are going to draw these boundaries. Many of the features we have developed in Ember like the Vista System, Dynamic Tokens, or region map features are very heavily integrated into the structure and assets we have *in Ember*. The Vista System, for example, wouldn't provide any value to anyone without the beautiful artwork assets that have to be created in a very specific and specialized way to work within that system. A core offering of Vistas would either be provided without any artwork at all - which would feel very unsatisfying - or would require developing a core set of visual assets which would be expensive in terms of cost and time. To paraphrase all that - it's very complicated. A project like Ember gives us a platform and opportunity to do these features which might not exist otherwise.
Foundry Virtual Tabletop
Yes of course! That's right here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/foundryvtt/ember-rpg
paercebal
Hello, It is not clear to me if some generic features from Ember (like the Vistas), will be available in FoundryVTT, as a separate (potentially paid, which is ok to me) module, or if it is available only within Ember. In my personal case, I have an ongoing campaign, so there's no way I'll switch to Ember, and I would really like Vistas (to replace my default welcome battlemap, as well as the "scene battlemaps" I use to simulate Vistas since years ago. Anyways, thanks for all the work you and your team are doing on FoundryVTTn giving the whole RPG community a viable, standalone software (instead of a "live-service" that seems to pollute the software worlds today). Thanks,
J Subscribes
Is there a link to the Kickstart for Ember?
