Are questions about bugs in virtual tabletops (VTTs) on topic?

Question

This question is about a potential bug in someone's Foundry VTT setup for PF2e.

In short, are these kinds of questions about bugs in virtual tabletops (VTTs) on topic?

It seems hard to answer with certainty (it could be an errant mod they're using, or homebrew item), and likely to change over time – but also objectively answerable and potentially useful to future users (depending on the answer).

Answer 1

"It's a bug" is (only) a possible answer

A lot of folks use some kind of tool to help them in play or with character creation/management. And sometimes those throw out results the user doesn't expect or immediately understand.

It's possible the answer is that it's a bug in the tool. If so, answers should be able to demonstrate that (and comments are useful towards clarifying any needed info). It's not the stacks job to identify where the bug is (though if it's a known bug, that's useful for such an answer.), but perhaps helping what is correct and/or how to workaround it.

Another possible answer is that the user as forgotten or missed a rule or character option, which makes it standard fare for us (and it doesn't matter whether it's a digital tool, DM, or some guide or video that's given them conflicting or not understood information).

These questions haven't been a problem before

An example gallery from other tools (in no particular order):

• Is it a bug or intended that Unarmored defense from barbarian and monk do not stack with each other?

• What can limit dex for AC?

• Where did my Human Avenger's bonus at-will go in Wizards' Character Builder?

• Builder lacks artifacts concordance improvement?

• What penalty does a medium load apply to a characters Jump skill?

• Does the bonus action attack from Polearm Master receive the bonus to attack and damage rolls from a magic weapon?

• Unable to use Musical Instrument in Character Builder

• Can a human's bonus at-will power be psionically augmented?

Answer 2

Since March 2020, virtual tools and tabletops are the primary media many people use to engage with our hobby.

No points for guessing why. The fact of the matter is that since COVID began, many people have shifted away from in person games and physical tools to remote games using digital tools. Since 2020, 90% of my games have been virtual, and I’ve quit using paper sheets entirely in favor of D&D Beyond.

Virtual tools are how people engage with our hobby now. It would be tone deaf to the state of the industry to disallow questions about them.

We handle questions about paper sheets, dice, LARP props, miniatures, and battle maps. Why? These are the things people use to engage with the hobby. Why would virtual table tops and digital tool sets be treated differently?

To be clear, I do not mean to say that the recent advent of VTTs changed anything for this question. Online tools have been on topic since the stack's inception. This question from 8 days after the site's launch is about how to use an online tool: How do I manage created content in D&D Character Builder?

Answer 3

Yes....

Let's be perfectly clear about the answer: Yes, these questions are on topic.

1. We have a number of questions on that topic already
2. We have an infrequently used tag for Foundry (the existence of a tag is not absolute proof that something is on topic, but I consider it reasonable evidence that it is or once was. In this case, VTTs are fairly new, so it highly unlikely to be a case of "once was.")
3. They are prominent tools of the hobby, and we handle questions about other such tools and adjacent topics such as dice, statistics, including software such as the Anydice tool; it would be exceedingly strange to exclude VTTs without a good reason.
4. There is no more natural home for them in the stack system at large, that I know of, or that I can imagine short of a specialty stack catering specifically to VTTs.

...As Long As The Ordinary Stack Guidelines Apply

In other words, no shopping list questions, no open-ended debates about which VTT is better, etc.

As we get more of these questions, we will naturally refine what it means to be a "good question" in terms of, say, information required to give a good answer (at a minimum, I would expect "what VTT" and possibly "what plug-ins" and "what RPG") and what specific types of VTT questions can't be answered here, but it is not necessary to determine this right now; frankly, I think it's ill-advised to do so, and better to handle them as we see what types of questions we get.