Mirrorscape’s open-licence rival to D&D’s virtual tabletop wants to be “the Apple of VTTs”
Launching into open beta next month.
Upcoming virtual tabletop Mirrorscape plans to offer a polished, approachable experience for playing RPGs online that goes far beyond just Dungeons & Dragons.
The virtual tabletop platform is designed with mobile as its focus, centring on an app that allows players to track their character’s stats and roll dice on a digital table. Its team of indie developers includes celebrity D&D fan - and occasional Critical Role guest star - Joe Manganiello as creative director.
As well as tools familiar from popular virtual tabletops such as Roll20, Mirrorscape also supports the use of augmented reality, allowing players to view a 3D layout of the table - complete with dice, terrain and miniatures - via their phone screen or a compatible headset. The virtual setup can be viewed from any angle or distance, tracking the players’ respective positions around the table whether they’re in the same room or not.
“Since we’re mobile-first, you can pick up your game session from last weekend no matter where you are and play with your friends either around the table or around the world,” Mirrorscape founder Grant Anderson tells Dicebreaker.
“Since it’s digital you can build bigger than you ever could have before, much more economically, with no setup or cleanup, and always ready to drop on your table no matter where you are. You can still play around the table and have the best part of RPGs - roleplaying with your friends - as you’re around the table with them.”
The platform will include virtual recreations of physical miniatures, terrain and dice offered by accessories makers such as Dwarven Forge, Fat Dragon Games, Reaper Minis and Norse Foundry, allowing players to use the same pieces in real life and on-screen.
As well as digitised products from established companies such as these, everyday users will be able to create custom 3D maps, campaigns and adventures, as well as virtual accessories such as dice and miniatures, and offer them for sale via a dedicated marketplace.
“We’ve always known that we can’t do everything or create it all,” Anderson says. “We are a creator platform for tabletop gameplay. Over time, our users will be able to provide most, if not all, of the content they create for sale on our marketplace and participate monetarily. Our success is their success and vice versa.”
Mirrorscape believes it’s this level of freedom that will allow its platform to stand out against the likes of the official D&D virtual tabletop, which is due to launch a playtest later this year. While D&D will unsurprisingly be supported by Mirrorscape, the platform as a whole will be open-licence - allowing any RPG to be supported, including homebrew rulesets.
Just as important is the platform’s ease of accessibility in allowing anyone to create custom content - from sculpting 3D terrain to ‘painting’ miniatures - which Anderson says is a key focus.
“We want to make this all drop dead easy for anyone to do,” Anderson says. “We want to be the Apple of VTTs or, more clearly, ATTs (Augmented Reality Tabletops). We want to provide simple, easy-to-use tools for all our creators to tell their stories and provide unique, immersive gameplay experiences wherever they may be in authentic 3D using the magic of augmented reality.”
Having been in closed beta for the last six months, Mirrorscape plans to launch an open beta for the platform towards the end of June, allowing anyone to give it a go.
Beyond the beta launch on Android and iOS, the studio’s roadmap includes weather and spell effects, interactive terrain, automated combat and initiative, and a ‘lifescale’ mode that allows players to explore the virtual world from their character’s point of view. Once the app has launched on mobile, a PC version is planned for the future, along with expanded support for additional AR headsets.