What is Enhanced Tabletop RPG?

Explaining Infinite Realms

What is ETT on YouTube Play
What is ETT on YouTube
Today I’ll show you how to enhance your tabletop RPG experience using Infinite Realms with immersive and handy tools for your classic 2D maps, animated video maps and our all-new ultra-flexible 3d maps!

As a Dungeon Master for over 30 years, I’ve been faced with the same question over and over again: how do I provide my players with the most engaging experience at the table? In the absence of suitable media, the answer used to be quite simple. There might have been a self-drawn map or one that came with an adventure. Otherwise, it was all based on the narrative talent of the Dungeon Master and the imagination of the players. This should be essentially the same today, of course - but to get everyone on the same page, handouts and, especially in battles, the most detailed possible representation of the situation on the map are worth their weight in gold! Not to mention that atmospheric images and a musical background can work wonders if they are used skillfully.

Infinite Realms Software
I’ve spent a lot of time and energy over the last few years gathering and preparing appropriate media for my RPG sessions. The internet has been a goldmine for me as a supplier of handouts and battlemaps. Especially gifted creators like Syrinscape for sound effects and Dynamic Dungeons for video battlemaps. But I also search the internet for character portraits to breathe life into NPCs or images of monsters for handouts to spark my players’ imagination.

The question that came up for me was how to bring these media to the table as easily as possible. Printing everything out, gluing battlemaps together, and organizing these physical media is quite time-consuming in the long run and takes up valuable time at the table. At the same time you have to play Syrinscape and lead the session. Surely this must be possible in a single software that takes care of the projection of the map on the table and sound effects at the same time?

Wind menu
In addition, there was the problem that prefabricated battlemaps are unfortunately often not flexible enough. Maybe you need the map in a night version, or you would rather have rain or snow instead of sunshine. With better and better maps and media, a certain perfectionism set in at some point. For immersion, it is simply helpful if the battlemap also transports the mood and the situation that I need narratively as a dungeon master.

There are many tools and aids for the dungeon master in the 21st century, there are wonderful sound effects and battlemaps, great virtual tabletop systems - but so far there was nothing that could meet my high demands as a dungeon master on the game at the table!

So I teamed up with my friend and colleague Jan to make exactly this vision come true! We asked ourselves what we were missing to get the perfect, multimedia supported roleplaying session - and without having to compromise on the ease of use!

Fog of War
We wanted to be able to use “classic” media like images and videos in our solution, as well as background music and sound effects. In addition, we wanted to open a completely new chapter in terms of dynamics for the battle maps: Our maps should support time of day and weather effects! All of these media, whether classic or 3D, should also be able to be enhanced with special effects and helpful tools like a customizable grid and an optional fog of war.

We’ve already implemented all of this into Infinite Realms today and look forward to getting this tool into your hands soon! We still have many ideas on how to make Infinite Realms even better, easier and more flexible! And we want to walk this path together with you, our community!

- by Danny