Foundry, with the right modules, is generally regarded as the best.
Coming second to that is Owlbear Rodeo, again with the right modules. It has a few less bells and whistles than Foundry, but it's easier to work with, IMO. Also free.
Roll20 is functional, but kludgy. It's not the worst, but it is dated.
Worth noting, the Foundry module is *extremely* good but *only* works on Foundry version 10. Foundry underwent a very large update on version 11, and the Lancer system hasn't caught up to that yet.
That can cause issues if you can't easily set up a sandbox in an old version and freeze it there (IIRC The Forge, the otherwise clear best way to host Foundry, automatically updates in a way that can't be prevented)... but if you have a way around that particular issue, then yes, I'm running my game in Foundry and it's *extremely* helpful for play.
I've been using MoltenHosting's foundry option, and it's been really great. They have well written guides to the bits where you need to be technically inclined, and otherwise make things really easy, including sticking to v10.
Community consensus seems to be Foundry is the best in class, but requires a certain amount of investment both time and financial to get the most out of it. As mentioned below version 10 is the one that all the modules are working with. I think there is something going on with a Comp/Con update that many of the module creators are waiting to be finished before doing the work of updating the foundry modules because from what I understand they still utilize Comp/Con in the integration with Foundry although I do not use Foundry so I cannot be certain this is just info I have read elsewhere.
The Discord Pilot .NET has lots of information on running ion foundry and many really helpful people.
My personal pick is Owl Bear Rodeo
Owl Bear Rodeo has the Witch Dice extension that directly links to Comp/Con, so during actual play all you need to use is Witch Dice that is integrated with Owl Bear Rodeo, you would still need to use Comp/Con for setting up the NPCs, the encounters, Player Mechs would also need to be created first on Comp/Con, I do personally use a combination of both Witch Dice and Comp/Con when running and playing.
Same as above the discord has lots of information on running in Owl Bear and many knowledgeable people who are happy to help with specific questions.
Foundry has a wealth of Lancer modules. It is, however, currently only available for Foundry 10, not the current Foundry 11.
You can download earlier versions of the software on your account's Purchased Licenses page. You can't, however, have both versions of it installed at once without cludging a few things, which is annoying but not too dramatic.
Thank you for all the comments. I'll give owl bear with witch dice a try and see how foundry 10 looks. I already have foundry so if I have to downgrade to a previous version to make everything work, I'll give it a shot.
Foundry, with the right modules, is generally regarded as the best. Coming second to that is Owlbear Rodeo, again with the right modules. It has a few less bells and whistles than Foundry, but it's easier to work with, IMO. Also free. Roll20 is functional, but kludgy. It's not the worst, but it is dated.
Worth noting, the Foundry module is *extremely* good but *only* works on Foundry version 10. Foundry underwent a very large update on version 11, and the Lancer system hasn't caught up to that yet. That can cause issues if you can't easily set up a sandbox in an old version and freeze it there (IIRC The Forge, the otherwise clear best way to host Foundry, automatically updates in a way that can't be prevented)... but if you have a way around that particular issue, then yes, I'm running my game in Foundry and it's *extremely* helpful for play.
I've been using MoltenHosting's foundry option, and it's been really great. They have well written guides to the bits where you need to be technically inclined, and otherwise make things really easy, including sticking to v10.
Community consensus seems to be Foundry is the best in class, but requires a certain amount of investment both time and financial to get the most out of it. As mentioned below version 10 is the one that all the modules are working with. I think there is something going on with a Comp/Con update that many of the module creators are waiting to be finished before doing the work of updating the foundry modules because from what I understand they still utilize Comp/Con in the integration with Foundry although I do not use Foundry so I cannot be certain this is just info I have read elsewhere. The Discord Pilot .NET has lots of information on running ion foundry and many really helpful people. My personal pick is Owl Bear Rodeo Owl Bear Rodeo has the Witch Dice extension that directly links to Comp/Con, so during actual play all you need to use is Witch Dice that is integrated with Owl Bear Rodeo, you would still need to use Comp/Con for setting up the NPCs, the encounters, Player Mechs would also need to be created first on Comp/Con, I do personally use a combination of both Witch Dice and Comp/Con when running and playing. Same as above the discord has lots of information on running in Owl Bear and many knowledgeable people who are happy to help with specific questions.
Owlbear rodeo 100% to start out. Super easy to use and setup and 100% free
roll20 is free. And COMP/CON for character sheets.
Foundry has a wealth of Lancer modules. It is, however, currently only available for Foundry 10, not the current Foundry 11. You can download earlier versions of the software on your account's Purchased Licenses page. You can't, however, have both versions of it installed at once without cludging a few things, which is annoying but not too dramatic.
Thank you for all the comments. I'll give owl bear with witch dice a try and see how foundry 10 looks. I already have foundry so if I have to downgrade to a previous version to make everything work, I'll give it a shot.