You sent a missive out to your circle members, and they’re ready to convene at 6 p.m. on Thursdays starting two weeks from today. The Face has even offered to DoorDash you a pizza! However, as you assemble your campaign notes, there’s one thing left to investigate before you begin your campaign with a new group of StartPlaying TTRPG enthusiasts: which virtual tabletop will work best for your table? Despite limited options for virtual tabletops supporting Candela Obscura, I think all three options ahead are strong contenders depending on your style as a Game Master and your players' needs.

Demiplane - Best Character Creator

As strictly a digital library_, you can’t beat Demiplane right now as one of the two officially supported sources for Candela Obscura digital content. Their character creation for Candela Obscura is the easiest to navigate. Demiplane’s character creator walks players through creation step-by-step, and displays each step’s criteria, so there is no confusion for players about where to distribute points. Each step concisely delivers instructions and breaks down the process in phases so even the greenest of investigators won’t feel overwhelmed creating their first character in the system.

Demiplane also offers a video chat service with integrated tools like displaying character rolls, chat feeds, and a shared journal system. In my opinion, they have the best digital character sheets of any online option for Candela Obscura in 2025, but the service has one major drawback for some Game Masters. Demiplane cannot display visuals of any kind. Because of this, if you’re relying on Demiplane alone for your game, you won’t be able to display any maps or visuals for your players. For those planning to use theater of the mind as their primary method of play, this isn’t a big deal. But if maps are what you’re needing, the next option may be a better fit for your virtual tabletop needs.

Roll20 - Official Support With Maps Included

Roll20 is the second officially supported digital resource for Candela Obscura. If you need maps or visuals for your game, they’ll be the best option for you at this time. Their interface has gotten a few upgrades recently, including the ability to make maps quickly on the fly with Dungeon Scrawl integration for those times when your investigation takes an unexpected turn, thanks to player choices. You can also assign your music files to specific maps or use the built-in player to switch between tracks, deepening player immersion in the game.

Like with Demiplane, Roll20 has built-in video chat, which minimizes the number of windows you need to have open and extra services you need to pay for. With content integration on the horizon between Roll20 and Demiplane, it may become a moot point to worry about which is the better option for your table. As of right now cross platform integration is available for three systems, and as they work out the bugs, I have no doubt the other titles that both resources share will eventually be integrated as well, including Candela Obscura.

Foundry VTT - Customization

The final contender for your consideration is Foundry. While the Candela Obscura module for Foundry does not have official support, it is a consistently maintained resource for the most basic aspects of the game, with its last update being one month ago as of the writing of this post. The module only contains the basic character creation options found in the Candela Obscura Quickstart Guide, so if you choose to use it, you’ll need to input a lot of information on your own. But if you’re willing to put in the work on your own, it is a more customizable virtual tabletop compared to Roll20, and it doesn’t require a subscription for storage.

Once you purchase the software for $50, it’s yours. Players can access your instance of the Foundry virtual tabletop while the software is up and running with a peer-to-peer connection without needing to purchase it themselves. If your internet service’s speeds can’t support a peer-to-peer connection with four or more players, or you to have the flexibility of players accessing the virtual tabletop without your PC needing to be on and running Foundry, there is the option to use the Foundry in conjunction with a cloud hosting service for a monthly fee like The Forge. 

Which Would You Choose?

For me, Demiplane is the best choice for my personal use case, mainly because I prefer their character sheet format over Roll20’s. Sometimes it is just about getting the vibes right, ya know? There are a few other considerations for my use case. I like to stick to officially supported virtual tabletops for nearly every system I run; they tend to have fewer bugs, and I don’t have to worry about obsolescence as the virtual tabletop developers improve their product over time.

Unlike my crunchy, combat-heavy campaigns, I never feel the need to have maps for Candela Obscura, so it’s not a feature I desire when considering which digital environment I’m going to invest in. I can easily share the few visuals my players need via our Discord group chat or in a Google Drive link. And if at the end of this wall of text, if you disagree with me on the best option, that’s fine! What best supports the needs of the investigators of your circle is something only you and your players can decide.

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Sara Roberts is a TTRPG content creator best known for their immersive storytelling as the GM of the Luck & Chaos podcast and original TTRPG character cosplay content on TikTok and Instagram.