An Owlbear Rodeo alternative for when you need more than the map
Owlbear Rodeo is the cleanest shared battlemap in the hobby. Drop a map, add tokens, share a link, play. No accounts for players, loads in seconds. If that's all your group needs, stay there; it's excellent at it.
The short version
Owlbear: free for a lot, $5 and $15 a month for more storage and rooms. A map, tokens, fog, dice, and community extensions for everything else. No character sheets built in.
RollQuest: free for the whole core table including sheets and combat. $3.99 and $8.99 a month for GM tools. D&D 5e and 5.5e built in.
Where RollQuest is the better choice
Character sheets. Built in, with a guided builder, pregens and the maths done. Click a skill, the dice roll. Owlbear has no sheet system; you use an extension or a separate app.
Combat. Battle Mode rolls initiative from the sheets, tracks turns on the map and puts conditions on tokens. In Owlbear that's two or three extensions working together.
Lighting and walls. Dynamic lighting with walls, doors and token torches, free. Owlbear's fog is a drawn shape; line-of-sight lighting needs an extension.
Journal, cards, map builder. On Starter and Pro. Owlbear has no equivalent.
Rules built in. 5e and 5.5e packs. Owlbear is system-agnostic by design, which means it doesn't know what a saving throw is.
Where Owlbear Rodeo is the better choice
Speed to table. Nothing beats Owlbear for a pickup game. No player accounts at all. RollQuest players do need a free account.
Simplicity. If you actively don't want sheets and automation, Owlbear is lighter and stays out of the way.
Any system. Because it knows nothing, it works for everything. RollQuest's sheet automation is D&D only.
Extensions. A growing community ecosystem. RollQuest has no extension model.
Side by side
| Feature | RollQuest | Owlbear Rodeo |
|---|---|---|
| Runs in browser | Yes | Yes |
| Player accounts | Free account | None needed |
| Character sheets | Built in, free | Extension |
| Combat tracker | Built in, free | Extension |
| Dynamic lighting with walls | Free | Extension |
| Fog of war | Free | Free |
| 3D dice | Free | Free |
| Journal | Starter | No |
| Map builder | Pro | No |
| Rules packs | 5e, 5.5e | None (any system) |
| Paid plans | $3.99 / $8.99 mo | $5 / $15 mo |
| Players | 8 + GM | Depends on plan |
Frequently asked questions
Is RollQuest as easy as Owlbear?
Nearly. Players need a free account, and there are more panels because there's more in it. Starting a map and moving tokens takes about the same time.
Can I bring my Owlbear maps?
Yes. They're images. Upload, align with the grid editor, add walls if you want lighting.
Does RollQuest work for non-D&D games?
The board, fog, lighting, dice and audio work for anything. Sheets and combat automation are 5e and 5.5e.
Do players need to pay?
No. Players join free and can play in any game. The GM's plan decides which GM tools the table has; a few per-player touches, dice effects among them, follow each person's own account.