Hints & Tips - Drag'n'drop Adventure Locations

[Tailz Silver Paws]

Hello folks,
In the past I have made some mini-adventure sites (I call them Compass Points) in the form of maps, tokens and a location guide PDF. The aim was to create a "location" that a game master could "drag'n'drop" into their campaign - so no coding was required as I didn't aim at any specific software system - plus the material was made to be "added" to an already existing campaign, not as a stand alone campaign.

I've in the past released the mini-adventure sites via RPGnow.com, but of late I've been thinking about making these mini-adventure sites specifically for release through the Fantasy Grounds store. So I'm going to need to code up the Guide PDF into notes that can be used in Fantasy Grounds.

The problem is, I don't know how to do that, or what would be the best way to go about it as I still want the mini-adventure location to act as a "addon" to a game masters existing campaign. Think of it as a random encounter location.

So I am wondering if anyone can give me some hints and tips?

Currently I'm working on creating: Grunk's Lair. The lair of a large Ogre in the wilderness.

[Zacchaeus]

You can use par5e to get the story and NPCs into FG (I know the link is for 5e but you can use it to create CORErpg modules). Once you have those in par5e you can then add in the maps, encounters etc and then export to a module. Now the tricky bit is that whatever system you export out of will be the system that it can be used in. If you open up the .mod file you'll find a small file calle definition.xml. If you change the ruleset to 'Any' and zip it all back up then I think the module can then be opened in any ruleset. Now I know this works for maps but I've never tried it with story entries or anything else.

[Tailz Silver Paws]

You can use par5e to get the story and NPCs into FG (I know the link is for 5e but you can use it to create CORErpg modules). Once you have those in par5e you can then add in the maps, encounters etc and then export to a module. Now the tricky bit is that whatever system you export out of will be the system that it can be used in. If you open up the .mod file you'll find a small file calle definition.xml. If you change the ruleset to 'Any' and zip it all back up then I think the module can then be opened in any ruleset. Now I know this works for maps but I've never tried it with story entries or anything else.

I want to try and keep the add-on as generic as possible so anyone with any game system can use it. In the past I included some monster stats in the Guide PDF's before (D&D3.5e stats). But I want these to mainly be something anyone can just drop into their campaign.

Thus the monsters would be generic. The characters would be mostly a description with example stats maybe...

[damned]

You can use par5e to get the story and NPCs into FG

Par5e for CoreRPG wont work outta the box. You have to do a little post processing. I posted the required steps in another post somewhere...

I want to try and keep the add-on as generic as possible so anyone with any game system can use it. In the past I included some monster stats in the Guide PDF's before (D&D3.5e stats). But I want these to mainly be something anyone can just drop into their campaign.

Thus the monsters would be generic. The characters would be mostly a description with example stats maybe...

Id honestly do this for 3 or 4 rulesets being:
5e (using SRD monsters with your tokens)
Pathfinder (using PRD monsters with your tokens)
3.5e (using SRD monsters with your tokens)
and if you have it -
Castles&Crusades using the included monsters with your tokens....

I think you will find that doing them for 5e will prolly give you the best return on your time but funny things happen.... if you do the first one or two adventures like this you will hopefully gather enough info to know whether or not to keep doing all the rulesets or drop down to one or two...

[Andraax]

Create them for CoreRPG, then modify the ruleset tag to be "Any" in the output module. That should make it as generic as possible. You lose some of the bells and whistles, but nearly everyone can use it. Also, you can make the modules directly in the CoreRPG ruleset without using par5e (and it's required, steep learning curve).

[dulux-oz]

You might also like to consider using the entries from the DOELocations Extension - although, obviously, if you do this then your "customers" will need to use the DOELocations Extension as well.

Just a thought.

[Tailz Silver Paws]

Create them for CoreRPG, then modify the ruleset tag to be "Any" in the output module. That should make it as generic as possible. You lose some of the bells and whistles, but nearly everyone can use it. Also, you can make the modules directly in the CoreRPG ruleset without using par5e (and it's required, steep learning curve).

Do you mean: create the notes and images and other bits in a temp campaign in Fantasy Grounds, then export it. Then change the supported tag in the exported files?

I don't mind losing the bells and whistles. Those are options that are the domain of how the GM likes to organize their game. I'm just aiming to provide "content" they can use in their game, eg: a location setting in the form of artwork (maps and tokens) and ready made descriptions.

I looked at par5e and it did seem to be a steep learning curve for someone who only knows how to make pretty pictures.

[Tailz Silver Paws]

You might also like to consider using the entries from the DOELocations Extension - although, obviously, if you do this then your "customers" will need to use the DOELocations Extension as well.

Just a thought.

I'd like to avoid extensions that people will need. Maps, tokens, description, is the essence of the package.

[damned]

You miss a lot of the value of creating it in FG if you dont setup the encounters with actual monsters.

[Tailz Silver Paws]

You miss a lot of the value of creating it in FG if you dont setup the encounters with actual monsters.

Will that not tie it to a specific rule set?