Almost all Pathfinder images are locked - Read Only

[Lo Zeno]

Even in adventure modules where everything is unlocked; I only ever edit copies of the original material - never the original itself. It doesn't make sense to me to edit the only copy of something that exists in any module. But as I say I'm clearly missing something about why not having to make copies is beneficial.

Just to add one more example:
Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage is an adventure module with HUGE maps and DOZENS of encounters set in each map. If I want to make a change in a map (add a secret room, for example, or add a trap in a corridor) I can't really make a copy of the map for level 1 without having to make a copy of each encounter, and having to re-set the position of each enemy in each encounter. We're talking about having to open the original map, open each original encounter, add each encounter to the combat tracker to see the position of each enemy, and replicate the positions in each copied encounter on the copied map.
That's madness (pun intended) - editing the original is a much more sensible choice.

[Laerun]

It's understandable why one would prefer to have the ability to edit locked records in Fantasy Grounds, but it's important to consider the potential consequences of doing so. Locking records is likely a measure taken by the publishers and distributors to protect the individual intellectual property as a whole and to help ensure that their content is being used in accordance with any current licensing agreements. I'd imagine that most authors woukd feel more comfortable knowing that it's not as easy to export and create external copies of their rule sets.

While it may be inconvenient to have to make a copy of a record in order to edit it, this approach can actually help to prevent errors and ensure that your changes are isolated to your own custom content. Making changes to the original record can have unintended consequences, such as breaking links to artwork or tokens, as mentioned. This also slows down bootleggers and such. If it's occasionally slowing us down, imagine what the process would be like for an entire book, minus the original art potentially.

Instead of focusing on the limitations imposed by having rulebooks as locked records, consider the benefits of working within this framework. By using the established content as a baseline and creating your own custom content as needed, you can ensure that your work is compatible with the original material and avoid potential problems.

It's also worth noting that the Fantasy Grounds platform provides a great deal of flexibility when it comes to organizing and customizing your content. By creating custom groups and using the group data to sort your entries, you can easily keep track of your own custom content alongside the official material. And, by exporting your custom content as a module, you can reuse it in future campaigns or share it with others. Official content will likely not export if one so desired.

In short, while it may be frustrating to have to work within the limitations of locked records, this approach can actually help to protect your work and ensure that it is compatible with the original material. By taking advantage of the platform's customization features and exporting your custom content as needed, you can create a more flexible campaign that meets your specific needs.

Best of luck and happy gaming.

[ddavison]

We argue about this internally as well.

We may be able to address this in the future by making a global change to window title bars and controls that feature a revert record option. I also like the ability to edit directly by unlocking a monster/item/map, but the Revert option is hidden away. Reverting an entire module is not good either. My hope is that we will be able to find a happy medium. Your feedback is important and helps us determine if this is something that just one or two people want or if it is something that a larger number of people would like.

[LordEntrails]

I too would prefer to be able to edit all module entities within a campaign. I admit I have not thought through all the implications, but I'm happy with the thought that the changes would reside within the single campaign. Not sure what export behavior I would desire, but that is minor compared to not having to clone entities in order to edit them.

Thanks for your consideration