Scaling of Maps and Tokens

[ksm]

I am building my first module in FG2, and am putting in the various maps and tokens and am wondering how much attention I have to pay to matching up scales between the two.

Probably another silly question. If my maps have a certain number of pixels per 5 foot square, must I scale the tokens to match? Does a large creature then need to be scaled four times that, etc?

Are there any recommended or preferred sizes?

Cheers.

[gmkieran]

Greetings, KSM! I'm sure others will be weighing in on this, but I'll jump first with some basic information. Depending on rule-set, FG allows for map and token scaling on the fly during game-play, so it is not absolutely necessary to have your tokens and maps in the same scale.

Assuming the 4e ruleset, it is not NECESSARY, even, to have all of your tokens the same scale relative to each other, but it sure helps! Xorn's tutorials have an excellent section on this, but the basics are: open a map, turn on the grid, drop a token on it (preferably from the combat tracker), zoom the map (either by holding CTRL and using the control in the bottom right or by using the mouse wheel) until the token fits appropriately within the grd, right click on the token and select Lock Token Scale. Now all tokens (that are scaled correctly relative to the one you used) will be sized appropriately for that map. Tokens that are not the correct relative scale can be individually scaled in the combat tracker (but only in the combat tracker).

One note, token/map scale information is *not* stored when you export a module, so don't bother scaling until you're actually in the campaign you're planning to run from. Once you scale things there, however, it should save the information between sessions.

Hope that helps!
gmk

[Moon Wizard]

Also, in the next version (v2.8), you can scale tokens individually using CTRL+ mouse wheel. The combat tracker requirement will be removed.

Cheers,
JPG

[ksm]

Thank you very much for the information.

[gmkieran]

Definitely looking forward to that, Moon! My turn to GM is coming up again soon and being able to individually scale outside the CT will make my life vastly easier! cheers!

[ksm]

Can tokens be added to the map as part of the preparation of the module, or can they only be added when the combat tracker is open?

[Moon Wizard]

Currently, you can only add tokens to the map from the combat tracker. While you can prep the encounters in advance, the placement of tokens on the map can not be done until the NPCs are added to the combat tracker from the encounter entry.

Hint: I am working on this for v2.8 as well.

Cheers,
JPG

[ksm]

I am breathless with anticipation. (Seriously)

[Moon Wizard]

Just added to the v2.8 test release for both 3.5E and 4E rulesets.

Cheers,
JPG

[DNH]

Just tried this out in a test campaign and it works brilliantly! It works exactly as I was hoping it would and it will be shave valuable minutes off every combat encounter I care to run. Kudos to JPG and DrZ for this.

All we need now is for EugeneZ to update the parser so you can parse these full encounter set-ups directly outside of FG2! ;)

[gmkieran]

You are my hero, Moon!!! Been wishing for that functionality since my first module! :D