Question: 1 Campaign/module - 2 Groups

[JohnD]

I want to DM two separate groups through the same module on two different schedules. Are there any issues/concerns?

Is the best approach to make two seperate copies of the same module? Or, should I just be fine simply having the different groups connect as normal?

Thanks.

[Trenloe]

OK - we need to get terminology fixed here. By a "module" do you mean an adventure scenario or a "module" within Fantasy Grounds? Module has a specific meaning within Fantasy Grounds: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/userguide35E/gm_library.xcp

Is that what you're referring to when you say module, or are you using the original D&D terminology to refer to a module as a scenario?

Sorry, hope I don't sound pedantic - I just want to make sure we're talking about the same thing, and you know what I mean when I now talk of modules... :)

If you create the FG entries for story, images, NPCs, items, etc. in a FG module this is read only so you can use it multiple times in different FG campaigns - any changes are recorded in the campaign not in the module. You can see an example of this in the 35E ruleset - create a new 3.5E campaign and open the "Well met in kith-takharos" module that comes for free with FG. This gives you extra tabs under story, images, NPCs, etc. and can be loaded into multiple FG campaigns.

I would strongly recommend that you have 2 separate campaigns in FG - 1 for each group. This will keep the size of the campaign db.xml file (and chatlog) down, will mean changes you make like unsharing an image) will only be applied to one of the groups, players logging in will just see the characters specific to their campaign, any damage applied to an NPC last session won't be seen by another group, etc., etc..

Also, see this thread about the DM challenges of running 2 groups in the same world/story https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16102

[JohnD]

Thanks Trenloe.

I'm setting up a campaign with seperate modules within it - as suggested in one of the videos linked from the Downloads section.

Essentially I do all my "dev" work in the module and then import it into my campaign for use (if I've understood that video properly).

Based on what you said, and I read in the thread you linked, I should essntially start out with "Campaign 1" and "Campaign 2" to keep both realities seperate and avoid things being revealed for group 2 based on what happened previously with group 1 (etc...).

This will mean that I may need to make different adjustments/updates to each campaign as play dictates.

Have I captured it all?

[Trenloe]

That's correct, do your dev work in a dev campaign (I use one per module I'm creating - I have lots of campaigns on my PC) and export the module from the campaign with the /export command. Remember to set them as host so the players can't see "stuff" ahead of time. Modules exported from an FG campaign will appear in a new campaign (When you open the module) as new "tabs" along the bottom of the relevant list (story, maps, NPCs, etc.). You may want to change the tab image and icon (right click on the tab for the menu) and give the tab a name - type the name in the chat box and drag the name to the tab. This will help you get to the correct list if you have multiple modules open. As I mentioned before - check the "Well met at Kith'takharos" 3.5E module (included with Fantasy Grounds for free) and you'll see that this adds multiple tabs in the story - all green, but with different icons and description text if you hover the mouse over.

I use lots of different modules when running a campaign - the main campaign reference module (has region maps, background info), current adventure module (story, maps, images, NPCs, encounters, items related to the current encounters), condition module, condition image module, harrow deck module, library modules...

Note: There are a couple of issues with the /export command in V2.8.1 relating to encounters and tokens. See this thread (and other threads related to it) for work arounds to the issues:

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15799

[JohnD]

It seems I may be on the right track here... what a strange feeling! LOL

Thanks for your advice.