FG and PAR5E and Effects - newbie help

[bodhiwolff]

I've been trying to learn FG and 5E to have my friends back in Canada join me in an online 5E game.

We're all new to both FG and 5E (although have decades of experience with gaming), and we're getting hung up on some of the syntax, etc.

I know that there is no official OGL for 5E, so we have to use PAR5E individually, but to date that hasn't been working for us. We've been trying our best with the free-and-automatic version of PAR5E that was so thoughtfully provided, and just having those two basic NPC/spell modules is amazingly useful!

We're trying to set up the character sheets to do things like ...
a) channel divinity for clerics (of various types)
b) barbarian rage
c) Ranger bonus damage
d) dwarven poison resistance

as well as a myriad of other corner-cases that keep catching us. I *KNOW* that there are solid, functional, simple ways to implement such things, but we're not quite getting there.

Are there online examples of character sheets with characters in them, with examples of these class-based abilities, etc.? Is there something we could look at to cannibalize for parts, or to help us see a more useful way of framing our attempts?

For that matter, is there a standardized way people are using the feats vs. traits vs. abilities, etc.?

If anybody wishes to e-mail me with advice or examples or resources, I'd gladly take anything you've got to offer. [email protected]

I've managed to finally convince my gang to pony up for FG licenses (we test-drove with only myself using an 'ultimate' license) so now we're going to get SERIOUS and try to make things work properly!

But ... well ... it is proving to be a bit too much at the moment. Even breaking the work up amongst my group, we're spending more time trying to figure stuff out than actually playing, and I don't want to lose their enthusiasm, y'know?

So, any advice or help or resources would be gratefully received.

Thanks.

Rob 'Bodhi' Wolff
[email protected]

[Moon Wizard]

The main thing to remember is that The FG 5E ruleset can do a lot of automation, but it's not required.

I always suggest that new users start by just using the character and NPC sheets for basic tracking, use the CT for initiative, and use standard dice rolling and add in bonuses manually.

As you get familiar with the basics, then begin to dive into the details of automating all of the various capabilities of the PCs.

I'll look at your list of requests when I get home as well, but the suggestion is still valid.

Regards,
JPG