Forum Request - Make subforum for Adventure Modules

[RCathcart]

This forum would seem to be the place for people to put adventure modules. I think a dedicated subforum would be very useful.

Thanks!

[Trenloe]

Nice idea. In practice I think I've seen two total community produced adventure modules posted on the forums. In order to distribute adventure modules all of the material has to be your own work, you have permission from the copyright owners to distribute their work and/or the material is 100% OGL/covered by a community commons licence.

Still, perhaps SmiteWorks will add an adventure module sub-forum, although I think it will be a lonely place...

[RCathcart]

Copyright is certainly a concern. But I'm a bit more optimistic about the response (even though it may be slow to start). I'm optimistic because of all the fan content created for YouTube, Steamworks, and various game modding sites. Also, there seem to be fans of FG that have already spent a good amount of time creating extensions and rulesets. The energy is there.

With the licensed incorporation of D&D 5e and it's incorporation into Steam, Smiteworks is tapping into a huge existing market of players. The fan-base is there.

With the upcoming DM Guide and some additional refinements to FG (which I believe are largely in the works), adventure module making tools will be enjoyable to use. The tools are there and more are coming.

And, call me crazy, but I think FG players would respond in a huge way to people that have created custom adventure modules. The demand is there.

If I were Smiteworks, I would throw a bit of chum in the water and see what happens. Say a $1,000 original adventure module writing contest for D&D 5e. All entries would be submitted for public review/voting. How much you want to bet that would get an amazing response? :)

[RCathcart]

And one other thing...

If were the copyright holder of the old D&D modules (presumably WotC), I would get seriously cracking on converting the old D&D modules into FG 5e modules. They would largely curtail copyright infringement, cater to a fan-base that loves those old modules, make easy money and generate even more interest in FG. Oh, yeah... and the work is largely already done!

In my mind, this is like money on the table that is waiting to be taken. lol

[Trenloe]

The things you mention have always been there - energy, fans, tools and demand. Fantasy Grounds has been around for 10 years and over those years there has been (and still is) a lot of energy, fans, tools and demand for 3.5E, 4E, Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, etc.. In those 10 years there's only been a handful of fan/community provided ready-to-run (or nearly ready-to-run) adventure modules

The difference your second post mentions is money. I'm sure that offering money would get a few people to submit adventure scenarios. These would have to be carefully reviewed to make sure that the authors are only using non-copyright breaking material. This would require authors to create their own maps (or get permission to use other maps), artwork, monsters if not OGL (or link to the relevant FG module for these), etc..

Who knows, perhaps SmiteWorks will get an adventure writing competition going with appropriate prizes. Nice idea. :)

[RCathcart]

I think there are a few things that can be done to encourage original module making.

1) There has to be a conspicuous place to put the modules. They must be easy to find. A dedicated subforum (or main forum) is a small start. But I would have a feed on the website on the frontpage for user content.

2) Incorporate available user-content modules in the FG startup screen. Take a game like Portal. When you are in the main screen of the game in Portal, you have an option to load user-created custom maps, vote on them, etc. That would certainly encourage user-created content.

3) Streamline module making. Maybe do something simple like a "template adventure module," that has checklists that you can fill out for a given adventure a user is trying to write. Fix the tokens thing (where you have to treat tokens separately to get them exported properly... that's annoying). Have way to preview modules without loading them up. Have a way to drag elements from one module into another without having to load them up. Have more organized folders for images and maps. Little things that can go a long way to make module writing easier and more intuitive.

By the way, if you have the names of the user-created adventure modules that you know about, please share. I'm not sure how to even search for them. Is there a tag for them?


(Also, this is a bit of an aside, but the website's frontpage isn't nearly as informative or productive as it could be. Seriously, the "Rise of Tiamat" module was just released but it's nowhere to be found on the frontpage. That's just.... bad. )

[Trenloe]

By the way, if you have the names of the user-created adventure modules that you know about, please share. I'm not sure how to even search for them. Is there a tag for them?

The only one I know for sure is Ardem's Rolemaster scenario.

The standard for system specific modules is to link them in the RPG system specific forum in a "sticky" module thread. This is the best place for them as scenarios will usually be ruleset specific. The Rolemaster thread is here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?17227-List-of-Extensions-and-Modules

[RCathcart]

The only one I know for sure is Ardem's Rolemaster scenario.

I haven't done Rolemaster, but at least someone posted an adventure module. It's over 4 years old, though. It probably works, but I wonder if needs to be updated.



The standard for system specific modules is to link them in the RPG system specific forum in a "sticky" module thread. This is the best place for them as scenarios will usually be ruleset specific.

I disagree. I think a central place would be best. One-stop shopping. Some players play multiple systems. Some players would be enticed by a ruleset that has a lot of user-content but that they don't normally play. (Think, "Hey, Savage Worlds seems to have a very active module community. I'll check that out..." *ca-ching!*)

Also, WE read the forums, but, as a rule, most game players don't read forums. If user-content stays confined to the forums, it will only be known to a specific subset of players. Put it on the frontpage along with stuff Smiteworks is actually selling (seriously!), and then there's hope you'll get people's attention and contribution.