Ran 1st session and now have some questions

[Danimal66]

I finally ran my first session last night after buying the Ultimate License and had 5 players connect all of them with free licenses. I have some questions. I should note this is using the purchased D&d 5e PHB and also Hoard module.

1. We ran into some connection issues. One person was fine for 45 minutes, then his game kept disappearing then after 30 minutes was fine again and we didn't do anything. Weird thing is while his game disappeared he was still in the game from my view point. We did use Skype audio with me hosting both FG and Skype so not sure if that was an issue. Also 4 of my players are on Mac's. At another point people lost the map and it took various amounts of time for them all the synch again.

2. I had one person who when he targeted creatures the attacks rolls weren't against the creatures. The weird thing is if he did the targeting and I did the rolls from his sheet it worked. He was the only one having this problem and it drove us nuts trying to figure it out. I basically had to have him drag his attacks etc onto the creature tokens on the map.

3. Using the cast button for spells didn't check off the sorcerer or Warlock spell slots. Simple enough to check them ourselves but I thought I recalled it should do that automatically.

4. One combat encounter took the whole evening using the map. I assume this will get better with experience but the one thing I notice is as DM it' hard to fudge something if the combat is not going the players way.

Probably my biggest issue is figuring out what is automated and what isn't. Example my Paladin cast Seering Smite which is a complex spell in this game for me right now. First he cast it which essentially isn't doing anything with the cast button as far as i can tell.

Then he attacks using normal attack. Then he rolls damage from seering smite spell, then I apply effect from spell entry on to the target a troll. Then on the trolls next turn I was sure I would need to drag the icon off the player sheet to the troll for him to save but the effect automatically expired. I really have no clue if I did that right or why it expired.

I think learning what is automated and what isn't is going to be a huge challenge for me.

[damned]

Hey Danimal66!

Firstly - well done on taking the GM plunge! Kudos to you.

You will have lots of questions. Ask often!

1. Was your player on a WiFi connection? FG can be sensitive to poor quality connections. The players computer might be working "fine" for web browsing or streaming (buffering can hide connection quality issues) but the encrypted data can be much more sensitive.

2. Its possible something was "lost in translation"? Dragging attacks on to tokens on Map or CT has exactly the same effect as targeted attacks. It is a strange one...

3. It does not seem to tick off spell slots.

4. Combat absolutely will get faster. Combat will run quickly once the players and you learn how things work and are prepared when it is your turn.

Spells are incredibly hard to automate. They have so many differing effects, ranges, saves, exceptions etc. Some have some automation. Some have great effects that can be cooupled with them and some need to be handled manually. For this spell at its simplest you might create an effect called "Searing Smite" and add it to the Target so that each roound you will see it and be reminded. Have the player roll 1d6 and drag it to the Modifier box and then do their damage roll.

Do not let the automation (or lack of it as it may be) get in the way or intimidate you. The players will remember that these spells are in effect. The players can roll dice and add them to teh modifiers etc. Effects are very powerful but can be quite daunting. Concentrate on Story and Encounters/Combat first. When you are ready to add some more of the platforms power then try it again. Dont try to "do it all" on your first few sessions :)

[Griogre]

1) I suggest you don't host Skype and FG at the same time. Skype can be a bandwidth pig and FG needs all the bandwidth it can get when you are sharing maps. Have a player with the best internet connection host Skype or use the free remotely hosted community TeamSpeak server (details in LFG board).

4) If some unfortunate PC has been Crit twice in a row - you can give him a hand, but not be obvious about it, by just giving the monster a -5 to hit before rolling the attack (click the button next to the mod box). Its not perfect because the unfortunate might still get crit again but it will usually cause the monster to miss.

[Andraax]

I had one person who when he targeted creatures the attacks rolls weren't against the creatures. The weird thing is if he did the targeting and I did the rolls from his sheet it worked. He was the only one having this problem and it drove us nuts trying to figure it out. I basically had to have him drag his attacks etc onto the creature tokens on the map.

I bet he had his "roll against targets" turned off. There is a targeting reticle in the upper left corner of the modifiers box to turn targeting on or off.


one thing I notice is as DM it' hard to fudge something if the combat is not going the players way.

Turn off your targeting, then make your rolls. If you don't like the result, do it again, until you get one you like. Then, drag that roll onto the player's token. The players don't see any difference (other than some extra shadow dice, but if you're doing some extra hidden dice rolls all the time anyway, the players quickly start to ignore those). You can also have a few extra rolls done "ahead of time" and just scroll back to one of those and drag / drop it.


I think learning what is automated and what isn't is going to be a huge challenge for me.

Just takes time and experience.

[Danimal66]

Wow great tips, thank you.

[damned]

Oh yeah - another thing you can do if the combat isnt going the way you want it to - manually increase or decrease the monsters HP and you can also manually increase/decrease their combat effectiveness.

[GunnarGreybeard]

1) I suggest you don't host Skype and FG at the same time. Skype can be a bandwidth pig and FG needs all the bandwidth it can get when you are sharing maps. Have a player with the best internet connection host Skype or use the free remotely hosted community TeamSpeak server (details in LFG board). I would second this. Definitely have a a different players than the GM host the Skype part.

[Danimal66]

Sorry for bumping my own thread. One other issue I encountered with the purchased Hoard module is the npc / monster tokens came in really large. Several people told me to make sure Map Grids are on. Aren't the maps in the purchased modules set with grids? It was no problem just resizing the tokens but I'm clearly not understanding something.

[Nylanfs]

Or you know, use the user supported TS server. :) (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?17071-Voicechat!-Community-TeamSpeak3-Server)

[damned]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjtnAhWkaSQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx7CtPsdNbA

[Danimal66]

Thanks Damned.

I'll use Teamspeak if I need too but going back to early 2000 software I never liked to begin with I'm trying to avoid.

[Zacchaeus]

Sorry for bumping my own thread. One other issue I encountered with the purchased Hoard module is the npc / monster tokens came in really large. Several people told me to make sure Map Grids are on. Aren't the maps in the purchased modules set with grids? It was no problem just resizing the tokens but I'm clearly not understanding something.

No. You'll have to set a grid. The map might have a grid drawn on it but that isn't FG's grid. Once you have set a grid place a token on it to make sure the scale is right. If it isn't then right click on the token and select release token scale. Right click again and select lock token scale. Then delete the token and drag it back on and the scale should be set. Don't forget also to lock tokens (right click and select lock tokens) so that you have control over movement.

[Zacchaeus]

Thanks Damned.

I'll use Teamspeak if I need too but going back to early 2000 software I never liked to begin with I'm trying to avoid.

This all comes down to personal preference of course but in my 20 odd years of online gaming Teamspeak is consistently the best and most versatile of its type. Skype is to be avoided at all costs. Even things like Mumble or Ventrilo are better than Skype.

[Danimal66]

I don't want to turn this thread into a debate on what to use for voice chat but why is Skype to be avoided at all costs?

As you said personal preference. I've used Skype for voice over chat while playing AAA multiplayer games on the PC without issue but if off loading the VOIP to a dedicated server makes for a better experience using FG I'm not against it. There is also the factor of trying to explain to my players the use of Teamspeak, they aren't the brightest. :)

[Zacchaeus]

I don't want to turn this thread into a debate on what to use for voice chat but why is Skype to be avoided at all costs?

As you said personal preference. I've used Skype for voice over chat while playing AAA multiplayer games on the PC without issue but if off loading the VOIP to a dedicated server makes for a better experience using FG I'm not against it. There is also the factor of trying to explain to my players the use of Teamspeak, they aren't the brightest. :)

Indeed, it's personal preference, and whatever experience you've had with whatever software you use. Skype, for me, hogged resources and was forever dropping/hanging/crashing and the quality of the voice was awful etc etc. Teamspeak worked right off the bat without ever having to fiddle with anything or go into settings other than to change the default push to talk. Now this was all years ago so the software may well have improved but as you say it is just personal experience and if I am asked I would always say Teamspeak.

[Griogre]

FYI the HotDQ maps do have an FG grid on them. Make sure you have the "Token: Auto-scale to Grid" set to 80% or 100%. And yes the scale of the included tokens is huge. It looks like 100 pixel squares for medium sized creatures. I personally replaced all the HoTDQ tokens to get rid of all the letter tokens and to use tokens of the all the same style.

Its funny, I don't care if all the monsters use letters or if they are all graphics, but having mixed letters and graphics really annoys me.

[Nylanfs]

What about if they were all Klingon letters?

[Griogre]

maj. It would be fine. :)

[Xorn]

I finally ran my first session last night after buying the Ultimate License and had 5 players connect all of them with free licenses. I have some questions. I should note this is using the purchased D&d 5e PHB and also Hoard module.

1. We ran into some connection issues. One person was fine for 45 minutes, then his game kept disappearing then after 30 minutes was fine again and we didn't do anything. Weird thing is while his game disappeared he was still in the game from my view point. We did use Skype audio with me hosting both FG and Skype so not sure if that was an issue. Also 4 of my players are on Mac's. At another point people lost the map and it took various amounts of time for them all the synch again.

2. I had one person who when he targeted creatures the attacks rolls weren't against the creatures. The weird thing is if he did the targeting and I did the rolls from his sheet it worked. He was the only one having this problem and it drove us nuts trying to figure it out. I basically had to have him drag his attacks etc onto the creature tokens on the map.

3. Using the cast button for spells didn't check off the sorcerer or Warlock spell slots. Simple enough to check them ourselves but I thought I recalled it should do that automatically.

4. One combat encounter took the whole evening using the map. I assume this will get better with experience but the one thing I notice is as DM it' hard to fudge something if the combat is not going the players way.

Probably my biggest issue is figuring out what is automated and what isn't. Example my Paladin cast Seering Smite which is a complex spell in this game for me right now. First he cast it which essentially isn't doing anything with the cast button as far as i can tell.

Then he attacks using normal attack. Then he rolls damage from seering smite spell, then I apply effect from spell entry on to the target a troll. Then on the trolls next turn I was sure I would need to drag the icon off the player sheet to the troll for him to save but the effect automatically expired. I really have no clue if I did that right or why it expired.

I think learning what is automated and what isn't is going to be a huge challenge for me.

Welcome to the fold of FG DMing! You're the person gaining the most from FG, congratulations! Seriously, I love seeing new DMs join. I know I'm a week behind on this, but I had sinus surgery last week and then I've been out of town, and I feel like all the old vets here should weigh in on questions. I'm sure I do a lot the same as other DMs, and some different:

1. On Skype: I hate it, because when we used it previously, someone is supporting the bandwidth load of it--Skype is not remotely hosted, at least it wasn't. I don't know if that's changed. We used RaidCall for the longest time because it's completely free, basically a Ventrilo clone (even the sounds) and you can have up to 200 people in your free channel, and have rooms, whispers etc. Love it. But now, since my face to face group moved to FG (as I moved away) we started using Google Hangouts, so we can see each other. Google Hangouts is perfect for us, but then we switched one more time to Roll20, because the video feed across the bottom is ideal for our stream. But that's what I'd recommend--Hangouts if you want video, RaidCall for just audio.

2. Sounds like the resolve-on-target crosshair was disabled on the Mod window. That's why it worked for you (since it was on on your client) but not for him. When I'm handling a Saving Throw attack on a character, I disable the resolve so it just puts the Save in chat without forcing them to roll. That way they can roll but know their target.

3. It doesn't auto-check it because in 5E you can use a different spell level than the spell--so it doesn't know which one to check. For example the 9 wizard in my group really likes casting a max level fireballs, and the warlock casts every spell @ 5th level. (Heck, he only has level 5 slots!)

4. Yes, combat encounters will get much faster, especially for 5E. My group plays every Tuesday for 2 hours, and when dungeon crawling they usually get through 4-5 combats in a night. If you are hiding GM rolls (I do, to simulate rolling behind my screen) but show the result of the roll (at the table I will just say "he rolls an 18 to hit"), then they won't see modifiers. So apply a negative to hit and you can skew the odds for them. For damage you can do the same. I typically don't bother though, I don't fudge a whole lot. 5E heroes get pretty tough, so I don't pull many punches. They fought 4 specters and 2 wraiths last Tuesday, which I was sure would be a murderous fight. Only two were hit, only one had life drain, and they curb-stomped the monsters. If you drop a monsters health, watch that you don't drop it enough to lower it's wound category or observant players will notice the change.

Yeah learning the automated is a process. A LOT is automated, so you'll get to where you're surprised when something isn't. Read the wiki Effects section and TRY some of them out, connecting to yourself as a player (connect to localhost) outside of game time. You can even use multiple characters on player client for testing. Just click the character portrait you want to control (can have different colored dice for them too).

My youtube archive of our stream is in my signature--it's a player view of our game--but there's aobut 20 sessions in there now, so you can see how we handle a lot of stuff. I'm going to make a DM-view one eventually, but probably just for a one-shot.