Ultimate License and creating the PCs

[stormtitan]

I have the ultimate license, the 5e character and monster packs. I'm creating each player's PC in a campaign game, so they don't have to learn how to create their own characters. When they use their computers to log in to my FG campaign that I'm running from Ultimate, how do they pick their PC to play?

[Zacchaeus]

The first screen they will see when they log on will be the character selection screen which will contain all the characters you have created in the campaign.

You can see what the players see by starting a second instance of FG and selecting join game and local host.

Oh, and the players will never learn if you do everything for them :)

And welcome to Fantasy Grounds and the community.

[The Rouse]

Welcome Stormtitan!

I only started with FG back in August and I did what you are saying you want to do. For my group, it was a mistake. Part of it was because some of the players had never played DnD before, so this was their introduction. Handing them a PreGen character handicapped their understanding of how the game mechanics worked. You may not have that challenge.

From now on, I'll only have my players make their own PCs. Yes it will eat up some time during the first game, but its a great way to get the players using the software. Also remember, the more you play, the better the software gets--for the players and the DM!

[dulux-oz]

Hi storm, and Welcome! to the Community.

This information is covered in the Tutorial Videos - not a problem in asking here, we welcome the questions - but if you haven't checked out the Vids I strongly suggest both you and your Players do so, because it'll help you all in having a more fun and smoother time in playing your favorite RPG(s) with FG.

The Vids are available from the FG Wiki. Damned's are good, as are Xorn's, and people seem to like mine as well (mine are also available from the links in my sig, below). Start with the ones on the CoreRPG, because the CoreRPG forms the "foundation" of just about all the RPGs we play with FG (including 5E DnD) - by learning how to use FG with the CoreRPG you'll learn about 80% of what you'll need to know to play any RPG with FG. Once you've got the foundations down-pat move on to the 5E Vids (or whatever interests you).

And keep asking question - we're a friendly lot here and don't mind answering them :)

Cheers

[ffujita]

What I think *is* a good idea is creating the player specific effects for the characters -- I'm relatively new to this, but trying to teach them how to do this is more work than doing it yourself, and they really don't need to know how to do this right off the bat -- so I usually have players create their characters on my server before the first session, and then go through their character sheets and add (for instance) the Rage effect, or the sneak attack effect, and then in the first session, I walk the players through how to apply those effects.

[TMO]

Hopefully this question will seem relevant enough to the original poster (BTW, welcome aboard stormtitan) so as to not appear as highjacking. I think this could help stormtitan as well, especially if control over characters is provided.

I am trying to understand how the Manage Characters feature works for server characters when the game is not in session. If there is a link I can learn more about this I would be obliged. My specific questions are as follows:

1. Can any version of FG use this feature? My DM and I have the Ultimate License and the rest of our party have the free license.
2. It seems that server characters appear in my PCs list, but I cannot make any changes to them. Is that right?
3. When I used to play paper & pencil D&D, our players were trusted to take their characters home. This was often helpful so the players could spend time outside of the game session updating information such as inventory or deciding on new spells due to level increases. How can this be done with FG?

[dulux-oz]

Hopefully this question will seem relevant enough to the original poster (BTW, welcome aboard stormtitan) so as to not appear as highjacking. I think this could help stormtitan as well, especially if control over characters is provided.

I am trying to understand how the Manage Characters feature works for server characters when the game is not in session. If there is a link I can learn more about this I would be obliged. My specific questions are as follows:

1. Can any version of FG use this feature? My DM and I have the Ultimate License and the rest of our party have the free license.
2. It seems that server characters appear in my PCs list, but I cannot make any changes to them. Is that right?
3. When I used to play paper & pencil D&D, our players were trusted to take their characters home. This was often helpful so the players could spend time outside of the game session updating information such as inventory or deciding on new spells due to level increases. How can this be done with FG?

The Manager Characters Feature creates LOCAL characters. To get a SERVER Character into the Manage Characters area you need to export the SERVER PC and Import it as a LOCAL PC. You need to do the opposite to get a LOCAL PC back into the SERVER.

I cover this in Video A-07 of my Tutorial Video Series (on the FG Wiki or from the links in my sig, below) - I encourage you to watch this video and all of your questions (including ones you haven't asked, but you will) will be answered

Cheers

[Trenloe]

1. Can any version of FG use this feature? My DM and I have the Ultimate License and the rest of our party have the free license.
Yes, any version can use Manage Characters.


2. It seems that server characters appear in my PCs list, but I cannot make any changes to them. Is that right?
If a player is using Manager Characters for a campaign entry (a game they've played in) then this is read only. As Dulux mentions, you can export the PC and import it into the main ruleset based Manager Characters and make changes there.


3. When I used to play paper & pencil D&D, our players were trusted to take their characters home. This was often helpful so the players could spend time outside of the game session updating information such as inventory or deciding on new spells due to level increases. How can this be done with FG?
See the point above. Export from the read only campaign Manage Characters, then exit that and load up the generic ruleset based Manage Characters. Import the PC exported previously, and you will be able to make changes. This PC will be available to upload when you next join the campaign. This can result in multiple versions of the PC in the GM side of the campaign, it can help to change the name of the old PCs (or the GM exports as a backup and deletes the old PCs from the campaign).

This might seem overly complex. The main design methodology around FG is to present as many options as possible to the GM/Players, and this allows lots of options - even if it can be a little fiddly at times.

[TMO]

I cover this in Video A-07 of my Tutorial Video Series (on the FG Wiki or from the links in my sig, below) - I encourage you to watch this video and all of your questions (including ones you haven't asked, but you will) will be answered

A pleasure to meet you Dulux-Oz. I've actually watched several of your videos already but have not come across this one. I'll be sure to study it. Thank you for the tip!

[TMO]

This might seem overly complex. The main design methodology around FG is to present as many options as possible to the GM/Players, and this allows lots of options - even if it can be a little fiddly at times.

Got it! Thanks for the direct replies. There is always a trade-off, but I appreciate flexibility over limited functionality, so this works for me.

[dulux-oz]

A pleasure to meet you Dulux-Oz.

Likewise :)


I've actually watched several of your videos already but have not come across this one.

Probably the easiest way to find all my Tutorial Vids is either (1) Look them up on the FG Wiki here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/wiki/index.php/Videos) or (2) Use the Playlist link in my sig (the red one).

Or you can ask your questions here and Trenloe (our resident "Encyclopedia Fantasy Groundia") or one of the other "FG Sages" will answer them :)

Cheers

[Zacchaeus]

The Vids are available from the FG Wiki. Damned's are good, as are Xorn's, and people seem to like mine as well (mine are also available from the links in my sig, below).

Dulux, do you have this in a word document that you just copy/paste from? :)

[dulux-oz]

Dulux, do you have this in a word document that you just copy/paste from? :)

Nope - I've just typed it so many times I can do it with my eyes closed now :P

But seriously, I keep saying it because the same questions keep coming up over and over again - and the answers are in the Vids. Either people don't know about them or they do know but haven't watched them - either way I'm just trying to do my bit to help people.

Cheers

[Zacchaeus]

Nope - I've just typed it so many times I can do it with my eyes closed now :P

But seriously, I keep saying it because the same questions keep coming up over and over again - and the answers are in the Vids. Either people don't know about them or they do know but haven't watched them - either way I'm just trying to do my bit to help people.

Cheers

Indeed. 100% agree. I think part of the problem is that we have all become so used to buying software (especially games) where there is no or minimal documentation. Therefore just like the Spanish Inquisition no-one expects it :)

[TMO]

Nope - I've just typed it so many times I can do it with my eyes closed now :P

But seriously, I keep saying it because the same questions keep coming up over and over again - and the answers are in the Vids. Either people don't know about them or they do know but haven't watched them - either way I'm just trying to do my bit to help people.

Cheers

Video tutorials are great when one needs to learn a new concept, and needs a broader context to understand it properly. They aren't so great as a reference tool. Sometimes I don't know if my question requires me to spend 30 minutes watching a video or if I really just need a nudge in the right direction. Hence, the friendly responses here are what makes me happy.

[dulux-oz]

Video tutorials are great when one needs to learn a new concept, and needs a broader context to understand it properly. They aren't so great as a reference tool. Sometimes I don't know if my question requires me to spend 30 minutes watching a video or if I really just need a nudge in the right direction. Hence, the friendly responses here are what makes me happy.

I agree completely - the problem is that some people rely on others to help them out and won't / don't know they can look things up themselves. A good foundational knowledge will provide many times the benefit it takes to acquire it in the first place, but some people don't want to spend the effort to gain the foundational knowledge.

I suppose that's what separates the "masters" from the "journeymen".

What I'd really like to do is to have some sort of "index" where topics are listed with the Video and Timestamp of where they are in the Video - something to add to my list of Extensions, Rulesets, Videos, gaming, and other things, I suppose :)

Cheers