lesliev
April 14th, 2016, 12:02
Here are some things I learned these past few weeks as a total newcomer to FG, perhaps they will help others.
They are from the perspective of someone wanting to play Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition (5e) on Fantasy Grounds.
Modules
"Modules" are packs of extra text and data that are plugged into FG to make things easier. For example there's a 5e Player's Handbook module that contains basically everything in the physical PHB. So you can build characters by opening this module, finding a class and just dragging that class onto a character sheet. And likewise with Race, Background, etc.
FG understands the 5e ruleset (among others). Modules build on this rule set, but you can create characters for 5e without the modules if you know how.
With respect to modules, there are 3 tiers:
Demo version: You get no modules at all.
Paid versions: You get SRD modules. These modules are equivalent to the free D&D basic rules you can find online.
Paid version & bought modules: These modules are the whole hog - you can get the PHB, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master's guide and much more in the FG store, but they cost just about the same as the physical copies - and that's in addition to the cost of the FG license.
Now if you want to join Adventurer's League games or want to play at FGCon, your Dungeon Master will probably have an Ultimate license, so you can join with a free Demo license. If you do this you have to build your character without modules. Most of the tutorials online assume you have a paid version of FG, so they show how to build a character with modules but there are some tutorials that don't assume modules, here's a good series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80a8xuONrj0&list=PLePiBJtKmjLn5IzhpakEcVqAHoYfezZbe
Using Linux
I only have Linux on my computers and FG seems to work fine, with a few minor caveats:
Maps occasionally bleed outside their containers. This is annoying but not terrible, if you click on the map it springs back into its window.
Resizing the FG window sometimes leaves parts of it undrawn. But I find messing with 'restore' and 'fullscreen' (double-click on the window title) gets everything redrawn again.
FG sometimes opens without window borders. There's a little 'restore window' icon on the top right just next to the 'x' to close the window - clicking that gives me window borders.
I've seen FG use a lot of CPU but I can't reproduce that now so it may have been a fluke. I'll look out for it.
Teamspeak, which is often used in FG games, works fine on my (Ubuntu 14.04) linux.
FGCon 8
I played my first Adventure League game (and first FG game!) at FGCon 8. I had a good time but I was surprised at the very fast pace. This is understandable considering it's a one-shot and had to finish in just 2 hours.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I'm grateful to the DM (timdog88) and the other players for the time and effort put into it!
They are from the perspective of someone wanting to play Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition (5e) on Fantasy Grounds.
Modules
"Modules" are packs of extra text and data that are plugged into FG to make things easier. For example there's a 5e Player's Handbook module that contains basically everything in the physical PHB. So you can build characters by opening this module, finding a class and just dragging that class onto a character sheet. And likewise with Race, Background, etc.
FG understands the 5e ruleset (among others). Modules build on this rule set, but you can create characters for 5e without the modules if you know how.
With respect to modules, there are 3 tiers:
Demo version: You get no modules at all.
Paid versions: You get SRD modules. These modules are equivalent to the free D&D basic rules you can find online.
Paid version & bought modules: These modules are the whole hog - you can get the PHB, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master's guide and much more in the FG store, but they cost just about the same as the physical copies - and that's in addition to the cost of the FG license.
Now if you want to join Adventurer's League games or want to play at FGCon, your Dungeon Master will probably have an Ultimate license, so you can join with a free Demo license. If you do this you have to build your character without modules. Most of the tutorials online assume you have a paid version of FG, so they show how to build a character with modules but there are some tutorials that don't assume modules, here's a good series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80a8xuONrj0&list=PLePiBJtKmjLn5IzhpakEcVqAHoYfezZbe
Using Linux
I only have Linux on my computers and FG seems to work fine, with a few minor caveats:
Maps occasionally bleed outside their containers. This is annoying but not terrible, if you click on the map it springs back into its window.
Resizing the FG window sometimes leaves parts of it undrawn. But I find messing with 'restore' and 'fullscreen' (double-click on the window title) gets everything redrawn again.
FG sometimes opens without window borders. There's a little 'restore window' icon on the top right just next to the 'x' to close the window - clicking that gives me window borders.
I've seen FG use a lot of CPU but I can't reproduce that now so it may have been a fluke. I'll look out for it.
Teamspeak, which is often used in FG games, works fine on my (Ubuntu 14.04) linux.
FGCon 8
I played my first Adventure League game (and first FG game!) at FGCon 8. I had a good time but I was surprised at the very fast pace. This is understandable considering it's a one-shot and had to finish in just 2 hours.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I'm grateful to the DM (timdog88) and the other players for the time and effort put into it!