DM's Guild and D&D Adventurers League Modules now available for Fantasy Grounds

[ddavison]

The Adventurer's League titles will be available on DMsGuild now with Fantasy Grounds modules. This is an optional program available to all Adventurers League authors who want to add support for Fantasy Grounds. The first 5 adventures available can be found on this link:
https://dndadventurersleague.org/modules-on-fantasy-grounds/

Everyone who bought those modules previously on DMsGuild should see a free update with access to the .mod files included. Just download and place those .mod files in your Fantasy Grounds Data Directory under the "Modules" folder and it should show up in your 5E Campaign library for activation.

Click on the link below to see all the Fantasy Grounds enabled modules available on DMs Guild. This will grow over time as more and more DMs Guild authors add Fantasy Grounds modules to their products. You can also get all of the other licensed content available from Fantasy Grounds from DMsGuild and the other OneBookShelf sites (DriveThruRPG & RPGNow.) Those checkouts will register the purchase and link it with an account on our site. It just gives you one more way to get the content through your favorite storefront.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/images/site_resources/dmg_banner2.png (https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?filters=0_0_0_0_0_0_45545_0&affiliate_id=132637)

[LordEntrails]

Excellent! So, I've uploaded my FG module, but I didn't see anyway to indicate they were FG content and they don't seem to appear in the VTT content link. Suggestions or info on how to get this setup correctly?

[ddavison]

Here is the FAQ that they recently posted on how to mark your content as Fantasy Grounds enabled.
https://support.dmsguild.com/hc/en-us/articles/221015168-Fantasy-Grounds-and-Virtual-TableTop-Content

[LordEntrails]

Thanks Doug. That helps. Though they do suggest you deactivate your old one and create a new entry. I'm not sure what the benefit of that is, as instead I just went into the filters and marked it in VTT format. Seems to be working... but I will see if any issues arise from doing it that way.

[ddavison]

I'm not entirely sure why they suggest doing that, unless you wanted the stats to be completely separate for showing how well it did in PDF only mode versus PDF + FG mode. If you had a revenue split set up with a second person to split out the royalties it might make sense I guess.

[LordEntrails]

Does it impact revenue sharing with SW? That's my biggest concern.

They actually say to deactivate the old one, which I didn't want to do because of those that have already purchased it, I didn't want to put them at a disadvantage.

[ddavison]

I'm not really sure. The revenue share for Smiteworks is very small on any of these. The more important thing for us is that people can play and use the modules on Fantasy Grounds.

[ddavison]

This just came in from our contact at Wotc. If you have any question about whether or not you can include something in the module, you can ask here: https://support.dmsguild.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

[Seya]

Awesome thanks

[Myrdin Potter]

Any module bought there is not included in the updater, correct? So installation and updating is manual?

[damned]

Any module bought there is not included in the updater, correct? So installation and updating is manual?

That is correct. The patching only works for the FG Store and Steam.

[Hermundure]

Is it possible to upload non-adventurer-league modules there also?

I was planning to offer my adventure only on FG for supporting SW but Doug send me a mail to this link so I guess he would prefer if I put it on the DMguild site.

Can 5e content (like monsters or items) be included? If not its no big deal, I have created custom content already anyways.

[damned]

Is it possible to upload non-adventurer-league modules there also?

I was planning to offer my adventure only on FG for supporting SW but Doug send me a mail to this link so I guess he would prefer if I put it on the DMguild site.

Can 5e content (like monsters or items) be included? If not its no big deal, I have created custom content already anyways.

Hey Hermundure have a read up about the DMsGuild. It allows you to use stuff that is not in the SRD (there are restrictions and limitations and requirements) - this is the avenue that the Wizards would like you to publish your material through.

[Hermundure]

Thank you for the info damned, I will ask the question another way around to make it more clear - no native english speaker here and direct grammer translation does not always work for me, hehe :-)

If the custom content in a module has nothing to do with WotC or D&D, do I have to upload it on their side anyways and pay the royalty fee for them?
Wouldnt it be better for SW to earn a bit more % on the sales than giving money to someone who has no connection or effort with the product?
Dont get me wrong on this, its not about how much lands in my own pocket, I really dont care much to be honest, I am just trying to raise the number of FG custom made adventures a bit to support SW with my humble possibilities and because these IP and royalty fee network of the "big players" like WotC still puzzles me I ask stupid questions like the one above ;-p

For example I have no idea if when I include a stat bar (str, dex, etc.) like its used in 5e for my custom made monsters, these monsters (or more correct the entire adventure module) are automatically transferred into the area of WotC intellectual property which requires a fee to be paid or if this still remains "custom" because they cant protect simple stats.

[damned]

Hi Hermundure your questions are perfectly good ones.

There are many elements of D&D that cannot be copyrighted. Among them are the STR, DEX, CON etc and the dice rolls. Even the Advantage mechanic cannot be protected. Lightning Bolts, Fireballs and Sleep spells, Orcs, Goblins, Troll and Green Dragons are all good too. Things that have names and things that only exist in D&D (Beholders and Bigby's spells, Faerun and Greyhawk, Elminster and others) are not allowed to be used without permission.
The Wizards have setup something called the Open Gaming License which can be coupled with the SRD to give you access to a big chunk of stuff that you can make and share and sell anywhere so long as you comply with the OGL.
You can also use even more stuff - so long as you only distribute it via the DMs Guild and you again comply with the license(s).

That is all the public stuff.
The next bit is a guess.
Smiteworks could easily get overwhelmed by community produced products of varying levels of content that they need to vet, proof, edit and then manage in their store. Im guessing that they have their hands full already and this potential steam of product could actually slow them down for other things.
The DMs Guild is self policed and rated. If buyers have issues they report them and rate the product. The DMs Guild has some extra things that can be published there. They have a system where you can become a publisher and upload and price your own stuff. They have all these things in place (and the agreement with the Wizards). Im thinking that its easier for everyone to have us publish our stuff there. I am absolutely making some guesses here...

If you made a product that complied with the OGL/SRD (or free of any requirement to include the OGL) and wanted to share it here in the forums (as opposed to the store) I think that would be fine.

I hope that explains some background and my interpretation on the scene :)

[Nickademus]

I was planning to offer my adventure only on FG for supporting SW but Doug send me a mail to this link so I guess he would prefer if I put it on the DMguild site.

Can 5e content (like monsters or items) be included? If not its no big deal, I have created custom content already anyways.

The DMsG allows you to make content using WotC property that is not allowed in an OGL-only product, such as the specifics of Ravenloft or Forgotten Realms. In fact, it is the ONLY place you can use WotC copyrighted material without having a license with WotC (like Smite Works does). You can also make your DMsG material campaign agnostic, but WotC state they would rather you make more content for their worlds to add to the 'community pool' of content for them. You cannot make content for a different campaign setting (even your own homebrew) for the DMsG. If you make something that is OGL-compliant, you should either give it away for free here on the FG forum or make a publisher account on DriveThruRPG/RPGNow and sell it directly; WotC doesn't really want OGL stuff on the DMsG.

[ddavison]

Damned and Nickademus are both correct. James Holloway (Lokiare) and I have discussed building out an online management interface where people can upload non-DMsGuild content here, sign the necessary agreements and get everything posted to the store for people to buy. We will want to carve those out into a slightly different catalog as well. As damned states, our current method would likely overwhelm us with additional content when we already have a pretty steady amount of work from bigger publishers that we are still working through.

[Nickademus]

I like this idea. I'll be interested when the details are finalized and made public.

[Seya]

If you'll get too much content what about having contests where the winner gets to upload to the FG store and steam? That way you get great content that he people want

[HoratioDrank]

Is this for Adventurer's League only? If an author writes a non-AL adventure that otherwise qualifies to be on the DM's Guild, can he or she include a FG module?

[damned]

Is this for Adventurer's League only? If an author writes a non-AL adventure that otherwise qualifies to be on the DM's Guild, can he or she include a FG module?

Ayup :)

[ddavison]

Yes, you can have non-Adventurers League content now. Just go to the dmsguild.com site and anything you can post there can now be marked as including a Fantasy Grounds module. Check the FAQ to make sure you know how to mark it. If successful, it should show up in the Fantasy Grounds community modules section on dmsguild.

[HoratioDrank]

This is really good news.

[LordEntrails]

If you need help uploading an FG module and marking it correctly on the DMsG, let me know and I can help. I've already got mine up there and I think I've worked out all the steps for doing it.

[Nylanfs]

Note you can also sell it on OneBookShelf sites if it is all self copyrighted (ie your own system) or only using the SRD (3e, 35e, Pathfinder, 5e)

[Nickademus]

Note you can also sell it on OneBookShelf sites if it is all self copyrighted (ie your own system) or only using the SRD (3e, 35e, Pathfinder, 5e)

That requires a publisher account on OBS. Not sure how hard that is to set up. Using a normal account to sell DMsG stuff was a brilliant stroke for them.

[hawkwind]

I notice that some people are selling or giving away conversion notes to update old far modules to 5e on the DM Guild site, would it be OK to do FG modules based old TSR modules containing an updated map I.e not using the copyrighted orginal, and monster NPC entries so you still need the original module or by the PDF to actually run it?

[Nickademus]

I notice that some people are selling or giving away conversion notes to update old far modules to 5e on the DM Guild site, would it be OK to do FG modules based old TSR modules containing an updated map I.e not using the copyrighted orginal, and monster NPC entries so you still need the original module or by the PDF to actually run it?

Look at the requirements for the DMsG very carefully. You cannot offer a full conversion of the module. Only the game stats directly converted over to 5e. This means no maps, no descriptions/flavor text, no adventure details, no fluff. Basically, the purchaser will need to own the module to get the adventure and use the conversion notes sold on the DMsG to update it to 5e.

(Not sure if the update map counts as a new product or part of the original.)

[hawkwind]

I don't see why you couldn't do a new version of the map, after all most of the originals kind of suck by modern standards and when I have converted 1e modules in the past its taken me five minutes in Google to find a redone updated to colour version . Then you key the encounter/ NPCs to the new map but you would still need a legal copy to be able to successfully run the module. When I ran White Plume Mountain I even found a new colour vtt friendly map for sale on RPGNow

[LordEntrails]

This is the response I got from Matt McElroy with One Book Shelf when I asked if WotC would be interested in licensing the FRIA maps of the Undermountain.

"Unfortunately, at this time Wizards of the Coast has not released
those maps for use with any DMsGuild publication.

You are free to create your own versions of those maps, but please do
not copy them verbatim."

So, you can create original maps for old adventures. As long as you are not copying. I can't say where the line is between inspiration and copying is though. I would assume tracing is not acceptable, but if you created from scratch and included the same size and features...?

[hawkwind]

Excellent better polish up my rudimentary map making skills

[damned]

This is the response I got from Matt McElroy with One Book Shelf when I asked if WotC would be interested in licensing the FRIA maps of the Undermountain.

"Unfortunately, at this time Wizards of the Coast has not released
those maps for use with any DMsGuild publication.

You are free to create your own versions of those maps, but please do
not copy them verbatim."

So, you can create original maps for old adventures. As long as you are not copying. I can't say where the line is between inspiration and copying is though. I would assume tracing is not acceptable, but if you created from scratch and included the same size and features...?

You can recreate the map and it can have the same rooms and sizes and features but it should not look the same - it should be using new textures etc

[hawkwind]

terrible not to be able to use white boxes and a blue background!

[Nickademus]

I know, right.

And don't forget to put STUFF in those rooms! We have the technology these days.

[LordEntrails]

... We have the technology these days.

You mean like fire to cook my dinosaur meat?

[rob2e]

I have four items on the DMsG that also have FG MODs. I can be of assistance as well, in stepping anyone through this that has issues/problems.