Update-suggestions where?

[Mori]

Hey. I've been fiddling around with the program for a little month now (10+ sessions) and I were wondering were people suggest improvements?

I've added stuff I would like to see happen real soon under this post.


Thanks.

Mori.

15095

[Callum]

The best place to suggest improvements is here: https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/

[Zacchaeus]

I don't understand numbers 1 and 3 on your list, can you expand on what it is you mean?

Not too sure what the benefit of number two is to be honest.

Number 4 I can see being useful.

Number 5 not so much; don't use notes as a GM. Put things in story entries. That way you can export them and make them available/useful in other campaigns. You can't do that with notes. And Story entries are already searchable.

[damned]

2. You can import/export NPCs in modules. Type /export in chat
3. You can already grab PCs their portraits dont appear top left but everything else is the same. You can open a second instance if you need the portraits there and still manage the PC from the GM instance.
5. Notes are for Players - Story is for GM.

[Mori]

Callum: Thanks.

Mod (Zacchaeus):

I kind of did it the 'other way around' listing the stuff I cared less about first. I am happy that you identify my main concern as the one deserving most attention. Since you were kind enough to reply I'll respond in kind:


1) Is basically just flavor. I don't utilize the NPC-function at all having been early deterred by the different layout of the character-sheet. So since I use encounters a lot it's a simple choice of priorities. If every other DM is happy with the NPC-system there is nothing to change.

2) The benefit is that I can import PC's as NPC's. I got a lot of player-chars stored away and would like to utilize them. This could also be fixed by fixing no. 3 since I could then just "reserve" PC's and use them as NPC's.

3) When players make their characters those are reserved ('grabbed' is just slang) to those players. As a DM I'm only (and the only one who are) able to release the characters from the players control. I can access that characters sheet, yes. I can roll and change it, yes - but why can't I reserve it. Besides more nefarious reasons (which I imagine is the reason you have not implemented this) the DM could 'grap'/reserve the character, like every player can, so they are not public to other players. As of now I have to ask other players to grab the char until that person comes online again. Besides it happens to be useful when we fix char's and someone has to leave a session early (in which case the same applies).


4) Yeah. Thank you. I have a -big- room where I have 5-7 groups and I would like to be able to drop them all in the combat-tracker without giving my players a heart-attack (direct quote btw.). If you could make alliances, and stuff like that, that would be even more awesome. Example: I make 5 factions. I can the say 1 & 3 are allies, 4 & 5 are allies and 2 is neutral. By a click of a button faction 4 becomes hostile to faction 2 and the players can decide who to side with.

5) Well. I had to wing it and it worked for me.

I have a massive sewer-system in my dungeon so to know where every entrance went on the floor-map... notes. I simply added in the name of the place the stairs led and used the note to make descriptions for that room too. I've worked out some pretty good stuff so far, and they work well for traps too (since players believe you better when you share the link with half-page explanation instead of going "oh, there is a trap btw"). If you can't just add a search-function for notes (still not getting why it's just not there) consider renaming story "Gamemaster notes" and notes "Player notes". I use the story tab for story because it's named story.

Finally, again because you did answer, I just wen't into the program and did a little experiment and story-links is the same as note-links. Now something that would be effin' cool would be if these were different links - as in didn't became public when the other did. This would really be helpful with the traps, when they are nearby each other.


But you know. The encounter thing is first on my wishlist - even if it doesn't happen "real soon" ; -)


Best Regards.


Mori.

[Mori]

Damned:

2: Yeah. That bit was a bit trouble-some. Any reason you just don't have the same layout as with PC's?

3: Are we talking about the same thing? I know I can USE them. But I can't make them not appear to players in the character-selection. I would be happy to learn how if I'm just bumbling it up.

5: Not in my game they ain't. It's too late ; )/ Are players then able to search their notes?

Zacchaeus:

Ps. Thanks for the guide (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?27296-Guides-videos-and-other-helpful-information) you posted. Will read up before I ask for more stuff.

[Nylanfs]

Pins that you drop on the map aren't visible to the players, or am I misunderstanding what you are doing?

[Mori]

Nylanfs: Nope - but you can make them visible by right-clicking on them and click "share link" or "share all links"

[Nickademus]

2: Yeah. That bit was a bit trouble-some. Any reason you just don't have the same layout as with PC's?
NPCs have a lot less data stored in the campaign database since there are generally many, many more of them than PCs. The PC layout would be mostly empty.

3: Are we talking about the same thing? I know I can USE them. But I can't make them not appear to players in the character-selection. I would be happy to learn how if I'm just bumbling it up.
Want you're talking about is called an 'owner' in FG. A player owns a PC when they grab it. You can remove the ownership so another player can grab it. What you are asking for, and I agree, is to be able to claim ownership of a PC while on the GM client. Currently, as a GM, you have to start a second instance of FG and login to the alias 'localhost' as a faux player. Then you can grab the PC and it will be owned by whatever player name you gave the localhost entry. Would be much better if the GM could lock PCs.

5: Not in my game they ain't. It's too late ; )/ Are players then able to search their notes?
It's been a while since I played with this, but I believe the only difference between the story and note now is that a player cannot edit or type in the story entries. They are read only for them. And no, the Notes window does not have a filter field (which is what you are wanting).


1) Is basically just flavor. I don't utilize the NPC-function at all having been early deterred by the different layout of the character-sheet. So since I use encounters a lot it's a simple choice of priorities. If every other DM is happy with the NPC-system there is nothing to change.
But don't encounters just hold NPCs? How are you avoiding them?

2) The benefit is that I can import PC's as NPC's. I got a lot of player-chars stored away and would like to utilize them. This could also be fixed by fixing no. 3 since I could then just "reserve" PC's and use them as NPC's.
There used to be an extension for this. I doubt it still works. But the thought was there before. Might still be a conversion tool around somewhere.

3) When players make their characters those are reserved ('grabbed' is just slang) to those players. As a DM I'm only (and the only one who are) able to release the characters from the players control. I can access that characters sheet, yes. I can roll and change it, yes - but why can't I reserve it. Besides more nefarious reasons (which I imagine is the reason you have not implemented this) the DM could 'grap'/reserve the character, like every player can, so they are not public to other players. As of now I have to ask other players to grab the char until that person comes online again. Besides it happens to be useful when we fix char's and someone has to leave a session early (in which case the same applies).
See above

4) Yeah. Thank you. I have a -big- room where I have 5-7 groups and I would like to be able to drop them all in the combat-tracker without giving my players a heart-attack (direct quote btw.). If you could make alliances, and stuff like that, that would be even more awesome. Example: I make 5 factions. I can the say 1 & 3 are allies, 4 & 5 are allies and 2 is neutral. By a click of a button faction 4 becomes hostile to faction 2 and the players can decide who to side with.
Factions would be nice, but are beyond the scope of what the current client is meant to do. Smite Works is working on a Unity-based engine that could be built around factions, but they are not doing any major overhauls to the systems as such for the current client. If you don't mind working around them, load the encounters into the tracker at the beginning of the session (if you know where the party is going).

5) Well. I had to wing it and it worked for me.
I use both notes and story entries. The few notes I have I start with an underscore (_) so that it appears at the top of the list. I also hotbar the ones I use every session, same with stories. It just depends on what you prefer.

[Zacchaeus]

In the forthcoming version (3.2) the GM will have the option of reserving a PC by right clicking on it in the character selection window and choosing that option from the radial menu.

I'm still not 100% clear on number one; are you saying you don't use NPCs at all and that you have created all of the NPCs as PCs?

As above I still wouldn't use notes for linking to push pins; story entries are much better and you can share those with your players in just the same way but you have the added advantage of being able to export them into a new campaign and you can search them too. You are using notes when you should really be using story entries since when you are describing a room that's a story. So if you imagine that you have created this super campaign with dozens of pins pointing to room descriptions and traps and stuff and you want to run it for a different set of players you'll be able to export the map but not the notes and so you'll have to do them all again.

[Trenloe]

In the forthcoming version (3.2) the GM will have the option of reserving a PC by right clicking on it in the character selection window and choosing that option from the radial menu.
And if you can't wait for v3.2 use this extension: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?28728-GM-PC-Ownership-Extension

[Zacchaeus]

And if you can't wait for v3.2 use this extension: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?28728-GM-PC-Ownership-Extension

Gosh, Trenloe I really should do a search for anything anyone wants to do since you've likely done an extension for it. I'd forgotten about this one :)

[Nickademus]

Gosh, Trenloe I really should do a search for anything anyone wants to do since you've likely done an extension for it. I'd forgotten about this one :)

This isn't true. I'm still waiting on Trenloe's Wash Your Car extension.

[Mori]

Nickademus:



NPCs have a lot less data stored in the campaign database since there are generally many, many more of them than PCs. The PC layout would be mostly empty.

That would probably be the best argument to persuade me. I also think I discovered a bit of a source for the confusion; you are talking about monsters, right? I just drag them from the bestiary. When I say NPC I actually mean NPCs you make/alter yourself.




Want you're talking about is called an 'owner' in FG. A player owns a PC when they grab it. You can remove the ownership so another player can grab it. What you are asking for, and I agree, is to be able to claim ownership of a PC while on the GM client. Currently, as a GM, you have to start a second instance of FG and login to the alias 'localhost' as a faux player. Then you can grab the PC and it will be owned by whatever player name you gave the localhost entry. Would be much better if the GM could lock PCs.

Yes. I am indeed and I've heard about that method too. I think we are in agreement.




It's been a while since I played with this, but I believe the only difference between the story and note now is that a player cannot edit or type in the story entries. They are read only for them. And no, the Notes window does not have a filter field (which is what you are wanting).

Well, actually for my last session we had an issue with players not being able to edit another players note so I copy-pasted it and made it public for them in a nw note - still no luck. I attribute that to ordinary bugs, though.




But don't encounters just hold NPCs? How are you avoiding them?

I don't. This goes back to answer one. You're talking about monsters, right ; )?




There used to be an extension for this. I doubt it still works. But the thought was there before. Might still be a conversion tool around somewhere.

Nice! If they don't change the interface that definitely sounds like a good alternative.




See above

Check.




Factions would be nice, but are beyond the scope of what the current client is meant to do. Smite Works is working on a Unity-based engine that could be built around factions, but they are not doing any major overhauls to the systems as such for the current client. If you don't mind working around them, load the encounters into the tracker at the beginning of the session (if you know where the party is going).

Dream big :) But yeah - I can work around the issue. Accidentally I never know where my players are going. Part of my campaign/philosophy.




I use both notes and story entries. The few notes I have I start with an underscore (_) so that it appears at the top of the list. I also hotbar the ones I use every session, same with stories. It just depends on what you prefer.

Yeah. I use similar methods, more so with maps though. In the end it just makes it more easy to keep control of all your things if you have a system.

If you have further comments/questions don't hesitate to PM me. It's an honour getting feedback from a distinguished black mage :)


Zacchaeus:


In the forthcoming version (3.2) the GM will have the option of reserving a PC by right clicking on it in the character selection window and choosing that option from the radial menu.

I'm still not 100% clear on number one; are you saying you don't use NPCs at all and that you have created all of the NPCs as PCs?

As above I still wouldn't use notes for linking to push pins; story entries are much better and you can share those with your players in just the same way but you have the added advantage of being able to export them into a new campaign and you can search them too. You are using notes when you should really be using story entries since when you are describing a room that's a story. So if you imagine that you have created this super campaign with dozens of pins pointing to room descriptions and traps and stuff and you want to run it for a different set of players you'll be able to export the map but not the notes and so you'll have to do them all again.

Awesome!

Forget it. I just don't see what the NPC-button is for i guess. My 'worries' have been rested, though.

I get it. Use story. I'll probably fix it when I format my PC soon. Or not. I only wrote like a pack of room-descriptions anyway.


Thanks for your answers.


/Mori.

[Nickademus]

That would probably be the best argument to persuade me. I also think I discovered a bit of a source for the confusion; you are talking about monsters, right? I just drag them from the bestiary. When I say NPC I actually mean NPCs you make/alter yourself.NPCs and monsters are the same thing. PCs are entities used by a player; NPCs (and thus monsters) are entities used by the GM.

Well, actually for my last session we had an issue with players not being able to edit another players note so I copy-pasted it and made it public for them in a nw note - still no luck. I attribute that to ordinary bugs, though. Only one person can have ownership at a time. The GM can interact regardless of ownership, but only the player that made a note will be able to edit it. There is no community text area.

I don't. This goes back to answer one. You're talking about monsters, right ; )?In FG, a piece of data for a creature is contained in either the <charsheet> area (PCs) or the <npc> area (NPCs, monsters, traps, vehicles). The entities in the <npc> section of the database are put into the encounters. You can call them whatever you want, but FG sees things as only PC and NPC.

Yeah. I use similar methods, more so with maps though. In the end it just makes it more easy to keep control of all your things if you have a system.

If you have further comments/questions don't hesitate to PM me. It's an honour getting feedback from a distinguished black mage :)I now use a very, very different design for running my games. I've gone full circle and actually come back around to KISS. I don't know how useful my advice would be.

[Mori]

I've gone full circle and actually come back around to KISS. I don't know how useful my advice would be.

Yeah - probably not. I'm getting no new info regardless.


You can close the thread mod/admin.

[Nylanfs]

No! We must continue to deluge you with info in your eye-holes!

[damned]

Gosh, Trenloe I really should do a search for anything anyone wants to do since you've likely done an extension for it. I'd forgotten about this one :)

Dementia. Its only a few months old.

[Zacchaeus]

Dementia. Its only a few months old.

Could be. But then he produces so many, it's hard to keep up.

[Nylanfs]

I'm still waiting for my DOE "Clean my bathroom with one click" extension.

[Callum]

I just don't see what the NPC-button is for i guess.

In Fantasy Grounds, "NPC" is a term that covers both monsters and other characters run by the GM.

If you only ever use monsters direct from the bestiary, with no changes at all, then I can see that it might make more sense for you to have Encounters take precedence over NPCs. However, I frequently want to make small changes to a monster I'm using - or just assign a token to it - so I have to take a copy from the bestiary, edit it, and then access it in the NPCs area. I also like to build my adventures individually and export them as modules (to open in my campaign). I find it's best to have copies of all the monsters in the module, which again means dragging them to the NPCs area (and giving them tokens).

[damned]

In 3.2.0 you will as GM be able to display NPCs or Encounters or Both or Neither... you will have control over most of the buttons within the Options.
I too use them both. And I almost never use Items, Parcels or Quests.
Every GM does stuff differently.

[GunnarGreybeard]

Sounds like 3.2.0 is going to be a massive update? Looking forward to it more and more when I see things about it being posted.

[damned]

Sounds like 3.2.0 is going to be a massive update? Looking forward to it more and more when I see things about it being posted.

Ohhh.. there will be tears too :)

[LordEntrails]

Have you taken a look at this sticky? https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?33538-Adventure-Module-Creation-Best-Practices

It puts together most of what has been suggested here and hopefully, if not explains why, at least gives you a recommendation on how to create and setup adventures. If there is something it you wonder about, you can just ask here or there and you'll likely get 5 answers :)

[Mori]

In Fantasy Grounds, "NPC" is a term that covers both monsters and other characters run by the GM.

If you only ever use monsters direct from the bestiary, with no changes at all, then I can see that it might make more sense for you to have Encounters take precedence over NPCs. However, I frequently want to make small changes to a monster I'm using - or just assign a token to it - so I have to take a copy from the bestiary, edit it, and then access it in the NPCs area. I also like to build my adventures individually and export them as modules (to open in my campaign). I find it's best to have copies of all the monsters in the module, which again means dragging them to the NPCs area (and giving them tokens).

I dont think NPC = incl. monsters is exclusive to FG. I also assign my own tokens. Like a lot actually.




To every other DM out there: Is there any way I can communicate that I don't want advice? Can I like shut it off or something? (:))

[Mori]

Have you taken a look at this sticky? https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?33538-Adventure-Module-Creation-Best-Practices

It puts together most of what has been suggested here and hopefully, if not explains why, at least gives you a recommendation on how to create and setup adventures. If there is something it you wonder about, you can just ask here or there and you'll likely get 5 answers :)


This is actually the kind of advice I would have liked.

Please ignore my last comment, Dungeon Master *Bows*

[Trenloe]

It's the Internet, you need to activate your filter and ignore the stuff you're not interested in and keep looking for the stuff you are. If you want to know something (and it's not available in the Wiki or via a forum search) then you're best to ask, so that you can get at least one helpful reply. Just be prepared for "you don't want to do it like that, you need to do it like this" advice. If it's not useful, just ignore it. We all do things differently and we all have opinions - some we keep to ourselves, some we don't. It's all pretty friendly here (much more friendly than most other forums) so don't be afraid to post. If you're not interested in someone's opinion then just leave it - don't stoke a debate, unless you want to, of course. :)

[Mori]

It's the Internet, you need to activate your filter and ignore the stuff you're not interested in and keep looking for the stuff you are. If you want to know something (and it's not available in the Wiki or via a forum search) then you're best to ask, so that you can get at least one helpful reply. Just be prepared for "you don't want to do it like that, you need to do it like this" advice. If it's not useful, just ignore it. We all do things differently and we all have opinions - some we keep to ourselves, some we don't. It's all pretty friendly here (much more friendly than most other forums) so don't be afraid to post. If you're not interested in someone's opinion then just leave it - don't stoke a debate, unless you want to, of course. :)

I concur. I guess I was naive thinking I wouldn't get the treatment just because I didn't actually ask ; -)