Advantages to running a game outside of your normal group

[Myrdin Potter]

I bought FG about 1.5 years ago, and mainly have been running a campaign for my old (30+ years friends) gaming group. We all have learned FG as we have been going. Based on the messages on the forums, many people have been doing the same. I recently ran a few sessions in FG-Con and a started running Roslof Keep for a group I formed from posting in the forums here.

The result is that I have become even better at using the software because every DM and player learns and focuses on different things. For example, for leveling up, I have always opened up the PHB again and used the class list there. I learned you can do it right from the link on the character sheet (click the magnifying glass and drag the class link back to the main character sheet). Probably obvious to many people, but not the way we have been doing it. I have all the extra options available from UA and the WoTC books, and it is possible to grab the wrong link if you go into the library to find the classes.

You do not have to run a full campaign, many people are happy to play through a module over a weekend or a month or two. There continues to be the same DM shortage online as there is for in-person gaming, so you should not have an issue filling up games. This is especially true for AL games, where all you need to do to run official games is get one of the approved modules, register with WoTC to get a member number (DCI number) and then run your games RAW.

[irish_carbomb]

Yes I fully agree. I am actually playing in your Roslof Keep Adventure, and I run a game on Sunday nights with a great group of people.

I was having problems with my spells last night. They were not adding the correct modifier for my class. So I started adjusting them, changing the Base stat to Charisma. One of the other party members mentioned that you could click on the Magnifying glass on the spell group (eg. Spells (Level 1)) and adjust the modifier for the entire group of spells. This saved me a ton of time, and I never realized you could do that.

[Ken L]

It's always refreshing to get new faces in the loop. I GM regularly at a FLGS so I typically introduce new players to the game and mingle with a number new and old personalities. Online I have a 'short list' of people I can get in groups should the timeslots arise in addition to my currently running online campaigns (currently one). There's also an extended network I have with a handful of close GMs where we talk shop.

Oddly enough, it's easier for me to mingle with new players at FLGS as I typically have a high number of returners and need to make room for a new player to learn the game. It also helps that we meet face to face so there's not as much friction as there can be online where you only have an anonymous voice to work with. There's also more fringe personalities in the online space which is both good and bad.

[Varsuuk]

Yes I fully agree. I am actually playing in your Roslof Keep Adventure, and I run a game on Sunday nights with a great group of people.

I was having problems with my spells last night. They were not adding the correct modifier for my class. So I started adjusting them, changing the Base stat to Charisma. One of the other party members mentioned that you could click on the Magnifying glass on the spell group (eg. Spells (Level 1)) and adjust the modifier for the entire group of spells. This saved me a ton of time, and I never realized you could do that.

Same group and I didn't know you could do that for "weapons" when taking Champion archtype's 19-20 crit ability. I used to put it on weapons directly.