NPC Good Adventurers In Fantasy Grounds

[Elfuthark]

I'm looking to start a game but only have 1 person interested in playing at the minute. What is the best way to setup a NPC Character or even 2 for a scenario like mine where I do not have enough players and also who would you recommend controls that NPC's, The DM or the playing CP? Do I the DM create them in the Manage Characters section or do I start a new campaign and create them in there? Also can we use them in a scenario that they don't interact but follow the playing CP and only come into action during encounters?

Looking forward to hearing your advice on this topic. Many thanks

[damned]

Let the player create a second PC that complements theirs - and let them play 2 full blown characters. Scale your challenges down to suit. Post a recap here after each session and you will recruit additional players in a short period of time.

[Elfuthark]

Let the player create a second PC that complements theirs - and let them play 2 full blown characters. Scale your challenges down to suit. Post a recap here after each session and you will recruit additional players in a short period of time.

Thanks so much for the advice. I might have a second player so if we decide that they both create two characters each then we can run Lost mine of Phandelver without actually having to edit the encounters.

Yes I will be sure to post here how each session went and hopefully through time like you say I'll have gained a few friends who'd like to play in my games.

Thank you once again.

[damned]

If you advertise for players Im sure they will come...

[LordEntrails]

What? Not enough players? Impossible I say, Impossible!

As Damned says, advertise, they will come :) It seems like one of the most common complaints is from players looking for a game and not finding anything available :)

But, until they come, just have your player(s) play an extra character each. They can then hand those off to the newcomers or just retire them when needed.

[Nickademus]

I can't actually find what game you are having trouble recruiting for. The only game thread I've seen you post is one looking to join a Thursday game. What day/time/rule system are you planning to run a game for? Did you make a Game Calendar entry for it or a forum post?

[Elfuthark]

It sounds like maybe I was a little to vague in my post for Thursday night players so I'll go and edit it to add some more info. Thanks for point this out. Everyone is so helpful here ��

Can someone direct me how to make a calendar entry too or is this not needed because I've made a post?

[Trenloe]

Calendar entries help sort out the time/date of the first few sessions as it adjusts for an individual user's time zone (as long as they set their time zone in their profile).

Put the proposed time/date of the first session (you can have a few entries and players can vote for each) to give you a quick view of who can make it or not. The time is in hh:mm format (24 hour or add a pm for times after midday).

You can create a campaign entry in the game calendar here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/calendar/ Most of the fields are pretty self explanatory. Look at other campaigns if you need some examples.

A few things to consider with using the game calendar:
1) Some players will apply to the game calendar at random without ever getting in touch with you. Never "accept" someone on the game calendar unless you've heard from them - usually via a post on the forums or them PMing you direct. Only accept those people who you think are a good fit for your campaign.
2) You won't get email alerts when people post comments in the game calendar entry. So visit your game calendar a few times to check for comments. Only accepted players can comment. This is one of the main reasons why campaign discussion forum posts are made and keep going as the campaign develops, as you can subscribe to get alerts for a forum thread, but can't do the same for your campaign.
3) If you set your campaign to private or no longer accepting players it will still be available to the GM and the accepted players, but it won't be visible to potential new players. This is usually good, but it also means that if someone you've invited someone who new and they have the link to your campaign they will just get a blank page.

It's a useful piece of functionality when getting a campaign going - if you enter a session time this will also appear on the upcoming games dashboard view which can help get you interested players. See the dashboard view here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/gamecalendar/dashboard.php

[Elfuthark]

Brilliant in depth answer from @Trenloe I can not thank you enough.

I've created my Calendar entry so let's see what happens. I didn't fill in my server address & password is that ok? Wasn't sure if this stayed hidden or not so was scared to type those details in.

[JohnD]

Couldn't hurt to link to it here...

[Elfuthark]

Couldn't hurt to link to it here...

Good Idea. Here it is:

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/calendar/?id=2455

[Trenloe]

I didn't fill in my server address & password is that ok? Wasn't sure if this stayed hidden or not so was scared to type those details in.
Those are hidden and only available to those players you've accepted.