thinking about getting the ultimate license, have questions about demo performance.

[NoFxJohnson]

First off, this program seems awesome. As the title states, I'm thinking about getting the UL, and I understand that the demo lacks some features. That being said, every time I try to go to full screen, the program crashes, is this normal? Also, it seems that the workspace is very small on the screen, for as many windows as you need open at a time. Is this due to it being the demo as well? If not, is there a trick to giving yourself more room to have the combat tracker, map, player sheet, and story windows open, and have Fantasy Grounds use more than just what feels like a locked 1/2-3/4 of the screen?
About half of my PCs are going to college in the fall, and Fantasy Grounds seems like the perfect solution. Aside from missing features, though, which I understand more are unlocked at time of purchase, I guess I'm felling claustrophobic on the GM screen.

Thanks in adavance!

[GunbunnyFuFu]

NoFXJohnson,

First off welcome to the Fantasy Grounds forum! I don't believe the crashing when going to full screen is normal, and having 1/2 or 3/4 of the screen isn't normal in my experience. I usually end up stretching out Fantasy Grounds over 2 or 3 monitors when I'm GMing, just for the added real estate. I have the Ultimate license, and have folks that connect to me all the time with demo licenses without any sort of issue, so I'd say it's not a demo issue. I'm sure one of our resident experts will be along shortly to provide additional support.

GunbunnyFuFu

[damned]

Welcome NoFxJohnson

A couple of quick things - the Ultimate License is really a GM license as it allows you to GM for licensed AND unlicensed players - it doesnt give you any other extra features or DLC.

FG should not be crashing for you on Full Screen. Are you on a Mac or PC? Laptop or desktop? Check your video drivers - see if there is a newer driver. If you are not on Win10 try updating DirectX. Try turning anti-aliasing off for FG.

The demo is missing the following features only - cant save games, dont get the 5e SRD or Basic Rules, cant buy any of the newer content that resides in the encrypted vault. Other than that the features are the same. So give the demo a further workout to be sure - or grab a $4 subscription for a month so you can test 5e out with the SRD or Basic rules and get a better feel for its capabilities.

Additionally - until you solve that issue you can drag the corners to make it almost full screen or drag it across 2 windows.

Space will be a challenge until you get used to the interface and how to best use the app for your play style. I get used to closing windows and utilising the shortcut keys for important resources.

In my opinion it is a great VTT - it really is.

[Bidmaron]

Hey damned your response assumes he is wanting wotc. I didn't notice anything that said that was what he wanted (although it is probably true).

[Trenloe]

... is there a trick to giving yourself more room to have the combat tracker, map, player sheet, and story windows open, and have Fantasy Grounds use more than just what feels like a locked 1/2-3/4 of the screen?
A few tricks: you can resize/move the chat window to a new location. But, probably the biggest one (if your eyesight can take it) is to use the /scaleui XX command in the chat window, where XX is a percentage. Set it to 75 to make everything smaller so you can fit more on your screen. Experiment with the percentage value to see what works for you.

[damned]

Hey damned your response assumes he is wanting wotc. I didn't notice anything that said that was what he wanted (although it is probably true).

I dont think so... its true you dont get the 5e SRD in the demo and its true that the SRD will give you an excellent idea of the capabilities of the VTT... :)
5e is only one of the systems I play and run on FG - Im certainly not 5e centric.

[NoFxJohnson]

It will be mostly Pathfinder that is played, although I'm not against any other rulesets. I didn't see d20pfsrd books in library, but saw them on most videos on YouTube. Do I need to create my own library? Going to try and use Gamma World d20 system at some point on it as well. I have Windows 10, running steam on Windows 8 due to bootstrapping or some such crap. Maybe I'll switch back and see how it works. Usually all consoles, pencil, paper and minis in my life, typically not PC, just bc of this "gotta do this to get this to work" crap. So, purchasing the license doesn't get you the pawns, or all of the Pathfinder rulesets?

[Talyn]

No, as @damned said the different license tiers essentially give you different "levels of access" for lack of a better phrase.

If you have a Standard License (as a GM) then your players will also need to have Standard Licenses. Similarly, if you prefer to only be a Player, not a GM, having the Standard license will let you connect to any GMs server, regardless of which license she may have.

If you have the Ultimate License (again, as a GM) then your players can have either Standard or Demo licenses (meaning you can have all your players with only the Demo (free) license).

Neither license gets you any additional content, however. You mentioned Pathfinder, and it is one of the base rulesets that come with Fantasy Grounds. It has a few SRD modules in the Library you can activate and use. Soon™ officially licensed Pathfinder DLC will start arriving in the store, such as the Core Rulebook, Bestiary 1 and more, which you can use in place of the SRD modules.

5E works in a similar fashion: the ruleset is already there for free and the SRD modules, then the PHB, DMG, MM and more DLC are available in the store.

For other systems, the rulesets are premium DLC such as Savage Worlds, Call of Cthulhu, Castles & Crusades, etc.

[NoFxJohnson]

Also would like to get into rolemaster a little possibly. Was kinda surprised that MERP wasn't in the store, but seems like there's ways to transfer. Really looking forward to playing.

[damned]

There is a single Pathfinder ruleset (there is still only one Pathfinder edition) and it is included also in the demo. In FG speak a ruleset is the coding that presents the charcater sheet and combat tracker and that understands some to most of the rules of the game. The Pathfinder ruleset is very robust. There is a subset of the Pathfinder SRD included in your demo also. It is found by going to Library -> Module activation. It does not contain all text from the SRD but does contain a lot of material. This is included for free. This data is known as a module (or modules). Sometime in the near future you will be able to buy complete Pathfinder books (starting with some core books and core adventure paths) on Fantasy Grounds.

[Trenloe]

Plenty of community modules available thanks to the generous Pathfinder OGL: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?16074-List-of-Modules And, of course, there's the imminent official Pathfinder support...

You do get base Pathfinder OGL libraries with your license (Player, Magic Items, Spell and Bestiary 1 data). You get a good starter set of tokens (monsters, creatures and characters) and the mainstream ruleset framework to play - see the "Included" support game systems here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Note that this is a framework (what you have been seeing on the videos - PC sheet, NPC sheet, items, spells, images/maps list, XP sheets, automation rules, etc., etc..), depending on the ruleset you may, or may not, get any data with the base FG license. For example, 5E comes with the 5E SRD and Basic rules, there is no library data for D&D 4E (as there was no OGL for that version), Pathfinder and 3.5E come with a base OGL library data (mentioned earlier), Numenera doesn't come with any library data (as there isn't an OGL), etc., etc..

There's a lot of "stuff" to get you going - and you can always enter data into the ruleset framework. As an example, this video shows you how to enter a NPC into the 5E ruleset: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-POluSDHAc The process is similar for all other rulesets - the NPC sheet is there, just go and enter the data.

A lot of people play long campaigns without ever buying anything than the base license. It all depends on how much custom prep you want to do, or if you want to save data entry time and buy some of the commercial products.

[NoFxJohnson]

Thanks for all the help. Can't say I won't be back.

[NoFxJohnson]

Is it illegal to add rules from a different game? Or, does it depend on whether or not it's public? Or is it not even possible? Like, say, star wars imperial assault?

[NoFxJohnson]

Wow, that first link seems pretty epic. Forgive my lack of PC experience please, but how do I get those things into my library? As simple as dragging them into a folder?

[Trenloe]

Is it illegal to add rules from a different game? Or, does it depend on whether or not it's public? Or is it not even possible? Like, say, star wars imperial assault?
Yep, it's perfectly fine to enter your own stuff for private use with your gaming group. All of your data is stored on your own hard drive - there is nothing stored in the cloud. The only limitation is publicly sharing copyright protected material - we don't allow that on these forums. Base game mechanics are not copyright protected, but fluff is, so you can actually share quite a lot of a system.

For example, there is a very good (IMHO) Star Wars: Edge of the Empire community ruleset here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?24151-Star-Wars-Edge-of-the-Empire-Age-of-Rebellion-Force-and-Destiny-v2-ruleset But it is limited in what data can be provided by copyright laws. So, Miekael has created some excellent library modules here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?24150-Star-Wars-Edge-of-the-Empire-Library-modules&p=241032&viewfull=1#post241032 These contain just the bare minimum, game mechanics, data. For description etc. the records refer the user to the page number of the FFG rulebooks.

[Trenloe]

As simple as dragging them into a folder?
Yep, just copy the .mod files to your <FG App Data>\modules directory.

[NoFxJohnson]

Join Date
Mar 2017
Posts
6
Wow, that first link seems pretty epic. Forgive my lack of PC experience please, but how do I get those things into my library? As simple as dragging them into a folder?

[NoFxJohnson]

Oops, haha. You guys are on it. This forum is great. Thanks, I'm gonna explore more now, and see if switching back to Windows 10 solves my crashing problem. Not quite sure what bootstrapping means, does it mess up any programs if I just close it in task manager?

[NoFxJohnson]

Running steam with Windows 10 makes it so I can use the whole screen.....YES

[LordEntrails]

Oops, haha. You guys are on it. This forum is great. Thanks, I'm gonna explore more now, and see if switching back to Windows 10 solves my crashing problem. Not quite sure what bootstrapping means, does it mess up any programs if I just close it in task manager?
It does mean that FG will not save when you close it this way. FG does do regular saves, so you won't lose much, but you will lose some if you close the process through the task manager. (Do note, you can force FG to do a manual save in the chat window by typing /save)

[Ken L]

I'd suggest getting a full license or subbing for a month so you can load the extensions/libraries and see if you like them before making a plunge for ultimate. FG is good at some things, bad at others such as large maps or fully stated characters (at least in PF given a wizard of 10th level and his spell book). Once you get a feel for it you can see if it's for you and your players; you can even sub for one month of ultimate and cancel it at the end of the month if it doesn't seem to be for you.

[NoFxJohnson]

Were all goin in like $20 on it, so, if it doesn't work out, it's still less than I paid for no man's sky XP

[Ken L]

An ultimate sub is only $10 a month iirc and only one person needs to have it. So for simply $10 you can test it with your group.

[Nylanfs]

Only in the USA though, it's not availible to Paypal users outside afaik.

[Trenloe]

Only in the USA though, it's not availible to Paypal users outside afaik.
I think you're getting confused with PayPal credit. A subscription charges your card/account up front, so is not a PayPal credit transaction and is available outside of the US.

[Nylanfs]

I thought that SW ran all their credit through PayPal which can cause issue with customers not in the US?

[NoFxJohnson]

Not sure if this is still relevant to the topic, but...I've been watching the digital dungeon master tutorial videos, which seem very useful, but as far as what you get when you license, he says you get the pogs, and pawns or whatever with your purchase, I don't see those in the demo, and from what I've read the demo is basically what you get when you buy a license. I found the Pathfinder pawn link. Do you not get those animal and character pogs when you pay? Has he had the program for so long he forgot? Or, is there a link you have to follow for those as well?

[LordEntrails]

Not sure if this is still relevant to the topic, but...I've been watching the digital dungeon master tutorial videos, which seem very useful, but as far as what you get when you license, he says you get the pogs, and pawns or whatever with your purchase, I don't see those in the demo, and from what I've read the demo is basically what you get when you buy a license. I found the Pathfinder pawn link. Do you not get those animal and character pogs when you pay? Has he had the program for so long he forgot? Or, is there a link you have to follow for those as well?
They are called "Tokens" in FG. Check out the user manual (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/filelibrary/FantasyGroundsUserManual.pdf) and the wiki (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/wiki/index.php/Tokens)for how to access and activate them.

[damned]

Not sure if this is still relevant to the topic, but...I've been watching the digital dungeon master tutorial videos, which seem very useful, but as far as what you get when you license, he says you get the pogs, and pawns or whatever with your purchase, I don't see those in the demo, and from what I've read the demo is basically what you get when you buy a license. I found the Pathfinder pawn link. Do you not get those animal and character pogs when you pay? Has he had the program for so long he forgot? Or, is there a link you have to follow for those as well?

Ahhh you are correct. Those are also a licensed product from Raymond Gaustadnes and they are not included in the demo.

[NoFxJohnson]

Ok, thanks. The Pathfinder tokens certainly seem like enough to get you started anyway.

[NoFxJohnson]

Starting to be afraid that the $1000's I've spent on books and minis is going to be obsolete, lol

[Talyn]

Take a picture of your mini and turn it into a PNG token? :p

[damned]

Hey NoFxJohnson - Ive spent far more on physical products since I bought FG.
So much so that I cannot buy any more physical products as there is no room for them :)
I still buy digital products that are not in FG format and play (some of) them on FG - it does require some more prep work but using MoreCore its not too bad at all.

[NoFxJohnson]

Is the core rpg the go-to for like, the d20 system? Sounds like it's pretty much where you go for anything not included.

[Bidmaron]

You should be able to use Pathfinder and 3.5 for d20 play

[damned]

Is the core rpg the go-to for like, the d20 system? Sounds like it's pretty much where you go for anything not included.


You should be able to use Pathfinder and 3.5 for d20 play

I too would look at 3.5E for d20 play... or MoreCore...

[NoFxJohnson]

trying the UL for a month, i think the bestiary 2 from this link downloaded, but 3,4,5 all bring me to some movie viewer and says the file is corrupt. is there a different way to download them?

[Trenloe]

Don't try to open the .mod file directly. Install them in your FG app data\modules directory.

[NoFxJohnson]

thanks i figured it out, is there a furniture pog/token set? or do i just insert pics from the internet somehow?

[damned]

thanks i figured it out, is there a furniture pog/token set? or do i just insert pics from the internet somehow?

Hi NoFxJohnson it really depends on what you are trying to achieve. I personally find prepping rooms with furniture takes way too much effort and I tend to stick with verbal descriptions of the room - like the old days :) There is at least one furniture pack in the store and there is the https://www.vintyri.org/CSUAC/ available with many, many assets.

[NoFxJohnson]

Thanks, I'm going to do the same, just describe. Gonna try random Google pics to visualize anything instead of furniture tiles. Think I remember using some dungeon creater once in the past, too, which had a pretty good selection of furniture decor. I looked on the store, wasn't sure what search terms to use, couldn't find anything and gave up. Did end up creating a story from scratch, tho, pretty pumped to run it. When I was playing with a random encounter, I was rolling for attacks by highlighting the attack die with the damage die, but it was only giving the attack, so then I just rolled attack die, but it seemed hit or miss whether or not it auto deducted the damage. Is that the correct way to do this?

[damned]

Golden Rule:
Drag characters from their portraits top left of screen to the Combat tracker.
Drag NPCs to Combat Tracker or use Encounters button to get them there.
Drag Actors (PCs and NPCs) from the Combat Tracker to the map.
Then you can target and do all your attacks etc...

[Trenloe]

so then I just rolled attack die, but it seemed hit or miss whether or not it auto deducted the damage. Is that the correct way to do this?
Any action FG that is a two step process will need the two steps to be carried out - roll the attack then, if a hit (confirmed by the GM), roll for damage. This is by design so that the GM can do a final confirmation before damage is rolled - players (and GMs) might have forgotten to apply all of their effects, there may be situational bonuses/penalties that haven't been applied, etc.. Use the Hit or Miss indicator as a guideline, but always be aware to check.

This allows you to use FG without getting confused with effects - use all of the great VTT features that allow you to play over the Internet with your friends but don't drown in all of the technicalities of effects etc.. Get playing and game just like you would face-to-face, then once you get familiar with FG you can start to code more automation if that is your desire.