New DM looking for mentor!

[Mini Chaos]

Hello I'm Mini Chaos, but my friends just call me Mini. I recently subscribed to the ultimate licence program. I am brand new to D&D but have wanted to play since I was a teenager (lets just say I'm far from that now lol). Anyways I am just scribbling around and looking at the videos on steam. I could really use some help in learning how to navigate the system and do some things.

Such as, is there a list of classes that our PC's can choose from or is totally up to the GM? How do I determine move distance? How do I link maps together or do I have to close and reopen them? If I have characters on one map and another character in another town can I somehow easily switch between them?

Thanks for any help and offers of lessons,

Mini Chaos

[Nylanfs]

Hiya, welcome to the forums and FG community!

[Mini Chaos]

Thank you! Are you a player or a DM or both?

[dulux-oz]

Hi Mini, and Welcome! to the Community,

The best way to start in on this fantastic hobby is to actually play as a Player first and then "graduate" to being a GM. Yes, you can jump straight in to GMing (and many do) but many more "ease" themselves into it.

Joining in on a game involves hunting around for a group thats looking for players. The LFG Forum here is a good place to start, and there's plenty of advice on how to go about it on the various "sticky" threads.

If you do want to jump in as a GM then you'll need to read all and understand all the rules of your chosen RPG system. Once you feel reasonable confident advertise for players and you should be set. You can also read the various Blogs on GMing here on the FG Site or on other websites as well - but in the end you've got to do it (a bit like riding a bike - you can be told how but only tou can actually ride it yourself).

I started out straight as a GM 30+ years ago as a pre-teenager with the 1st Edition Basic D&D by simple reading the rules and then running some games for my friends. It was a challenge but a highly enjoyable one.

As far as gaming with FG is concerned, if you haven't done so already, let me encourage you to take a look at some of the great Tutorial Videos available on the Fantasy Grounds Wiki (and on YouTube). Damn's are good, as are Xorn's, and people seem to like mine as well (mine are also available from the links in my sig, below).

Start with the ones on the CoreRPG, because the CoreRPG forms the foundation of just about all the RPGs we play with Fantasy Grounds - so by learning how to use FG with the CoreRPG you'll learn about 80% of what you'll need to know to play any RPG with Fantasy Grounds. Once you've gone through the CoreRPG Videos you can then go on to Videos about your chosen RPG.

When you get familiar with the basic Fantasy Grounds product the next step is to check out some of the Extensions (Plug-Ins) for FG, such as the DOE: Sound, DOE: Locations, DOE: Weather and DOE: Organisations Extensions (to name a but a few - and a Shameless(™) Self Plug).

And keep on asking questions - we're a pretty friendly lot here, and we love answering questions.

Cheers

[gaara6666]

Welcome aboard mini. I think the best thing to do is to start with the tutorials the. Spend time opening up a sample game so you and players can took around with the software for a bit testing things doing things along with each other and referring to cliff notes of tutorials. Don't feel intimidated by the learning curve and embrace it. We folks here are friendly so any specific questions that may not be covered or expanded upon in the tutorials we can answer here

[Mini Chaos]

Thank you all! Thanks for the suggestion to start with the corerpg first and for the tutorial youtube videos I was not aware of.

[chanceboon]

I'll throw another vote toward watching the tutorials. They help immensely. As far as starting out, I'd catch a few games as a player and then move toward GMing. If you join the Fantasy Grounds Discord server there's a "Looking for Group" channel that has been known to toss out a few one-shotters here and there that you could sit in on.

[Mini Chaos]

Thanks for the suggestion! I am in the FG Discord channel and I am totally willing to do a sit down. All i have is time on my hands for the next month and would love to dedicate myself to learning this stuff and start producing stories.

[SirGraystone]

Something that help to learn more about FG is opening the software twice, once as a GM to open a campaign, and another copy client that connect to that same campaign, this way you can see both the GM and the player side of thing.

[Mini Chaos]

Great Idea! Thanks!

[LordEntrails]

There is also a bunch of links on a thread stickied in the Commons; https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?36014-GM-Advice

[Answulf]

It would be really nice to see the Fantasy Grounds community develop a true GM mentorship program, however.

"All volunteers, please step forward!"

Answulf discreetly takes a step backwards.

[dulux-oz]

{I]Answulf discreetly takes a step backwards.[/I]

Yeah, and that's generally the problem - plenty of people would like to see "something" done, but just about everyone thinks "somebody else" should do it.

Also takes a step backwards. :)

[Erin Righ]

I'd be totally willing to mentor a GM, I have been GMing for 37-38 years, I am sure I have learned something by now...Now only if I knew how to convey that info...sigh

[rob2e]

Mentoring is a great idea, but the time... The time! Who's got the time. Also, Answolf, a great thing to do (to learn) is to be in the chat for live games on Twitch and ask questions. Also, there are many game videos on YouTube to watch and see how things are done in FG. I have over 300 myself, so there is over 1200 hours of "tutorial" right there.

[LordEntrails]

Mentoring is a great idea, but the time... The time! Who's got the time. Also, Answolf, a great thing to do (to learn) is to be in the chat for live games on Twitch and ask questions. Also, there are many game videos on YouTube to watch and see how things are done in FG. I have over 300 myself, so there is over 1200 hours of "tutorial" right there.
Yes:) But watching you DM for 1200 hours is not a very efficient way to learn what you know about DMing :)

Though it's not mentoring, check out this thread that is more in the "self-help" approach; https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?36014-GM-Advice

[patoarch12]

Hi Mini,

I recently was like you but I decided to just dive in and start writing a story and created a "test" game keeping everything simple, starting the campaign out at level 1 to reduce complexity.

I have found that it is easier to attract experienced and knowledgeable people who are willing to help you learn both the FG software and the game rules if you go through the effort of creating a game for them to enjoy as players. I started by creating a "one shot" game and a short term campaign and in each game there were at least 2 players that joined who were experienced DM's wanting to take a break from being a DM and enjoy playing as a player. I kept a humble attitude and let everyone know that although I am new and still learning I was going to try my best and was open and appreciative of any help or advice as things came up that I didn't know. The experienced and more knowledgeable players were happy to help and I learned a lot about how to operate the Fantasy Grounds software more effectively as a DM and became more familiar with game rules in action.

Ultimately the best way to learn to be a DM is to play as a DM. I think the easiest way play a game that you'd be most comfortable in as a DM is to create your own game on your terms making sure it is designed to be simple and friendly to people who are new and still learning. Even if you end up with a group of players who are all new like you, fun can still be had as you all learn together.

Although I am not the most qualified, I'll try to do my part in helping to grow our community DM player base by offering you the chance to join one of my upcoming games that I am DMing as an observer. I run games on Thursday nights, the next one being May 11th at 10:30pm eastern time. PM me if you are interested and I will give you the rest of the details.

Good luck!

BTW - I watched all of Dulox Oz's tutorial videos on the Fantasy Grounds wiki and they were really helpful. I also tried to watch as many other tutorial videos as I could.

I was initially worried about trying to get a game going without being an expert on all of the game rules and Fantasy Grounds but after a few games under my belt I can say that the community is pretty friendly and understanding of new DM's and they appreciate you even trying to create a fun gaming experience for them. Without DM's there is no game and there are fewer people wanting to DM then there are people just wanting to be players.

[Mini Chaos]

So how do I open the FG software twice? The only way I know to launch it is through steam and once it is running it won't let me launch it again.

[rob2e]

Yes:) But watching you DM for 1200 hours is not a very efficient way to learn what you know about DMing :)

Actually, many people would disagree with you there (based on comments I've received in the last 18 months). It might be like stand-up comedy. Watching others CAN help you, but you can't please EVERYBODY!

[LordEntrails]

Actually, many people would disagree with you there (based on comments I've received in the last 18 months). It might be like stand-up comedy. Watching others CAN help you, but you can't please EVERYBODY!
I didn't argue effectiveness or entertaining, I said efficient:)

But you are right, not only can't you please everyone, but different people learn best through different mediums and with different methods. It's just one more way this community does a great job of providing multiple formats and helping each other out.

[Nylanfs]

So how do I open the FG software twice? The only way I know to launch it is through steam and once it is running it won't let me launch it again.

Look for the actual fatasygrounds.exe and make a shortcut on your desktop and launch that, use "localhost" as the IP address.

[Erin Righ]

So how do I open the FG software twice? The only way I know to launch it is through steam and once it is running it won't let me launch it again.

Assuming you are using Windows 10, right click the Fantasy Grounds name on the Library page of steam and click "Create Desktop Shortcut", exit steam launcher and minimize to desktop. Drag the Shortcut to your taskbar to create a taskbar icon and launch from there. Once you have one instance running, right click the taskbar icon and click fantasy grounds, this should launch a second instance

[Trenloe]

So how do I open the FG software twice? The only way I know to launch it is through steam and once it is running it won't let me launch it again.
Info (with screenshot) here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?36957-Playing-At-Home-Including-Fantasy-Grounds&p=323935&viewfull=1#post323935

[Answulf]

Yeah, and that's generally the problem - plenty of people would like to see "something" done, but just about everyone thinks "somebody else" should do it.

Also takes a step backwards. :)

Ha!

I'll amend my step backwards - I would be willing to mentor GMs in a program if one existed - my step backwards is in volunteering to start a mentorship program.

[dulux-oz]

Ha!

I'll amend my step backwards - I would be willing to mentor GMs in a program if one existed - my step backwards is in volunteering to start a mentorship program.

Alright, serious question then (and this goes out to everyone) - how would you see something like a FG Mentoring Program work? How would you like to see it organised? What would you like to see it cover / how would it run?

Let's start getting some info in to see what people want/expect/can deliver.

<sound of gauntlet hitting the floor />

[gaara6666]

okay... Gauntlet accepted buddy. GM offer to do a 1 on 1 mentor program covering 1 topic (maps, libraries, combat tracker, effects building, storytelling, player selection when starting a game, asset imports). The GM mentoring picks 1 topic that he knows the BEST about. He does a sample demo of how it works, opens it up into a Q and A. For the more tech savy it can be recorded and maybe establish a "FG Mentor" youtube channel so that the person on that channel reviews it and uploads it to save others in the future. It maxes out at a time of 25 minutes making sure it sticks to only 1 topic and that is how we build a library of mentor help vids that have built in FAQs.

[dulux-oz]

okay... Gauntlet accepted buddy. GM offer to do a 1 on 1 mentor program covering 1 topic (maps, libraries, combat tracker, effects building, storytelling, player selection when starting a game, asset imports). The GM mentoring picks 1 topic that he knows the BEST about. He does a sample demo of how it works, opens it up into a Q and A. For the more tech savy it can be recorded and maybe establish a "FG Mentor" youtube channel so that the person on that channel reviews it and uploads it to save others in the future. It maxes out at a time of 25 minutes making sure it sticks to only 1 topic and that is how we build a library of mentor help vids that have built in FAQs.

Nice idea, and one that should be followed through on - but isn't that more about running FG as a GM then about GMing; my impression from the OP's original question was more around being a GM regardless of which RPG, VTT or other tool we use ie storytelling, handling players, running combats fairly, etc - you know, the "art" of being a GM as opposed to the "science" of running FG.

Thoughts?

(And yes, for the record, I really do need to get back in and complete my Tutorial Vids :) )

[LordEntrails]

So, sounds like two ideas. How to be a GM. And How to GM using FG.

When I started using FG, I was fortunate in that one of the other users ran a monthly how to GM with FG session. But that's no longer being done by them.

As for 1 on 1, though that would be ideal, I think it would not be very efficient. I assume that their are going to be more people wanting to be mentored than it is reasonable to expect mentoprs to make themselves available.

I suggest a workshop format for both of these "classes". One were a syllabus is created both for the leader and the "students". This will make it easier for people to step up and be a workshop leader without having to develop the workshop on there own.

I would also suggest putting together a "steering group" or such that is responsible for keeping the workshop material current based upon the feedback of students and leaders. Which means a "survey" of feedback form would be useful too.

Finally, I would suggest that both of these workshops be aimed at people completely new or uncomfortable and not try to mix in advanced topics. Keep it simple, keep them to about 2 hours in length. With the goal that it is enough to build confidence and get people to dive in and try.

That said, I will volunteer to help out developing material for either workshop, but not for about 3 more weeks. Have real life stuff until then.