2 questions to help a newbie GM get started

[Cabales]

Hey guys. I'm working hard on getting ready to run some adventures for the first time. My plan is to start out running some some purchased adventures while I develop some of my own home brew stuff. I have two questions before I get started and I'm hoping you can help me.

1. Assuming I use Discord for chat, what is the best way to introduce music and sound effects into my campaign? I recently participated in an AL game as a player and I was really impressed with the DM's use of music and sound. I've heard people mention Syrinscape, but I'm curious what you guys think is the easiest to use and integrate with both FG and Discord. If you could point me towards some documentation on how to integrate it that would be helpful too.

2. What do you guys think is the best tool to use for map creation? I am not artistically inclined, but I am both tech savvy and can be detail oriented for projects like this. I realize there's a thread on mapping tools already, but it's older, and I'm really looking for recommendations rather than a list. I looked a little bit at Campaign Cartographer, but that's pretty expensive and I see complaints about the learning curve. I don't mind throwing money at the problem, but I want it to work well if I do. I see people mention Photoshop, but my gut reaction is that I'll some artistic talent for that to work. I think i would rather have something expressly designed for this purpose. I'll need to make overland, dungeon, and settlement maps.

Please let me know what you think. Thanks and looking forward to learning why you use whatever it is you're using!

[Bidmaron]

Do not use discord. Use teamspeak. If you search for discord, you will find that people have butt tons of problems with it, but there are almost no teamspeak problems (and there is a free to use community teamspeak server). Even when it is working, unless you have lightning internet connection on both sides, the quality often sucks. Not so with teamspeak.

There is a whole thread here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?20879-Map-Making-Software-summary) discussing mapping. Campaign Cartographer Pro 3 Plus is the winner unless you are an artiste, in which case you can make raster programs like photoshop work.

[Cabales]

Thanks Bidmaron. If I did use Teamspeak then what application would you suggest I use with it to play the sounds? Is Sirynscape the way to go, or do you recommend something else?

[Bidmaron]

I cannot pass myself off as a sound expert, but Syrinscape is friggin' awesome! A deaf man could tell you that much.

Dulux has an outstanding blow-by-blow telling you how to use teamspeak in his extension thread for the DoE Sounds extension right here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?31369-DOE-Sound-Extension). He is an awesome community developer (just ask him!), and we owe him a lot. Someday I hope his stuff gets rolled into FG as a permanent part of the program.

[Caelen]

1. Discord works great for me. I run a second instance of discord and send my winamp music through it. You can also send Syrinscape through it by following this guide (https://forum.syrinscape.com/t/syrinscape-protip-08-using-syrinscape-with-discord-for-online-play/709). The setup will be similar for getting any audio source hooked up with any VOIP service.

2. I use Dungeonographer (https://inkwellideas.com/tag/dungeonographer/) myself. The free version has all of the core features, so you can play with it before you decide to buy, or even just stick with the free version.

[Cabales]

Ok. That's helpful. I bookmarked a couple of these threads and will study them. Thanks Bidmaron. Still interested in more feedback from others, but this helps a lot.

[Bidmaron]

Sounds like you are capable of answering your own questions. If Discord is working for you, more power to you! Many here have it working fine. I troll these boards a lot though, and the most common thread we have other than connection problems are people having discord problems.

[Cabales]

I have no experience with playing sounds over Discord. I think you might have confused Caelen's response with a post from me. I appreciate the feedback from both of you. It will help me quite a bit in making a decision. It definitely sounds like Sirynscape is the way to go for sounds. I'll keep reading about mapping software. Thanks again guys.

[Bidmaron]

The names were similar enough that I thought it was you at a glance. Sorry

[dulux-oz]

He is an awesome community developer (just ask him!)

No, I couldn't - I'm too modest.

[dulux-oz]

and we owe him a lot.

Thanks - Its nice to know you're appreciated. :)

[Bidmaron]

I cannot imagine a more modest person than you, Dulux. But I am thankful that you think to remind us lest we forget.

[dulux-oz]

I cannot imagine a more modest person than you, Dulux. But I am thankful that you think to remind us lest we forget.

Well, someone's got too :p

[damned]

My advice?
Keep it simple - skip sounds until you have the hang of the core software from the GMs side running pretty smoothly.
You're only human and there is a lot to learn!

[Cabales]

Yeah, that's not a bad idea either. I really did like the music running in the background of some scenes though. A little bit of battle music or tavern sounds went a surprisingly long way. i think I'll at least see what I can get working on either TS or Discord though so I'll have that part complete. I may not actually integrate the sounds right away.

[Erin Righ]

I cannot imagine a more modest person than you, Dulux. But I am thankful that you think to remind us lest we forget.

I'm a MILLION times more modest than Dulux

[Erin Righ]

Yeah, that's not a bad idea either. I really did like the music running in the background of some scenes though. A little bit of battle music or tavern sounds went a surprisingly long way. i think I'll at least see what I can get working on either TS or Discord though so I'll have that part complete. I may not actually integrate the sounds right away.

Actually if all you are looking for in to stream sounds then it is pretty easy. It is when you want to tie them to effects, like go off when the enemy casts fireball, connected to the cast effect in FG co you click the cast button in FG and the sound effect plays, it can be complicated and damned has a point, play with that when you learn how to make the baddy smoothly Target the players, Fireball, Roll Saves, Roll Damage and Apply Damage, with a few clicks and player inputs.

[Cabales]

Yeah, at this point I just want to play background effects like tavern sounds, rain, and battle music. I started working on putting some of this together last night and most of it seems easy enough. I am curious about 2 things though:

1. Do you guys keep your VAC setup when your not playing, or do you restore everything to default settings in between games? Meaning, do I just go back to having my headset configured as the default for both the playback and recording device in my sound settings when I'm no longer running a game in FG?
2. Regarding Discord, is it pretty much established that you get the best sounds quality with a second account dedicated to sounds? If so, is the beta version generally considered the easiest way to accomplish that? If I use the beta version alongside the stable version do I still need 2 Windows accounts, or will I just be able to sign with another Discord account if I do it that way?

[Caelen]

1. Do you guys keep your VAC setup when your not playing, or do you restore everything to default settings in between games? Meaning, do I just go back to having my headset configured as the default for both the playback and recording device in my sound settings when I'm no longer running a game in FG?
2. Regarding Discord, is it pretty much established that you get the best sounds quality with a second account dedicated to sounds? If so, is the beta version generally considered the easiest way to accomplish that? If I use the beta version alongside the stable version do I still need 2 Windows accounts, or will I just be able to sign with another Discord account if I do it that way?

I leave my virtual audio cable on all the time. I just switch it to my default when I start Syrinscape, and then I switch it back to my headphones after Syrinscape is running. Once Syrinscape starts, it won't change what audio device it's using until you close it and start it again.

There are two options for sending sound through Discord. You can use Voicemeeter (https://www.vb-audio.com/Voicemeeter/index.htm) (by the same company that makes the VB-Audio VAC) to combine the virtual audio cable with your microphone, or you can run a second instance of Discord. A second instance of Discord is my preferred method because that allows my players to adjust the volume of the second account on their end. It does have some setup though. Assuming you're using windows, you'll need to follow this guide (https://www.reddit.com/r/discordapp/comments/3kz6fr/possible_to_open_two_copies_of_discord/).