Improvisation and Fantasy Grounds

[Reynard203]

Some background: I am your typical "started with the Metzner Red Box" Gen-X DM, so I have been running D&D in its various incarnations for 30+ years. A few years ago, I started running games at conventions for the first time and after some early growing pains, I developed a style where I run an ongoing, miniature "con campaign" over the course of the convention. That is, maybe 4 to 6 four hour sessions that all lead into one another. Usually it is the form of some kind of exploration based game, rather than a "story" based one (though story certainly emerges out of that play) and is largely improvisational in nature. I make stuff up on the fly, use random charts and grab small prepared bits (a decontextualized encounter or map or scene or whatever). This is the way I generally run D&D, just compressed into a single weekend rather than over the course of a year.

A couple of years ago I started running 5E using FG. I ran my first campaign as I described above and frankly it did not go great. In addition to allowing too many players (9 or 10 most sessions!) I had trouble adapting my style to the VTT. After a little break, I ran Storm King's Thunder for a while and, as usual, I bounced off the pre-written adventure pretty hard. I have never enjoyed running big, campaign long adventures (I am okay with smaller stuff to fill in spaces in a longer campaign). After ANOTHER break, I am getting back to it with a new Eberron campaign now that the Wayfarer's Guide is out. I plan to use a combination of modules (we are starting with Sunless Citadel) and improvisational tomfoolery.

All that to ask: what kinds of tools are there to make improvisational play on FG run smoothly and be fun? One of the things I have the hardest time with is the battle mat problem. At the physical table I use a dry erase grid and I can whip up whatever random set piece comes into my mind pretty quickly. FG does not have a good set of map drawing tools, which has been a bit of a barrier for me. Other than that, I am interested in what kinds of FG modules or extensions forlks use for random encounters (not just combat ones) and other fun random game elements. Is there a good way to structure your maps and materials so it is easy to get to during play?

Thanks so much.

[The High Druid]

My answer to this was to create a few map modules with stuff dug up from google. So, with a bit of work I have generic modules for Castles, Dungeons, Forests, Inns/Taverns . . . etc, and I always have a few "blanks" available (plain grass, plain sand, parchment - the lighter coloured ones you *can* draw on with the drawing tool). You don't need to load them up with everything you find; you're not likely to need 6 castles in one session, so just a few different ones to choose from (by number of rooms, or levels, for example).

It takes some preparation, but when the group takes an unexpected turn, there's usually *something* in there I can use, even if it's not the perfect map.


Edit: You can do the same thing with encounters to make them run faster as well. e.g. One goblin boss, one goblin shaman, one standard goblin as your "template" encounter. When the party actually run into them: unlock it, and ctrl-mousewheel to adjust the actual number of goblins you want to throw at them before you drop it in the combat tracker.

[Andraax]

Edit: You can do the same thing with encounters to make them run faster as well. e.g. One goblin boss, one goblin shaman, one standard goblin as your "template" encounter. When the party actually run into them: unlock it, and ctrl-mousewheel to adjust the actual number of goblins you want to throw at them before you drop it in the combat tracker.

Or use the "random encounters" to generate encounters that auto-generate.

[GavinRuneblade]

All that to ask: what kinds of tools are there to make improvisational play on FG run smoothly and be fun? One of the things I have the hardest time with is the battle mat problem. At the physical table I use a dry erase grid and I can whip up whatever random set piece comes into my mind pretty quickly. FG does not have a good set of map drawing tools, which has been a bit of a barrier for me. Other than that, I am interested in what kinds of FG modules or extensions forlks use for random encounters (not just combat ones) and other fun random game elements. Is there a good way to structure your maps and materials so it is easy to get to during play?

First, I recommend investing in a Wacom tablet for your on-the-fly mapping. The best way to describe them is if you imagine a side-salad-dish sized trackpad like on a laptop but designed for using a pen to draw on instead of replacing the mouse. And yes they feature the ability to erase and use multi-color etc. Good ones cost over $300, but fully functional are under $75 on Amazon. If you don't have photoshop or a similar drawing program, there are some great ones available for free. GIMP is the king of free graphic programs. But also https://medibangpaint.com/en/pc/, https://www.miltonpaint.com/, https://siliconbenders.com/, and many more.

In fantasy grounds there is a specific folder for images in your campaign. You access it by opening the "images" button on the right navigation bar. That has a button marked "folder" which opens it up. Drag and drop your sketched maps there and they immediately are available in-game. You will need someone wiser than me to help with ideal DPI and dimensions. All I know is under 1 meg and 2048x2048, but 200dpi comes out painfully blurry. So hopefully a better answer is provided.

I don't do "random" random encounters, I have a table of possibilities and then I toss them together on a pre-made battlemat. I have all the Adventure-a-Week maps and several others (Watmough's essential fanatasy maps, all the free extra maps for official 5e adventures, etc). So I grab a map that looks about right, toss down the NPCs/Monsters into the combat tracker then onto the map, drop the PCs and go. I use pointers and shapes and the fog of war feature liberally to mod maps as we play, but there's only one color available so I make sure my maps are 90% the way I want them before I reveal it. Takes hardly any time at all. The current version of fantasy grounds makes enemies "unidentified" so players can't metagame right off the bat. And it is easy to replace that "unidentified" with something like "green humanoid with an axe" until they learn it is a half-orc-half-troll hybrid the local mad wizard created.

Lord Entrails made a great guide to organizing your campaign here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?33538-Adventure-Module-Creation-Best-Practices

I've been running the Tiamat campaign for the better part of two years now every other weekend. I use heavy improvisation because a) I'm setting it in Mystara not Forgotten Realms, b) I have a pixie, a pirate, and a diabolus for the PCs so good luck predicting what they're going to do, and c) like you I get frustrated with published adventures and just need to branch off the plot. So I've filled things out with adventures from tons of different sources, plus inventing some wholecloth. We do 6 to 8 hour sessions and Fantasy Grounds has been working great. I originally started over on Roll20 but moved here because Roll20 didn't let me keep enough data for improvisation whereas fantasy grounds uses my computer's hard drive so I can store everything I could possibly want. Keeping a folder with images, PDFs, custom lists etc that I can rapidly drag and drop into the campaign if needed is very helpful. I can list some of the DMs Guild and FG store products that have helped me the most, but they are not free so I don't want to overwhelm you. On my blog I list all the products I use on each adventure session, but I only started those a few months ago so there's not so many.

[Ken L]

FG currently has pretty bad improvisational support in general. The drawing tools are pretty bad / out-dated, and even the masking tool is annoying if you perform it often enough on tightly fit non-square areas (polygon tool..).

To get a semblance of improvisational play you'll have to create blank a 2k by 2k canvas which you can then use the black pixel pencil for. You'll want a large enough resolution image since it's a pixel as opposed to a vector pencil.

OR you can have a large cadre of maps pre-prepared, but that's not a close alignment to the traditional vinyl mat + wet erase.

[LordEntrails]

So improvisational maps are the place FG is weakest. You can do the idea of sketching using Gimp etc as Gavin mentioned. A couple of points about that;
- you can simple edit using Gimp the file in your campaign images folder and just reload it as needed and FG will update the image.
- dpi is irrelevant when you are not printing. screens don't use dpi, they use pixels and image scaling/zoom.

What you want for a "generic" blank battlemap is an image 2000 x 2000 pixels that you put a 50 pixel FG grid on. That ends up giving you a 40 x 40 square map to work with (you can make it 2048 square and put a border on it if you want). You can make several of these with different nondescript backgrounds (grass, rock, dungeon stone, etc). Put an off-color 5 ft (50 pixel) square in one of the left corners, this will allow you to quickly and easily put a FG grid on it.

I personally don't mess with that, instead I have a folder of a couple hundred maps I've pulled off the forums here or elsewhere that I just pull up when I need a map.

The next part you are going to want to prepare if you are doing improvisation is random tables. The DMG has a bunch. I think it even has the random dungeon layout generator (but with no maps)? Robe Twohy (and others) have various ones for encounter, treasure and other generations on the DMsGuild. For things like room descriptions you can do something like the dungeon room descriptions I made; https://www.dmsguild.com/product/229402/Dungeon-Room-Descriptions-FG You can also do tables for things like Trinkets (see my signature).

Think of it this way, when you run/ran at the table top, did you have tables of random names or other things that you referenced? You'll want the same things in FG. And since FG is much more powerful, you will want those references to be made into tables, templates and random encounters, parcels, etc.

[damned]

I run con style improv games using FG.
As above battle maps on the fly are not easy.
At the start of the session I ask some questions that will give me a fair idea of where the party are likely to head or at least for the first half of the session.
While they are finishing off learning/building their characters I grab some images - I have a folder with hundreds of JPG images that I have blurred a little and reduced the JPG quality that I use both as battle maps and props/mood.
Im only going to run 3 or 4 battles in a single session so I only need 4 in total.
I have lots of very thematic images. Combat uses the maps but the grid is never going to be perfect - there is height and depth in a lot of these images.
I determine my villain early based on their answers and then the other encounters will be support cast for this villain/story.

I can drag the monsters into the CT at any stage leading up to the Combat and just keep the visibility off.
The only part of Improv on FG (as opposed to Improv itself) that I find posing a challenge is battle maps and props.

One of the thumbnails in the image below is a screenshot that you can almost see the improv map in use.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=24452
24452

[Reynard203]

Lots of great answers so far. thanks, and keep suggestions coming!

One thing I am not sure of it how to put things in specific, easy to access folders in FG. So if I buy modules and stuff, maps and images (for example) end up under a heading when I bring up the maps and images window. Is it as simple as creatinga folder in the campaign images folder for putting all my "quick battlemaps" in one place so I can find them easily. As it is I am scouring multiple folders or a giant list of everything. Same with encounters, parcels and so on.

[Andraax]

Create your own module of "quick battlemaps". Open and close as needed. When it's closed, it automatically unshares the maps so the clients don't get overwhelmed with too many images.

[LordEntrails]

I keep my map images outside of FG in a bunch of organized folders, then I just add the few images I need, or might need in that campaign when I need them. Doesn't take me long to get to them. But, you can also make modules of various images (Dungeons, Towns, Wilderness, etc) and then just open the module you need and share the map you need. Modules have the advantage that you can pre-place the grids on them. I just haven't done that yet.

Encounters I usually just make up on the fly from the various NPC's I have (which depends on the modules I have loaded). BUT, you can create random encounters or look to some of the things on the Guild that already do that If you want more random than "ok, I throw in 4 skeletons and a skeleton minotaur." Parcels I usually roll on the DMG tables, but again, you can automate this even more with your own tables or those from the Guild.

[GavinRuneblade]

- dpi is irrelevant when you are not printing. screens don't use dpi, they use pixels and image scaling/zoom.
At the risk of derailing, this is relevant to me for quickly making images that work. I use DPI because that is the wording my mapping software uses when saving a file. It has some correlation to final resolution, though I'm not 100% clear on it. What are the ideal resolutions for maps, because so far everything I've tried makes a map that is way too big and my players on laptops complain.

[damned]

DPI is a publishing term.
Its how many dots per inch of physical medium.
If you are printing something in good quality its 300dpi (or higher)

Lose that term when doing images for computer use.
You want dots per square.
The most common sizes are 50 and 100px squares.
100px squares are 4x the size of 50px.

[Andraax]

I use 50 pixels per 5' of map. When saving, I save as JPEG with quality of 50, and "quarter chroma" (also sometimes called subsampling).

What mapping software are you using?

[Three of Swords]

On a side note, 70 pixels/square is also popular since the #1 competitor to FG (Roll20) uses that standard. Content creators that sell art on the Roll20 store use the 70 pixel standard.

[LordEntrails]

At the risk of derailing, this is relevant to me for quickly making images that work. I use DPI because that is the wording my mapping software uses when saving a file. It has some correlation to final resolution, though I'm not 100% clear on it. What are the ideal resolutions for maps, because so far everything I've tried makes a map that is way too big and my players on laptops complain.
What's you are probably doing is saving your map at 5 inches by 7 inches and 100 DPI. Which as far as a computer is concerned is 500 x 700 pixels. If you save were to then save the map at 10" x 14" and 50 DPI you would still have the same image on a computer (500x700 pixels). So, DPI doesn't really matter, it's pixels that matter until you send it to the printer. Then if you don't want to have to scale the image in your printer settings, those two images would print differently.

But, if you let us know what mapping software you are using, someone here is probably familiar and can give you detailed instructions.

[GavinRuneblade]

What's you are probably doing is saving your map at 5 inches by 7 inches and 100 DPI. Which as far as a computer is concerned is 500 x 700 pixels. If you save were to then save the map at 10" x 14" and 50 DPI you would still have the same image on a computer (500x700 pixels). So, DPI doesn't really matter, it's pixels that matter until you send it to the printer. Then if you don't want to have to scale the image in your printer settings, those two images would print differently.

But, if you let us know what mapping software you are using, someone here is probably familiar and can give you detailed instructions.

To answer Damned and the others, I know what DPI is and that it is a printing term. As I said, I use the word because the software does. To wit, that would be hexographer/cityographer/dungeonographer.

Here is a screenshot of the save options:24461. Though I have irfanview and photoshop and can tweak the image afterward.

In game it looks like a blurry p.o.s. and is massive from side to side/top to bottom with no ability to scroll out only zoom in.


Here are two sample maps so you can see the issue:
24462
24463

I have tried them in png, jpg, and gif. Not bmp or tiff though.

[Trenloe]

In game it looks like a blurry p.o.s. and is massive from side to side/top to bottom with no ability to scroll out only zoom in.


Here are two sample maps so you can see the issue:
24462
24463
So, looking at the image with a grid on it: it is 1200x1020 pixels, with 60x51 squares. So, each square is 20 pixels. Which when you zoom in will look blurry as there is not enough detail per square - which is what you're seeing. The issue is that with a map this size, you're soon going to hit the recommended limit of 2048x2048 (4,194,304 pixels). The usual recommendation for larger maps is 50 pixels per square. For this large map, that would result in a resolution of 3000x2550 = 7,650,000 - which is nearly twice the recommendation.

Try it at 40 pixels per square (20% over the recommendation - you'll be OK unless you have lots and lots of maps this size).

[LordEntrails]

To wit, that would be hexographer/cityographer/dungeonographer.

Here is a screenshot of the save options:24461.
Though I would have to play with it to make sure it behaves the way I expect, you have two number to play with, DPI and Hex per inch (or square). Assuming each hex is equal to a 5 ft square (i.e. planned for a 1" printed square to be 1 square i.e. 5 ft square), then i would have thought 300 dpi / 4 sq/in = 75 pixels per square. If you wanted 50 pixel squares, then you could try setting 6 hex/inch and keep the 300 dpi.

As Trenloe mentions, battlemaps typically are not as large as what you are wanting to map. For instance, the typical 2000x2000 pixel map at 50 pixels per 5ft square yields a map of 40x40 squares >> 200 ft square. I've got one that I run at like 35 pixels/square and it does look pixelated, but that ok since I just need it for identifying houses and large obstacles I'm ok with that.

[GavinRuneblade]

Try it at 40 pixels per square (20% over the recommendation - you'll be OK unless you have lots and lots of maps this size).

I do have lots that size. Nearly everything from Princes of the Apocalypse is much larger in terms of number of squares and they are all connected so players might walk through 3 or 4 in one session and you never know ahead of time which ones. Though I believe we're done with that nonsense so should be moving to smaller maps going forward.

What is the way to change the pixels per square? I'm guessing just draw a larger square, not use an image editor to resample?

[Trenloe]

What is the way to change the pixels per square? I'm guessing just draw a larger square, not use an image editor to resample?
It completely depends on how the application you're using operates. See LordEntrails suggestion. But at this point we're just guessing how the application you're using operates...

[GavinRuneblade]

Though I would have to play with it to make sure it behaves the way I expect, you have two number to play with, DPI and Hex per inch (or square). Assuming each hex is equal to a 5 ft square (i.e. planned for a 1" printed square to be 1 square i.e. 5 ft square), then i would have thought 300 dpi / 4 sq/in = 75 pixels per square. If you wanted 50 pixel squares, then you could try setting 6 hex/inch and keep the 300 dpi.

As Trenloe mentions, battlemaps typically are not as large as what you are wanting to map. For instance, the typical 2000x2000 pixel map at 50 pixels per 5ft square yields a map of 40x40 squares >> 200 ft square. I've got one that I run at like 35 pixels/square and it does look pixelated, but that ok since I just need it for identifying houses and large obstacles I'm ok with that.
Lol, that's the scaled back version, I started out trying to map an entire Mycenaean palace: https://rozmeri.oucreate.com/ahi4913/aegeanhtml/mycarch7.html

I'll try the 6 hex/inch, thanks!

[lostsanityreturned]

I made some battlemap textures / images that show off the built in pencil tool better. I set the grid to 50x50 px.
I also have a Wacom intuos graphics tablet, and if you have the money to invest I would suggest getting atleast one of these (I use mine for work though).

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1o-twEDK0NIy5GajTllRpM14jMA8b9t29

As for improvised gameplay, I improvise a huge amount in my games and don't have too much trouble. I think a lot of it has to do with getting used to the program and learning how to work in a lot of its features to your advantage.
For instance I have a days travel generator made up that with a single button press that quickly generates and logs everything that happens in a day. (image below)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-1IAAJrr-rUjWnSi-JlVJzUuiYXIP_5J

[Reynard203]

As for improvised gameplay, I improvise a huge amount in my games and don't have too much trouble. I think a lot of it has to do with getting used to the program and learning how to work in a lot of its features to your advantage.
For instance I have a days travel generator made up that with a single button press that quickly generates and logs everything that happens in a day. (image below)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-1IAAJrr-rUjWnSi-JlVJzUuiYXIP_5J

That's very interesting looking. Tell me more.

[lostsanityreturned]

I just set up a bunch of story templates based on terrain and linked them to another group of custom tables I set up. I then put all of those templates as links in a single story entry and dropped the entry onto my F1 slot, this lets me just click on the one suitable for the situation and go from there.
I can also add and remove whatever I want from the roll tables this way without having to change my story templates which is nice.

I can give more images when I am near my comp with FG if you wish. It took me maybe 15 minutes to make once I had the layout sorted. Well worth the effort though, the group was really impressed with how smoothly it all worked last session and the player who wasn't looking forward to a heavy survival approach to the jungle said it was so smooth he had no issues with it anymore.

[GavinRuneblade]

Though I would have to play with it to make sure it behaves the way I expect, you have two number to play with, DPI and Hex per inch (or square). Assuming each hex is equal to a 5 ft square (i.e. planned for a 1" printed square to be 1 square i.e. 5 ft square), then i would have thought 300 dpi / 4 sq/in = 75 pixels per square. If you wanted 50 pixel squares, then you could try setting 6 hex/inch and keep the 300 dpi.

As Trenloe mentions, battlemaps typically are not as large as what you are wanting to map. For instance, the typical 2000x2000 pixel map at 50 pixels per 5ft square yields a map of 40x40 squares >> 200 ft square. I've got one that I run at like 35 pixels/square and it does look pixelated, but that ok since I just need it for identifying houses and large obstacles I'm ok with that.

Following up, this advice worked like a charm, thank you Lord Entrails!

24503

[LordEntrails]

Following up, this advice worked like a charm, thank you Lord Entrails!

Excellent! Thanks for letting me know. I was making some assumptions and was hoping it would work.