DM and Character Sheets

[GrayMouser]

As a FG DM, do I have the capability of editing and updating any character's sheet in my campaign? At will? I suspect I do, but not yet having purchased/licensed the App or any content, I only have YouTube videos to look over. Have been doing that and a few questions have arisen for me.

Couple of scenarios coming to mind as I am assessing how best to DM (and with which tool): (Assume I have the same content available to me in DDB and FG)

1) I use D&D Beyond to have players create characters, perhaps also editing them within DDB until they and I are happy with them. I want to then take those character sheets and transfer them over to FG, likely having to do it manually, of course. Could I create those characters within FG as DM on behalf of the players and then assign them out to players as they enter my campaign in FG? Or, do they then have to recreate them themselves within FG?

2) Players create their character in FG themselves and I then go in to complete, correct, add, revise.....

3) I create characters in FG that players can select from and then revise as they see a need and we agree....

Likely other scenarios will arise, but those are the ones I will likely encounter as I start up my DM role and wish to leverage FG.

I am asking this since I will be on a huge learning curve with FG, as will any players I have in my campaigns as NONE of us will have used FG and most of us will not have yet played DND 5E in any form. I wish to relieve the players of any large learning curves and take on as much of the administrative items myself to allow them to focus on learning and playing their characters.

All guidance and counsel is appreciated!

Gray Mouser

[LordEntrails]

As a FG DM, do I have the capability of editing and updating any character's sheet in my campaign? At will? I suspect I do, but not yet having purchased/licensed the App or any content, I only have YouTube videos to look over. Have been doing that and a few questions have arisen for me.
Yes, the DM can open and edit the character sheets at any time.



1) I use D&D Beyond to have players create characters, perhaps also editing them within DDB until they and I are happy with them. I want to then take those character sheets and transfer them over to FG, likely having to do it manually, of course. Could I create those characters within FG as DM on behalf of the players and then assign them out to players as they enter my campaign in FG? Or, do they then have to recreate them themselves within FG?[\quote]
Someone was building a converter/importer at one point, but don't think it ever got finished. You can create them and then when the player joins they can take ownership (you can not assign), or they can create them either directly in yoru campaign or via Manage Characters and then bring into your campaign.
[quote]
2) Players create their character in FG themselves and I then go in to complete, correct, add, revise.....

sure.


3) I create characters in FG that players can select from and then revise as they see a need and we agree....

If you want :)


I am asking this since I will be on a huge learning curve with FG, as will any players I have in my campaigns as NONE of us will have used FG and most of us will not have yet played DND 5E in any form. I wish to relieve the players of any large learning curves and take on as much of the administrative items myself to allow them to focus on learning and playing their characters.

Have you checked out FG College? Free classes, lots of resources, lots of hands on help.

[Blahness98]

1) I use D&D Beyond to have players create characters, perhaps also editing them within DDB until they and I are happy with them. I want to then take those character sheets and transfer them over to FG, likely having to do it manually, of course. But, I will know they are complete and coherent from DDB. Could I create those characters within FG as DM on behalf of the players and then assign them out to players as they enter my campaign in FG? Or, do they then have to recreate them themselves within FG?

Yes, you as the DM can create the characters for your players. All you would have to do is fire up FG and click on the PC button (assuming 5e here), right click on the Character selection window and click on create item. From there, you can start creating using the SRD or whatever modules you have at this time. Once the players connect, they can select their character from the same Character Selection box and go from there. Even if they select the incorrect character, you as the DM can clear the owner of the sheet so the proper person can use the sheet.


2) Players create their character in FG themselves and I then go in to complete, correct, add, revise.....

Yup. You have access to the sheets at all times as you are the DM hosting the session and everything is stored locally on your computer. You can edit, change and do what you will whenever you put FG up and are in the campaign you are running.


3) I create characters in FG that players can select from and then revise as they see a need and we agree....

See answer #2. Once they have access to their characters, they are able to make changes to them. However, you are not informed of these changes and will have to rely on the honesty of your players. Or just double check their math.

Hope this helps answer your questions. If you have more 5e specific needs, stop by that forum and I am sure someone will be able to answer your more in depth questions.

[Targas]

Maybe something - you cannot prohibit players modifying their character sheet during a session, They can all do, what you could, even same time.
However, if you really want, you could export all character sheets before the sesson starts, track all changes, and next session import the character sheets with all changes you tracked. You could even rename a character to view them side by side, if you want to.

Or you simply trust your players they do not cheat. :)

[GrayMouser]

Yes, the DM can open and edit the character sheets at any time.

[quote]
1) I use D&D Beyond to have players create characters, perhaps also editing them within DDB until they and I are happy with them. I want to then take those character sheets and transfer them over to FG, likely having to do it manually, of course. Could I create those characters within FG as DM on behalf of the players and then assign them out to players as they enter my campaign in FG? Or, do they then have to recreate them themselves within FG?[\quote]
Someone was building a converter/importer at one point, but don't think it ever got finished. You can create them and then when the player joins they can take ownership (you can not assign), or they can create them either directly in yoru campaign or via Manage Characters and then bring into your campaign.

sure.

If you want :)

Have you checked out FG College? Free classes, lots of resources, lots of hands on help.

Thank you. Very helpful. Am in the process of checking out FG College, but have either not had the time or had issues getting to the site for one reason or another.

[GrayMouser]

Maybe something - you cannot prohibit players modifying their character sheet during a session, They can all do, what you could, even same time.
However, if you really want, you could export all character sheets before the sesson starts, track all changes, and next session import the character sheets with all changes you tracked. You could even rename a character to view them side by side, if you want to.

Or you simply trust your players they do not cheat. :)


Thanks! Not too worried about cheating as much as the effort required to create the character since it is very manual in FG and they will not know that tool. More intuitive and iterative in DDB. I simply wish to take the administrative work off them. In playing I suspect they will forget some things, jack others up, etc....and would want to revise/correct them after session to prep for the next session. Alternatively, we might wish to play and update in DDB with just me using FG as my DM tool, in which I would need to keep those sheets tracking to DDB.

Would that it were DDB and FG were aligned and integrated! O wondrous joy!

[damned]

Character Creation in FG.
5 mins tops.

Assign a name and Portrait.
Assign or roll Attributes.
Drag and Drop Background.
Drag and Drop Race.
Drag and Drop Class.
Drag and Drop equipment and spells.

Play.

[DwightLee]

Yes you do, I update my players character sheets all the time, change FG spells over to the Rob Twohy stuff, helped them with some editing they had trouble with etc

[GrayMouser]

Character Creation in FG.
5 mins tops.

Assign a name and Portrait.
Assign or roll Attributes.
Drag and Drop Background.
Drag and Drop Race.
Drag and Drop Class.
Drag and Drop equipment and spells.

Play.

Easy enough if you are familiar with the interface and comfortable with the mechanics, no doubt. Those that are not familiar with DND 5E or have little to no comfort with PC apps may find it daunting - at least at first - even as easy as you make it out to be. The learning curve might be enough to turn them off. That, at least, is my concern. DDB is select from dropdown or simple clicks.....character done. FG is drag and drop, having to have at least some knowledge what to drag and drop, along with where to go to find it. A bit more involved, it appears.

I want to make it easy and fun for the players. If DDB is an easier and cleaner way to create characters - and it appears to me it is - while FG is the better DM tool, then I want to find a way to mask any complexity from the players until they are comfortable with the game and the mechanics. I have no issue learning the FG platform to use it as a DM tool. It appears to be the nirvana I was looking for in the 80's finally arrived.

To be fair, I have no real comparative from which to work. I had access to all DND 5E content as I was invited to join a campaign and create a character by a DM who had licensed it all. So, it cost me ZERO to test out with no money spent up front. If I had similar opportunity to use FG to create a character I would have a feel for which route would be best for the playing group we are building up - none of whom have played DND 5E, let alone DND.

I need to take the time to sort out getting the demo installed so I can test it - although I do not believe all DND 5E content is included in that demo....so monies will need to be spent to test the way I wish to, it appears. Either way, it appears I am under deadline as there is a great discount running for FG right now, so now would be the time to buy, it appears. I just don't know if I have time to get it done. And I am damned sure I will not have the time to get my players bought in to test to see if they would enjoy it.

A bit of a quandary I will sort out....

[LordEntrails]

If I had similar opportunity to use FG to create a character I would have a feel for which route would be best for the playing group we are building up - none of whom have played DND 5E, let alone DND.

Jump into the FG or the FGC discord servers. I bet if you ask nicely someone would fire up their FG table and walk you through creating a character. I'd do it myself, but I have to get ready for a game that I'm running in 22 minutes :)

[GrayMouser]

Jump into the FG or the FGC discord servers. I bet if you ask nicely someone would fire up their FG table and walk you through creating a character. I'd do it myself, but I have to get ready for a game that I'm running in 22 minutes :)

Fair enough. Not clear how I get to those servers, though.

Have a great game!

[mattekure]

Fair enough. Not clear how I get to those servers, though.

Have a great game!

If you have a discord account, you can swing by the FGC here: https://discord.gg/Ew6nYyw There are usually various classes on character creation and DM'ing. You can even see if there are one-shots coming up you can join as you learn.

[GrayMouser]

If you have a discord account, you can swing by the FGC here: https://discord.gg/Ew6nYyw There are usually various classes on character creation and DM'ing. You can even see if there are one-shots coming up you can join as you learn.

I do and I am in. No response yet from Colllege Chat or private message to Vass. Not clear where I need to go or what I need to do there.....

[damned]

spend $4 and try the steps above using the SRD content only.

as Doug has suggested - if you are not happy with the product email support within 30days and they will refund you.

I just made a 5min chargen video for you here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxcRLNzqHLA

[mattekure]

I do and I am in. No response yet from Colllege Chat or private message to Vass. Not clear where I need to go or what I need to do there.....

All of the classes and one-shots are published on the FGC website calendar. https://fantasygroundscollege.net/events/calendar/ If you dont have an account there you can make one using the same username as your discord. that will let you know when classes are scheduled. If the times just dont work out for you, you can submit a request at https://fantasygroundscollege.net/assistance-request/ and someone will contact you to set up a time. Its the holidays so many people are away, but there are usually people around to chat.

[GrayMouser]

spend $4 and try the steps above using the SRD content only.

as Doug has suggested - if you are not happy with the product email support within 30days and they will refund you.

I just made a 5min chargen video for you here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxcRLNzqHLA

Thank you. I appreciate you taking time to build this video.

Yes, easy enough for a basic build. I get it. Nowhere near complete, obviously. And, if you know what you are doing and looking for, very straightforward. Would have been useful to see clickthroughs on definitions and help, hyperlinks, spells, etc as that is where the novice is going to spend their time. In other words, every new player will need a tutorial on the product, DND 5E characters, and the mechanics of not only building/maintaining their character, but also playing the game.

All can be handled, of course. Thousands have done it. We have not.

Unable to do anything in DISCORD right now.....some form of technical difficulty with the servers.....Murphy's law...

Thus, my premise of using DDB for character gen and then I would go into FG and build their characters for them. The campaign starts, they select their characters and focus on playing while they learn, over time, the ins and outs of FG and the character sheet. Quicker, easier start up and less frustration trying to learn DND 5E and FG at the same time while messing with networking, voice, and other technical issues that will surely arise.

[mattekure]

Thank you. I appreciate you taking time to build this video.

Yes, easy enough for a basic build. I get it. Nowhere near complete, obviously. And, if you know what you are doing and looking for, very straightforward. Would have been useful to see clickthroughs on definitions and help, hyperlinks, spells, etc as that is where the novice is going to spend their time. In other words, every new player will need a tutorial on the product, DND 5E characters, and the mechanics of not only building/maintaining their character, but also playing the game.

All can be handled, of course. Thousands have done it. We have not.

Unable to do anything in DISCORD right now.....some form of technical difficulty with the servers.....Murphy's law...

Thus, my premise of using DDB for character gen and then I would go into FG and build their characters for them. The campaign starts, they select their characters and focus on playing while they learn, over time, the ins and outs of FG and the character sheet. Quicker, easier start up and less frustration trying to learn DND 5E and FG at the same time while messing with networking, voice, and other technical issues that will surely arise.

While its not perfect, one community member has made a DDB to FG converter. that can save you some time at least. Its hosted here: https://www.ai6k.com/dndbeyond/

[damned]

Thank you. I appreciate you taking time to build this video.

Yes, easy enough for a basic build. I get it. Nowhere near complete, obviously. And, if you know what you are doing and looking for, very straightforward. Would have been useful to see clickthroughs on definitions and help, hyperlinks, spells, etc as that is where the novice is going to spend their time. In other words, every new player will need a tutorial on the product, DND 5E characters, and the mechanics of not only building/maintaining their character, but also playing the game.

All can be handled, of course. Thousands have done it. We have not.

Unable to do anything in DISCORD right now.....some form of technical difficulty with the servers.....Murphy's law...

Thus, my premise of using DDB for character gen and then I would go into FG and build their characters for them. The campaign starts, they select their characters and focus on playing while they learn, over time, the ins and outs of FG and the character sheet. Quicker, easier start up and less frustration trying to learn DND 5E and FG at the same time while messing with networking, voice, and other technical issues that will surely arise.

I think you are conflating two different things...
Fantasy Grounds wont teach you how to play D&D.
Your players will have to either load up the rules and read them or be guided by you.

In terms of building a character for 5E - it really is as easy as what I just did. I never spend more than 10mins building a character for D&D.
I didnt race the clock, I didnt do anything in a hurry. Of course I did know what buttons to push but really I just followed the steps outlined above.

If your players dont know how to play D&D my suggestion to you is - dont let them build characters.
Either build them for them or buy Lost Mine of Phandelver and hand them or let them choose from the pregens included.

Spend 15mins going over the character sheet and what info is on what page and what info is clickable/actionable.
Then dive into the story
Whenever it is time for the players to act or ask questions or fight etc - guide them as to what some of their options are and they will pick it up very quickly.

[GrayMouser]

I think you are conflating two different things...
Fantasy Grounds wont teach you how to play D&D.
Your players will have to either load up the rules and read them or be guided by you.

In terms of building a character for 5E - it really is as easy as what I just did. I never spend more than 10mins building a character for D&D.
I didnt race the clock, I didnt do anything in a hurry. Of course I did know what buttons to push but really I just followed the steps outlined above.

If your players dont know how to play D&D my suggestion to you is - dont let them build characters.
Either build them for them or buy Lost Mine of Phandelver and hand them or let them choose from the pregens included.

Spend 15mins going over the character sheet and what info is on what page and what info is clickable/actionable.
Then dive into the story
Whenever it is time for the players to act or ask questions or fight etc - guide them as to what some of their options are and they will pick it up very quickly.

I truly appreciate the advise and tips.

I want them to take the time to build their character so that they get used to the documentation, looking things up, learning about the game and their characters, etc....So, I want that process to be as simple and helpful as possible. I will assist them in building it if they need it. Several of us will assist any who need tutoring on the game.

Having spent the past couple of hours on the Discord server communicating with several users who have also posted here, I am coming to the conclusion that it is not uncommon for many of us to own the books in hardcopy, a DDB subscription for reference library, mobility access, and character generation, and a FG subscription as a DM and gaming platform and tool. In other words, we will have all bought the content 3 times.

Not so much a matter of which to use or which has advantage over the other. It appears they are both decent platforms and they both have utility.

And, for what it is worth, we will be starting with Lost Mines of Phandelver. ...

[GrayMouser]

If you have a discord account, you can swing by the FGC here: https://discord.gg/Ew6nYyw There are usually various classes on character creation and DM'ing. You can even see if there are one-shots coming up you can join as you learn.


In regard to that DDB 2 FG converter tool/site you quoted on DISCORD, do you know if it is Windows only? Ran into a problem with it on DOWNLOAD TO XML after grabbing the DDB character data......bummer. IF you have a contact or reference site for me to work with them directly, that would take it off your plate and eliminate some clutter for you.

[mattekure]

In regard to that DDB 2 FG converter tool/site you quoted on DISCORD, do you know if it is Windows only? Ran into a problem with it on DOWNLOAD TO XML after grabbing the DDB character data......bummer. IF you have a contact or reference site for me to work with them directly, that would take it off your plate and eliminate some clutter for you.

Hmm, I'm not aware of anything that would limit it to windows only. I just tested it and it worked fine for me.

[GrayMouser]

Hmm, I'm not aware of anything that would limit it to windows only. I just tested it and it worked fine for me.

Turns out to be a Safari issue. Went to Firefox and ran it. Worked fine.

Apple and Safari......grrrr......

[GrayMouser]

Character Creation in FG.
5 mins tops.

Assign a name and Portrait.
Assign or roll Attributes.
Drag and Drop Background.
Drag and Drop Race.
Drag and Drop Class.
Drag and Drop equipment and spells.

Play.

Now have DEMO loaded and have been playing with it, creating Characters to start. Your general process is simple enough. However, let's say you select HUMAN. All your attributes are increased by +1. FG updates this automatically. Cool. Let's say you change your mind and then drag and drop HALF-ELF. FG keeps all the increased Attributes from Human, gives Charisma +2 and asks you for two others to increase by +1, which it does after you select them. Still cool. BUT, you now have base attributes with HUMAN increases AND HALF-ELF increases. The change to HALF-ELF did not back out the HUMAN increases.

Similarly with CLASS and such.....

Perhaps there is a way to change CLASS or RACE or BACKGROUND or others that I have yet to come across that will back out the original and revise with the new selection. Do you know if there is?

Otherwise, DDB is clearly the better character generator as it is dialogue driven, making selections easy, and it updates correctly when you wish to change things.

I suspect I am missing something here as I am truly a novice user.

[Targas]

No, you are right. You cannot revoke changes, even worse if you accidently level up you are lost, because it not just increases hit points, but automates skill points, spells, etc. as well, and it‘s hard to manually remove things.

Actually that‘s why it makes sense to export/backup character sheets before a session starts. Not because of players cheating, but accidently leveling up twice or worse, when players will not know what will start an avalanche.

It happened at least 4 times in the past of our gaming group that players not familiar with Fantasy Grounds accidently modified their character sheet beyond repair.

That‘s as well why I prefer Hero Labs, as it handles all changes correctly for Pathfinder / DnD5E. Alas, it‘s expensive...

[Nylanfs]

FG is not a character management program like PCGen or Herolab is. :)

[GrayMouser]

The YouTube demos make it look so easy.....have been playing with the demo now for a couple hours. Have yet to sort out a complete character and cannot for the life of me sort out how to engage in an encounter and attack any NPC with any PC or any PC with any NPC to see results/damage/character updates.....nada, zip, zero, zilch.....

Guess I will go back to the YouTubes to see what the hell I am doing wrong.

So far, not such a good experience....

UPDATE: but I put that on me and my novice understanding of it. The folks on this site as well as the FG College DISCORD site have been very helpful and extremely quick in response. Quite impressive. I have sorted the rudimentary Battle Tracker and Encounter stuff in the DEMO, as well as importing characters from XML files (in this case created on DDB). Still a long way to go for my learning curve, but will get there in time.

Zacchaeus's post below was a real boon to get me kick-started, for one. And Targas' gentle reminder about FGC was timely.

Thanks all!

[Zacchaeus]

To engage in combat open the combat tracker; drag the PC and any NPC's onto the tracker. Select a character or NPC by moving the dragon head (or whatever it is for the theme you are using) in the bottom left of the CT. Hold Down the CTRL key and click on the target. If you are controlling an NPC double click the attack roll and then if you hit the damage roll on the CT. If you are controlling a PC do the same from the character actions tab.

(As an alternative you can drag attacks, damage etc and drop them on the target)

More information on the CT (the heart of Fantasy Grounds) here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/wiki/index.php/5E_Combat_Tracker).

[Targas]

Maybe Fantasy Grounds Colleague can help? To select who attacks whom, you left click with holding CTRL usually.
When you know how to do things, you‘d probably like FG, as I do. No software is perfect...

[GrayMouser]

To engage in combat open the combat tracker; drag the PC and any NPC's onto the tracker. Select a character or NPC by moving the dragon head (or whatever it is for the theme you are using) in the bottom left of the CT. Hold Down the CTRL key and click on the target. If you are controlling an NPC double click the attack roll and then if you hit the damage roll on the CT. If you are controlling a PC do the same from the character actions tab.

(As an alternative you can drag attacks, damage etc and drop them on the target)

More information on the CT (the heart of Fantasy Grounds) here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/wiki/index.php/5E_Combat_Tracker).

Do I need to have a 2nd instance open for the PC or can I create an encounter and character in the same CREATE CAMPAIGN instance to test all this out?

[Zacchaeus]

Yes, you can test it all out in the same campaign.

You can also start a second instance of FG by running it from the fantasygrounds.exe file and join the first instance using localhost instead of the alias. Not sure if you can do that with just the demo version or not.

[Targas]

I‘d say possible all in one. I just use a ‚localhost‘ connect to mimic pc view, but as a GM you should have full functionality over all areas.

[chunky04]

Character Creation in FG.
5 mins tops.

Assign a name and Portrait.
Assign or roll Attributes.
Drag and Drop Background.
Drag and Drop Race.
Drag and Drop Class.
Drag and Drop equipment and spells.

Play.

Got the rest, but what is the Background one? Also looking to try and make the Ranger I just built a Beastmaster - I have the Advanced Players Guide, where would I find that option?

[damned]

Got the rest, but what is the Background one? Also looking to try and make the Ranger I just built a Beastmaster - I have the Advanced Players Guide, where would I find that option?

my comment was in reference to 5E...

[chunky04]

Still largely worked :)

[Targas]

.... Have yet to sort out a complete character....

What I do usually before starting every session is zipping the campaign in the campaign folder and suffix the name with date and time, e.g.:
5E_LMoP_20181201_1900
This way you have a backup and can rollback any changes you made

[GrayMouser]

What I do usually before starting every session is zipping the campaign in the campaign folder and suffix the name with date and time, e.g.:
5E_LMoP_20181201_1900
This way you have a backup and can rollback any changes you made

Thank you!

[LordEntrails]

What I do usually before starting every session is zipping the campaign in the campaign folder and suffix the name with date and time, e.g.:
5E_LMoP_20181201_1900
This way you have a backup and can rollback any changes you made
Damned wrote a script to backup FG Data and copy to One Drive / Google Drive etc. It may require slight modification depending upon your setup, but it is linked and detailed here;
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?35578-How-to-back-up-AppData-folder-to-OneDrive-automatically&p=308736&viewfull=1#post308736

[lostsanityreturned]

I tend to do 100% of the character creation in FG personally, it is faster than Beyond.