Multiple GMs/licenses and campaign sharing

[jaynay27]

Hi all

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this, Mods please move if needed.
Just a question about campaign prep and usage.

TLDR;
Is it possible for me to prepare a campaign on my computer then transfer the data to another persons computer to use with a different FG license?

Longer version;
So our group runs different games both virtually and in person/face to face, with several members holding ultimate licences.
Virtual games have 1 GM, but we recently acquired a TV to replace our physical grid/board for the face to face group.
We have someone join us remotely from another state, so we thought using FG would be a good solution for sharing maps using the new TV.

Now we are about to start a new campaign with 2 GMs, and we generally meet at another players house for our gaming sessions.
I have a FG ultimate license and the person whose house we meet at has an ultimate licence too.
I will be manually inputting the module in to FG from PDFs (this product is not available for sale) but will need to run the campaign at my friends house using his FG.
Is this possible?

I did search for answers in other threads but they seem to deal with sharing campaigns between computers using the same license, which is different from what I am after.

Appreciate any help

Cheers
Jaynay

[damned]

hey again Jaynay

yes - you can prep on one computer/license and use it on another computer license.
you can export the data to a module or copy the whole campaign...

[Zacchaeus]

Yes. Copy the campaign folder (just the folder for the whatever you called the campaign will do) and the module onto a pen drive or whatever and then copy those into the second computer.

If you aren't sure where to find all this clicking the small folder icon on the top right of the start screen will take you there.

[jaynay27]

Thank you both for the quick response, just what I was looking for.

Have a great weekened!

[Bidmaron]

You haven’t said you are using any professional modules but from a license perspective, unless you have the license tied to your forum user account you won’t be able to use a paid module unless the other license also owns the module.

[jaynay27]

You haven’t said you are using any professional modules but from a license perspective, unless you have the license tied to your forum user account you won’t be able to use a paid module unless the other license also owns the module.

It is not a module for sale or that I have downloaded. I will be manually entering the module details myself in to FG.
So no different than if I was to enter the details from my own material/homebrew as such.

[Bidmaron]

You haven’t said you are using any professional modules but from a license perspective, unless you have the license tied to your forum user account you won’t be able to use a paid module unless the other license also owns the module.

[jaynay27]

You haven’t said you are using any professional modules but from a license perspective, unless you have the license tied to your forum user account you won’t be able to use a paid module unless the other license also owns the module.

Sorry for my ignorance. Are you talking about the Pathfinder game system/license and associated content (rather than the adventure itself)?

in other words, any paid content (monsters etc) will require each user to own the same content individually? I think we all do own the same content (as several of us take turns to GM), but that is worth clarifying.

Cheers!

[LordEntrails]

Each DM will need to own the content individually for what they want to run, but anything the active GM owns they can share will all connected players.

Say for instance the active GM owns Adventure 1, Monster 1, and Player Reference 1, they can use all of those and share all of those to connected players (they would not want to share the entire Adventure or Monster references to the players). If a connected player has Adventure 2 or Player Reference 2, they can not share Adventure 2 to the GM for the GM to run, but they can (with GM approval) use anything in Player Reference 2 for themselves but not with other players.

[jaynay27]

So lets just say I own:

Pathfinder rules
Bestiary 1
Bestiary 2

But my friend owns:
Pathfinder rules
Bestiary 1

I can manually input the adventure and copy the campaign folder across, but my friend would not be able to any content associated with Bestiary 2 (unless he also purchased that content)?

That seems appropriate given B2 is paid content, I just want to make sure this is the way it works. Any manually created content is fair game though?

Thankyou everyone for your guidance!

[LordEntrails]

Correct.

Also, see the link in my signature about adventure creation. Hopefully it will help prevent you from making known/common mistakes.

[jaynay27]

Correct.

Also, see the link in my signature about adventure creation. Hopefully it will help prevent you from making known/common mistakes.

That is great - thanks LordEntrails! :)

[Ampersandrew]

So lets just say I own:

Pathfinder rules
Bestiary 1
Bestiary 2

But my friend owns:
Pathfinder rules
Bestiary 1

I can manually input the adventure and copy the campaign folder across, but my friend would not be able to any content associated with Bestiary 2 (unless he also purchased that content)?

I may be wrong, but I do not believe that this is the case. If you copy a creature from Bestiary2 into the campaign and make it editable, now it's part of the campaign and if you move the campaign to another computer, the copy of the creature goes too. It may be freely used by anyone running the campaign.

[Bidmaron]

...IIf you copy a creature from Bestiary2 into the campaign and make it editable...

Yes, if you do that step, the material is no longer linked to the source, and it is viable wherever the campaign exists and can be freely shared.

I am not aware of any materials in the vault that cannot be copied and edited other than images in some cases, but I suppose there could be other modules in the vault that you cannot copy?

[LordEntrails]

In the above example, if you copy a creature from Bestiary 2 to the campaign, and then share that campaign (either via copying the campaign or exporting to a module) then the creature from Bestiary 2 is available for use in the campaign/module by someone who does not have Bestiary 2.

BUT, then you are distributing Intellectual Property. And it starts getting into legal territory as to if you can legally do that or not. It depends upon what the copyright statement is in Bestiary 2, it depends upon what the community use agreement (fan use policy) is for the company that owns the IP, and it depends upon where and to who you allow to obtain copies of your export. Just be aware.

[Bidmaron]

LE, you are correct, but the OP's use case was taking his own campaign and running it on someone else's computer. IF that is what he is doing (and only that), and he removes his material after using it, then it would fall under the fair use doctrine in every case (in the US, anyway), since it is material he legally owns and the duplication is solely for his own use in accordance with licensed usage (the play of the game). It is analogous to (in the old days) taping your own vinyl album so you could play your own material in a Walkman. Totally legal and legit.

[Trenloe]

Yes, if you do that step, the material is no longer linked to the source, and it is viable wherever the campaign exists and can be freely shared.
Please be careful when making blanket statements such as this *I* assume you mean "freely shared" as sharing the content from the GM FG instance to the player FG instances. But this statement can easily be interpreted as "I can make copies of existing FG module data and then freely share that module with other people."

@LordEntrails - you're correct. People need to be very aware of what material they're copying and then what they're doing with that material. Especially with Pathfinder (and other heavily OGL based products) where a lot of the material can be distributed under the OGL, but a lot also can't. If you're using copied material for your own personal use then that's fine - as is using it on someone else's computer, and deleting it after. In the recorded cassette example - don't "forget" and leave your cassette (accidentally or otherwise) containing copyright protected material in someone else's walkman!

[Bidmaron]

Yes, Trenloe, I should have been more careful as that statement you quoted was not intended to mean freely shared from the standpoint of copyright, as LE noted. It was a statement that the program wouldn't prevent the sharing. Sorry I wasn't more mindful, and I certainly am not intending to sanction pirating of any kind.