Almost all Pathfinder images are locked - Read Only

[Copernicus219]

Hosting Pathfinder 1e w/ dungeon theme. I can't imagine this is on purpose, but all the images from all of the Pathfinder are locked and the lock is red and when hovering over it says read only.
Here's the list all that I own that are all locked/read only (Pathfinder Bestiary was only one that was not locked):

Pathfinder Advanced Race Guide
Pathfinder Core Rules
Pathfinder NPC Codex
Pathfinder Bestiary 2
Pathfinder Bestiary 2 player resource
Pathfinder Bestiary 3
Pathfinder Bestiary 3 Player resource
Pathfinder Bestiary 4
Pathfinder Bestiary 4 Player resource
Pathfinder Advanced Players Guide
Pathfinder RPG - Advanced Class Guide
Pathfinder RPG - Ultimate Magic
Pathfinder RPG - Ultimate Wilderness
Pathfinder Ultimate Combat
Pathfinder Ultimate Equipment

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[Moon Wizard]

Images that are part of rulebooks are locked by design; while images that are part of adventures are unlocked by design.

Regards,
JPG

[Copernicus219]

Is there a reason behind this? I thought only players were the ones who didn't have access to edit things. It looks like you can revert any changes made to the original image. I guess it's not a big deal, just currently to make an image unidentified, you have to click the lock button a couple times to get that field to show, but that's a bug that will hopefully be fixed soon.

[Moon Wizard]

The general principle is that rulebook content is designed to be static and always the same when you view. No confusion about whether it's the "official" version vs. a campaign-edited version.

For adventure content, it is assumed that GMs may customize the adventure to fit their campaign.

If you want to edit rulebook content, make a copy of the record, and edit it however you want for your campaign.

Regards,
JPG

[SneakyHaggus]

It takes plenty of time to take all the creatures i want in a homebrew module and have to create a copy and reinput all the data. I paid for the download from you for the Bestiary, I fell very strongly that all the content is mine to do with as i will. I should be able to unlock the entry and tweak it. Like it says in the printed guides I may want to make a creature just a little tougher or a little weaker. This is very time consuming if I have to create an whole new entry.

So my question is why aren't the bestiary entries for Pathfinder 2.0 rulebook unlockable?

[Zacchaeus]

I think you may be misunderstanding what is meant by make a copy. Open the NPC list, find the creature you want and then drag the link icon and drop it back into the list. This creates a copy of the NPC which you can then unlock and edit. (So there’s no need to re-enter all the data).

As Moon Wizard notes above reference data is locked since it is static material. If you edited the original then you have no way back except to revert the changes. By locking the character you can make a copy and edit that copy whist retaining the original NPC which you can use as is.

[bayne7400]

Maybe SW could revisit this? Maybe if we could exclude certain records from read only? Treasure tables are the same way. When they are set to chat vice parcel you have to make a copy. Locking them does nothing since you can always revert right?

[Zacchaeus]

I'm still unsure as to why having reference material not being read only is needed. Yes, you can revert changes to either an individual item or to an entire module but surely it's better to make a copy of the original and edit the copy rather than edit the original. What is it that I'm not seeing in this scenario? If I want a super Goblin in my campaign for a particular encounter and edit the only copy of Goblin that's in the Monster Manual; then I'm stuck with that edit. I can't use the original goblin in any other encounter (unless I make a copy of the edited goblin and spend the time putting it back to the original - if I can remember what the original was without reverting it and thus destroying my edit).

The same goes for anything that is read only. I'm not sure what the point about treasure tables is. The output from a treasure table isn't locked; even if the table itself is. If you mean that you can't edit the output without making a copy then yes, that is so.

Even in adventure modules where everything is unlocked; I only ever edit copies of the original material - never the original itself. It doesn't make sense to me to edit the only copy of something that exists in any module. But as I say I'm clearly missing something about why not having to make copies is beneficial.

[bayne7400]

That's your preference and that's fine. It's a policy that effects everyone. My preference would be to not have duplicate record. To not pause my game to figure out which one was editable after I make a copy. I may not be as skilled as some running games and I really try to keep things moving. Sucks when you grab the wrong table and roll results in chat instead of a parcel.

Sounds like the reason they are locked is because DMs may become confused? You have to intentionally unlock the record though it doesn't happen programmatically. Reference manuals sure but seems reasonable that records could be unlockable.

[Zacchaeus]

I agree that it may just be different play styles and that's a difficult one to universally cater for. In your example scenario if I knew that I needed to make a parcel out of a treasure table in the DMG; then as part of my preparation, I'd copy that table; edit it as needed and drag the link into the story entry where that roll is going to happen. But I accept that people do stuff that they haven't prepared.

There's always the wishlist - link in my signature - and maybe if enough people vote for it; it might happen.

[Lo Zeno]

Even in adventure modules where everything is unlocked; I only ever edit copies of the original material - never the original itself. It doesn't make sense to me to edit the only copy of something that exists in any module. But as I say I'm clearly missing something about why not having to make copies is beneficial.

Just to add one more example:
Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage is an adventure module with HUGE maps and DOZENS of encounters set in each map. If I want to make a change in a map (add a secret room, for example, or add a trap in a corridor) I can't really make a copy of the map for level 1 without having to make a copy of each encounter, and having to re-set the position of each enemy in each encounter. We're talking about having to open the original map, open each original encounter, add each encounter to the combat tracker to see the position of each enemy, and replicate the positions in each copied encounter on the copied map.
That's madness (pun intended) - editing the original is a much more sensible choice.

[Laerun]

It's understandable why one would prefer to have the ability to edit locked records in Fantasy Grounds, but it's important to consider the potential consequences of doing so. Locking records is likely a measure taken by the publishers and distributors to protect the individual intellectual property as a whole and to help ensure that their content is being used in accordance with any current licensing agreements. I'd imagine that most authors woukd feel more comfortable knowing that it's not as easy to export and create external copies of their rule sets.

While it may be inconvenient to have to make a copy of a record in order to edit it, this approach can actually help to prevent errors and ensure that your changes are isolated to your own custom content. Making changes to the original record can have unintended consequences, such as breaking links to artwork or tokens, as mentioned. This also slows down bootleggers and such. If it's occasionally slowing us down, imagine what the process would be like for an entire book, minus the original art potentially.

Instead of focusing on the limitations imposed by having rulebooks as locked records, consider the benefits of working within this framework. By using the established content as a baseline and creating your own custom content as needed, you can ensure that your work is compatible with the original material and avoid potential problems.

It's also worth noting that the Fantasy Grounds platform provides a great deal of flexibility when it comes to organizing and customizing your content. By creating custom groups and using the group data to sort your entries, you can easily keep track of your own custom content alongside the official material. And, by exporting your custom content as a module, you can reuse it in future campaigns or share it with others. Official content will likely not export if one so desired.

In short, while it may be frustrating to have to work within the limitations of locked records, this approach can actually help to protect your work and ensure that it is compatible with the original material. By taking advantage of the platform's customization features and exporting your custom content as needed, you can create a more flexible campaign that meets your specific needs.

Best of luck and happy gaming.

[ddavison]

We argue about this internally as well.

We may be able to address this in the future by making a global change to window title bars and controls that feature a revert record option. I also like the ability to edit directly by unlocking a monster/item/map, but the Revert option is hidden away. Reverting an entire module is not good either. My hope is that we will be able to find a happy medium. Your feedback is important and helps us determine if this is something that just one or two people want or if it is something that a larger number of people would like.

[LordEntrails]

I too would prefer to be able to edit all module entities within a campaign. I admit I have not thought through all the implications, but I'm happy with the thought that the changes would reside within the single campaign. Not sure what export behavior I would desire, but that is minor compared to not having to clone entities in order to edit them.

Thanks for your consideration :)