Adventurer's Backpack

[moorcrys]

Are there plans for Adventurer's Backpack or other C&C titles to be added to Fantasy Grounds?

[JohnD]

I know the ABP is being worked on.

[Talyn]

To borrow a quote from Red Leader, "almost there!"

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=34071&stc=1&d=1587342374

[scottgeg]

You gonna share that theme Talyn? Looks super good.

[Talyn]

Working out a few more clarifications with TLG on a few items, then everything is finished except for actually building the backpacks themselves (they will unpack into your inventory when you drop them, same as it works in 5E) and build the reference manual. Everything else is already done.

[JohnD]

You gonna share that theme Talyn? Looks super good.

Agreed.

[moorcrys]

That's awesome to hear! Or read! Thanks for the quick response. Looking forward to purchasing it.

Best,
Moorcrys

[Trueshaft]

Good to hear! I was excited when I saw updates being posted about changing some tags to fit with the Adventurer's Backpack. Can't wait to give you my money.

[dachda]

This is fantastic news. When my group went digital due to our public health crisis, I ended up using Roll20 because the spellcasters were using a lot of spell from the Backpack. Once FG releases the Backpack I'll be able to switch the group over. Next we need more adventures! Expecially the C-series, and the rest of the Haunted Highlands series.

[Mortar]

C series is being done now. C1/C2 are currently available on FG, but did not stand up the test of time very well. I can tell you C1 is waiting on some VTT workable maps.

[vainazzo]

Hopefully i should have C4 submitted for Q&A next week.

[dachda]

Hopefully i should have C4 submitted for Q&A next week.

Awesome!

[hawkwind]

is the adventurers backpack still coming?

[JohnD]

is the adventurers backpack still coming?

Apparently not, but one holds out hope.

[Trueshaft]

Yeah, apparently the guy working on this stuff quit, or at least is no longer working on it. According to some folks in the Troll's Discord channel, they are looking for someone to work on this, as well as an improved or rebuilt ruleset and updating the mods. It would be nice for this system to get some love over here. C abd C is still my favorite system to play. Take my money!

[Talyn]

I'm on 'summer break' from coding anything in FG, which I do every year to avoid burning out and to avoid spending the entire summer locked indoors rather than being outside getting some sun and fresh air. In the meantime a big change in all the TLG products has happened and I basically feel like I was kicked to the curb. I did receive permission from SmiteWorks to complete ABP as my final C&C product since I had started it waaaay before any of this stuff occurred, but before finishing it up I'll probably find a way to check with the TLG folks and make sure that's kosher.

[dachda]

Hi Talyn,
My impression from the Troll Lord discord is a misunderstanding about why you had suspended work over the summer. Then various rumors began to fill in the misunderstanding or simply the lack of knowledge of why you weren't around over the summer months. At the same time the Trolls have finally realized how behind they are in every VTT and are scrambling to play catch up. I hope you and the Trolls and Smiteworks can work this out, because what I know of your work shows it to be excellent, and you are so close to finishing the ABP. Due to my interactions with the Trolls over the years, I also think they are basically a good set of guys, and I'm hopeful once they understand your point of view, things can get worked out. I'm a fan of your work and theirs and hope to see more C&C on FG asap!

[scottgeg]

He’s been working on it for three years. Took last summer off too.

It’s being actively worked on by someone else.


Hi Talyn,
My impression from the Troll Lord discord is a misunderstanding about why you had suspended work over the summer. Then various rumors began to fill in the misunderstanding or simply the lack of knowledge of why you weren't around over the summer months. At the same time the Trolls have finally realized how behind they are in every VTT and are scrambling to play catch up. I hope you and the Trolls and Smiteworks can work this out, because what I know of your work shows it to be excellent, and you are so close to finishing the ABP. Due to my interactions with the Trolls over the years, I also think they are basically a good set of guys, and I'm hopeful once they understand your point of view, things can get worked out. I'm a fan of your work and theirs and hope to see more C&C on FG asap!

[dachda]

He’s been working on it for three years. Took last summer off too.

It’s being actively worked on by someone else.

Ah. Well my hopes Talyn and the Trolls can still work together in future still holds. Thanks for the update.

[Talyn]

Yes, the Trolls are awesome guys, that's primarily why I stuck around on C&C and joined their ranks of editors.

Anyway, without going into details and dirty laundry that has no business being aired in a public forum, TLG just confirmed that no one else has been assigned to ABP, no one is working on it. My local copy is 90-something percent finished -- everything is done except for the remainder of the actual backpacks which have to be hand-coded so that they will automatically unpack into the character inventory when dropped -- and TLG would like me to complete the project. There is some minor Lua scripting that I would like to add for this but that's purely a "would be nice" not something that's required.

[dachda]

Yes, the Trolls are awesome guys, that's primarily why I stuck around on C&C and joined their ranks of editors.

Anyway, without going into details and dirty laundry that has no business being aired in a public forum, TLG just confirmed that no one else has been assigned to ABP, no one is working on it. My local copy is 90-something percent finished -- everything is done except for the remainder of the actual backpacks which have to be hand-coded so that they will automatically unpack into the character inventory when dropped -- and TLG would like me to complete the project. There is some minor Lua scripting that I would like to add for this but that's purely a "would be nice" not something that's required.

Great news. Happy coding to you! Can't wait to buy the finished product.

[JohnD]

The ABP would bring a lot of additional options to a C&C game on Fantasy Grounds - classes, spells, equipment packs... all those would be great additions. It would be really nice to have in the store, so I hope you're able to finish it Talyn. :)

I'm reasonably sure it would sell well for a C&C release and my PayPal wallet stands at the ready.

[Trueshaft]

The ABP would bring a lot of additional options to a C&C game on Fantasy Grounds - classes, spells, equipment packs... all those would be great additions. It would be really nice to have in the store, so I hope you're able to finish it Talyn. :)

I'm reasonably sure it would sell well for a C&C release and my PayPal wallet stands at the ready.

100% agree. Whenever this gets released, they ( Smiteworks ) would do well to bundle it with the ruleset. Regardless, they'll get my money on day one. I think the ABP goes with the PHB the same way that the 5th edition PHB goes with Xanathar's Guide To Everything. It's a must-have. I think a lot of people don't understand the way things get made for FG ( including me). A lot of these folks, like Talyn aren't paid employees of either Smiteworks or the company behind the system ( in this case troll lord). Instead of hassling them, we should be on Smiteworks, asking why they treat this ruleset and its users like redheaded stepchildren. I get that they make most of their money off of 5th Edition stuff. but if they supported this ruleset with more products, and products that work properly, I would be willing to part with more of my hard earned money to support them.

[Talyn]

Well, let's be honest: despite the guys at SmiteWorks having a great relationship with the Trolls (in fact they called the Trolls for Kickstarter advice for FGU), it's a business. D&D is the 800 lb. gorilla in every market, so that's what gets the attention. Then Pathfinder, then Savage Worlds. The release of 2E did major damage to the C&C sales, but it's still there.

But yeah, there are a lot of moving parts behind the scenes that don't get talked about much, plus all of us have real lives and real jobs (although Covid-19 has interfered in both of those for some of us) and those come first.

[Trueshaft]

Can't disagree.Sometimes I feel like part of C&C's appeal is that a lot of us feel like we just kinda stumbled on this little treasure of a system that even today, a lot of gamers haven't heard about, or just dismissed as an OSR system.I never wouldda known about it if I hadn't ran across the Troll's booth at gencon one year ( I think it was the last year they were actually at Gencon Indy) and Stephen ( if I remember right) did a quick little demo of it and sold me the PHB and M&T for a ridiculous low price. Wizards had really stumbled with 4th Edition and Pathfinder was the big thing that year, so I didn't even bother to crack the books open for a couple months. But when I did, I really liked what they offered.
Sorry to veer off into a tangent.
Anyway, yeah I get it. Plus they are a relatively small company, and I get the impression that they are not organised in how they tackle things, at all (their Twitch streams are like an endless comedy of errors). But it does look like they are starting to sort some things out. I hope so.5th edition is great. Pathfinder is cool too, as is Savage Worlds. But, C&C is my system of choice hands down.
You've done great stuff for C&C, and it's much appreciated. I dunno what they pay you guys who work on this, but it's not enough.

[Trenloe]

... we should be on Smiteworks, asking why they treat this ruleset and its users like redheaded stepchildren. I get that they make most of their money off of 5th Edition stuff. but if they supported this ruleset with more products, and products that work properly, I would be willing to part with more of my hard earned money to support them.
This is the same for *all* rulesets. SmiteWorks do very little conversion of products to FG - it's all done by work-for-hire (commission based) part-time converters. This is the case for 5E as well. But because 5E sells well (and has more people playing it) then you get more products converted. People who convert products that aren't for 5E very rarely get anything like minimum hourly wage based off their work. For most it's a labour of love for the hobby and RPG system they want to see more FG products for.

If you want to see more products for your favourite RPG system on Fantasy Grounds then consider becoming a FG converter - this is the only way that more products will get out there. But keep in mind that your recompense, like most work in the RPG industry in general, is not a large amount unless lots and lots of the converted FG product sells.

[WasGreg]

Really glad to hear this. I just got Unity, Ultimate, A1, Expanded Classes, Player's Guide to Aihrde, Classic Monsters & Treasure, and Monsters & treasure of Aihrde. I have been using Roll 20 and doing a blend of Hackmaster's world, but really wanted to convert entirely over to C & C. The adventurer's backpack was a book my group enjoys considerably. And nice to see someone else from Jax :)