Campaign "Landing Page"?

[f1gment]

Hi.

It's very possible that the answer and instructions to this are easily found, and I'm just missing it.

I am currently running a game on Roll20, but we are looking to try out Fantasy Grounds, and see if we want to migrate over. On Roll20, we have a Landing Page, which I definitely stole the idea from Reddit, but it's just an image of a tabletop with a cup of coffee and some blank paper, and a clickable token "book".

The players can pop in between sessions and leave love notes to each other, but also they can open the book and access their session notes.

Is there a way that I can port that image over to Fantasy Grounds? Even if I can't set it up so that they can draw on it, or have that clickable book, it will be a little taste of the familiar, lol.

[Moon Wizard]

There's nothing like that in FG. You can leave your FG session running to allow players to log in while it is up to review characters, level up, add notes, etc.

Regards,
JPG

[Granamere]

You can build a theme with the image if you want for your virtual tabletop. There are notes inside of Fantasy grounds that could be used but the big catch is as stated Fantasy Grounds would need to be left running on the DM's pc for people to connect into it.

I would download the demo and try it out locally then take the character creation class at fantasygroundscollege.net for free so you can see how it all works before you invest into it.

[LordEntrails]

There is a Decal Tutorial on this page; https://www.fg-con.com/free-downloads/

It will allow you to have a background decal (your image) to give everyone a bit of the familiar.

[GavinRuneblade]

The players can pop in between sessions and leave love notes to each other, but also they can open the book and access their session notes.

As others pointed out, this isn't available between sessions, but you should really check out the Player Agency extension:
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?54284-Player-Agency-Extension
Watch the videos in that thread. This is a lot of what I think you're looking for in terms of leaving notes for each other.

[damned]

I would use the GMW Theme Builder to make the Decal - save you getting your hands dirty.

And definitely use Player Agency!

[ColinBuckler]

Does it have to be linked with the game itself? Could it be an external bit of software?

I have a discord server ( https://discord.com ) and have created a category for each game with a set of channels dedicated to my requirements.

My Game Server
- + Game Category 1
- - - Game Announcements
- - - Game Log
- - - Player Notes
- - - ...etc

Players/GM can send private notes to each other.

And of course you get free voice chat as well....

If you want a filestore - sign up for one of the free ones from google drive, OneDrice / ...etc.

You can link these folder/docs to discord channels.

Best thing about both of these services is that they are FREE.

Most of your players who play video games probably use discord anyways. We even have a family server to keep in touch with other family members...

[viviolay]

I like to use Trenloe’s Message of the Day extension as a sort of landing page. It’s a bit different then what you are asking (it’s a story entry) but I link multiple informative images thru the entry and write any info I want the players to read if they log in early for our session

[Three of Swords]

I like to use Trenloe’s Message of the Day extension as a sort of landing page. It’s a bit different then what you are asking (it’s a story entry) but I link multiple informative images thru the entry and write any info I want the players to read if they log in early for our session

This is what I do as well. It's not as 'pretty' as a Roll20 landing page. But it works. But as others have said, unless you leave your game running 24/7, the players can't access it between sessions.

As a way for players to pass on messages, link a Note inside the Message of the Day story element. Players can modify notes.

[f1gment]

I didn't know FantasyGroundsCollege.net was a thing! Thank you for that!

[f1gment]

Does it have to be linked with the game itself? Could it be an external bit of software?

I have a discord server ( https://discord.com ) and have created a category for each game with a set of channels dedicated to my requirements.



We have a Discord server. We tend to find Discord's voice chat more stable than Roll20's, and we share looots of memes on the server.

[f1gment]

Sooooo much to learn! It feels like there is a lot more to Fantasy Grounds than there is to Roll20. I'm not complaining, just figuring out where to start, lol.

[LordEntrails]

Sooooo much to learn! It feels like there is a lot more to Fantasy Grounds than there is to Roll20. I'm not complaining, just figuring out where to start, lol.
Start with the basics :)
Character sheets, maps, NPCs and the combat tracker. Then start using targeting, and after that stories and links, effects, encounters, parcels, quests, the party sheet and campaign options. Later on, custom data as needed (items, classes, spells, npcs etc). And then extensions.

[f1gment]

Start with the basics :)
Character sheets, maps, NPCs and the combat tracker. Then start using targeting, and after that stories and links, effects, encounters, parcels, quests, the party sheet and campaign options. Later on, custom data as needed (items, classes, spells, npcs etc). And then extensions.

This is a very sensible suggestion.

Sensible is not my strong point.

But seriously, it is, and I have talked myself down from wanting to do everything right now, and am just playing with the NPCs and monsters at the moment. The rest will come.

[Granamere]

I am still learning this is a really deep rabbit hole of fun stuff. :) IMO Take the Character 101 class from FantasyGroundsCollege.net. Then take DM 101 then DM 102. Once you have done that you should have a good idea of what Fantasy Grounds is all about. Plus you will have no money invested. If you like it then you kind of have 3 paths.

1 Start watching all of the great teaching content on youtube.

or

2 Join an online game like what FantasyGroundsCollege.net is running this coming weekend. I know you can not get a DM 101 and 101 before this weekend but if you think this is for you this might not be a bad idea to get into a game.

or

3 Try running a game with the free download. You will not be able to get your friends to connect but you can see how combat works and how Combat tracker and most things work.
you will need this
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?39993-5E-Detailed-Step-By-Step-Character-Creation-Guide-with-Screenshots

The new 5E Character Wizard is in classic now so make sure you update to get it. It could make creating your characters easier.
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?58064-5E-Character-Wizard-Beta

The down side to flipping to Fantasy Grounds is you will need to invest in buying the books and stuff you want inside of Fantasy Grounds. There is tons of stuff. Where https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/ has lots of good stuff it does not have the addons. Some are free and you can find them on these forums. Others are sold on https://www.dmsguild.com/ which seem to have the largest selection. You can also find other online stores that have mods and I do not think there is a central place that list all of the sites out there that have stuff.

I hope this helps and does not over whelm you.

[LordEntrails]

This is a very sensible suggestion.

Sensible is not my strong point.

But seriously, it is, and I have talked myself down from wanting to do everything right now, and am just playing with the NPCs and monsters at the moment. The rest will come.
lol It's good to recognize our own personality traits :)

I know for myself, if I build that strong base at the start by going slow, I can start running and sprinting down the road. And getting 'there' in the end is quicker than if I tried running from the start :)

[f1gment]

Because I'm sure you're all interested, there has been much progress. I've added NPCs and monsters, maps, encounters, and handouts. I've created a magic item, and explored the Fantasy Grounds College site.

There's discussion of grabbing a one-month subscription and testing out the combat and stability of the connection. There's a definite learning curve here, but there's a *lot* that I like.

[LordEntrails]

Glad to hear it! Enjoy and let us know how we can help.