Which Module(s) to start

[voriig]

Hi,
I'm completly new to FGU and before taking a license I would like to know a few things:

To play an official adventure with my players what do I need ?
Just the adventure or I need core rules books too ?
For an adventure not in the store, is it easy to make an adventure module (Pathfinder speaking) ?

Thanks

[bmos]

Very easy to create adventure module, just very tedious :)
Technically all you need is the adventure as core info is pretty much included for free in the included "SRD" modules.
The paid modules just contain all the photos, different formatting, and so forth. More polished, IMO.

EDIT: If you already have purchased the PDFs from Paizo, be sure to link your account so that the FG modules are discounted accordingly!

[voriig]

Thanks a lot ! :)

[deer_buster]

Just depends on how valuable your time is and how much pre-work you want to do. Conversion authors are experienced and pretty efficient at what they do, and their efforts, in my opinion, are well worth the cost of the module. What's more, with some modules, you also qualify for a free PDF version of it with some publishers (e.g. Paizo, etc.), but never Wizards of the Coast, who seem to not understand the digital age.

For example, Descent into Avernus, you can get the hard-copy for the exact same price as the fully converted module here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.php?id=WOTC5EDIA). $29.99

[voriig]

I agree. I'll begin to use existing modules before trying to do some myself (I want to play Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous campaign and it seems that this campaign is not converted to FG)

[bmos]

I agree. I'll begin to use existing modules before trying to do some myself (I want to play Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous campaign and it seems that this campaign is not converted to FG)
Useful stuff:
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?16074-List-of-Modules <-- tons of free (legal) content that is very functional but doesn't contain images. I would argue some of this is even more functional that the official content (such as the new Spells module).
https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FGU/pages/885153/Managing+Campaign+Data+-+Stories+Tables+Categories+... <-- user guide for campaign data management

[Nylanfs]

And IF your players are comfortable making their characters manually you don't need the PHB either.

[bmos]

And IF your players are comfortable making their characters manually you don't need the PHB either.Even with automation you don't need the PHB (especially because this GM is running Pathfinder). The basic classes are included free in the SRD content and just about everything else can be had for free in the modules library I listed.
IMO The bestiaries are where the real value is in buying the official modules because of the artwork and tokens.

[Granamere]

If you buy an ultimate license then your players do not need to buy anything. If you do not have ultimate then each player would need a standard license.

[voriig]

Thanks for all your very useful informations.
I already own some paizo pdf so some modules will cost less.
Let's go for the ultimate license

[GavinRuneblade]

Thanks for all your very useful informations.
I already own some paizo pdf so some modules will cost less.
Let's go for the ultimate license

I'm going to contradict the other responders here and say that getting a module to work in FG is neither tedious nor time consuming. Sure if you want to make it fully converted so you could give it to the module owner and they sell it, that's a pain. But if you have a PDF or a book and just want to be able to run it as an adventure, that is incredibly simple and not particularly time consuming at all.

You need any images you will share with your players. If you have a PDF there are many programs that will let you export the images out of it, you could take screenshots of the images, or whatever. If you have a book, then you'll want to scan them or take pictures or see if you can find them online. Then you drag and drop the files into an image folder in Fantasy Grounds. Literally, just drag them all at once and drop them into one folder. For your encounter maps, you need to set the grid on each one, just takes a few seconds each. This is done.

You don't need any of the text, unless you want to paste it into chat for your players to read. That stuff, you'll want to copy/paste from your PDF. If you have a book, I recommend using either Microsoft Word or Google Docs dictation mode and just read it out loud rather than typing. Most of us speak a bit faster than 200 words per minute and I'm confident in saying none of us type that fast unless we are a court stenographer. Again, you only need the text you will be pasting into chat, all the rest, you can just read from the book or the PDF when you run the game, none of that needs to be in Fantasy Grounds, ever. So this is fast and easy.

You need tokens for the monsters, whether or not you will be using automation. You can use the pictures to make tokens yourself, or perhaps some of the free token options work for you. I use a mix of both. You don't need tokens for everything in pathfinder, just the ones that exist in your adventure. So like 12 to 20 total. That's all you need. Let the collection build over time.

If you will automate, then you need to create any monsters that don't exist in the free SRD. This is the worst part. Kind of a pain to do it, but again, you only need the ones in your adventure that are not already in the SRD, so maybe 6 to 10. You'll need to make any magic items that aren't in the SRD, but this is fast and usually only 2 or 3 per adventure right?

Then you need to create the encounters and treasure parcels. This is all drag and drop. You drag the NPCs onto the encounter and then from the encounter onto your map. Done. Treasure parcels you drag the items into the window and you're done.

that's it. All the rest you can just use your PDF or book. Nothing else needs to be inside Fantasy Grounds for you to run the adventure. This doesn't take very long. And once you get used to it you will get very fast at it. I use PDFs all the time. And my old pre-VTT modules and books. You aren't selling a product, you're just running a game. Don't make it harder than it needs to be.

[voriig]

Great !

Thanks

[Honken]

Since the of Pathfinder (1 and 2) ruleset comes with a purchase of Fantasy Grounds, you really don't need to buy any more modules. You can still make a module of the core book yourself. But i would suggest at least getting the Core module, and the Bestiary. That way you can see how the backgrounds/ancestries/classes are filled in, and that might help you get it to work with the automation.


/H