Crafter Guidelines - Linking to other items in your Forge items

[ddavison]

FG Forge Guidelines for linking to other products

The way Fantasy Grounds Unity is built allows crafters to easily link to other official products, as well as to other FG Forge items directly within the program. This means that original content and intellectual property (IP) is not duplicated at all, but is instead referenced. If ProductA links to ProductB within FGU, then accessing the linked item in ProductA will prompt the user to open ProductB. This is a very powerful feature that allows people to build off of each other's work in a way that increases the value of the original product, without undermining it. The possible downside of this approach is that it requires crafters to clearly communicate this to users so that they don't get surprised by missing dependencies during usage.

Product Description Requirement:
Any dependencies should be listed clearly in the product description at the top of the short and long description fields.

Short Description Syntax:
Requires: Tome of Beasts
[Rest of short description]

Long Description Syntax:
Requires: Tome of Beasts (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.php?id=KPTOB5EFG)
[Rest of Long description]

* Note: the formatting for the URL linking, font sizes, and colors is different on the forums here than it is in the FG Forge. Use the editor buttons to style it appropriately in the FG Forge.


Ruleset and Extension Dependencies
These should write an announcement listing any dependencies. This announcement should occur immediately after any primary announcements for the extension.


Module Dependencies
There is no announcement functionality for modules. Instead, include a list of Dependencies in the reference manual or main story entry text for the module.

Anonymous Linking:
You can use the FG Dev Tools: Anonymous Linker (https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/101/view) to make your links anonymous. Links in Fantasy Grounds Unity include a path to the module by default.

For example, a link to a dragon eel from Tome of Beasts might look like this: reference.npcdata.dragoneel@Tome of Beasts.

An anonymous version removes the module name and will find any matching record with reference.npcdata.dragoneel among any open modules. The link will look like this: reference.npcdata.dragoneel@*. This is great for cases where you only need a reference to a goblin and you don't care if it comes from the SRD or another source.


Participating Publishers

SmiteWorks USA LLC (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/?pub=1) - you can set the FG Art Pack Subscription (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/home/FGUArtSub.php) as a dependency or link to individual products

AAW Games (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/?pub=22) - You can link to any of their map products, tile packs, or other modules.

Devin Night (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/?pub=24) - you can list any of his token packs or require Devin Night Bundles. You cannot duplicate his individual token images in your module directly.

Kobold Press (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/?pub=37) - Map Products or other modules.

Mongoose Publishing (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/?pub=54) - link to anything, as long as you distribute your creation for free. They are considering whether or not they would allow paid creations, but at this time it is free items only.

Pinnacle Entertainment Games - Follow same rules as "guild" program offered at DTRPG. You can link to main SWADE (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.php?id=PEGFGSWADE) rules but not to content of actual worlds or IPs.

Goodman Games (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/?pub=61) - anything from their catalog.

Legendary Games (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/?pub=34) - anything in their catalog.

Paradox Interactive (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/index.php?pub=62) - You can write your own modules and link to official Vampire the Masquerade modules in your modules as long as you don't copy the original source material.

Free League Publishing (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/index.php?pub=65) - you can link to any officially released products. This includes Alien, Vaesen, and Symbaroum.

Other publishers - I will add them to the list as I receive confirmation. If you are a publisher and you would like me to list your name here, please email me or post in the thread below.

[ddavison]

I just got permission to add the Vampire the Masquerade material to the list.

[readymeal]

Wotc?

[superteddy57]

Wotc?

Wizards of the Coast.

[readymeal]

Wizards of the Coast.

Sorry misunderstanding, i was asking if Wotc products are already included under the SW licence?

[ddavison]

Sorry misunderstanding, i was asking if Wotc products are already included under the SW licence?

They are not at this time.

[readymeal]

They are not at this time.

May i ask why it would be different since you already have the rights to publish FG product containing their IP in the FG shop? TBH I am also trying to find a way around to speed up the timeframe between submission and publication of official 2E content (by community converters obviously)...which has become...not conducive to convert further products.

[LordEntrails]

May i ask why it would be different since you already have the rights to publish FG product containing their IP in the FG shop? TBH I am also trying to find a way around to speed up the timeframe between submission and publication of official 2E content (by community converters obviously)...which has become...not conducive to convert further products.
Because SmiteWorks has the rights to publish WotC content in their shop where WotC no doubt gets a percentage. We (not SW) publish on the Forge and it is not setup to give WotC a commission at this time. But, you can publish FG modules using WotC IP on the DMsGuild, where SW, OBS and WotC all get a percentage.

To speculate further, WotC probably has an exclusivity deal with OBS to only allow community content to be published through the DMsG. Might not be seen as very partner friendly for either WotC or SW to cut out OBS by going straight to the FG Forge.

[ddavison]

That is correct. Our agreements are very specific in what they allow and we need to amend those agreements to allow for anything different. DMsGuild has a very special agreement in place between all three parties.

[darrenan]

Was the red coloring of "Requires:" intentional and something we should emulate? I only ask because text coloring isn't allowed in the short description currently.

[ddavison]

Was the red coloring of "Requires:" intentional and something we should emulate? I only ask because text coloring isn't allowed in the short description currently.

Thanks. I will remove the red from the short description because it only allows simple text. I think it would be good for the long description.

[ddavison]

We received permission to include Free League Publishing material in the list of approved publishers. This includes Alien, Symbaroum, and Vaesen.

[pico]

The example shows a linking to a product in the FG Store. Does this linking work to items in the FG Forge?

[ddavison]

The example shows a linking to a product in the FG Store. Does this linking work to items in the FG Forge?

Yes, that works as well.

[ddavison]

We just finished a discussion with Mongoose Publishing, and they have asked us to modify this to require that any item linking to their content must remain free at this time. They are researching whether or not they will be allowed to include paid items at a future date by their current license.