Where can I purchase files for 2.0?

[MeganHunter]

So I'm not a programer, and I'm fine with that. I knew from day one that I would never touch XML with this, and I knew that I was too busy to really work on many scenarios of my own. That was okay; the reason I ended up buying it was because everywhere I looked, it said that I could shell out for new rulesets and campaigns from third party distributors. There's links here to several, just on the right hand side of your monitor, so I figured it was set in stone.

I think I've been through all the stores that sell rulesets and modules by this point, and unbelievably I think they all only work with version 1.05. :confused: All the things I was thinking about buying today, like Arcana Evolved and Iron Heroes from Digital Adventures, don't work with the only FG (2.0) I could buy. Not that you want to go backwards or anything...but these other sites promised 2.0 upgrades six months ago and never delivered on any of it. Even the free version of d20 Modern doesn't work with this release.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming FG. If a third party wants to stay in business they have to update. But still, this situation's made me feel like I've kinda wasted my money on FG, especially with D&D online coming out in another six months. Players here have done an admirable job of tackling their own rulesets, which I admire very much, but the ones I've seen tend to be 1/3 finished and 2/3 buggy. As a Neverwinter veteran, I kinda guessed that and was really hoping to just purchase ones so stability issues wouldn't come up.

I feel like I've bought an awesome aquarium...after which California stopped selling fish.

So long whiny story short, if I'm looking to buy rulesets and campaigns that will work with FG2 -- which I hate to admit, but that was advertised as such here when I bought it -- what sites would I go to? :confused: The free partial SRD is a welcome addition, but it isn't much on its own, and the full SRD won't work with 2.0 either. What I'm trying to say is that as someone who hasn't played since high school, but is willing to pay to play, even I feel like I can't use FG for anything quite yet. Does that make any sense? Where might I go to buy some character sheets, books, scenarios that are 2.0 compatible? Thanks so much,

~Megan

[MeganHunter]

DriveThruRpg.com (https://www.drivethrurpg.com) has an SRD that's made specifically for 2.0 (and a hell of a bargain at just $6.50.) Their other modules are only for 1.05, but it gives me hope that they mean business.

They also have some very affordable scenarios for both 2.0 and "all versions," but a word of warning: one of the two All Version ones I've gotten just doesn't load. (The other one is fine.)

[Doswelk]

Is this (https://www.digitaladventures.net/product.htm) what you want?

[MeganHunter]

No Doswelk, that's the first site that gave me all the trouble, though it wasn't the only one. They keep saying that all their scenarios can work with 2.0, "though some internal links may have to be reestablished." From what I've seen that's 50/50, and if I'm paying I shouldn't have to monkey with it in the first place.

I'm sure some folks are laughing at my meager experience, or that I'm willing to buy adventures at all instead of just pirate them. But I don't see how selling these pseudo-2.0 files is much different from selling expired food, and I don't see why they don't address those link or XML issues on their end. To be brutally honest, my only guesses are that it's either too much work for them to do (but not for the customer) or, like me, they don't know how to pull it off either.

I did see that they have one ruleset for sale that works with 2.0, that Savage Worlds one. That seems to be a popular choice with folks. But there's a disclaimer mentioning that parts won't work lite licenses, so I'm not sure how it will affect my players. What's the verdict on that one, is it a good buy? I might have to roll the dice with it, but that's my point...if I'm buying something, I shouldn't have to take a chance on whether it will function or not.

[joshuha]

One important thing you need to take into account is how Fantasy Grounds itself functions. Since you weren't around for FG 1 and are new I'll explain some of how the 2.0 rulesets work and things for FG 1 work.

Rulesets from FG 1 will not function at all in FG 2. The way the rulesets are built is completely different. Adventure modules, however, will generally work as far as all the text is concerned but as mentioned sometimes links to things like the Monster database will not function as those modules changed in FG 2.

As far as other rulesets, Digital Adventures is the main company producing Fantasy Grounds licensed rulesets. Other companies could but no one has really tried yet. Other places like FourUglyMonsters.com do have things like tokens and maps though that are useful. If you reference this post https://fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5907 you can see some of what Digital Adventures has planned. Rest assured that the FG 1 rulesets are in line for converting to FG 2 but this is not an easy process and none of us who work on them do it as a full time job.

Having said that, currently Digital Adventures does offer the following rulesets for FG 2: Savage Worlds and Castles & Crusades. The MSRD should be out shortly (can't give an exact date) and the other ones like Arcana Evolved and Iron Heroes are in the pipeline. Besides the rulesets, Digital Adventures offers modules (i.e. reference data) for: Complete d20 SRD and Complete Minions(3.5). Along with that there are various maps and tokens which would work with either version.

As far as the lite license disclaimer, this is due to how Fantasy Grounds really functions. Your players will download a local secure cached copy of the ruleset you have and will be able to play on your games just fine. The only thing they can't do right now is create characters and access the modules offline (only when connected to you) but Digital Adventures should have a solution for that soon.

Remember one of the great things about Fantasy Ground is you don't *have* to have any of the rulesets. Digital Adventures is just lucky enough to have contacts in the industry to get us licensed content inside of FG. For the most part though, you could get away with the generic ruleset that Toadwart has out there and a bunch of books in your lap if you wanted. The licensed rulesets just make it easier and are completely third party (and I remember when they weren't even around).

[Griogre]

Megan, also - no joke - FG xml is easy. It's readable by humans and all you need to know is that if you open a tag: ie <tag> you must close the tag with a the same name with a slash in front ie </tag>. XML can get involved but the FG xml is strictly being used to store data so humans can see and understand it in an outline form.

As far as FG1 adventure modules, most do convert over to FG2 very easily with maybe a few broken links. If you look at the sticky for the Wizard's Amulet in the armory I converted that adventure module from FG1 to FG2 in less than 5 minutes for someone. What doesn't convert well was the pregen characters because the chractersheets changed a lot in the spellbooks, weapon lists and inventory. What has changed is FG2 stores data in data apps now instead of program files and many of the old readme for the old adventures will tell you to put them in the wrong directory in program files.

To convert an adventure module all you need to do is unzip the FG module (the .mod files are really zip files) so you have a campaign folder with the files and then drop it into FG2's campaign folder and re-export it. That's it.

If you don't want to mess with things that is fine. Joshua, I think, pointed out the most important thing about FG. There is no reason you can't play your game using FG just to roll dice, display your battlemap with and chat with with the rule books in your lap. As you seem most interested in a game that uses d20 like rules even the default character sheets will be pretty useful to you. And making new character sheets from scratch is what is tough in FG2.

[VenomousFiligree]

White Haired Man (https://www.whitehairedman.com/) is still in its infancy, but will be producing adventures for FG2. Their campaign setting Kith'takharos (https://www.whitehairedman.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=4&Itemid=40) (A remote swamp village) is the first. They have a long post at Four Ugly Monsters (https://www.fouruglymonsters.com/community/showthread.php?p=22467#post22467) introducing themselves.

:)
MB