snupy
May 3rd, 2025, 10:17
In the past I had somewhat critical posts regarding certain interface choices or lack of functionality in FG. This time I want to start by saying that I am really appreciating the current development direction. The improved way of panning a map from some time ago, the button to find a token on a map, the ability to ping, the initiative overlay, the very recently updated contextual menu items and movement and general standardisation of the interface have all greatly improved quality of life and ease of use of the software, at least for me and my players. I am glad to hear that, for the time being, that is the direction development is continuing.
In the rest of this post I'd like to list some changes or improvements which imho go in this direction. I'll try to mention things which are not ruleset dependent, but I only use PFRPG so I may not be aware of what is available on other rulesets.
EFFECTS 1
Effects are one of the more powerful features of FG, and still I feel they are somewhat underdeveloped. One great feature to add would be the one implemented in this (https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/33/view) great extension. It provides a field in pretty much every record where you can write an effect (which is nice since you can add e.g. an effect caused by a feat in the feat record linked to your char sheet). If the effect is written on a field other than an item the effect gets automatically added to the character/monster when the latter is added to the combat tracker. If the effect is written on a field belonging to an item it gets automatically added when the item is equipped and removed when the item is unequipped. It works for both PCs and NPCs.
Honestly this is great functionality, which should benefit most rulesets, and which seems a low hanging fruit in terms of development effort (although I may be underestimating here), so that I am puzzled by the fact that the equivalent functionality has not yet been added to FG.
EFFECTS 2
For how convenient effects are, there isn't a very good place to save those one has written. There is a custom part in the effects panel where you can add them, but with no possibility to organise it it gets messy very quickly. Having effects behave as other records (say spells) would be better, although I'd like to keep the possibility to hide them to players to stay.
EFFECTS 3
With more complex effects/automation in place, a combat tracker entry may end up having very many effects. The possibility of organising them in collapsable sublists and/or color code them and/or tag them while on the combat tracker would be great.
INTERFACE 1
Right now some of the rolls in a character sheet are triggered by a single click (those looking like a button), while other by a double click (those with a little dice in the lower left corner). On NPCs sheets everything is triggered by a double click with still a different graphic (highlight on rollover). I think it would be better to make it consistent, at least on PC sheets. I personally prefer the single click.
INTERFACE 2
Normally in the PC sheet the action tab presents all the actions in a single list, which easily gets too long/messy. I find that splitting actions in different subtabs (dividing weapons from spells and adding extra ones for e.g. class features/items/whatever) very useful. On PFRPG this functionality, among with other things, is made possible by this (https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/861/view) great extension.
It would also be great to be able to add some generic category other than spell class and weapon as various things do not fall in either. In fact, I think this is one of those interface things which make FG harder to use for newcomers: if you don't know already you would not think of adding a "spell class" to implement, say, a rogue class feature. And ideally give the possibility to set elements in this generic category to have X uses per day, resetting at long rest. [I think this last thing is already possible in some rulesets, would be great to have it in all of them].
INTERFACE 3
The messages on the chat for hit/miss on attacks and success/fail on saving throws are not the most visible ones and it would help to make them stand out more. There are extensions which do that, but I feel making this native would help a lot.
INTERFACE 4
I really like the updated interface for movement. I think a great addition to it would be to add a /total speed to the distance moved, as possible with this (https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/2164/view) great extension. I imagine just reporting the speed in the char or NPC sheet without implementing any automation on it should be easy to implement and still very useful.
INTERFACE 5
Ok, this is probably PFRPG only. Please give the ability see/edit a spell effect already on the spell record list, and not only once it is added to a char sheet. There is a great extension (https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/373/view) for it, but honestly the fact that you cannot do it natively is outrageous.
In the rest of this post I'd like to list some changes or improvements which imho go in this direction. I'll try to mention things which are not ruleset dependent, but I only use PFRPG so I may not be aware of what is available on other rulesets.
EFFECTS 1
Effects are one of the more powerful features of FG, and still I feel they are somewhat underdeveloped. One great feature to add would be the one implemented in this (https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/33/view) great extension. It provides a field in pretty much every record where you can write an effect (which is nice since you can add e.g. an effect caused by a feat in the feat record linked to your char sheet). If the effect is written on a field other than an item the effect gets automatically added to the character/monster when the latter is added to the combat tracker. If the effect is written on a field belonging to an item it gets automatically added when the item is equipped and removed when the item is unequipped. It works for both PCs and NPCs.
Honestly this is great functionality, which should benefit most rulesets, and which seems a low hanging fruit in terms of development effort (although I may be underestimating here), so that I am puzzled by the fact that the equivalent functionality has not yet been added to FG.
EFFECTS 2
For how convenient effects are, there isn't a very good place to save those one has written. There is a custom part in the effects panel where you can add them, but with no possibility to organise it it gets messy very quickly. Having effects behave as other records (say spells) would be better, although I'd like to keep the possibility to hide them to players to stay.
EFFECTS 3
With more complex effects/automation in place, a combat tracker entry may end up having very many effects. The possibility of organising them in collapsable sublists and/or color code them and/or tag them while on the combat tracker would be great.
INTERFACE 1
Right now some of the rolls in a character sheet are triggered by a single click (those looking like a button), while other by a double click (those with a little dice in the lower left corner). On NPCs sheets everything is triggered by a double click with still a different graphic (highlight on rollover). I think it would be better to make it consistent, at least on PC sheets. I personally prefer the single click.
INTERFACE 2
Normally in the PC sheet the action tab presents all the actions in a single list, which easily gets too long/messy. I find that splitting actions in different subtabs (dividing weapons from spells and adding extra ones for e.g. class features/items/whatever) very useful. On PFRPG this functionality, among with other things, is made possible by this (https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/861/view) great extension.
It would also be great to be able to add some generic category other than spell class and weapon as various things do not fall in either. In fact, I think this is one of those interface things which make FG harder to use for newcomers: if you don't know already you would not think of adding a "spell class" to implement, say, a rogue class feature. And ideally give the possibility to set elements in this generic category to have X uses per day, resetting at long rest. [I think this last thing is already possible in some rulesets, would be great to have it in all of them].
INTERFACE 3
The messages on the chat for hit/miss on attacks and success/fail on saving throws are not the most visible ones and it would help to make them stand out more. There are extensions which do that, but I feel making this native would help a lot.
INTERFACE 4
I really like the updated interface for movement. I think a great addition to it would be to add a /total speed to the distance moved, as possible with this (https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/2164/view) great extension. I imagine just reporting the speed in the char or NPC sheet without implementing any automation on it should be easy to implement and still very useful.
INTERFACE 5
Ok, this is probably PFRPG only. Please give the ability see/edit a spell effect already on the spell record list, and not only once it is added to a char sheet. There is a great extension (https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/373/view) for it, but honestly the fact that you cannot do it natively is outrageous.