Persistent Player Access to Campaign Resources

[Xyvreal]

I have been doing some research into having a Library that allows my players to access lore, personal notes, and (ideally) character data outside of a session. The most recent info I found was from 2020 essentially saying that what I am looking for is impossible at that time so now I am checking if there have been any changes or updates that might make it possible today.

In the event of it indeed not being possible, I can create an obsidianXquartz vault for notes. However, I really like FGU's ability to restrict information to specific players and would like to preserve that functionality. Its also easier to only have one copy of the campaign notes.

Any help or insight is much appreciated!

[Moon Wizard]

The GM machine is the server for Fantasy Grounds. If you want persistent access to the campaign, you'd have to leave your campaign running whenever you want to allow your players to access the campaign data.

Regards,
JPG

[Xyvreal]

Thank you for the info!

[Mike Serfass]

Since Smiteworks is working on the online reader, you could add this as a feature request to My Library. I'll vote for a static snapshot of a campaign that can be added to the library.
Use the link in Moon Wizard's signature to add the request.

[anstett]

This is how I run by play by post Traveller game.

I leave FG up 24/7 for the players to log in and make a skill roll, check a rule book etc.

The new (beta) Online Reader works for any items that you have purchased, but not things that you have shared with the players. So they would need to own the books as well to do this 'offline'.

[Xyvreal]

Since SmiteWorks is working on the online reader, you could add this as a feature request to My Library. I'll vote for a static snapshot of a campaign that can be added to the library.

Thanks for the suggestion! I made a couple feature requests for Player side campaign snapshots (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/featurerequests/featurerequests.php?titlesearch=Player%20Side%20Ca mpaign%20Snapshot) as well as Custom Modules in the Online Reader (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/featurerequests/featurerequests.php?titlesearch=Custom%20Modules%2 0in%20Online%20Reader).

Having the player side campaign snapshot would add the functionality I was was looking for before by allowing players to access their data and the lore and secrets that each of them know without having to connect to the GM or seeing entries that they don't have access to. This also gives them the added benefit of not having to be connected to the internet. I imagine it would work similar to how GMs export modules

I added a feature request for Custom Modules in the Online Reader after being inspired by your post here. I love that SmiteWorks is working on the online reader as it allows me to consult the modules I have bought from anywhere I would like. This also helps address some of my struggles with screen space in FGU as it allows me to keep reference material either in my browser or on another device rather than in FGU itself. While it would be cool to be able to add custom modules/ campaigns directly to the online reader, I find this option likely to bloat the servers. Instead, I would propose integrating support for some Forge content. This would allow the aforementioned benefits to custom modules while minimizing server bloat as Forge items are already hosted by SmiteWorks. This should also give the added benefit of increasing community interaction with the Forge side of FGU.

I made these suggestions in a way that I believe would be easiest to develop and integrate however, I do not know SmiteWorks development environment or FGUs design structure all that well so it is completely possible that I am wildly off the mark here.

Safe Travels,
Xyvreal

[Xyvreal]

Thank you for your experience! I would love to give my players persistent access to the game like that however, I would greatly prefer to avoid hosting it on my own computer as I have other uses for my PCs resources while I am not running the game. On the other hand, I recently learned about running FGU from a virtual machine on a server. This should achieve the same results although it would require a little more setup. I am also worried about input lag on my end as it currently seems I would have to remote in to the VM while running the game so I am researching a bit more.

[BrinleyTavernier]

Es auf einer VM laufen zu lassen oder dauerhaft aktiv zu halten, ist wahrscheinlich im Moment die einzige Lösung, solange es keine Updates gibt, die das ändern. Ich hatte ähnliche Gedanken zum Thema dauerhafter Zugriff, weil das vieles zwischen den Sessions erleichtern würde. Nach solchen Setups wechsle ich meistens zu etwas Leichterem wie Chickens RD (https://chickensrd.de/), um etwas zu entspannen.

[Xyvreal]

How is your research going on?

Currently, it seems that hosting it on a server and remoting in would work fairly well. However, with my games being in person, the resources to host it on a server are not currently worth it to me. I made a couple of feature requests however called "Player Side Campaign Snapshot" and "Custom Modules in Online Reader". While I was making these feature requests, I also saw the request to "Split the GM and the Host" made by Fuffelschmertz which would eliminate the need to remote into the server in favor of having the GM connect to the campaign similar to a player only with all the normal GM functions.

Apologies for not providing the direct links, I would probably trip the automated moderation again for having links with too little account activity or smth. You can find the feature request page by clicking the link in Moon Wizards post FG Wish List or by finding it in the support tab of Fantasy Grounds home page.

Safe Travels!

[LordEntrails]

I'm not sure when the links don't trip anymore, maybe at 10 posts? You're almost there. But here are the links for everyone;
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/featurerequests/featurerequests.php?titlesearch=Player%20Side%20Ca mpaign%20Snapshot
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/featurerequests/featurerequests.php?titlesearch=Custom%20Modules%2 0in%20Online%20Reader
As well as the existing one you mentioned: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/featurerequests/featurerequests.php?titlesearch=Split%20the%20GM%2 0and%20the%20Host

[Trenloe]

I believe it's 5 posts before you can include attachments. There isn't a hard limit on number of posts including links - but you may get your post require moderation, which is the case in the post earlier in this thread. That then relies on a moderator approving the post, which I've done (better late than never).

[Arsilon]

Since our games are remote, we use Discord for voice during our sessions. Since everyone is already logged in there, I have started pasting notes into threads within a room in Discord. You can then add on other uses beyond just repository as you wish, eg between session discussion, in character role play, etc.

For my games generally I have sections set up for session summaries, rules discussions, general 'chat', session scheduling, lore repository, etc.

[Xyvreal]

Thanks for the assist!