The 13 questions a noob would appreciate an answer for

[WiNG]

Greetings!

I have found about Fantasy Grounds through a news link at Chaosium and I am sort of interested in it for Call of Cthulhu and derivates. I have read the library links and watched the video tutorials (many thanks to Xorn for making them), checked several parts of the forum, but I still would appreciate some more information before deciding for purchase. Any answer to the following questions is well appreciated.


From what I understood, licenses for both lite and full versions are sort of unique. Would that mean that if I purchase a Full and my mates a Lite we won't be able to swap them when we want someone else to host a session?
Does the same apply to the Call of Cthulhu package?
If both things are unable to do, are there not reduced packages for full licenceses, only for lite ones?
Is there a chance or some way to display animation within loaded images? for instance, instead of a png or a jpg image could I use a flash clip?
In case that is not supported, is it being considered for a future release?
What about audio and ambient music? since there was no mention on the tutorial videos I take that is not implemented but perhaps the community has agreed on a reasonable 3rd party solution that is easy to manage and not too bandwith-dependant?
Normally on my tabletop league I like to distribute a lot of information to my players. I've seen I could load them an image as a map, however... can they close the image and get it back at any time without my intervention as DM?
What about pure text files? can they be treated the same way?
Sumarizing, can the players have a fully interactive (clickable) inventory for documents, pictures, etc the same way the DM's get the story screen thing? (I care not for weaponry and other things in inventory much)
Since we normally play on a very wicked mix of things and homemade rules for our Cthulhu setting (involving 4 different games, 3 of them with different rulesets) the default character sheets can be edited in a rather easy way?
Is there a tutorial I can check for that? Rest of changes do not bother me that much really
Can both players and DM edit a character sheet? If that is the case, can they be made DM-changeable-only?
What data remains when I close the session? Maps with latest token positions? the windows I had open both DM and player side? character sheet changes?...


Well, I think that is all. Thanks in advance,
W.

[Master]

1. You can but it is in violation of the EULA to swap license keys. It also takes a bit of computer knowledge and I doubt you will find anyone to explain the process on these forums. It is best all around to buy the full license keys since you will run into some problems trying to use the lite version and a custom rule set.

2. Only the person who is hosting CoC has to buy the CoC rule set. The other players will download a temporary version of the rule set that they can use to play the game. This temporary rule set can not be used to host a game with.

3. You can get a bundle discount by buying the full versions. The first copy of the game you buy is at full price. For ever copy you add a discount is applied to the subsequent copies. This discount is cumulative but does not apply to the first copy. If you buy 5 copies you would buy the first one at full price and then 4 more at a discount price x4.

4. I am pretty sure you can not display animation within the program.

5. I have no idea but I doubt it.

6. I dont think it does music either or I have never seen music used.

7. You can create a module by exporting your quest information in game to a .mod file. You can then distribute that file to your players to cut load time. Your players need to be trust worthy though because anyone can open the mod file by changing file extensions. Once they close an image it is closed and needs to be globally reopen. They can however only minimize the image and refer to it as much as they want.

8. Yes they can. You could also bypass this whole process and make the module viewable through the extensions feature of the game. You would then have to make each picture an individual module file and then allow/disallow it's use though the game's ruleset viewing feature.

9. No, not without lots of work setting it up.

10. No but you can download a custom rule set that will work for you. I think the "generic rule set" did that.

11. I am not sure.

12. Yes, no, at least I have not found a way to. You could code it though into a custom ruleset.

13. I am not sure exactly what remains. Any custom drawing and tokens on a map remains but the map has to be reshared. The players always load into the game on a clean tablet. You have to reshare everything but the information within the pictures and maps remain in their last state before the game closed. Unless the game crashed then it reverts back to the last save.

Hope that helps a little. Some of your questions were not black and white answers. Especially the ones asking about sharing information. You could theoretically code your quest into the rule set so that the maps/NPCs can be viewed just like the rulebook or SRD information is viewed. That woudl cause it's own problems though.

[WiNG]

Yeah, I know some of the things I asked are sorta advanced. I have not much of a trouble having to modify things, but I would like to know if Fantasy Grounds shall be a true improvement from other solution we are currently using for my(our) special rules and setting

[Tenian]

Not referencing any particular numbers but:

You can create a "reference" module designed for player access. This is different than a "adventure" module. A reference module is similar to a player's handbook. It can include any objects you want, images, text, other elements such as spells, weapons, armor, etc.

As a GM you can allow/deny reference modules. Once a module has been allowed, players can open/close any of the objects (images, text, etc) whenever they desire.

[WiNG]

As a GM you can allow/deny reference modules. Once a module has been allowed, players can open/close any of the objects (images, text, etc) whenever they desire.

Interesting. The different sections of these modules accept sort of "permissions" so I can allow/disallow the parts I need at my leisure or should I need to create XX modules and grant permissions individually?

[Master]

No it is all or nothing but you can make a module for each piece of information.

[Foen]

On question 9, Investigators do get access to a "notebook" facility, where the Referee can drop snippets of information found during the course of the game. It can include object descriptions, press cuttings, diary extracts etc, but not pictures, actual objects or mythos tomes.

I am expecting a CoC demo to be published soon (it is currently with SmiteWorks), which might help you make your decision.

Cheers

StuartW

[WiNG]

No it is all or nothing but you can make a module for each piece of information.

On question 9, Investigators do get access to a "notebook" facility, where the Referee can drop snippets of information found during the course of the game. It can include object descriptions, press cuttings, diary extracts etc, but not pictures, actual objects or mythos tomes.

Of course I cannot put a whole mythos tome in there. Would they read them they would become insane!

Now seriously, seems an acceptable solution to use a combination of modules and notebook excerpts. Can I find a quick guide of sorts on how to create those to evaluate the level of work that would implicit?

Also, how would all these modules be grouped in the Player screen? Can I invoke the container (I suposse its the module screen I saw on the vids) on their screens from my DM client?


I am expecting a CoC demo to be published soon (it is currently with SmiteWorks), which might help you make your decision.

That would surely come in handy! In any case, one problem remains and it is that we do not play strict Call of Cthulhu rules but our own mix. Briefly summarizing, we mix d100 with parts of Gumshoe from Trail of Cthulhu and adapt the result to Delta Green setting (wicked, I know), therefore we would need a few changes to the original CoC character sheet (which I assume to be different than the d20 one I saw on the vids). Just to name one change, I would like the players to have a mini screen for Sanity and Stability rather than just Sanity. Have those kind of changes been done before? Anything I can check on that matter?

Bye the way... can I distrubute my players pre-filled character sheets at any time rather than the players making them?

[Foen]

Modifying the character sheet is complex, and you'd need to be familiar with XML, scripting/programming languages (FG uses the Lua language, which looks like a cross between Basic and Javascript, sort of) and the FG object model. You'd also need to unpack the ruleset, modify it and repackage it. Your modified ruleset may not then be compatible with other published products.

If you are happy doing this stuff, then there is plenty of scope for changing how things work. If it scares the willies out of you, then you'd need to keep track of the house rules manually.

Hope that helps

Stuart

[WiNG]

It does, sort of.

XML and scripting (although I have never touched LUA in particular) is not overly scary... as long as extense documentation with introductory chapters is available. I do not pretend, or at least not at this point, to make changes professinally with draggable controls and all that, I am mainly aiming to have some more information that is organized and easily visible.

One more thing, I read there is GIF image support... static GIF only or animated GIF as well?

[Foen]

I'm afraid only static GIF images are supported. I'm guessing it has something to do with using DirectX, but I'm no expert on it.

As regards documentation, there is some info on this site, under "Library" at the top of this page, but it is not very helpful as a tutorial. I also started a project to walthrough creating a ruleset from scratch, but then I got distracted finishing the CoC ruleset and am now knee deep in Rolemaster.

The first few chapters are available at https://wiki.witheredlands.co.uk/anatomy.ashx

Cheers

Stuart

[WiNG]

I have checked the wiki link and it looks like the sort of information I was looking for. Thanks a lot! I guess some certain customizations might took some trial/error but that surely gives me a start at least and it does not look way too harsh on my side (I ended considering dropping my own petty VT attempt due overly complexity by now).

I'll have to further check on the library for info about creating reference modules

[Callum]

What data remains when I close the session? Maps with latest token positions? the windows I had open both DM and player side? character sheet changes?
All data changes to character sheets, personalities, notes, etc., are saved. This includes changes to maps, including masking, pointers, etc., and most token positions. (The positions of the PC tokens and any other tokens from the base campaign are remembered, but not those of tokens from a module.) Data in the combat tracker is also saved. However, which windows you had open is not stored between sessions.

[WiNG]

(The positions of the PC tokens and any other tokens from the base campaign are remembered, but not those of tokens from a module.)

Thanks for the info.

hmm.. is it possible to drag a creature NPC from a module into the current personalities window, add it a token, then drag it into a map so its position gets saved?

[Phystus]

I don't know of a tutorial, but here's a link to a past thread on the forum about creating library modules:

I was the person asking the dumb questions in that case. I've now created a couple of library modules, which my players find quite helpful. In my case I started by copying a d20 reference module that had the features (linked items, tables, etc.) I wanted to use, removing the content and replacing it with mine. If you're familiar at all with XML (I wasn't) it should go pretty well.

There's an excellent video by Xorn available in the downloads section about creating adventure modules. He did it with a different ruleset, but the process is probably not much different with the CoC ruleset.

~P

[Callum]

hmm.. is it possible to drag a creature NPC from a module into the current personalities window, add it a token, then drag it into a map so its position gets saved?
I just tested that idea, but it didn't work - sorry! The duplicated personality persists, but not the token.

[Tenian]

4E_JPG does copy the tokens. A recent upgrade (2.2 maybe?) enabled token transfers on acceptDrop. The d20 might not have added this when the upgrade came out.