Fantasy Grounds isn't just good for online fun!!

[tattoocory]

Well, long before wizards had the bright idea of a online program to play dungeons and dragons with friends who didn't live anywhere near you there was Fantasy Grounds, and also long before wizards came up with the idea of using it as a DMing tool, there was Fantasy Grounds. I don't know how many people out there who own FG actually use it in this manner, but here is a great way to use the program other than how it was intended; if you own a laptop, it makes the perfect DM screen at any gaming table. No longer do you as a DM have to carry all your books with you or so much even your dice!! Just open FG and this provides you with everything you need for quick easy access and looking things up. This is how I play, and it works great, no more do I need to wonder if a player is using a spell correctly and no longer do I need to slow the game down so that I can look it up or have them look it up, it is just a click away for me. I can keep a record of everyones characters, along with items they have, and even keep track of battles much better than I did before. So I was just wondering how many people out there use FG in this manner? If you don't, try it, you won't regret it!

[Oberoten]

Now that I managed to update the combat tracker I use it on the big-screen in the living room. :)

Very nice.

- Obe

[Spyke]

Yes, I've run a GURPS face-to-face session from an adventure I'd originally set up for online play. FG was very easy to use and helpful this way.

Spyke

[Master]

I have run a few face to face games on LAN parties using FGII. It works better than everyone just sitting at the table. They still get to cut up and joke around but what they type out is what happens. The DM also doesnt have to pass notes around.

[zabulus]

I play second edition AD&D, so unless I put in all the information myself first, I can't look up anything in FG. The combat tracker isn't all that helpful out of the game (what with different combat rolls and a reversed initiative). It might be nice to show pieces of the map, if I use 2 laptops and show the client one to the players (but then they lose the fun of cartographing the place).

Unfortunately, FG has no real offline value for me at the moment (though I am really enjoying its online capacities :) ).

[Captcorajus]

You know, i was thinking about this too. Just about all my players have laptops and wifi. We could LAN easily right in the house, in the living room, but run everything from the computer.

Or, if only a couple of us can get out we could get together and a remote player could still log in and play with us.

[MeepoSose]

Having the right library and/or modules makes all the difference. The combat tracker is nice too although you can handle that pretty easily with index cards too. I've used DMGenie for years in this same fashion and just recently switched to FG2 since it has a nice 4E ruleset and the library modules are fairly easy to manage. I don't use the maps at all when I use this method though and use real minis instead. I like that I can keep notes windows open, pull up a list of personalities for my current adventure/campaign, or quickly pull up a monster's stats from a library module. DMGenie had all those things too, but I think FG2 looks so much nicer when it does it.

[nix4]

Greetings all,

I am in the process of building a digital gaming table and I am seriously considering FG for all of this tools to act as a gaming aid for a face to face game.

My question is, does FG support multiple displays. Meaning, can I have my combat tracker on a TV on my wall and the Map on a a projector pointing at my table? Rolling dice in this manner would be nice to put on the wall and save one display just for the map.

So, does FG support multiple monitors?

[MeepoSose]

Yes, in a sense it does. You don't get two distinct graphical windows, but you can stretch your FG window across multiple displays. Within Windows you'll just tell the OS to extend your desktop and then position it to the left, right, up or down from your other display. I'd recommend just telling the OS it is extended to your right and drag the size of the FG window so that your chat window and combat tracker are on your primary display and the map can be in the stretched area which is displayed on your projector.

[nix4]

Ah that makes sense! Since you can resize all the windows inside FG there is no reason why that idea wouldn't work out just fine.

Thanks

[Griogre]

As an alternative to MeepoSose suggestion, after you extend the desktop, you could also start two instances of FG and drag the player version onto one screen and the DM version onto the other screen. The advantage of this approach would be it might be easier to keep the DM's rolls hidden if that is important to you.