Is it a good time to buy in if interested or is there still some wrinkles that create frustration? I don't see many games being run in LFG. Already own FGU Ultimate. Is it easy to create adventures?
Cheers
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Is it a good time to buy in if interested or is there still some wrinkles that create frustration? I don't see many games being run in LFG. Already own FGU Ultimate. Is it easy to create adventures?
Cheers
This is a tough question to answer... My answer might not be fully objective, as I am big Conan fan and my expectations are higher. I presume you already checked already the threads about the state of the ruleset and the bug one :)
So, the ruleset at the moment and :
- It is very basic - just dice roller with reporting for the most common rolls, which is OK if you look just to character sheet with some conveniences.
- Bland looks - no effort was put to make the ruleset visually appealing, except the frame for sheets, which is out of place IMO
- There is close to none automation of combat and combat tracker is basic
- No talent or magic automation where this was possible or framework to take those into account via semi-manual approach
- No art from the core book.
- No additional content. The maps in the store are butchered as they reduced the quality and removed the zones, which defeated the whole purpose of the product.
- Encoding issues still persist in texts.
- Various stupid bugs such as locked sheets that are editable still persist
- Very bad and slow support from the developers.
- They removed the calendar.... what the ****...
- Party Sheet is broken, you can drag and drop items but the party inventory does not work as they probably messed up the classes and how the lists are build.
- Fonts are barely readable in Unity, even eagle-eyed person complained that they must run scaleui command.
- The concept of how Vigor/Resolve is tracked for PC/NPC and traumas is ... ambiguous at best
- Data libraries have groups defined, which is great but they lack filters, which is super important for talents.
Good things:
- Character Sheet is organized very well and despite my grief in style, it works well
- Momentum/Fortune tokens on the desktop
- Data libraries are organized well
- You have GM screen as images.
- Content! You don't have to do data entry :)
- Reference manual is nice, but needs more structure and images.
I would not recommend purchasing the ruleset, if you expect Fantasy Grounds experience beyond simple character sheet and CoreRPG functions (even those don't work, as I explained in the Party Sheet). It needs overhaul. Since more than an year passed and there has been close to zero improvements, I doubt much will happen in future.
I would recommend getting the ruleset if you have zero expectations and just want character sheet and Fantasy Grounds as campaign manager.
Better wait for Foundry VTT's Conan 2d20 system and how it will evolve. The first release is quite promising, though it lacks content, automation but the author said they are negotiating with Modiphius.
BTW - Modiphius are super slow, I have not idea what is going on with them, but even this ruleset suffered from their inadequacy at response times.
Different people look for different things in a ruleset. I've been using the ruleset to run a Conan 2d20 campaign that will reach its 20th session later today. It allows us to play, to make rolls, to track the characters, etc.. It doesn't have much automation, as Valyar has mentioned, but that hasn't stopped us playing and having an amazing time. There's a lot of things I'd like added to the ruleset, there's less that I feel I *need*. Do I regret buying the ruleset? No, not at all.
Ultimately, only you can make the decision on whether it will satisfy your requirements. Keep in mind that SmiteWorks have a 30 day, no questions asked, refund policy. So you can buy, try, and get a refund if it isn't OK for you.
Thank you both. I appreciate the honesty in your responses. I will buy it at some point maybe not today though. I will keep looking for a game to play in then make my purchase when I find a slot.
Cheers Gents.
Kona,
I responded to your PM. But I am with Valyar on this one. I would not buy it in its current state. Although I strongly believe that Fantasy Grounds is ultimately the better VTT then what is out there. I currently have moved to using Foundry for my Conan games, as the ruleset there is considerably better in the mechanical aspect making it much easier for a GM to run the game as the rules intended, and its only getting better.
If and when they fix the way doom and momentum work, and a few other issues. I would then consider suggesting this ruleset be purchased.
I was very critical a couple of weeks ago, and I think it was warranted. I will say that the last update went along way to fix some stuff. I tried out Foundry and I have to say they've done some very good things with the VTT but for playing, FG is still a better experience. I just have had a hard time trying to get going with Foundry, it's like learning a second language lol
I watched a stream on gamerstable with FG but i think it was a bit dated. There wasnt much you could roll off of the npc tables and the combat tracker looked limited. I have no experience with foundry.
As I recall he didn't do NPC's correctly on the show. You click on the Attribute, click on the Expertise, then drag the red jewel under the chat window into the chat window to roll. You'll notice the number on the jewel changes as you click on stuff. It'll then tell you the same result of target, focus, successes, and momentum.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kona
Attachment 46839
As a side note on 5/18 he's starting another Conan game on his Twitch stream which he usually puts up on YouTube at some point afterwards.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kona
I also have several Conan games on my Youtube channel as well..Quote:
Originally Posted by Kona
Thanks guys. I have been trying to view as many as possible to get a a feel for the system. I think it reads a bit more complicated than it plays from watching. I have been watching your you tube stuff as well jolly soaking it all in.
You are 100% correct, if you ever play this game around a real table, the game is fantastically simple and fluid.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kona
good to know. I will tune in.Quote:
Originally Posted by vegaserik
The bad:
A whole section is missing from the core book is missing. These are the various Kickstarter backer characters.
The Fantasy Grounds version of the core rules is missing most of the art from the core book, about 95% of it.
The Talent’s are on talent tree’s (flowcharts) showing that you need certain ones in order to get others. The images of the trees are missing in the Fantasy Grounds version of the core rule book and you need to look back at a PDF or a print version of the core book to see them.
The Crom font that is used in the ruleset prevents text from not displaying properly and many text characters to not show up and will appear as a blank space. (Apostrophes showing up as blank spaces are a huge problem of this.) Upper and lower case looks the same too. When I was doing data entry for NPCs from the various sourcebooks and the sample PCs from the quickstarts for the RPG I noticed this. If you want to see what the text problems are with it in a word processor program, see this link to download the font.
https://www.dafont.com/crom.font
The Fantasy Grounds version has no tutorial or PDF guide showing the way that certain text will change the way by adding other entry fields or removing them depending on what is entered on each line. I had pend a bit of time looking at various items and NPCs to get all of that info.
The calendar function is removed as was mention. You can find a extension to add it back in and a calendar based on the one in GURPS Conan. Other calendars do exist for Conan’s Hyperborean Age but no one has done a Fantasy Grounds version of them as they are more complex than the one in GURPS Conan and for specific nations.
Ruleset is bland and not very decorative. The optional sidebar that you can download if you look in the bug thread helps with this though.
Combat tracker isn’t that useful.
Examples and many sidebars are missing from the core rulebook and this can make things difficult if you are new to the rules.
Updates are usually slow and none of the expansion books have been converted to Fantasy Grounds yet and surprisingly the official character VTTs are on Roll20 for purchase but not available as a Fantasy Grounds token module. (Setting the character tokens up as a Fantasy grounds token module is easy and can be done in under 5 minutes.)
The designers didn’t plan for things in the various expansion books and data entry of some things in them can’t be done.
The good:
Has GM screen reference tables as images.
Character sheet is clear an easy to read and access information from. (However, the Crom font has caused problems with some PC names.)
The description of each quality for items like weapons is given in the item data entry so you don’t have to look in the core book if you need to know what they do.
Doom and momentum are shown on the table. This really helps speed up game play and helps new new players.
Once you get used to it and its quirks it works well.
The rule set creators are friendly and are glad to answer questions.
Good or Bad Depending On Person:
The Conan Tilesets for Fantasy Grounds have the Monolith Conan board game range and area markings removed from the that are in the PDF, Print, and Roll20 versions. The tilesets were made for both the Monolith Conan board game and the Conan RPG. The Conan Monolith Sourcebook for the Conan RPG makes it also clear that those marking are for using them in the Monolith board game. They are not zone indicators for the RPG and this is a common mistaken belief. The circles are where you measure from to determine range in the board game if you’re curious what they are used for.
Some people like the markings on the tiles and others don’t.
I can do you some screenshots if you want more info on this and to see a comparison.
It does do automation for some things. You still however are going to not have automation for some things that ought to. So you may want more automation or be fine with what it does.
Thanks very much Jay. I was wondering if it would be better to buy the pdf tiles and import them into FG or buy them straight from the shop. I am not concerned about the markings the less clutter on maps the better for me.
Still working my way through the hardcopy rules hoping to land a game. The artwork is unreal. Takes me back to the 80's. Have ordered some more expansions just for the read. I am worried about how one would get them into FG and was hoping to hear word on them being published for FG.
Its very simple to import them into a module. When I was using Fantasy Grounds and MoreCore, I had imported into my own, Conan Core book, Conan the Thief, Conan the Pirate, Mercenary and the Book of Skelos. Using the Reference Library extension you can do pretty much what ever you want. It just takes some time. If you want to see an example, scroll down the forum here, and look for this thread.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kona
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...oof-of-Conecpt
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0HBN5M5S...48/Capture.PNG
I for one don't want them to add the lines to the tiles, and if they do I hope they keep the copies without them. I would like to see higher quality images of these though. You can get the pdf's and import them, but it keeps the big white dots on them and zone lines.
It's easy to import stuff into the game. I've done all the various talents, items, and maps. Working through the npc's from the various books now which is tedious, but that's the case for pretty much any ruleset - monsters are always tough with all the various fields to fill. Adventures are pretty simple as well. All of this is easier with the pdf's with cut/paste, typing everything in would be a pain lol
Wow Jolly you were committed to the cause. Nice work. Thanks for the tip on the pdf's as well. Like you I don't really want the zones on the maps.
I for one, like the zones on the map.. But I also would have liked to have the zones in a layer where you can turn on and off as a person desired. That would be a smart buisness move.. or just offer the image with and with out the zone lines.
I will add that I would love if they changed the "Notes" field in the NPC stat block to be a regular text field that I could format how I want instead of lines that take no formatting.
I'm a fairly vocal fanboy for the FG ruleset (disclaimer, I'm a playtester for the development group although personally I'm about as technically knowledgeable as the average rock).Quote:
Originally Posted by Kona
I've been running a game every other weekend for about a year. I've been playing in a game the every other weekend for more than a year (whenever the ruleset came out).
I am NOT a big fan of massive automation in the rulesets so the Conan table is perfect for my style of play. I don't know how you could automate it to the level of 5e without causing a nervous breakdown for the GM having to constantly pull back on the computer not being able to recognize all of the variables in the 2d20 ruleset. "No, I did not want to spend that Momentum on damage, I wanted to spend it on pulling this cool maneuver. Should I reroll, GM?" The 2d20 rules are designed for every action to be a bargaining session between the GM and the player. That's the "cool" factor for them. I'm constantly adjusting the 5e automation results in my 5e games because the software cannot handle the variables in that system. 2d20 is exponentially more complex in possible outcomes (but ironically easier to play as the game flows). Too much automation actually slows down the game IMHO when it takes the place of GM judgment.
I also play in FGC because I have a lot of issues in FGU (for all rulesets). The CoreRPG sets have an easier time in FGC. That being said as FGU developed, the 2d20 ruleset had to constantly be tweaked. The developers adjusted accordingly at a fairly quick response time (some people disagree and think they were slow; my reactionary and snotty response: I say get a life, these guys are working all the time on this ruleset). Also all of the FGU rulesets have weird font issues right now (I'm looking at you, AD&D 2e and Pathfinder 2e!)... The Conan FGU set previously had a couple of columns displaced... The other game systems are worse because in some areas you can't see the fields at all. I could live with it (if I were forced to run it in FGU in the first place).
Thanks for taking the time to reply and providing your viewpoint.
Happy to do so... BTW I suggest possibly taking advantage of SmiteWorks very generous return policy. If you ask for a refund in 30 days you get it (no questions asked). Try it for a month and if you can't get the knack of it early on then feel free to message me and I'll give you some pointers or show you how I set up my games (hint: it's not hard, as I said, I'm no tech genius).Quote:
Originally Posted by Kona
Since Some more stuff on the tiles and some examples of things I mentioned.
The white lines as I said are for using them with the Monolith game.
The white dots (circles) are used for range determination in the Conan Monolith board game and you a measure from the dots (circles) to determine range. Otherwise you can get a range difference of 1 or 2 in some cases depending on where you measure from. I have set up an example to show this.
A pict warrior is firing a bow a warrior in a swamp. If you measure from the dots the pict is 2 away from the warrior if I do just a straight line from the pict to the warrior the distance is 3 away from the pict. (It is barely passing through one area but that is sufficient to increase it if you were measuring.
Attachment 47021
The map image is part of Gate of the Swamp by Battleboard Maps. The creator has it in a version for use in the Conan Monolith board game, a square grid version, and one with no markings. The creator also has a swamp map that adds on to it. The link to them on DtRPG is bellow if your interested in them. The Gate of the Swamp for Conan also had a quickstart fully playable PDF version of the Conan Monolith boardgame in it which has a pict village map that is part of it. The full Monolith board game has multiple boards and others in expansions or it.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/...ESPROJECT-MAPS
Note: that in some cases the range is less if measuring from the circle and in others it isn’t and sometimes the lines are barely passing through some areas.
One other problem with the Conan ruleset that I forgot to mention is that you can have both a portrait and a token assigned to a layer character but you can’t see the token except in the combat tracker and you can’t clear it. You can change it by dragging another token over. And it can be moved on to a map.
A few other things about the board game boards and the Conan tiles. One of the boards for the Monolith board game is a port and ship made from the Conan tiles or the ship board for the board game can be attached to it to expand the board. The boardgame also has “planks” and other things as that can be added to a map so a ship can have ways to get on and off of it. The ship’s can also be used to make boarding maps.
It is possible to get copies of the images the other boards for the boardgame if you want to use them as maps for the Conan RPG. If you look around. The dots and area lines in some cases don’t show up on some I noticed.
I’ve attached an example of a reduced image of the Khitai Tower Monolith board game map showing it looks in Fantasy Grounds. The map has a basement and roof level that is not shown in the screenshot.
Attachment 47022
Some of the Conan tiles can be combined in different ways to make different maps. The ship tiles can make different ships for examples.
A lot of the Conan Monolith board game fans have made additional boards for the game with the markings that can be downloaded.
The other tilesets Modiphius makes for other games are unmarked, except for the Star Trek Adventures ones. The STA ones have zone markings on them for use with the Red Alert rules for that game. The also use them as normal zones in the Starter Set adventure. If you’re wondering about how usable they are with each other.
I was able to get pngs of a lot of the Monolith boardgame tokens to make a token module for the Conan RPG by looking around on the board game forums and getting images from board game scenario PDFs with Adobe Elements. I’m still missing some of the boardgame tokens. I have over 50 tokens. See image for a sample.
Attachment 47023
So I highly recommend you check out the Conan Monolith board game sites and forum for it as you can get a lot of stuff you can use in the RPG even if you don't have the boardgame.
Modiphius does have official Conan character tokens like I said and I’ve attached a screenshot of some of them. You can get them on Roll20’s store and set them up as a token module for use in Fantasy Grounds.
Attachment 47024
I would personally, if I only could get 1 version of the tiles, get the PDFs or the Roll20 version of them tiles as you can't combine the separate tiles in Fantasy Grounds Classic and you can easily resize them and combine them with other tiles and if you ever get the Monolith boardgame you can use them with it.
If you also need help making a token module let me know. The token template is missing a line that is needed in newer versions of Fantasy grounds last time I checked and I had trouble making a module and using some downloaded modules cause of this.
I did the same thing and converted the Roll20 tokens into a mod file... Only my true and tried methodology failed so I ended up finally just dragging-and-dropping them into an exported module from within FG (it took forever on another set that had 200 Tokens I use - the Malmsturm set). What line did you discover is missing? I'd like to go back to the less tedious method...Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay_NOLA
You need a category line in the definitions now for token modules. I've attached the one I used for the Conan Roll20 tokens. Also, you have to use the word and instead of & in the name and author categories if your module is using an ampersand.
For the thumbnail I used the roll 20 image for it png form reduced a bit.
I also shortened the tokne names up a little so they are now for example:
Alchemist.png
Dancer.png
Highwayman.png
Very long names and certain characters can cause problems in Fantasy grounds tokens names.
If you have token module that isn't working thta you downlloaded from the forums or a website you most likely need to add in the category line of the module.
That is awesome! Thank you..Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay_NOLA
Fantastic info thanks.
I disagree with the statement that the zone indicators aren't for the RPG, and that the Monolith Sourcebook makes it clear that is the case. Yes, the dots are for the boardgame, but the zones are absolutely interchangeable - and reading the various comments throughout the Monolith sourcebook completely suggests this. I can see where the confusion might come from, but I haven't read anything that clearly states that the zones are purely for the boardgame. For example, on page 94: "One of the most exciting aspects of the crossover between the boardgame and roleplaying game is the new tile sets. These tiles function perfectly for roleplaying adventures, but because they have been marked with special zones, they are also useful for the boardgame." - it doesn't say "they have been marked with special zones purely for the boardgame - it says that those special zones are "also useful for the boardgame".Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay_NOLA
Disagreements aside - ultimately, even if the original zone design on the RPG tiles was for the boardgame, they are completely useful in the RPG game (at least in mine and it also sounds like ShotGun Jolly's); without them I have to explain to my players where the zones are, and keep explaining that during encounters, or draw them on the map beforehand. Currently I extract the images from the PDFs, which come with the zones, and use these as-is in my Conan 2d20 game - using the zones for RPG zones, which the RPG system is designed to use for encounters. I doubt I'll buy the FG version of the tiles until they come with the zones as provided in the original product.
In the end, as mentioned on page 39 of the Monolith sourcebook (emphasis mine): "The gamemaster should feel free to implement these resources where pertinent. When using the maps and tiles, the gamemaster should explain and discuss with the players where particular zones begin and end.
However, neither player or gamemaster should feel constrained by what is printed on the maps; these should support gameplay, not limit it." Therefore, no one way is 100% right for every Conan 2d20 RPG game played - having the option to use both (with and without zones) would be great...
EDIT: Reading through early posts in the original RPG Kickstarter, they refer to the movement area markings being "similar" to the Monolith boardgame: "[the tiles] will have movement areas marked which are similar to Monolith's Conan boardgame tiles." ( update #16 ) plus "...and can be used for other games as well, such as the upcoming Conan miniatures game from Monolith (especially as they are marked with similar movement areas, not squares)." ( update #2 ) and "The tiles will have ... our normal printed movement areas which are similar to the Monolith boardgames tiles." ( update #19 ) So, this tells me that the design decision from the start was that the zones were for the Conan 2d20 RPG, but were also designed to be "similar" to the boardgame, therefore allowing them to be used with both.
Hopefully if they add the zone markings, they will also have the ones without. Seems the easiest way to keep both sides happy.
purchased the ruleset over the weekend as I may have found a seat at a table. thanks again for everyone's answers.