Will modules ever be up for sell at the store?

[computertrucker]

So kind of curious. As I am not a programmer and could never get the parser to work properly due to the fact I kept getting errors, and i have no clue as to how to look thru all the codes.

Does anyone know if there will ever be product support for 4th edition for FG2? IE rules and modules that can be bought and downloaded directly thats made for the client.

Been running a game since end of Feb and have had to manually enter everything. Which I am slowly building a library of monsters and such but it is still time consuming and can be very annoying. Also so many things for 4E dont seem to work properly like auras or effects.

thanks
gotta roll

[ddavison]

The short answer is, "I still hope so but nothing is definite now." We have a good relationship with Wizards of the Coast and we hope to be able to turn this into a solid contractual agreement some time in the future. It would be best to plan on this *not* being available and then hopefully we can give you a pleasant surprise one day.

[vodokar]

Given how heavily WOTC has erratad their rulebooks over the past couple of years, I'm not even certain how convenient being able to purchase rulebooks would be. As it stands now, you can re-parse your library modules every so often and you have the latest and greatest directly out of DDI.

Adventure modules, on the other hand, would likely be more useful. Even Dungeon magazine adventures -- say for instance, a bundle of the adventures from dungeon from a four month period, collected into a fantasy grounds module for a reasonable price.

"Also so many things for 4E dont seem to work properly like auras or effects."

I have found that most, if not close to all, powers and effects can be set up in 4e. It simply takes a little time to become familiar with the proper syntax that 4e is expecting. You can get a good leg up on this by watching the tutorial video's and reading the 4e ruleset manual, but some things just take some experimentation till you figure out the right way to enter the power or effect.

I have set up numerous monsters and characters manually without aid of library modules. Virtually everything can be entered manually and in a simple manner. Whenever I am entering powers and effects, I always test them in order to make sure I got the syntax correct and it is doing what I think it should.

I add the power, then I open up a map and set up a miniature battle with the character and a monster. Then I run a couple of turns thru the battle to make sure that the effect applies properly and behaves the way it should. If it doesn't do anything, or does something different, then I go back and change the syntax.

[computertrucker]

Do people playing Savage Worlds Have to do all this? I have a job already, Having write everything manually is like having a 2nd one. Also parsing doesnt work unless your a progammer. I have no clue how to go thru and find all the errors that come with parsing, I know I have tried.

[vodokar]

Do people playing Savage Worlds Have to do all this? I have a job already, Having write everything manually is like having a 2nd one. Also parsing doesnt work unless your a progammer. I have no clue how to go thru and find all the errors that come with parsing, I know I have tried.

No they don't. But, Savage Worlds is a very rules light game. WOTC has published more pages of errata to their books in the last 2 years than the entire Savage Worlds explorer rulebook has pages. Because of that, even if they did sell the D&D rulebooks for FG, they would be hopelessly out of date and incorrect.

Why do you need to write everything manually?

No one expects you to sit there and type in the entire contents of the rule books. Players are responsible for providing their own access to the player rules. Having library modules parsed is a nice luxury, but it certainly isn't a necessity and as you've stated, they aren't easy to make. Players are responsible for entering their own character information and having access to the player information. Treat it just like you would if you were playing the game face to face. The DM isn't responsible for providing rulebooks or DDI access for everyone. Likewise, he isn't responsible for having parsed library modules. It's a luxury, a courtesy, and nothing more.

Regarding adventure modules, don't enter anything more than what you absolutely have to in order to run the game. I have hard copies of my modules, so the only thing I actually enter into Fantasy Grounds is usually just maps, encounters, and npc's/enemies. The rest, I just read directly out of the hard copy.

Entering the stat blocks for npc's/enemies does take some time and expertise, but as long as your not wasting a lot of time and effort typing in textual information from a hard copy module that you could just as easily read from the module, it's not that bad. And, it's time well spent, because you learn how Fantasy Grounds actually functions with respect to powers and effects by doing so.

So, basically, what I am trying to tell you is don't intentionally make things hard on yourself.