Time to convert a module?

[Emrak]

So I've been converting a PF module to use in FG2. Granted, this is my first module, but DANG this is taking forever to do it "right" (aka, monsters appropriately stat'ed out with all applicable loot, etc.).

How much time, on average, does it take one of you pros to convert a module? I'm assuming you use Nitro to strip images and Trenloe's nifty app to parse monsters. Right now I'm in the ballpark of...10-20 hours? I'm not sure. I've been doing a little bit a week and have lost count.

[Mgrancey]

First do you mean a module or scenario; a scenario takes about 2-3 hours, 4 if I get distracted. For a module, especially a higher tier one with alto spell casting or spell like abilities, if you put the spells in that can take up a bit time.

Next, what is your setup for doing this? I personally have 2 screens most of time especially when copying and pasting text I'll only use one and have something on in the background, but the important part is being able to jump from pdf to FGII easily. NOTE: if you aren't using pdfs that's probably your problem there.

Depending on how much you bring into FG, will effect you time. I'm probably about 1/2 your time and I have only first 3 chapters and about 1/2 of the 4th chapter of Thornkeep done (the first two are about the town and woods), though I have been working on it casually.

I'll have to look up this Nitro, I copy and paste into OneNote for PCs maps (in paizo pdfs this removes all markings, such a room labels and trap markings), then use it do a screen capture for the gm maps.

[Blahness98]

If it is a scenario, I can bust those out in a few hours whereas the first book in the War of the Lance took me about a month to get everything in, converted and statted properly.

Like Mgrancey said, the more you bring into FG the more time it takes..

[Mgrancey]

I know this kinda got covered elsewhere, but I usually put on something, usually an older tv show that won't distract me too much. What you pick will probably depend on how easily distracted you are. Only newer shows I can watch are something I have already seen.

[Trenloe]

Some of the initial steps are covered here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...ad.php?t=17108

As others have said, once you get used to the process it can take 3-5 hours. I don't put all of the story entries in as I run games with voice, so describe everything using voice and just read that directly from the PDF during game time. Having said that, a lot of the time I copy/paste the boxed text into a story entry and after I've read it aloud I drag it to the chat window. I also usually do the VC briefing as a whole story entry that I can share with the players so they can refer back to it at any time.

Beyond that, all you really need are:

1. Maps - extract from the PDF. You may need to modify slightly to hide secret doors, etc.
2. Images - I like to show the players NPC portraits, montster images from the bestiaries, etc..
3. Faction missions - I do these just as copy/paste story entries. No need to mess around with all of the graphics as the missions are a mixture of PDF text and graphics.
4. NPCs - use the parser! For others just drag from the community bestiaries.
5. Encounters - built these up for each subtier and then link into a basic story entry that has creature images, NPC links and the encounter link. Then drag the story entry link to the map where the encounter occurs.
6. Special items - any special items that the PCs can encounter in the scenario. I usually just do these as screenshots or copy/paste of the item info.
7. Spellcasters - put the spell entries together in the NPC spells tab. This will save lots of time during the game.

There's really no need to track treasure within FG as the rewards are fixed on the chronicle sheet. I just let the players know what they find and if they want to use something from the scenario during the game then let them use it and put it on their sheet manually if necessary.

[lachancery]

Thanks for this thread and these replies. Like Emrak, I am realizing now that I must have been doing some of these steps the wrong way, as it was taking me similar time as Emrak. I'll go analyze how I was doing things to figure out where I'm wasting time...

Thinking back on my recent preparation for Kingmaker 2, there is one thing I can't avoid - I end up frequently reading up rules/contents in the Pathfinder books (I'm fairly new to GMing PF) for NPC spells, monster abilities, tactical options, etc.

One thing I may be doing wrong though - do you automate the removal of the Carriage Returns inserted at the end of each line in the PDF?

[Gwaihir Scout]

One thing I may be doing wrong though - do you automate the removal of the Carriage Returns inserted at the end of each line in the PDF?

I like to copy all the text for an area into Fantasy Grounds and pin it to where it goes on the map. This saves me a lot of searching time if the PCs go places out of order, but I admit fixing the text is tedious.

If you have Open Office, try this: https://forum.openoffice.org/en/foru...hp?f=7&t=44525. They mention an extension and have a couple of macros.

[Mgrancey]

Personally, I don't, though I will state I haven't tried either, as it would be a bit messy to automate, I also like to bold, list, and sometimes put in my own breaks to make for easier reading.

[Trenloe]

Thinking back on my recent preparation for Kingmaker 2, there is one thing I can't avoid - I end up frequently reading up rules/contents in the Pathfinder books (I'm fairly new to GMing PF) for NPC spells, monster abilities, tactical options, etc.

I haven't included reading the scenario and researching the rules and creatures for the time taken to bring the scenario in FG - this is frequently more time than adding the FG info.

One thing I may be doing wrong though - do you automate the removal of the Carriage Returns inserted at the end of each line in the PDF?

I don't automate it. I copy/paste into Notepad++, select the text (CTRL-A) and CTRL-J to put the text all into on paragraph (remote line breaks). Then copy/paste into FG.

[Mgrancey]

Depending on your ability to speed read you can read or skim over the module while inputting the text, I can skim over the text while inputting it which is another part of why I do it manually rather than automating it.