FG 2 Savage Worlds User Guide?

[AstaSyneri]

Hi!

I am a dinosaur. I like manuals. Written manuals. Maybe illustrated.

AFAICS there currently are only user guides for D&D 3.5 and D&D 4.0, likely because they are the basic rule sets that FG 2 ships with.

As a new FG 2 (Savage Worlds) user I find myself a little bit overwhelmed, especially when I try to find information and "best practices" for the GM to prepare adventures for my gaming group (who are of the "we are used to major PC games quality" and not the "yeah, we used to start with a pencil, a napkin and just a d6, but all the imagination" types ;-)).

While I'd be willing (in my own interest) to assemble the information and massage it into a user guide akin to the ones mentioned above I certainly wouldn't be able to do it without help (and eventually access to building the pages, unless that is done by "official FG personnel").

Therefore I must ask?

1. How much would you like to have such a SW user guide?

2. And in what capacity would you like or be able to participate in it?

[Trenloe]

There is an 11 page guide that comes with the product - look in <FG App data folder>\docs. But, I'm guessing that this won't go as far as you're talking about...

[AstaSyneri]

There is an 11 page guide that comes with the product - look in <FG App data folder>\docs. But, I'm guessing that this won't go as far as you're talking about...

That folder is empty.

[phantomwhale]

I think the 11 page guide was a "new features" guide that came out with version 3.3

As the main developer, I'm ashamed to say I've never found enough time to catalogue all the Savage Worlds features into a manual. It certainly is crying out for one, esp. after all the new "power" features that were added into v3.4, but without any documentation.

I would certainly be keen to be involved in a collaboration to produce a manual, if we can find a good way to go about this.

[AstaSyneri]

I think the 11 page guide was a "new features" guide that came out with version 3.3

As the main developer, I'm ashamed to say I've never found enough time to catalogue all the Savage Worlds features into a manual. It certainly is crying out for one, esp. after all the new "power" features that were added into v3.4, but without any documentation.

I would certainly be keen to be involved in a collaboration to produce a manual, if we can find a good way to go about this.

It's a very common theme, unfortunately - as building such a documentation usually is a lot more work than one would think (and developers are usually happy when they can say 'hey, it works, great, we are done!' ;-)).

How are the user guides on the website done - is there a CMS behind it? I can start writing, but there will be lots of questions, if I start at my knowledge level right now. LOTS of questions ;-).

Anybody else besides Phantomwhale?

[phantomwhale]

Well, for me it's been the case of do you want me to (a) write documentation for 3-4 months, or (b) build the next version which keeps Savage Worlds up to date with 4E, and maybe adds a few more bells and whistles.

I guess existing users will always go for (b), especially with the many tutorial videos and helpful forum members around to help out. But a manual is probably not primarily for "newbies" (although it would help), I think it's value would like in documenting the hidden corners of the ruleset, and help people find new features they didn't know about.

I do note you mentioned "Best practice" in your initial notes - again, some of this is probably something much better dealt with in a video (such as one of Doswelks) or a blog / forum post. But a manual would certainly offer a core understanding of each component that might help someone build up there own best practice, or understand others more easily.

Anyway - for me the key to getting this working is how to collaborate, and equally produce a manual that's easily updated. Previous efforts from me have been MS Word docs, converted to PDF for publication. For this, I'd hope something smarter and more collaborative was possible, but must admit I'm not familiar with the solutions on offer. Also would be nice to produce both an online guide, with the potential for an offline (PDF ?) manual too.

[mafh]

You could use the enhanced library extension to write a manual for the Savage Worlds ruleset. I've been writing a short one for my players, but I'm new and don't understand everything myself. Anyway, you could just have the manual be an optional module that you could install. Also, this way it could be community edited.

[phantomwhale]

Hadn't thought about making a Savage Worlds manual a Fantasy Grounds library module - it would be quite neat and self contained to have it part of the software itself.

I'm not sure it would be the best format for a full rundown of the ruleset functionality though, due to the limitations in the formatting (e.g. no inline images, limited search / indexing). But a FG library "quickstart and tips" module could be really helpful.

[AstaSyneri]

My post wasn't supposed to be an accusation ;-). I totally understand that. And I absolutely loathe manuals that just say "If you press button save, it saves".

What I'd like to see is a manual that gives

1. a rundown on what a player can do in FG 2
2. what the GM can do while running a session
3. how the GM most efficiently can prepare his sessions

Certain parts might get a somewhat more extensive treatment, some may just be very short.

As for the format: I would in general prefer to see it on the library page as a third user guide. That way it's most easily found.

Videos are okay for certain parts, but as I stated before hate it, when I only have videos to rely upon. Videos are not time efficient!

Well, for me it's been the case of do you want me to (a) write documentation for 3-4 months, or (b) build the next version which keeps Savage Worlds up to date with 4E, and maybe adds a few more bells and whistles.

I guess existing users will always go for (b), especially with the many tutorial videos and helpful forum members around to help out. But a manual is probably not primarily for "newbies" (although it would help), I think it's value would like in documenting the hidden corners of the ruleset, and help people find new features they didn't know about.

I do note you mentioned "Best practice" in your initial notes - again, some of this is probably something much better dealt with in a video (such as one of Doswelks) or a blog / forum post. But a manual would certainly offer a core understanding of each component that might help someone build up there own best practice, or understand others more easily.

Anyway - for me the key to getting this working is how to collaborate, and equally produce a manual that's easily updated. Previous efforts from me have been MS Word docs, converted to PDF for publication. For this, I'd hope something smarter and more collaborative was possible, but must admit I'm not familiar with the solutions on offer. Also would be nice to produce both an online guide, with the potential for an offline (PDF ?) manual too.

[phantomwhale]

Much of what you've listed sounds quite generic to FG - were you after a general FG guide, or something more Savage Worlds specific ?