Published FG Adventures for Sale: What do you want to see?

[Thore_Ironrock]

Hail FG Enthusiasts,

I've been on the FG boards for awhile now mentioning publishers and authors who are going to be creating FG adventures. Well, within the next month or so this is going to start coming true. Part of this has already been announced via Code Monkey, and more will be on the way very soon from Mynex and his monkeys. What you'll see from us is conversions of previously published adventures, creation of new and original scenarios written specifically for Fantasy Grounds, and more than a few free downloads that will be a combination of both.

As the design team I'm working with begins to collect the adventures we're going to be working with, I thought I would take the time and ask the FG community what suggestions they might have for standards, playability issues, and other things that would make online gaming with Fantasy Grounds more user friendly.

So I ask everyone ... what do they want to see? I would ask that everyone please stay within the realm of "possibilities", and understand that we have no control over FG coding or functionality --- those issues should be presented to the Smiteworks.

Thanks to everyone in advance for their input, and it is our hope that this type of feedback will help to improve playability and expand the Fantasy Ground community.

Best Regards,

Kevin W. Melka
Digital Adventures, LLC
aka. Thore_Ironrock

[richvalle]

Lets see...

Things made for small groups work best I think. 4-6 players.

Maps. I >LIKE< being able to see where I'm am at all times on a map. Maps for indoors, out doors, shops ect.

If maps are made in a size scale like Dundjnni (5 feet/square) providing tokens is nice. Making the token the same picture as the characters portrait (for premade characters) is nice too. Having tokens for the monsters/npc's is a must.

If maps in 5 feet/square are not possibler PLEASE make them scaled for the letter tokens that are provided by FG (if squares are put on the map by default).

If possible, incude the bulk of the text of the adventure in pdf form or a .txt document. This way I can print it off and read it to get an idea of what is going on before looking at the adventure. I really like to have my hands on something when reading it and find it easier to get an over view of the adventure this way instead of going though lots of pages inside FG.

Is that what you are looking for? That is all the is coming to mind right now. Though it is nearly 11 pm at night so I'm a little sleepy.

rv

[Sigurd]

I agree completely with rv.


1 ) The other thing I'd add is the paradox of flexibility and interdependence.

Its nice to see recurring characters, gods, towns but I don't want to be tied to them completely. You will build loyalty if a player can reuse information they learned in another adventure as a bonus.

2 ) I know its hard but good level approximations are also really appreciated. You might try publishing the characters that you completed the scenario with in testing. I may not always use them but I like to see if the player chars measure up to the test party.

3) My players would like it if you stay up to date on the latest goings on in D20 and if you have influences from a publisher in the module say so. I have no idea what legal elements that adds but I know that if you use Green Ronin OGL stuff (or another decent publisher) I will read your module description more carefully.

4) Most importantly, Work closely with smiteworks solve feuds, missunderstandings etc... I'd much rather buy from a company that is seen to be helpful. (This is not a veiled criticism - you have demonstrated you know this)

S

[Thore_Ironrock]

Things made for small groups work best I think. 4-6 players.

That is my vision as well. My background in the industry began with the RPGA over two decades ago, and that is the type of adventure I think fits well with FG. There will be room for the bigger "campaign style" adventure as well, but those would likely come from publishers.

Maps. I >LIKE< being able to see where I'm am at all times on a map. Maps for indoors, out doors, shops ect.

If maps are made in a size scale like Dundjnni (5 feet/square) providing tokens is nice. Making the token the same picture as the characters portrait (for premade characters) is nice too. Having tokens for the monsters/npc's is a must.

If maps in 5 feet/square are not possibler PLEASE make them scaled for the letter tokens that are provided by FG (if squares are put on the map by default).

Funny you should mention this Rich, as we just had a discussion about this yesterday. What I would like to do, if/when applicable, is offer two maps of each -- one that uses the 5x5 grid, and another is the size of the default letter tokens.

If possible, incude the bulk of the text of the adventure in pdf form or a .txt document. This way I can print it off and read it to get an idea of what is going on before looking at the adventure. I really like to have my hands on something when reading it and find it easier to get an over view of the adventure this way instead of going though lots of pages inside FG.

Depending on the circumstance/publisher, we would like to try and offer both the FG adventure and a PDF version either for sale together or separate. If we sell them separately we can hit the non-FG market, and maybe even pull in a new few players as well who would purchase the PDF version. The PDF may lack art (again, depending on the circumstance), since the production of origianl art will not always be part of the project, but in all other cases the FG adventure and PDF will be identical.

Is that what you are looking for? That is all the is coming to mind right now. Though it is nearly 11 pm at night so I'm a little sleepy.
rv

Yep! Thank you sir!!

[Thore_Ironrock]

Its nice to see recurring characters, gods, towns but I don't want to be tied to them completely. You will build loyalty if a player can reuse information they learned in another adventure as a bonus.

We would definatly like to offer "series" of adventures that build a PC through various levels, as well as a general range of scenario levels. Each adventure in a series would be playable by itself, or with other of a similar theme. Think of the Freeport adventures as an example.

Additionally, we will eventually be taking submissions from professional and amatuer authors, and in this way we can present a large range of generic-type adventures that can fit into nearly any campaign world.

2 ) I know its hard but good level approximations are also really appreciated. You might try publishing the characters that you completed the scenario with in testing. I may not always use them but I like to see if the player chars measure up to the test party.

Not hard at all.

Having written over 70 RPGA adventures over the years, I would prefer to offer original adventure with pregenerated characters. In a perfect world we would try and playtest every adventure, and look for feedback based on the levels presented and how pre-gen characters work. Look for playtest announcements once we get out site up and going in the next month.

3) My players would like it if you stay up to date on the latest goings on in D20 and if you have influences from a publisher in the module say so. I have no idea what legal elements that adds but I know that if you use Green Ronin OGL stuff (or another decent publisher) I will read your module description more carefully.

If a publisher comes to us and says, "You can sell this as a FG adventure", then we'll be more than happy to accomidate. This is already in the works by "certain simians that will remain nameless for now." In addition, if an author comes to us and wants to write and adventure for a publisher's campaign, as long as we follow the publisher's legal wishes I don't see a problem. This would likely be handled on a case-by-case basis.

As for "generic" content, remember that we have to stay within the bounds of the SRD. This is going to be one of our most highest priorities when working within the limits of the OGL.

4) Most importantly, Work closely with smiteworks solve feuds, missunderstandings etc... I'd much rather buy from a company that is seen to be helpful. (This is not a veiled criticism - you have demonstrated you know this)
S

I will say that to date Ville and the rest of the Smiteworks staff has been extremely helpful with our venture. If we are given the tools we need to produce a quality online adventure experience, then everyone benefits in the end. Smiteworks has understood this from the get-go, which is one of the reasons we've decided to support the software with our venture. In fact, we received either less than enthusiastic or no responses from other companies with similar software; but even so in the end I'm extremely happy with the direction we're going.

Thanks for the feedback!