Player character managment

[GarthGiantbane]

If you can ask the DM to keep the server up for 15 min so you can return to the launcher and select Manage Characters. Then follow the above instructions and make a local copy of the character.

[Trenloe]

If you can ask the DM to keep the server up for 15 min so you can return to the launcher and select Manage Characters. Then follow the above instructions and make a local copy of the character.

Manage Characters does not connect to the GM, this is purely a stand alone instance that accesses the campaign cache. It is only "Join Game" that connects to the GM and downloads the campaign cache.

There seems to be some confusion on how this all works. So here are some details about how the campaign cache is created and what data is contains:

1. A player joins the GM's campaign using the "Join Game" functionality of Fantasy Grounds. During this process FG will create a new directory (or use the existing one if this campaign has been connected to before) called <FG app data>\cache\<campaign name> - where <campaign name> is the name the GM has given the campaign. Within this directory will appear various .dat files that contain encrypted data downloaded from the GM - shared modules, etc.. campaign.dat is the main data from the campaign and will include data on any PCs that the player controlled. If a player never takes ownership of a PC there will be no PC data accessible in this campaign cache.
2. The cache files keep getting updated during the session and are saved with the final data when the player exits FG. If the player was not controlling of any PCs when they exit FG then there will be no PC information in the cache. This is not the same as the GM seeing a character "owned by" in the Character Activation window. The PC must have been controlled by the player when they exit. If you want to see PC data, *do not* release your characters before you exit FG.

Now, after exiting, the campaign cache data will be available to access through manage characters. Manage Characters only uses this local campaign cache data, it does not connect to the GM's instance of FG at all.

• Load up FG, press "Manage Characters" and select a campaign from the list "Campaigns" list - this is all of the <FG app data>\cache\<campaign name> directories on your local PC. If you've "nuked" your cache recently there won't be much here as nuking the cache removes all of this data.
• Once the campaign is selected, press start.
• Once FG loads up, press the PC/Character button and the "Import Local Character" window will appear. Only those PCs that you owned when you last exited the campaign will be displayed.
• If you select a character you will be taken to a read only version of that character - you can't modify the offline campaign files.
• If you want to modify the character you need to download it as XML - on the "Import Local Character" screen, press the brown / button and click the blue down arrow on the character you want to download. A "Save As" window will appear - select a relevant location (remember this for later) and enter a filename and press "Save". You now have an XML copy of your PC - this is the same XML that a GM might export from their campaign and email to you - this is your way of getting the same XML without relying on the GM.
• If you want to modify this PC, exit the campaign mode of Manage Characters and go back to Manage Characters but this time don't select the campaign but the FG RPG "Ruleset" in which this PC was created.
• Load that up, go to the "Import Local Character" window, click the brown / button then the blue up arrow - a "Open" window will appear, select the XML you saved above and click open.
• You now have an editable version of your character in your local character cache (not the campaign cache). This will not be deleted if you nuke your cache, and will be available for selection when you join any campaign from this computer that is for the same ruleset.

[GarthGiantbane]

Ah, I see. I didn't know it wasn't pulling that from the server. It had the server name on it so that's why I was confused. Sorry for posting misleading information (sort of misleading - the method was correct, the reason was flawed :P ).

[Trenloe]

Ah, I see. I didn't know it wasn't pulling that from the server. It had the server name on it so that's why I was confused. Sorry for posting misleading information (sort of misleading - the method was correct, the reason was flawed :P ).

No worries, your details in post #3 were pretty accurate.

[MerlinAmbrose]

Nope, these files don't get wiped - they stay so that Manage Characters can access them. Within each <fg app data>\cache\<campaign name> directory should be a campaign.dat file (encrypted, so you can't open it). If this is not present, or is 0KB in side, then it sounds like your issue is as damned says - you aren't writing to these directories.

I have to run the FG client as administrator, to avoid the write permission error problems. I always do, these days. I do have the campaign.dat files, so the client is writing to those folders, just not writing character files.

illustrative screenshots of assorted campaign cache folders:
Attachment 17824

Attachment 17825

Attachment 17826

[damned]

Give your user account Modify, Read+Execute, List, Read, Write permissions to the Fantasy Grounds folders and all Folders/Sub-folders now and see if you can manage characters after your next session.

[MerlinAmbrose]

Give your user account Modify, Read+Execute, List, Read, Write permissions to the Fantasy Grounds folders and all Folders/Sub-folders now and see if you can manage characters after your next session.

My user account has administrator privileges to the entire hard drive. I still have to choose Run as Administrator to avoid write-permission errors. Dunno why a domain admin would need specific permissions, but I will try your suggestion, in case it lets me avoid running FG as admin. However, this does not address why FG isn't writing character files... but in next post, the mystery is resolved, from Trenloe's excellent explanation.

[MerlinAmbrose]

[omitted]

If a player never takes ownership of a PC there will be no PC data accessible in this campaign cache.

[omitted]

The cache files keep getting updated during the session and are saved with the final data when the player exits FG. If the player was not the owner of any PCs when they exit FG then there will be no PC information in the cache.

[omitted]

Mystery resolved. Thank you, Trenloe, for explaining the nuts and bolts of the process, which shed light on dark corners.

I have been consistently releasing my character(s) before exiting the DM's server. I do this so that someone else can take over the character without DM intervention in the cases where I cannot attend a session. Thus, I have been erasing the character files myself, unknowingly.

It seems to me the ability to have a local copy of the most recent version of my character(s) outweighs any minor inconvenience in taking possession of a character in the event of my absence. I will change my practices, forthwith.

Thank you, everyone, for the enlightenment.

[Trenloe]

I do have the campaign.dat files, so the client is writing to those folders, just not writing character files.

Just as an FYI - you will never see any "character files" - the character data is stored in campaign.dat.

[MerlinAmbrose]

Just as an FYI - you will never see any "character files" - the character data is stored in campaign.dat.

Thank you. I will test this after my next session, but I am sure you've pinpointed the problem, and I expect the campaign.dat files will now contain the character data, which will be accessible through Manage Characters.