Some initial comments about the IH Ruleset

[Matchstick]

Hello! I bought FG at GenCon (and got a couple friends into the action too), and I've just been playing with it a little this morning. One of the things I was very surprised (and VERY pleased) to see at the Con was that there was an Iron Heroes ruleset available, so I picked it up. This morning as I was trying to install the ruleset I ran into a couple issues and I have a couple questions.

• This program needs an installer, or the README needs to be a lot more complete. The instructions are cursory, and seem to assume a level of knowledge that I don't have, since I just installed FG. Rather than making the customer figure out where everything needs to be moved, write a simple installer to put the things in the right place.
  
• In the ruleset ZIP the files that are the character portraits have no extentions. Adding the extentions manually works.
  
• Many of the folders seem to be coming out named something with "Final" in them. Like "Song of the Blade_Final). I'm renaming them, but I don't know if that's going to break something.
  
• I see "Iron Lore" referred to in some of the information. That was the pre-release version of Iron Heroes, what version of the game is this ruleset based on?
  
• Is the errata for Iron Heroes included?

I was very happy to see that rulesets like this one (and especially this one) are being released and coming out. Literally the sight of the IH ruleset decided me on buying FG. So don't take my suggestions/questions as anything but a desire to make the product better.

Thanks!

Matchstick

P.S. I'm going to take a shot at the Bestiary and SotB now...

[Kalan]

Hello! I bought FG at GenCon (and got a couple friends into the action too), and I've just been playing with it a little this morning. One of the things I was very surprised (and VERY pleased) to see at the Con was that there was an Iron Heroes ruleset available, so I picked it up. This morning as I was trying to install the ruleset I ran into a couple issues and I have a couple questions.

• This program needs an installer, or the README needs to be a lot more complete. The instructions are cursory, and seem to assume a level of knowledge that I don't have, since I just installed FG. Rather than making the customer figure out where everything needs to be moved, write a simple installer to put the things in the right place

Ok...just gonna take a few stabs at this - although Thore (the owner of the company who produced IH) may be able to help you more.

I'm working the presumption that it is just a standard style ruleset - in which case everything to "use" IH in FG will reside in a single directory within the ruleset dir in your standard FG installation (ie: within your FG ruleset directory there should be a folder called Iron Heroes or some such). No fancy installs required (that said, I have no idea how they package or sent it...but this is just a guess)

IF you need more help with this, feel free to contact me off forum

• In the ruleset ZIP the files that are the character portraits have no extentions. Adding the extentions manually works.

If you're referring to the module or campaign files - the portraits aren't supposed to have extensions.

• Many of the folders seem to be coming out named something with "Final" in them. Like "Song of the Blade_Final). I'm renaming them, but I don't know if that's going to break something.

Most likely something will have been broken by doing this as the folders and rulesets are linked. Again, same with the first reply above, I have no idea how it was coded behind the scenes, so who knows

• I see "Iron Lore" referred to in some of the information. That was the pre-release version of Iron Heroes, what version of the game is this ruleset based on?
• Is the errata for Iron Heroes included?

No idea - this is for Thore to answer - or someone who's more knowledgeable than I.

I was very happy to see that rulesets like this one (and especially this one) are being released and coming out. Literally the sight of the IH ruleset decided me on buying FG. So don't take my suggestions/questions as anything but a desire to make the product better.

Thanks!

Matchstick

P.S. I'm going to take a shot at the Bestiary and SotB now...

No worries These are just some of the quirks we've all come to know and love with FG. There are improvements comin down the pipe tho - as your concerns have been voiced by more than one around these parts

But anyways - welcome aboard! Happy gaming!

[Matchstick]

Thanks Kalan! There's also a possibility that I got a kind of last minute con compilation or something.

I'm working the presumption that it is just a standard style ruleset - in which case everything to "use" IH in FG will reside in a single directory within the ruleset dir in your standard FG installation (ie: within your FG ruleset directory there should be a folder called Iron Heroes or some such). No fancy installs required (that said, I have no idea how they package or sent it...but this is just a guess)

Everything is packaged as a ZIP, and in some cases even a ZIP within a ZIP. For the ruleset I had to take unzip into the ruleset folder, then another unzip into the portraits folder, and another unzip into the characters folder. I also had to unzip into the modules folder. The last three were for the included demo module (I assume). Some of the ZIPs seem to want to have the subfolders option checked, some don't. The best and easiest way to make sure the customer gets everything where it needs to go is to put it there as part of an install, even if it's a simple copy.

If you're referring to the module or campaign files - the portraits aren't supposed to have extensions.

I'm not sure what I'm referring to. Essentially they told me to put files in the Portraits directory, and when I unzipped them there they had no extensions and didn't work. Looking at the other files in the directory I gave them PNG extensions and now they seem to work.

Most likely something will have been broken by doing this as the folders and rulesets are linked. Again, same with the first reply above, I have no idea how it was coded behind the scenes, so who knows

Sadly, the only reason I did this was because I didn't want to see "Iron Heroes Final" when I was looking at the list in the GUI. I know that's silly, but I just wanted it to say Iron Heroes. We'll see what Thore says.

BTW, I was very impressed at GenCon with Ville (who I talked with for a while) and with a demo that Thore was doing. I think the licensed rulesets are what's going to make FG really stand out. Thore mentioned Eberron I know, but I don't remember what else, Ptolus maybe?

Oh, I have another question, this time about the Bestiary. There's a monsters.xml file and a monsters_IHB.xml file, what's the difference?

Thanks!

- Matchstick

[Kalan]

I think I'll let Thore answer the q's - he's the brains behind it all, so may have some insight into it.

[Stuart]

Matchstick
The IH ruleset you have is a direct conversion of the most recent Iron Heroes manual by Mike Mearls (blue cover). As regards errata - any updates correct errors will be posted as soon as Digital have them.

I'm not sure how Thore bundled stuff for GenCon but there should be a straightforward "read me" file ? If not ... it sounds as if you and Kalan have got it all sorted anyway.

Just in case ...

1) Unzip the file “DAG012_IH_Ruleset”
2) This should give you 2 zipped files :
a. d20-IH Ruleset
b. The King Must Die
3) Unzip “d20-IH Ruleset” and place in the Fantasy Grounds directory in “rulests”
4) Unzip “The King Must Die” – this is a free module.
5) This should give you :
a. A pdf of the module for you to read/print/store anywhere you want on your PC
b. 3 folders: “Characters”, “Portraits” and “images”
c. A larger file called “IH_King_Die” and has the extension MOD
6) The file labelled “Characters” should be placed in your Fantasy Grounds directory into \characters\d20-IH (you may need to create the latter folder within \Program Files\FantasyGrounds\characters
7) The “Portraits” file can be opened and all the portraits (6 of them) copied to FantasyGrounds\portraits
8) The “images” file you get is a back up (I think) of images that are already in the MOD file. Thus, the ”images” file you have can be placed in any archive folder you wish (perhaps along with the pdf).
9) Finally, the MOD file is actually a zipped collection of folders and files and should be placed in \FantasyGrounds\modules

To get started – fire up Fantasy Grounds and create a new campaign (“Iron Heroes Campaign” or somesuch). You can then activate the module and (if everything has been coded correctly) access the images and text exactly as they are in the pdf (Thore did the module so I’m guessing here).

The pregenerated characters can also be called up – your players simply need to log on and select one of them when they want to play.

The FG manual (due for a revamp has more information – certainly enough to get you started).


The IH Bestiary :
The tokens folder should be unzipped and all the tokens placed into \FantasyGrounds\tokens\host
The iron_bestiary.mod file should be placed in the module file exactly like The King Must Die.
The "monsters.xml" file should be placed into \FantasyGrounds\rulesets\d20-IH\database and will replace the monsters.xml file that came with the basic ruleset. The IH Bestiary adds more monsters to slaughter your players.
The additional file called monsters-IHB is for those DM's who want to customize their ruleset or generally play around a bit. It has ONLY the new monsters described in the Bestiary and allows you to use a text editor and manually copy those that you want into your default monsters.xml file that shipped with the basic Iron heroes ruleset.

I hope this helps - I have been playing FG for almost a year now and clocked up 80 sessions. FG has a learning curve but it is not very steep and the strength of this game is the generosity of the players and DM's who use it. You will find an answer to almost any technical or game query posted within hours and there are some astonishingly creative and knowledgeable "hackers" who are quick to offer help.

I hope you like the ruleset, welcome aboard !

[Stuart]

I should also add that you should check out the Four Ugly Monsters site at https://www.fouruglymonsters.com/

A home-from-home for us cyber rpg-ers.

Look forward to seeing you post your IH campaign stuff there

[Thore_Ironrock]

Match,

Stuart's explanation is right on, and I have also sent you a private message regarding some of your questions. There is also a README file with the package that should explain everything.

Thanks for the purchase!

[geewaagh]

Matchstick
Just in case ...

1) Unzip the file “DAG012_IH_Ruleset”
2) This should give you 2 zipped files :
a. d20-IH Ruleset
b. The King Must Die
3) Unzip “d20-IH Ruleset” and place in the Fantasy Grounds directory in “rulests”
4) Unzip “The King Must Die” – this is a free module.
5) This should give you :
a. A pdf of the module for you to read/print/store anywhere you want on your PC
b. 3 folders: “Characters”, “Portraits” and “images”
c. A larger file called “IH_King_Die” and has the extension MOD
6) The file labelled “Characters” should be placed in your Fantasy Grounds directory into \characters\d20-IH (you may need to create the latter folder within \Program Files\FantasyGrounds\characters
7) The “Portraits” file can be opened and all the portraits (6 of them) copied to FantasyGrounds\portraits
8) The “images” file you get is a back up (I think) of images that are already in the MOD file. Thus, the ”images” file you have can be placed in any archive folder you wish (perhaps along with the pdf).
9) Finally, the MOD file is actually a zipped collection of folders and files and should be placed in \FantasyGrounds\modules

To get started – fire up Fantasy Grounds and create a new campaign (“Iron Heroes Campaign” or somesuch). You can then activate the module and (if everything has been coded correctly) access the images and text exactly as they are in the pdf (Thore did the module so I’m guessing here).

The pregenerated characters can also be called up – your players simply need to log on and select one of them when they want to play.

Help....
Just got the file from RPGNOW and much of the above is missing. Only rule set files in zip. No PDF's, No module, no folders alled “Characters”, “Portraits” and “images”, etc.
How do I get the rest off the content?

[Thore_Ironrock]

Help....
Just got the file from RPGNOW and much of the above is missing. Only rule set files in zip. No PDF's, No module, no folders alled “Characters”, “Portraits” and “images”, etc.
How do I get the rest off the content?

Sorry about that. It appears that when I updated the files I forgot to include the free adventure. Anyone who bought the ruleset should be getting an email shortly with a link where they can download it. If you do not, please email me.

Sorry for the confusion.

[geewaagh]

Sorry about that. It appears that when I updated the files I forgot to include the free adventure. Anyone who bought the ruleset should be getting an email shortly with a link where they can download it. If you do not, please email me.

Sorry for the confusion.

Thore,
Thanks for the quick response and files...

Geewaagh