Questions on the eve of my first FG session

[lowew79]

Hey everyone!

I am going to actually run a FG game tomorrow, TBH I'm more frustrated and anxious than excited. I know this will all pay off in the end, learning the system, but, I could have planned a whole session in pen and paper mode in the time took me to JUST learn how to port forward (facepalm). I only say that so you guys will know my level of expertise at this kind of thing.

So a friend came over and we muddled through a play test. After that I have few, probably dumb, questions. I feel like I am very close on some of these, and I did give a good go at trying to look up the answers myself. But the forum is immense, and the wiki is sometimes above my level. Also, my time is up, I start tomorrow. So if someone could PLEASE help me with these questions I would be very grateful. I'd love to host games on here when I get good at it!

- Whats the best way to add status effects like fatigue to a PC or NPC (I saw a wiki page on this but it was a list of commands, not instructions on how to use the list).

- I've got a barbarian, how do I give him power attack, and more difficult, Rage? They are in his abilities after the hero lab import but they don't seem to be actually clickable. Same for my rouge's sneak attack. (these are basic class features, it seems like Fantasy Grounds would be able to parse them. But I thought port forwarding meant power sliding through a right turn in a boat, so what do I know about xml coding lol!)

- During our play test, my buddy was able to continue moving his token and rolling damage (which was automatically applied) even when it wasn't his turn in the combat manager. Is there a way to make it so a PC can only act on their turn, or when combat is over?

- Spells? One of my PCs is a sorcerer, will her spells be automatically parsed and usable when I import the PC from hero lab? Or will I need to type in spell effects? If so, how do I do that?

I'm sure there are other situations that I haven't considered yet, and I will try to find my own answers to them if possible. Thanks for any help at all guys and girls!

[damned]

start with the ruleset... 3.5 or Pathfinder?
fatigue - use Effects.
start her for Efects: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...hlight=effects no they dont parse automatically
spells dont parse automatically - open library and activate modules and drag spells into slots
make sure you understand the order in which to get tokens on the map.
drag character/npc to combat tracker. drag from CT to map. then they are all linked.
rigt click on any token on map and choose Lock Tokens. Now players cant move until their turn.
Alternatively use lightning bolts, purple worms or other disincentives to calm your fidgety players down.

[damned]

BTW - its a powerful piece of software - that means its a complicated one at times too... ask questions and when you dont have answers just play like you would at the table. work out the nitty gritty when you have the time.

[darrenan]

Look for the stickied thread in this same forum named "List of Modules". I highly recommend installing the following modules at a minimum:

-PFSRDCompletePaizoSpells - This compendium of spells has effects set up for many spells, unlike the built-in spells module. Make sure you make this module loadable by players so they can drag their spells from here.

-Standard Conditions, Conditions and Effects and 3.5e/Pathfinder Effects. These three modules give you huge library of built-in effects ready to drag and drop on the combat tracker as needed. Also a great reference for learning how effects actually work. The link that damned posted above is some pre-created effects. For actually understanding all the effect options you need to read this: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/wiki/...p/3.5E_Effects

[Trenloe]

First thing first - for a number of sessions until you're more familiar with FG, run a second instance of FG on your computer where you are GMing - connect as a player using localhost as the server and you will be able to see what the players are seeing. This is especially useful if you are using fog-of-war/hiding tokens, etc. as you will be able to check what the players are seeing, rather than asking them.

- Whats the best way to add status effects like fatigue to a PC or NPC (I saw a wiki page on this but it was a list of commands, not instructions on how to use the list).

There are a few built in conditions where just applying an effect with the name is enough to have FG apply a number of automatic modifiers: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/wiki/...cts#Conditions You may want to download and activate the standard conditions module found here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...496#post115496 This provides a list of the standard conditions in the effects list (person icon in the top right corner of the desktop) that can just be drag/dropped on entries in the combat tracker to apply the relevant condition.

- I've got a barbarian, how do I give him power attack, and more difficult, Rage? They are in his abilities after the hero lab import but they don't seem to be actually clickable. Same for my rouge's sneak attack. (these are basic class features, it seems like Fantasy Grounds would be able to parse them. But I thought port forwarding meant power sliding through a right turn in a boat, so what do I know about xml coding lol!)

To be honest - for your first few sessions don't try to be too automated with everything. You'll get confused, frustrated and the game will falter with trying to apply all of the relevant effects to make it all automatic.

Just play your game - roll the dice, manually add the adjustments before you roll them using the modifier box below the chat window. Or, even do it completely like a face-to-face game - roll the dice and add the modifiers in your head and work out the total - your players can tell you "I rolled 19 on my attack, does that hit?" - the Combat Tracker gives you quick access to the defenses of an NPC (click the shield icon) so it is easy to quickly check if the player hit or not.

- During our play test, my buddy was able to continue moving his token and rolling damage (which was automatically applied) even when it wasn't his turn in the combat manager. Is there a way to make it so a PC can only act on their turn, or when combat is over?

You can stop movement by locking tokens (right-click on any token on the map and select lock tokens) - this will result in players movement showing as a white line and the GM has to right-click on the token and accept the movement.

There is no lock to stop players applying damage to targeted NPCs. Keep an eye on the chat window to see if the players are doing "stuff" by mistake (or otherwise) that shouldn't be happening.

- Spells? One of my PCs is a sorcerer, will her spells be automatically parsed and usable when I import the PC from hero lab? Or will I need to type in spell effects? If so, how do I do that?

FG makes an attempt at doing some basic parsing of spell effects based on the spell description. It won't be able to do this for most of your spells.

As mentioned above - don't try to sprint before you can walk. If no one in your game is familiar with Fantasy Grounds and the 3.5E/PFRPG ruleset then don't try to rely on advanced automation (effects, etc.) until you get more familiar with it. You, and your players, will just get frustrated and your game won't be enjoyable. As you get more familiar with FG you can add in effects etc.. In your first game just concentrate on having a good game - playing like you would face-to-face - share maps/images, story entries, items, etc.. Use the combat tracker to track initiative and each turn. Let the players use their character sheet for their base throws but use the modifier box to apply relevant modifiers before the roll. As a GM do the same from the NPC sheets. Just having the basic automation of result reporting and auto damage application will save you a lot. As a basic intro to effects, use the conditions mentioned above - everything else just do manually in the modifier box.

As you are experiencing with how long it took you to prepare, it takes a while to get used to FG. For me, I can now prepare much faster for an FG session than I can for a face-to-face session - but that has taken a while for me to learn FG and my chosen ruleset/s, and also to learn what I want to put in FG and what I will just keep as part of normal communication between the GM and players.

Use FG to facilitate your online gaming, not control/dictate it!

Good luck!

[Trenloe]

-PFSRDCompletePaizoSpells - This compendium of spells has effects set up for many spells, unlike the built-in spells module. Make sure you make this module loadable by players so they can drag their spells from here.

To clarify - this module doesn't have built in effects. It relies on the base FG spell description parsing to create any effects - which isn't 100% accurate as there is no fixed spell description standard.

[darrenan]

The #1 thing I always need to nag my players about is making sure they have something targetted before attacking or casting a spell. CTRL-left click on the token of the monster you want to target. You can verify targetting by hovering your mouse over your token, you should see a targetting arrow between your token and the target token (unless you targetted yourself, for something like cure light wounds or lay on hands). Of course, dropping dice directly on the target token (which works for both attack and damage rolls) is a perfectly fine alternative to setting your target, I have some players who prefer that method over manually setting their target. However, there are some effects (like channeling energy) that are just easier to do via targetting. This is because you can click a button at the top of the map to target all your allies, and then click the heal button and BAM it hits everyone.

As for locking tokens that damned mentioned above. I find it a mixed blessing. It does prevent players from moving their tokens without your approval. However, it does imply that you need to right click and approve every single token move which I find tiresome after a while. Other than token moves, there really isn't anything else that a player is prevented from doing when it isn't their turn, just like at a live table there's nothing preventing a player from rolling dice over and over when it's not their turn... Also, if you are moving in anything other than a straight line, the segmented move functionality can be a little fiddly, especially if you're changing direction on the same square as one of your allies. The GM will often need to move the conflicting token out of the way while you do your move, otherwise you'll start a new move line for that token, rather than your own. I find that it's just as easy as GM to keep tokens unlocked, and keep a close eye on the moves my players are doing.

EDIT: Or just do what Trenloe suggests above and keep it simple. You can't go wrong with that.

[darrenan]

To clarify - this module doesn't have built in effects. It relies on the base FG spell description parsing to create any effects - which isn't 100% accurate as there is no fixed spell description standard.

Fair enough, but it's still better than the built-in spell module 80% of the time.

[Trenloe]

it's still better than the built-in spell module 80% of the time.

Nice to hear - thank you.

[Andraax]

However, it does imply that you need to right click and approve every single token move which I find tiresome after a while.

You can just middle click the token in many rulesets to accept the move.