How to Make a 5e Adventure for Sale on Fantasy Grounds

[L. R. Ballard]

I can tell you from personal experience, the best process is to reach out to the publisher and see if they are interested (and confirm that they are not already doing something ). If the answer is yes, connect them and Smiteworks and let Smiteworks work out the legal arrangement. You also will need to register as a developer with Smiteworks and sign their legal agreement.

Thanks. I'm having a lot of fun making encounters, using the Combat Tracker, and learning how everything works. Who is referred to as "the publisher" to whom one would reach out?

I think I may be using the term "convert" or "conversion" incorrectly. I'm writing my own adventure, not converting a previously published adventure from another author for use on FG.

I would, it worry too much about it until you get a good start on the conversion.

So far, I've written 11,000 words of an adventure. FG is helping me to create and playtest encounters for it. I'll then add the encounters to the electronic copy of the adventure, which I'm writing in Microsoft Word. But I'm waiting until I get my preordered copy of Tales from the Yawning Portal to see how an official 5e adventure release introduces stats and the like. I don't want to waste time putting stats into the MS Word copy of the adventure if 5e uses a shorthand that refers to the sourcebooks.

[Myrdin Potter]

Then your path is even easier.

Register at www.dmsguild.com.

That is generally the best place to publish your own adventures and they have a deal with Fantasy Grounds. Best for adventures set in Forgotton Realms or generic that you can place there.

Allows you to use the full WoTC ruleset and not worry about the open gaming license (OGL which basically restricts you to that is in the SRD).

[L. R. Ballard]

Then your path is even easier.

Register at www.dmsguild.com.

That is generally the best place to publish your own adventures and they have a deal with Fantasy Grounds. Best for adventures set in Forgotton Realms or generic that you can place there.

Allows you to use the full WoTC ruleset and not worry about the open gaming license (OGL which basically restricts you to that is in the SRD).

What if I wanted to convert a Forgotten Realms module into 5e for use on FG? Would I need to reach out to WotC?

[Myrdin Potter]

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...oing-questions

This is an example of how I learned. Lord Entrails wrote an excellent, semi-crowd sources primer around the time I started my thread. There are other posts in that sub-forum that are quite good and information packed.

You are doing what I think is best - trying to do it yourself and asking questions. This is a very friendly place, ask away.

[Myrdin Potter]

What if I wanted to convert a Forgotten Realms module into 5e for use on FG? Would I need to reach out to WotC?

Do you mean an older, existing module?

The actual 5e ones, Smiteworks has the license and they do it internally (they actually use senior community developers that are not actual employees but basically internally).

Older ones, DMs Guild allows conversions but you really cannot resuse most of what is there. At best you can present a framework.

If you mean write your own module in forgotton realms, then just follow the instructions at www.dmsguild.com. Smiteworks has a deal with them and you can sell FG conversions there as well.

[L. R. Ballard]

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...oing-questions

This is an example of how I learned. Lord Entrails wrote an excellent, semi-crowd sources primer around the time I started my thread. There are other posts in that sub-forum that are quite good and information packed.

Thanks. I'll read the thread, research, and ask questions if I have any.

You are doing what I think is best - trying to do it yourself and asking questions. This is a very friendly place, ask away.

Cool, thanks. I downloaded a demo copy of FG perhaps more than a decade ago. The utility has come a long way, especially the combat tracker. I'm having fun seeing all the things FG can do.

[L. R. Ballard]

Do you mean an older, existing module?

Older ones, DMs Guild allows conversions but you really cannot resuse most of what is there. At best you can present a framework.

Yes, I mean an older, existing module.

A framework? I'm guessing that it would be inappropriate simply to lay out an old FR module in 5e and sell it on DM's Guild.

[LordEntrails]

Yes, I mean an older, existing module.

A framework? I'm guessing that it would be inappropriate simply to lay out an old FR module in 5e and sell it on DM's Guild.

Correct. Read the DMsG FAQ, it talks about this. Basically you can re-envision old stuff, but you can't use the old artwork including maps. And you really shouldn't just be doing a conversion.

There is actually a group that is converting much of the old stuff (but not for FG). Their conversions require that you have the original module, and can then just use their publications to convert it to 5E. See https://classicmodulestoday.com/

[L. R. Ballard]

Correct. Read the DMsG FAQ, it talks about this. Basically you can re-envision old stuff, but you can't use the old artwork including maps. And you really shouldn't just be doing a conversion.

I read it. I also read the interview with Mike Mearls, in which he states, "Yes, you can convert older material," though his quote refers to NPCs, spells, and the like, not necessarily to the adventure text.

https://www.enworld.org/forum/conten...)#.WM0z9fkrKUk

That said, the forthcoming Yawning Portal release shows that WotC prefers to exercise its right to do word-for-word conversions, which makes perfect sense.

Besides, the original material I'm writing is pretty good, I think. It would be nice to have access to DM's Guild material, but I prefer to Kickstart the adventure(s) because I plan to have a generous art budget.

Douglas Sun recently Kickstarted an adventure for which he offered both an OGL version through Kickstarter and a Forgotten Realms version on DM's Guild.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...s-for-dandd-5e

I can't speak to the quality of Sun's adventures, but the idea to do two versions is clever. Perhaps one could Kickstart an OGL version and afterward do a version for FG on DM's Guild. My initial concern is that people who backed the Kickstarter would be irritated that they didn't get access to the FG DM's Guild adventure.

[Myrdin Potter]

I can't speak to the quality of Sun's adventures, but the idea to do two versions is clever. Perhaps one could Kickstart an OGL version and afterward do a version for FG on DM's Guild. My initial concern is that people who backed the Kickstarter would be irritated that they didn't get access to the FG DM's Guild adventure.

Do yourself a favor. Release one or two smaller adventures on DMs Guild and then look st something that requires kickstarting. Otherwise you may struggle.

You can only sell FR adventures on DMs Guild and I think they do not allow sales on Kickstarter first for IP and revenue sharing reasons.