Pathfinder Playtest - Release 1b - August 21st

[ShadeRaven]

Lovely, waiting to see it. Is easy pass old adventures to pf2?

The most blaring issue, so far, is combat balance. Earlier versions of D&D tended to a little heavier on the creature count, in part because each attack was generally less lethal (ignore things like save or die). Even more recent adventures (I converted some of the Rise of the Runelords as a test) struggle not to exceed the recommended encounter strength. As long as we adjust accordingly, the rest is still fun to port over and play in - though they are generally still a little deadly (granted, early reports are that Doomsday Dawn has been lethal, too).

On the bright side, I had already converted some old D&D/AD&D modules to PF1 for FG and the use of the universal module extension has meant that all I really needed to do is copy over entries which creates duplicates that I could then alter to fit PF2's playtest with even creatures requiring less work than expected.

At any rate, hope that answered your question!

[Trenloe]

Forgot to mention a piece of minor functionality in this release - The first time a PC sheet is opened (usually when it's created) the chargen tracker window will open automatically. After the first auto open, the "Tracker" button will open the window as needed.

If you have a PC created from prior to release 1b, the first time you open that PC the tracker window will also open. This will only happen for the first time.

I've added this functionality as I've seen many people are not aware of the tracker's existence, and it helps a lot with building a PC.

[Gwydion]

Thanks, Trenloe. I'm working on building new characters and checking everything out. Creating a list of things I might report but want to match my list up against what is finished and what might be coming soon... On a separate note, how was your session last night!

[Trenloe]

Thanks, Trenloe. I'm working on building new characters and checking everything out. Creating a list of things I might report but want to match my list up against what is finished and what might be coming soon...

Just remember that Fantasy Grounds isn't (and isn't planned to be) a full blown character generator! But, please, do report any issues, suggestions, etc..

On a separate note, how was your session last night!

It was good thanks, we only got to play a couple of encounters as character generation took longer than expected. Players spending lots of time wanting to pick the coolest feats!

We enjoyed the session - it brought up a lot of questions, especially around finer details of resonance, alchemical formulas/elixirs/bombs, healing, etc.. All-in-all people liked it and we'll play again sometime...

[ShadeRaven]

Can I just say... WOW! That's an awesome use of Fantasy Grounds for pen-n-paper play! What are you using to display the screen so awesomely?!? Is that a flatscreen laid down or do you have some sort of fancy tabletop that allows digital displays of computer or TV feeds?

That's so frickin' cool, I just gotta say.

PS: For anyone also creating for FGs, the 3.5E/PF1 effects appear to work as expected. So for example, in the module I am creating for release here, I could do the following for Sluggish 1 on the Effects Tab to drag and drop onto targets that acquire it:

Sluggish 1;ATK: -1;AC: -1;SAVE: -1 reflex;SKILL: -1 dexterity

Sluggish.jpg

[Gwydion]

Can I just say... WOW! That's an awesome use of Fantasy Grounds for pen-n-paper play! What are you using to display the screen so awesomely?!? Is that a flatscreen laid down or do you have some sort of fancy tabletop that allows digital displays of computer or TV feeds?

That's so frickin' cool, I just gotta say.

PS: For anyone also creating for FGs, the 3.5E/PF1 effects appear to work as expected. So for example, in the module I am creating for release here, I could do the following for Sluggish 1 on the Effects Tab to drag and drop onto targets that acquire it:

Sluggish 1;ATK: -1;AC: -1;SAVE: -1 reflex;SKILL: -1 dexterity

Sluggish.jpg

Yep.. I'm doing the same thing as I convert the Rose Street Revenge playtest adventure and all the pregens for me to run. I've been building effects for the monsters and players so I can run it a little easier....

[Gwydion]

Just remember that Fantasy Grounds isn't (and isn't planned to be) a full blown character generator! But, please, do report any issues, suggestions, etc..


It was good thanks, we only got to play a couple of encounters as character generation took longer than expected. Players spending lots of time wanting to pick the coolest feats!

We enjoyed the session - it brought up a lot of questions, especially around finer details of resonance, alchemical formulas/elixirs/bombs, healing, etc.. All-in-all people liked it and we'll play again sometime...

Excellent! Can't wait to set up my first playtest....

[Trenloe]

Can I just say... WOW! That's an awesome use of Fantasy Grounds for pen-n-paper play! What are you using to display the screen so awesomely?!? Is that a flatscreen laid down or do you have some sort of fancy tabletop that allows digital displays of computer or TV feeds?

It's a 48 inch 4K TV laid flat on the table - that size allows me to just fit Paizo flip maps (30"x24") on the TV. 4K gives 100 pixels per inch at that size, which looks good up close, 1080p at 48' looks slightly blurring/grainy at up-close gaming viewing. I've added a simple wood surround to stop dice rolling under and off the top, and a plexiglass insert to protect the screen so we can roll dice, put food on top and aren't concerned about damaging the TV screen. The wood surround is held together with velcro so I can quickly set it up at home and also easily transport it to play in a store or other location.

I use the player-size-to-grid extension to perfectly fit the grid to 1-inch size. More info (and more photos) here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...-To-Face-games

PS: For anyone also creating for FGs, the 3.5E/PF1 effects appear to work as expected.

Effects will be reviewed, and possibly changed, for a future release. So please don't shout at me if you need to revise effects that stop working in future!

[Gwydion]

Effects will be reviewed, and possibly changed, for a future release. So please don't shout at me if you need to revise effects that stop working in future!

I have definitely been keeping this in mind and am trying not to go crazy with trying to automate things that will change later. Just trying to make it easier on the players... Will try to get the playtest in soon before things change!

[ShadeRaven]

It's a 48 inch 4K TV laid flat on the table - that size allows me to just fit Paizo flip maps (30"x24") on the TV. 4K gives 100 pixels per inch at that size, which looks good up close, 1080p at 48' looks slightly blurring/grainy at up-close gaming viewing. I've added a simple wood surround to stop dice rolling under and off the top, and a plexiglass insert to protect the screen so we can roll dice, put food on top and aren't concerned about damaging the TV screen. The wood surround is held together with velcro so I can quickly set it up at home and also easily transport it to play in a store or other location.

I use the player-size-to-grid extension to perfectly fit the grid to 1-inch size. More info (and more photos) here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...-To-Face-games

Effects will be reviewed, and possibly changed, for a future release. So please don't shout at me if you need to revise effects that stop working in future!

That's ingenious! We were looking at some of the gaming tables out there, but that's food for thought!

I'm sure I'll have plenty of other things to yell at you about, so I'll bite my tongue on the effects changes Seriously though... ever piece you add as time goes is amazing and as I plan to do more than 1 module for FGs, my future self will be thanking your future efforts to make what I am doing now redundant.