Live session viewer in browser

[Tommycore]

Hi again!

So, imho the only thing where Roll20 is superior to FG is the ease of access through a webinterface. To counter that (and to enable those of my players who can't get any version of FG to run properly), I thought about having a simple online-viewer for character sheets. Nothing else, just a simple website containing their charactersheets being updated automatically when I save the game. Any interaction would work over VoIP and manual input by the gm. Two options for development - either as built-in function by the devs, or as a fan project by externals. Both have their pros and cons, and there are some general considerations to be made. So here are my thoughts, which I'd like to share, discuss and gather feedback on, before posting this to the wishlist. For now, I'd like to focus on a minimum viable product version, that simply consists of the host/gm sending playerdata to a server, which in turn reads out the character data and offers connected webbrowsers a page to display their current character sheets.

I mean, the biggest advantage is easy to see: Accessibility. And not just for those players who can't get the FG client to run. A properly set up webpage enables visually impaired players to access their character data. At least the text part, and that alone should be a great aid in playing online. Better accessibility of course comes with a rat's tail of positive effects, i.e. a lower barrier of entry making FG interesting for a larger audience, indirect advertising by gms being able to play with anyone who can use a browser, and so on. If I know my group can just watch/read their character sheets from their browsers, all I have to care about as gm is if my machine can run FG. Sure, would be nicer to have everyone use FG, and let them make their own clicks by themselves, but hey - my players don't have to learn the FG interface, and as long as they can operate a browser and we share some means of communication (like VoIP), they have everything required to play.

That brings me to a con point though - the FG standard license only allows you to host for one free user (FGC) and noone else at the time, or none at all (FGU), and at least if this becomes an external development, there is no way to control it. So while fans could develop this without the help of the already strongly tasked devs, this is a trade-off between control and workload for SW. Not to mention the legal aspect and implications. I am not a legal expert, so I'm not gonna go into this beyond mentioning the point.

A'ight, feel free to chip in. What do you think?

[damned]

Hi again!

So, imho the only thing where Roll20 is superior to FG is the ease of access through a webinterface. To counter that (and to enable those of my players who can't get any version of FG to run properly), I thought about having a simple online-viewer for character sheets. Nothing else, just a simple website containing their charactersheets being updated automatically when I save the game. Any interaction would work over VoIP and manual input by the gm. Two options for development - either as built-in function by the devs, or as a fan project by externals. Both have their pros and cons, and there are some general considerations to be made. So here are my thoughts, which I'd like to share, discuss and gather feedback on, before posting this to the wishlist. For now, I'd like to focus on a minimum viable product version, that simply consists of the host/gm sending playerdata to a server, which in turn reads out the character data and offers connected webbrowsers a page to display their current character sheets.

I mean, the biggest advantage is easy to see: Accessibility. And not just for those players who can't get the FG client to run. A properly set up webpage enables visually impaired players to access their character data. At least the text part, and that alone should be a great aid in playing online. Better accessibility of course comes with a rat's tail of positive effects, i.e. a lower barrier of entry making FG interesting for a larger audience, indirect advertising by gms being able to play with anyone who can use a browser, and so on. If I know my group can just watch/read their character sheets from their browsers, all I have to care about as gm is if my machine can run FG. Sure, would be nicer to have everyone use FG, and let them make their own clicks by themselves, but hey - my players don't have to learn the FG interface, and as long as they can operate a browser and we share some means of communication (like VoIP), they have everything required to play.

That brings me to a con point though - the FG standard license only allows you to host for one free user (FGC) and noone else at the time, or none at all (FGU), and at least if this becomes an external development, there is no way to control it. So while fans could develop this without the help of the already strongly tasked devs, this is a trade-off between control and workload for SW. Not to mention the legal aspect and implications. I am not a legal expert, so I'm not gonna go into this beyond mentioning the point.

A'ight, feel free to chip in. What do you think?

The current Demo restrictions on FGU clients are for the Early Access period. Once the product is released fully the Demo will work the same as in FGC.

[RunningHill]

If you only want a character sheet viewer then why use Fantasy grounds or Roll20?
If you use discord you have the avrae bot doing this for you already.

[Tommycore]

@RunningHill
1. I still want to use FG on my end. Even if noone else in my group does - it is an amazing RP management tool.
2. I want to be able to make changes on my end in FG, and upload them with a simple click.
3. We're not playing D&D, but something completely homebrewn, that isn't even based on D20.

And as far as I can tell with a quick glance, at least 2 & 3 aren't supported by Avrae. But thanks for pointing in the direction. Haven't really thought about a discord bot.