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  1. #1

    Status of GM Guide

    The status of GM guide has not moved since added in almost a year. Any reason why? Do not take this as a swipe at you guys doing the work. Just curious if there is a hang up or just super low priority because of staff?
    Last edited by toastsniffer187; November 7th, 2021 at 04:15.

  2. #2
    damned's Avatar
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    GM Guides are not just reference manuals. They also introduce rule variants and that is a whole big programming challenge too...

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by damned View Post
    GM Guides are not just reference manuals. They also introduce rule variants and that is a whole big programming challenge too...
    I sometimes wonder if after the final meeting about the creation of new source material if the Lead Designer doesnt congratulate the "Trolling VTTers" Department on their good work LOL
    "When questing once in noble wood of gray medieval pine, I came upon a tomb, rain-slicked, rubbed cool, ethereal, its inscription long vanished, yet still within its melancholy fissures."

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by damned View Post
    GM Guides are not just reference manuals. They also introduce rule variants and that is a whole big programming challenge too...
    Would it be possible to release it in stages? For example, sell it with the understanding that additional functionality will be released? For example maybe release it with free archetype and some other options and then add the others later as they are completed. Delaying it until it's 100% with all options doesn't seem to be working?

  5. #5
    Now I am not involved in the decision making process... but from my perspective, I'd say this about the GM Guide: it's hard to put a full price tag down on a product without trying to support the integration with the ruleset within FGU. Unlike most of the other products, the real meat of the GM Guide is with the optional rules. Yes, it would be easy to simply put out a Reference Manual and support those items that are capable of being simply added, but... I think it's likely to be unsatisfactory for those who are paying full price for it to find out that the real juicy stuff simply is going to be there in a nice little display pane without any way to take advantage of it within the current system.

    I expect that we'll see more capability to move towards supporting it after the next major ruleset update.
    Ultimate License Owner since 2011 and FG GM since 2008
    Game Systems: 5E, Pathfinder, Starfinder, Call of Cthulhu, RoleMaster, C&C, Pathfinder 2, Old School Essentials

    Home Page: ShadeRaven Sorceries (Blog, Fantasy & Campaign Stories, Cat Tales, and more)

  6. #6
    One of the reasons I haven't purchased any Pathfinder 2e stuff yet is because the GM guide isn't done yet. Whole reason I started using FGU for my game was because Roll20(at the time) didn't have the 5e DM Guide but FG did. For myself at least, having a book like the Gamemastery Guide completed makes or breaks my willingness to support a game line. Hope to see it soon since I would like to run a 2e campaign.

  7. #7
    Trenloe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rzach View Post
    One of the reasons I haven't purchased any Pathfinder 2e stuff yet is because the GM guide isn't done yet. Whole reason I started using FGU for my game was because Roll20(at the time) didn't have the 5e DM Guide but FG did. For myself at least, having a book like the Gamemastery Guide completed makes or breaks my willingness to support a game line. Hope to see it soon since I would like to run a 2e campaign.
    Interesting viewpoint. I can understand that for 5e, because D&D specifically release a Player's Guide and a DM's Guide, and the DM's Guide for D&D has a lot of stuff for the base game - a quarter of the book is just magic items. But Pathfinder (both editions) create a Core Rules book that contains "stuff" for both players and GMs (there's over 80 pages of magic items and a 50 page chapter on Game Mastering) - you only need the PF2 Core Rules to get all of the base rules, whereas it's arguable that as a D&D 5e DM you'll need both the PHB and the DMG. The Pathfinders 2e Gamemastery Guide is not the same as the D&D DMG. D&D has always pretty much been you need the PHB, DMG and MM to run a game; that's not the same for Pathfinder - you need to Core Rules and Bestiary.

    I'm interested to find out - what in the PF2 Gamemastery Guide is needed for you to run a PF2 campaign in FG?
    Last edited by Trenloe; November 13th, 2021 at 00:11.
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  8. #8
    Monster and Item Creation, Generic NPC stat blocks, World building systems. That kind of stuff. I don't really consider the bare minimum from the core rules to cover enough to want to run the game. Monster Creation rules alone are enough for me to wait for the book to come out. Also I don't buy the physical books anymore. I only buy books on Fantasy Grounds or books on the Dungeon Masters Guild that are for fantasy grounds. One of the big things I really hate is having to reference a physical book when planning or running a game. That was a huge reason for me choosing FGU over Roll20. 5e had been out for several years and they still hadn't taken the time to bring a core book into their system.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Rzach View Post
    Monster and Item Creation, Generic NPC stat blocks, World building systems. That kind of stuff. I don't really consider the bare minimum from the core rules to cover enough to want to run the game. Monster Creation rules alone are enough for me to wait for the book to come out. Also I don't buy the physical books anymore. I only buy books on Fantasy Grounds or books on the Dungeon Masters Guild that are for fantasy grounds. One of the big things I really hate is having to reference a physical book when planning or running a game. That was a huge reason for me choosing FGU over Roll20. 5e had been out for several years and they still hadn't taken the time to bring a core book into their system.
    Most of that wouldn't really be a built in system in FG, it's reference knowledge on how to use the system. And it is all available on AoN (and no offense to Trenloe, but as far as reference material goes, I find navigating AoN easier than how FG handles much of it). This website is also easier to navigate than the PDF, since everything is interlinked.

    FG already can create monsters and items, the GMG is only a reference there. Shaderaven has some videos here on how to add automation to your monster creations here. The wiki for handling item creation and other useful things is here.

    GMG is 5 chapters, the first 3 are reference materials. Available on AoN here.
    Chapter 4 is the variant rules and the primary reason FG does not have the GMG yet, because there is a focus on fully realizing automation for the core rules before adding variant rules. 1 of the variant rules already has an extension, however: Proficiency w/o Level
    Chapter 5 is just NPC pregens, which are available here. (However this module was made before much of the improvements in automation, so there may be some issues)

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by kaernunnos View Post
    Most of that wouldn't really be a built in system in FG, it's reference knowledge on how to use the system. And it is all available on AoN (and no offense to Trenloe, but as far as reference material goes, I find navigating AoN easier than how FG handles much of it). This website is also easier to navigate than the PDF, since everything is interlinked.

    FG already can create monsters and items, the GMG is only a reference there. Shaderaven has some videos here on how to add automation to your monster creations here. The wiki for handling item creation and other useful things is here.

    GMG is 5 chapters, the first 3 are reference materials. Available on AoN here.
    Chapter 4 is the variant rules and the primary reason FG does not have the GMG yet, because there is a focus on fully realizing automation for the core rules before adding variant rules. 1 of the variant rules already has an extension, however: Proficiency w/o Level
    Chapter 5 is just NPC pregens, which are available here. (However this module was made before much of the improvements in automation, so there may be some issues)
    I second all of this and what Trenloe said. There's nothing in the GMG necessary for running PF2 in FG. All you need is the Core ruleset. While you point out monster & item creation, even in FG those will just be reference pages, there won't be any mechanical automation, so the Archives of Nethys reference for example will do exactly the same thing and in truth much of it is what we've read in many a 'how to GM' guide over the years.

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