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June 7th, 2018, 23:28 #21
Yep. See here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...-amp-D-Ruleset
Private Messages: My inbox is forever filling up with PMs. Please don't send me PMs unless they are actually private/personal messages. General FG questions should be asked in the forums - don't be afraid, the FG community don't bite and you're giving everyone the chance to respond and learn!
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June 8th, 2018, 00:22 #22
The SotDL extension I posted in that thread linked to by Trenloe is very old and is really just a visual theme. I think it might need some work since MoreCore was tweaked (by Trenloe) to allow for horizontally expanding character sheets.
If I get some time this weekend Ill update it and Ill have a chat with Simpe about creating a sample/export character sheet.
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June 8th, 2018, 00:32 #23
Just to add my support of Damned's work..
MoreCore for the win!
Any Game, any time, hands down the best multi system ruleset out there.. best!
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June 8th, 2018, 00:48 #24
- Join Date
- May 2017
- Posts
- 6
I use both Roll20 and Fantasy grounds. My opinion is that if you are doing a game that needs a special character sheet or a non-mainstream game such as Pendragon, ASOIAF, Warhammer 40k etc.. and do not want to learn how to code these rulesets or character sheets roll20 is the way to go. If you already own pdf's of everything you want to play on a VTT and don't want to buy it again you are also better with roll20.
However if you are playing 5e, CoC, CaC etc.. and don't have the content or don't mind buying the content again Fantasy grounds is the way to go.
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June 8th, 2018, 02:23 #25
This is a very good point actually!
I see that there's a LOT of content for C&C and that's awesome but also that's a LOT of money right? I mean if one were to go nuts and buy all of it (me, cough) but this brings up an important few questions!
1. Is there free content here for like tokens, maps, etc? I know Roll20 has some cool features I saw on my quick glance where it sort of pulls from the internet and allows you to upload your own content for tokens and auto scales them, etc.
2. Does FG allow the uploading or "installing" (since it's on your PC) of homebrew content (tokens, maps) without significant coding?
I see, is that because the community has to reach out to the creators of LotFP and hasn't? Or the devs? Or because they simply want no part in FG?
Yes Trenloe came and linked it and I went and asked the creator some questions about LotFP conversion or use. Thanks!
Ah I see! Ok I'll "beware" of it then until there's an update!
My last question that I can think of is, I noticed that there's a Steam and Windows PC version of FG - is there any real difference in using either/or? I'd assume the Windows version would be better as it doesn't have to work with or through the Steam client but I could be wrong.
P.S. Suddenly my browser/computer wants to use this stupid vBulletin for the forums and I have no ability to utilize Control+B and such to create bold or use commands and all commands for text have disappeared into this "vanilla" vBulletin thing - very random. Am I going crazy?
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June 8th, 2018, 02:29 #26
The nice thing about C&C is you legitimately get everything you need to run games with your $10 ruleset purchase.
The Player's Handbook and the Monsters & Treasures books are included and those give a complete base from which to branch out as you see fit.
Edit: Your tokens go in the Tokens/Host folder. Your maps, handouts etc... go in the Images folder within the campaign you create to make or run your game. Dead simple."I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind."
- John Diefenbaker
RIP Canada, February 21, 2022
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June 8th, 2018, 03:48 #27
Yep $10 for CnC gives you everything you need to play.
The other stuff might be useful depending on where you go with it but as you are looking to play LotFP I dont think there is value in the others at this time for you.
Add all your own content. Tokens, maps, story, adventure.
For a long time the DLC list on FG was very short. Today it is long and getting longer AND the options for adding your own content have gotten better and better.
Win, win, win.
Steam is just a wrapper for the exact same install. No difference.
Developing a full ruleset with lots of automation is a labour of love. Building one commercially still requires you to love it. It takes a LONG time to code automation. All those things that your human mind can calculate with barely any conscious effort require lots of coding and lots of checking for exceptions and exceptions to the exceptions. Getting a licensed ruleset requires both a willing publisher and a willing (and capable) dev. Ultimately there are over 8,000 rpgs and about 70%+ of all games played are 5e/Pathfinder/3.5e/4E. The next 10 best played game systems account for around 15%+ of market share. The other 8,000 odd games are fighting it out for somewhere around (and possibly even less than) 10% of the remaining mind share, time share, table share etc. So as much as various communities might love a particular system there is often very little economic sense in building a full ruleset for them. My first ruleset has probably been run by about 3 different GMs... ever. I did it to learn and for nostalgic reasons... it was for the old Maelstrom RPG from about 1984... Those stats are very crude but they are reflected pretty closely across Fantasy Grounds stats, Roll 20 stats, and actual RPG sales.
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June 8th, 2018, 06:50 #28
- Join Date
- Feb 2016
- Posts
- 576
I spent 3 years in roll20 and most of that was on their premium sub. It was a good product for what it was. But when it comes to running games fantasygrounds has it beaten out in most angles.
I do keep up to date with Roll20 and use it to play numenera/the strange at the moment.
As a Platform
Fantasygrounds wins out for me, the client server structure is far more responsive than a browser tab. Especially after running a complex Roll20 campaign for a few months everything starts to get a half a second delay.
I have had a few technical hickups over the last two years of using fantasygrounds, but nothing to really speak of and honestly it was more of a user issue than program issue.
Fifth Edition D&D
Fantasygrounds again, by a mile and more. Roll20 is far more robust than it was when I first started using it. And a part of me used to love fixing the shaped sheet up and creating macros. But the automation in fantasygrounds, the organisation of the story panel and perhapse most importantly the Combat tracker and character creation. All of this is head and shoulders above Roll20.
I use fantasygrounds in person because it speeds up my book keeping that much. It is an actual tool where roll20 is something I would never use at a table as even with the advancements it has made it doesn't make anything notably easier.
Learning Curve
Roll20 if you don't want to learn anything and just use it to roll digital dice.
Fantasygrounds if you are happy learning basic things like "control clicking tokens or portraits in the combat tracker allows you to select targets, you can then fire off a fireball having it make all the relevant dexterity saves at once, roll damage straight afterwards and have it automatically apply half to those that succeed their throws"
Mapping/Drawing tools
Roll20, fantasygrounds drawing tools are awful. Heck I made custom blank paper images so that I could see the thin and aliased scratchy lines in fantasygrounds. There aren't background layer options for tokens either so populating a map can be problematic at times.
It works, but roll20 is better and offers line width and colour options. FGU should support more options, and if it doesn't I am going to kick up a fuss until it does :P
Customisation
Fantasygrounds, I was heavily invested in the shaped sheet back in the day on roll20 (even after the official 5e sheet came out). But nothing on roll20 compares to fantasyground's levels of customisation.
I mean just today I made my first extension which allows people to roll with advantage when they hold control and disadvantage when they hold alt. (mainly for DMs but it speeds things up considerably)
Cost
Fantasygrounds, the books are cheaper and being able to buy outright is great... And even if you go for the subscription here it is still cheaper.
Conclusion
I am glossing over a lot of things like how useful the story panel is, the reference guides and so on. And they are huge boons to a DM.
But ultimately I see it like this-
- Go with Roll20 if you aren't looking for more tools and merely want to use the program for some light automation and treat it like a digital tabletop extension rather than a tool. Making it do more felt like I was fighting against myself every other week.
- Go with Fantasygrounds if you are keen on how many power user options it can give a DM, or if you want to run games completely digitally without having to rely on paper or books at the table.
Also if you run a lot of combat, because even without learning much the combat tracker is just leagues above anything Roll20 has.
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June 8th, 2018, 07:04 #29
Yep, it can be problematic.
This extension can help - it adds layers to maps/images. It has a few gotchas (detailed in posts #1 and #2), so it's not for everyone. https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...sed-on-CoreRPG)Private Messages: My inbox is forever filling up with PMs. Please don't send me PMs unless they are actually private/personal messages. General FG questions should be asked in the forums - don't be afraid, the FG community don't bite and you're giving everyone the chance to respond and learn!
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June 8th, 2018, 07:37 #30
That's pretty much it. For established systems FG has an 'automation' crown. If you don't use automation much, FG will be a pain to use, the big loss being the noted drawing tools, as well as map tokens. In roll20, I'd just throw enemies on the GM hidden layer and reveal them when my players entered the room in dynamic lighting, then box-select + add to tracker.
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