Adventureaweek.

com Fantasy Grounds module creation guidelines

Version Date UpdatedBy Notes

1 26thMarch2013 MartinBlake Initialrelease
2 31stMarch2013 MartinBlake Addedsectionsbased
onforumdiscussions

Thisdocumentprovidesanumberofguidelines/recommendationsonwhatshouldbeincludedina
FantasyGrounds(FG)adventuremodule.ItisspecificallyaimedatcreatingFGmodulesfor
Adventureaweek.com(AaW)scenarios.ThemaingoalofthisdocumentistoaidincreatingFG
modulesthatincludethekeyfeaturesneededtorunagameontheFGVTTandalsotoensurethat
allmoduleshaveauniformfeelevenifdifferentpeoplehaveproducedthem.

ThisdocumentassumesthatthemodulebeingcreatedisforthePathfinderroleplayinggame
rulesetitcanapplyequallyto3.5,exceptthereisno3.5ecreatureparser.

ThemainstepstocreatingFGmodulesare:

1. Startabrandnewmodulemakingcampaignusethestandard3.5erulesetanddonot
includeanyextensionsinthiscampaign.Itneedstobeensuredthatthemodulewillwork
withthebaseFantasyGroundsinstallation.SelectthePFRPGmodewhenthecampaign
loads.
2. Extractanymapsandartfromthescenarioandplacetheseinthecampaign\images
directorygivethemrelevantnamesasthesewillbethenamesusedbydefaultwithinthe
campaign.Iftherearebattlemaps,applya5footgridtothemapsothisisreadytogoand
theGMdoesnthavetomessaroundduringthegame.
3. Enterthevariousdataneededstoryentries,NPCs(usetheparserseebelow),items,
encounter,etc..
4. Buildupalayered,linkbasedmenuandsubmenusystemwithlocationstoryentries
containinglinkstomaps,NPCs,encounters,etc..Usetheimagepushpinstolinkstory
entriestolocationsonthemaps.
5. DonotlinktolibrarymodulesthatwillnotbeavailabletothebaseFGinstallationuse
copiesofinformationinthenewmodulemakingcampaignitself(ifcopyrightallows)or
createAaWspecificmodulesifneeded.
6. UsetokensforNPCs/creatureswhereveryoucan.FGcomeswithsomeamazingtopdown
andpogtokensforanimals,adventurersandmonsters.Linktothesetokensifthereare
appropriatetokens,ifnotusealettertokenforcreatures.AttachthesetotheNPCentriesin
thecampaign.
7. Createencounterentriesforeachpossibleencounter.IncludetheNPCs(withtheirtokens
alreadyattached)andpreplacethecreaturetokensontherelevantmap.Doingallofthis
willaidtheGMgreatlyininitiatingcombatastheencounterentrywill:putallNPCentrieson
thecombattracker(CT),rollforinitiativefortheNPCs(ifthissettingisenabled)andplace
thetokensonthemapbutkeeptheminitiallyinvisible.Also,includethetotalXPforthe
 encounterasthiswillallowtheGMtodragtheencountertothepartysheettotrackand
distributeXPautomatically.
8. Traps:CreateTrapentriesasNPCsincludeeffectentriestoenableFGautomationbeit
attackeffectsorspells.Addattackeffectstothetrapeffectsection/sandaddanyspell
effectstotheSpellstab.Createanencounterforthetrap,withatokenforplacementon
themap(easyfortheGMtoseewherethetrapis)thentheGMcaneasilyputthetrap
intotheCT,targetplayers,etc..Oncethetrapisdefeated,theencountercanbedraggedto
theXPsectionofthepartysheettodistributeXP.Seelatersectioninthisdocumentforfull
detailsoncreatingatrap.
9. CreatetreasureparcelstofacilitatesharingofthelistoflootfoundbythePCS(rightclick>
sharetoshowthetreasureparceltotheplayers)andalsodistributionofcoinsviatheparty
sheet.
10. Exportthecampaigntoahostdatamodule,includeathumbnailofthescenariofront
page.
11. Closethemodulemakingcampaignandstartanewmoduletestcampaign.Openyour
newlymademoduleandtestitout.Ifthereisneedforanychanges,gobackintoyour
modulemakingcampaign,makechangesthere,exportagainandtestinthemoduletest
campaign.Doingitthiswaywillhelptoensurethatyourbase,modulemakingcampaignis
clean(nostraydatafromtesting).
12. Makebackupsofyourmodulemakingcampaignalongthewaymakeazipcopyofthe
campaignfolder.Thiswillallowyoutogobacktopreviousversionsifyouhaveissuesand
willalsoallowyoutokeepyourworkincaseofissues.Irecommendstoringthesebackups
onacloudstorage(e.g.DropBox,orsimilar)soevenifyourcomputercrashes,setsonfire,
laptopisstolen,etc.youwillbeabletogetyourworkback.

ImgoingtousethetwoexamplemoduleswenowhavetoshowwhatwerelookingforA0
convertedbyCJandA1convertedbyKeith.Thanksfordoingtheseconversionspleasedonttake
anycommentsregardingthemasnegative,theyarebothexcellentconversionsandImjustpointing
outafewlittleimprovements.

Story entry layout

Ideally,thetoplevelofthestoryentryshouldbeanorderedlistofallofthemainentriesinthe
scenarioitself(takenfromthescenariowebpage/PDF).AnexampleofthisisA1:


Usenumbersatthebeginningofeachstoryentrytoordertheentries.

AlwaysincludeacreditssectionandOGLstatementatthetopofthelist!
Iddebateastowhetherweneedatableofcontentsinthislistthistoplevellistshould
reallybethetableofcontents.Anothercouldbeconfusing.
Ordertheentriesastheyappearinthepublishedscenario.
Withineachentry,includelinkstothepreviousandnextsection.ThismakesiteasyforGMs
tonavigatetootherstoryentrieswithoutgoingbackandforwardsbetweenthetoplevel
list.Heresanexample:


Then,eachentrytodowithalocationshouldhaveanumberoflinks:maps/images,NPCs,
encounters,treasureparcels,items,etc.todowiththatlocation.Includeboxtexttoread
(dragtothechatwindow)andeverythingneededatthislocationandlinkstootherrelated
items.HereisagoodexamplefromA0theCombatEncounterlinkbringsupthe
KoboldsAttackwindow,justclickthedownarrowbuttonatthebottomtoputthekobolds
onthecombattrackerandthemap,theCombatMaplinksbringsupthemap.Thiswill
reallysavetheGMlotsoftimeandkeepthegamemovingbyallowingaquicktransitionto
combat.


Shortcuts!
ThisissomethingthathasntbeendoneineitheroftheA0orA1modulesunlessIvemissedthem.
Shortcutsarelinksdirectlyonanimage/map,theyaregreatforallowingtheGMtotrackareasof
interestonamapandquicklybringupthestoryentryrelatedtothatlocation.Thesearenotvisible
totheplayersatall,andsoitmakesitpossiblefortheGMtorunmostofadungeoncrawljustoff
theplayersmapwiththeshortcutlinksprovidingtheequivalentoftraditionallocationnumber
references.

Touseshortcutstheyneedtobeenabledoneachmapyouwanttousethemon.Rightclickand
selectLayers>EnableShortcuts.Nowyoucandragstoryentriesontothemapandtheywill
appearasredpushpins.HereisanexampleofoneaddedtotheplayermapinA1andshowingthe
relatedstoryentrythatisdisplayedwhenthepushpinispressed.Note:thetextshownonthe
pushpinisnotnormallyvisible;itisshownwhentheGMhoversthemouseoverthepushpin.

NPCs
IfcreaturesareusedfromotherOGLmodules(Bestiaries13,forexample)openthatmoduleand
dragtheentriesneededintotheNPCslistinyourmodulemakecampaignthiswillallowyouto
unlocktheNPCandaddtokens,etc..ItalsomakessurethatalloftheNPCstatsareintheFG
moduleandthescenarioisnotrelyingontheGMhavingotherlibrarymodulestodisplaythedata.

Ifthecreatures/NPCsarecustom,usethecreatureparsertocreateacustommodule:
http://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15475Then,openNPCmodule
createdanddragtheNPCsintothecampaign.ThisisabigtimesaverontheGMsside.

AlwayscheckthatanyNPCsimportedfromanothermoduleorviatheparserhavecorrectdatain
theFGNPCwindow.

AlwaysaddatokentotheNPCyouneedtohavetheNPCinthecampaignlistandunlocktheNPC
tobeabletoaddatoken.Attheleastusealettertokenfromthelettertokenmodulebut,ideally,
findasuitabletokeninthenewlyavailabletokenmodulesfromShockbolt.Dontincludetheactual
physicaltokensinthemoduleexportasthisisaviolationoftheirusejustleavethemasalinkinto
thereferencemodule;thisisdoneautomaticallybythesystemwhenyoudragthetokentotheNPC.

Traps
TrapsshouldbecreatedsimilartoanNPC:

CreateanewNPCentryoftypetrap.
GiveitatokenperhapsaTlettertoken(forTrap).
Enteralloftherequiredinformation.

HeresanexamplefromB1:

ThisshouldbeenteredinFGasfollows:

MainTab:

SpellTab:

Toaddthespelleffect(EarPiercingScreamspell),makeanewSpellClassandgiveitaCLof4this
istheminimumCLneededtogive2d6sonicdamage(thespelldamageis1d6per2casterlevels).
Enter1inthe1stlevelspellbox(thisenablestheLevel1headingbelow).Then,openthe
communityPFSRDCompletePaizoSpellsmoduleinthelibrary(availablefromhere:
http://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=2197&d=1323069168).
Searchforearpiercingintheallspellsentry:

DragthisspelltotheLevel1heading:

Thenexpandthespellentrybyclickingonthegreydieiconontherightofthedescriptiontoshow
thedetails:

NoteinitiallythesaveDCis1toolow,soclickthedownarrowafterthesaveentryandmanually
add1tothesavetomakeitDC12.ThedamageandeffecthavebeenparsedbyFantasyGrounds
thiswontalwayshappensoyoumayneedtochangethisyourself.

IftheGMneedstoseefulldetailsofthespell,theycanclickthelinkbuttontotherightofthespell
descriptiontosee:


Finally,enterprepmodesothatthisspellcanbepreparedandsousablebythetrap.Clickthe
prepcheckboxandthenenablethespellbyclickingthegreyedoutroundcheckboxtotheright
ofthespellname:


OncethespellispreparedthecircularcheckboxwillbedarkerandyoullseePrepared:1for
level1:

Nowyourefinished,lockthetrap(clickthepadlockiconinthebottomleft)andthespellentrywill
beshownreadytouseincombat:


Ifyouhadntpreparedthespellthisentrywouldappearempty.

Now,youcanusethetrapspelleffecteasilytargetthePCwhosetsthetrapoff(thetrapneedsto
beintheCTtodothisIllshowthisnext),clickthedieicontocastthespellandthesavewillbe
rolled,thenclickthedamageandeffecticonstoapplythedamageand/ordazeeffectasnecessary.

Non magic traps

Thesearealotquickertoenterthanspelleffecttraps.Puttheattacks/damageintheEffectand
Effect2sectionjustlikeyouwouldanattack:


Then,theGMcantargetPCslikehewouldausualNPCattack,doubleclickontheAtk+15entryto
rolltheattackandifithitsdoubleclickonthe1d6+6damageentrytoapplydamagetotargetedPCs.

Trap Encounter
AddingthetrapNPCtoanencounterentryhasanumberofbenefits:

ThetrapcanbeaddedtotheCombatTrackerwiththepressofthedownarrowwhichthen
allowstheGMtoeasilytargetaPCandapplythetrapeffects.
Ifthetokenhasbeenplacedonamapduringencounterdesign,thetokenwillappearonthe
map(hiddenfromtheplayers)sotheGMknowsexactlywherethetrapis.
IfthetrapisdefeatedtheGMcaneasilyapplyXPtothepartybydraggingtheencounter
totheXPsectionofthePartySheet.

CreatingatrapencounterentertheCRandXPofthetrap(XPisbasedoffCRandisdetailedinthe
ExperiencePointAwardtablehere:http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/gamemastering.html


Placethetraptokenonthemapifneededbydraggingthetokentotherelevantmapthe
placementlistwillshowacheckmark:

WhentheGMpressestheAddNPCstoCombatTrackerdownarrowthetrapwillappearintheCT
andtheGMcantargetthePC/swhotriggeredthetrap:

Ifthetrapisdefeated,theencounterlinkcanbedraggedtotheXPsectionofthepartysheetto
allowtrackinganddistributionofXPwhentheGMdecides: