as a DM i love this program for my home game, i still roll everything by hand but it makes organizing things and NPCs so much easier i also connect my PC to a TV and use it for maps which is lovely
Used Fantasy Grounds for years! A fantastic standard as my gaming partners are in different countries. I've been out of the actual gaming side for a while now other than text, interpretative RP, but I'd love to rally my friends again!
After this explaining, I may switch to fantasy grounds, compared to roll20. Is looks better at all - hud, dices etc! Most of the time I'm playing on table, but those programs can become handy for beeing a great dm :)
Hahaha! "Let's just play bridge..." Also that map is absolutely gorgeous, Project Deios is going to be amazing! Also did you get to mess around with Heroes yet? I'm curious if you've made any characters yet!
I was just thinking, "Does Guy _ever_ cut/reshoot?" While doing so wouldn't be a bad thing, I kinda like that he leaves in all the tongue-tangle moments. :D
Tried World Anvil after watching you use it in your videos and have loved the basic version so far. I don't want to be too spoiled by the paid version, but I do want to try it out at least once since it does have some nice features. Thanks, Guy! I like the nautical theme and early congrats on running Saltmarsh! Very excited to watch it. (Also, your background this video is mesmerising.)
World Anvil is a godsend. It’s user friendly, and the templates make you really think about how things in your world really connect. I’ve only been using it for about 5 days so far, but it’s really allowed me to have more focus with my world building. Might upgrade beyond Journeyman at some point, because it’s a useful tool. Between World Anvil and Wonderdraft, I don’t know how I managed to DM without them for 20-odd years.
Mhm, my toolchain is quite simple: Hexographer for my maps, Onenote/Word for my campaign notes (limiting to A5 pages, so I don't overwrite myself). And at the table I run behind my GM screen a tablet, where I have dndbeyond and onenote open at any given time and syrinscape in the background, thanks to the unofficial beta release, for ambience. Next to that tablet i have a scratchpad for notes that I will digitize after the session.
I have never been more grateful for my comp's power and 16 gigs than since I started running virtual games. At any moment, I've got World Anvil, Improved initiative, Roll20, PDFXchange, and Discord running as bare minimum, often with a half dozen browser windows, a few notepad windows, and sometimes OneNote. And when I'm prepping, add Wonderdraft and PS. XD It's murderous. My poor comp must hate me!
Hello Guy! My daughter runs our family campaign via Zoom, and we all get on camera and play, we even have 2 other players who are not "in house" who log in and play with us. We have a blast. We find it is a good alternative for her, since she does not have the funding to have a paid Fantasy Grounds account.
Nice to see the evolution in the videos, and in the game sessions. I nearly fell out of my chair the first time you mentioned using Fantasy Grounds while GMing the Adventures of the Windswift! You got me into World Anvil with your last "software" video more than a year ago. I need to use it more "on the fly"; I tend to do my actual day to day writing/creation/ game running in Microsoft OneNote (for which I thank Cody for recommending on a Taking20 video). I use D&D Beyond a great deal, and share the subscription as a campaign with my players. It makes looking up rules, items, spells quick and easy. I often find myself copy and pasting into OneNote if I do it a great deal. I use Kobold Fight Club to gauge encounter difficulty. I use Photoshop to craft PNG files to depict characters and items for the VTT. My VTT of choice is Roll20. Yes, the "WhiteGuy" controversy was infuriating, particularly since Cody's tutorial videos for Roll20 were outstanding! However, much like being assimilated into the Apple ecosystem, the cost/bother of changing to another system makes the idea of switching daunting. The outlay, not only for the Rules and supplements, but the investment of time and energy in making art, character sheets, NPCs, etc create a barrier to migrate to another VTT. Fantasy Grounds looks great, and I'm very glad it is working well for everyone. I hope the new version is even better, to motivate Roll20 further enhance their product. VTTs as a whole have enabled far flung friends to play their games, with much less clean up than in the past! I bet the caloric intake per hour of gaming has also decreased! Crunchie munchies don't do well with microphones!
I use Microsoft OneNote to stay organize whether as a DM or a player. I use my smartphone to snip anything that I jotted down on paper and transfer it to my OneNote. From world map, important npc and setting lore to dungeon designs to just possible plot hook that provided by my DM. Everything is save in my OneNote. Nothing more frustrated when losing the note of previous session. Other thing is that it's standalone free Window application or comes with Microsoft Office. Can easily synchronized with your Android or iPhone.
World Anvil is a definite must-have. I can't imagine writing or GM-ing without it. As for the other two... Fantasy Grounds doesn't cover the RPG systems I use, so I have no interest in it. Aside from that, in my opinion, it still has a long road ahead, until I would be willing to spend money on it. Especially, with the free alternatives out there, like Roll20. Dungeonfog - I will not be using it out of pure principle, as they employ a business model I wholeheartedly detest. You either hide features behind a paywall or use ads. Never both. I'd rather stick to hand drawing than support this kind of greed. For me, there is one very important question I ask myself before I spend a single dime on some RPG apps - is there a way I could spend money on something more useful to my games? And the answer is almost always 'yes', overwhelmingly so.
Right? If only there were a FEATURE like AD-FREE that was part of some sort of payment package... all sarcasm aside theyre still providing you 25 megabytes of free upload space on a free account with a possible 500 more if you invite 2 friends (easy as heck to do). Sure you don't have a lot of their great props, but one Google search of Dundjinni and you can have professional looking maps done quick. complaining about them using a pay wall to get rid of ads is like complaining about 99% of the internet. Sorry but pointless complaints is a huge pet peeve of mine. I get having Morales but "pay or have ads" it's such a old and such a very common and honestly Fair marketing practice. Remember having ads is your way of paying as a free user for the space you get.
@@MegaMawileTheNommer Obviously, you misunderstood me. I have nothing against ads. And I am perfectly willing to pay to make them go away. Same goes for limiting available features. I support World Anvil almost from the star in order to get more functionality. However, I will be a staunch opponent of anyone employing both of those business models at the same time, as thousands of online services proved that you only need use one of those models to turn a profit.
think you can do a video of how you use fantasy grounds as a gm? I am looking to use an app on the tv for my players to see, for a battle maps, with player icons, and enemy ones as well. Models are expensive, an I prefer accuracy, so an icon with a portraits of enemies and npcs would be helpful, and the cheaper option which would take less time from my games, and more time into prep, since I only have one map, making it limited on how much I can prepare, lots of it having to do with me having to upgrade the map due to terrain changes, or revealing secret doors, or just my party just as players do, go somewhere else (not saying ill be prepared for everything, it will just help me be prepared for more."
World Anvil's absolutely invaluable. My other go-to tech I can't imagine playing without now is Improved Initiative. Can't recommend it enough. (For mapping, I use Wonderdraft, which is brilliant, but still quite Beta.)
I mean, I do often draw my maps and then spruce them up in photoshop. But I'm an artist, so it doesn't take me as long as one might think. Other times I will just pull top down assets into photoshop for ships, dungeons, etc,
I bought Fantasy grounds and have already backed the fantasy Grounds Kickstarter. I was introduced to it by Guy and the guys at Save or Dice. I will happily post there so you get more of their support.
Posted this on the backer comments, hope it helps in some way :) Hey @SmiteWorks, I just wanted to post to let you know I discovered you through Guy at How to be a Great GM, Cody at Taking20 and all the Guys at Save or Dice crew which I know you sponsor. I both purchased FGC and have backed here thanks to their influence so please keep giving them all your love so they can keep the lights on and continue to entertain us with great content and advise :D. Also since I am giving a shout out, everyone at Fantasy Grounds College have been amazing at getting me up and running with both your software and also learning roleplaying and DMing, so please also continue to support then in any way you can as they perform an amazing job for the community all for free and organised by volunteers.
Something I really like with Fantasy Grounds as well is the manual dice entry option. So, that you can directly input what you rolled rather than having FG roll everything for you.
I use Fantasy Grounds Unity/Roll20 and Padlet. Padlet is a kind of pinboard/wall online. I use the mindmap format for planning and the more organised one to document my sessions with my players - they can write a kind of diary on there and keep track of what has happened so far, they can also give me feedback and look up NPCs we have encountered so far.
Don't know if anyone mentioned this. I didn't scroll through the multitude of comments below, but the chat window can be moved to another location. Also, at Fantasy Grounds College, we teach people how to use the program. If you are interested in the link to our discord, let me know. I don't want to spam the comments with unwanted links. We are not affiliated with SmiteWorks, but we love the program and have classes for both DMs and Players. -- Lady Shel
For any german reading this, the current version of Fantasy Grounds does not support IPv6, so if you don't have an IPv4 connection, no one can connect to your games. The software is useless unless you have IPv4.
I run into this problem and solved it. You need a router with dynamic IP. In my case: I have cable and needed a "fritzbox". But when you have a router with dynamic IP, you can simply unlock the ports and everything runs fine. extra note: just the host needs to do that.
I just got Fantasy Grounds yesterday as I saw it was dicounted on Steam. Not sure if I'm going to use it for actual gaming sessions as my group plays face to face. However it will be a great addition to our remote session zeros.
I use inkarnate to make my maps, then edit them a bit with a photoshop like program, chrome cast them onto my board so players can move their characters around, and then an app gamemaster 5 to organize my notes. Works really well, but definitely look at game master 5!
Back in my day we just put together chess boards for our battlegrounds and paint for our maps Honestly I've been using Inkarnate and Roll 20 to success
An excellent video. As I don’t play VTT RPGs I find the online products of limited use. Our gaming location does not have WiFi either so there’s no online access. I have played with World Anvil and think its an excellent site but I don’t use it much. For tabletop GMing I’m “old-school” with printed prep notes still. I do use an iPad and use Scrivener as my go-to campaign/scenario organiser. As an amateur artist I draw my N/PC portraits and scan them in so the material is all there on the tablet. However, IMHO I think a GM needs printed material for live games in the event that the IT lets you down. I’m guess I’m just Old School. For maps I use Pathfinder tiles, or a battle mat. I am interested in developing world maps outside of Photoshop and Dungeon Fog interests me but as I’d have to print it all out I’m holding off for now. If I got into VTT RPGs then I’d certainly be looking at these options.
Music lay out is where I really use technology. I would love to be able to fade in and out music as well as cut in different tracks. I haven’t really found a program yet that does that well. I would also love to able to hook my computer up to colored lights to be able to change the atmosphere at the table. As far as maps I love drawing them. I have drawn so many maps I will never utilize all of the little cities that are in them. I think tech at the table can be a great tool as long as it isn’t the main focus taking away from the players face to face interaction.
What more could I want? I need you to get sponsored by some type of nerd sports drink... maybe Gatorade would be interested, as well as be able to do some sort of spin-off drink in honor of the Ghosts of Saltmarsh... maybe Sahuaginade? it's just a thought... I am about to begin my world building and I have not made my final choice on the medium in which the building will take place; so I will check out these resources before deciding. Thanks for the great video!
Dungeonfog looks fantastic, which is a damn shame because I will /never/ pay a subscription fee for a piece of software. Props to Fantasy Grounds for at least having a one-time price alternative.
Running my first online group at the moment and initialy planned using fantasy grounds cause this is a amazing programm. But due to some changes in my every day life i´m struggling to pay that much money for it. I got full acess to Dungeonfog though and can´t wait for the campaing mode they will be introducing.
The concern I have is longevity. I have notes on one game going back 35 years. (Yes it still gets ran when an adventure comes to me). But as far as I know these various software used to create the maps and the world (not worried about the VTT) are dependent on a continued subscription. If you either can’t continue to pay or if the company goes under (and let’s admit that does happen) then what? Multiple years worth of work and info lost?
Fantasy grounds DOES let you use real dice. It gives a prompt and you type in what was rolled, and it figures the rest out like if you had used the virtual dice.
So, I'd certainly like to try out Project Deios, but I'm not sure what's up with it. I need a pass phrase to check out content? I get that it's slowly being revealed over time, but it feels like we're not meant to try it out unless we're "in the know" and have the pass phrase. Unless of course I'm just thick and can't find the pass phrase even though it should be obvious?
Have you dealt with the Cypher system? Or Invisible Sun? I'm starting an IS game as soon as I get everything in order, and all the utilities I can find don't support it. Now way back when I got a copy of Realm Works, so I'm working with that, but I am spending far too much time editing it to work for me.
You've created the map in project Deios to bring into World Anvil - but obviously Deios is a while away from being available, what other resources can you recommend for creating a map to bring into World Anvil?
DM using electronics... good. Players messing with their cell phones in game... generally causes a mess. The DM needs access to stuff that would require 50 lbs of books and papers. The player can have everything they need on 4 sheets of paper (photocopy card protector pages with the needed spell cards in them then put the cards back in your binder so they are easy to find for the next character) Player using DnDBeynd to make their characters... fine. Print them.
So what if you want to play a custom game with a system that isn't one of the featured ones, can you do that? For instance, if I wanted to play Panty Explosion Classic, Shadowrun 3e, World of Darkness, Wu Xing, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, or Legend of the 5 Rings, could I do that?
There are dozens of systems loaded up. For custom systems you can program in a lot of your mechanics, but I'd suggest you seek out Fantasy Grounds College.
Guy has a good history of only taking on sponsors for tools that he uses, or believe has value. He started using Fantasy Grounds originally because of his time playing on Save or Dice, after years of resisting virtual tabletops. After using it for a while, my guess is that he began to enjoy it, and has become much more involved in using it. I know the same happened with World Anvil, though he interacted with that when trying to find a world/setting/campaign builder. As for Dungeon Fog, I'm certain it's the same. I would imagine that part of the agreement they have, of course, is that he does a video explaining features, but I don't imagine he is under contract to shill for anything that he hates.
Guy, can you do a video on helping people who get overwhelmed with world anvils massive amount of options on each article? I like filling them all in but it ends up causing me burn out really easily...
I shall pass your comments along to the WA folk! And don't worry - you are not alone, there are so many options, where do you begin! Rather more than less though I say!
But how does Fantasy Grounds help a face-to-face group or me as a face-to-face DM? We all have dice and character sheets and I don't want to show my characters the stats of whatever beast they are fighting? I really like the look of these VTTs but so far, no one has demonstrated what they can do for an old fashioned face-to-face group!
I guess that VTTs really are just suitable for online play, where you can manage like everything, from encounters to maps to player characters. Using VTTs like Roll20 for offline play looks like a pain in the butt to me and I prefer the good old fashioned GM Binder (or digital in the form of OneNote) with real miniatures to place in front of the players. Using Compedium Software on mobile devices (dndbeyond et al) or the reference cards by gale force nine makes everything even more smoother.
I used to be like you Richard, and then I took a fan-base to the knee. The way I use FG for round the table games is on my laptop instead of a GM screen. It sits to the side and when I need Monster stats I can bring it up. I used to hook it up to a projector and throw the map onto a wall with character tokens. My biggest issue with real-life mini figs - as awesome as they are - is the time delay, the space they need at the table, etc. Now I don't need to search for monsters or figure out stat blocks or page numbers. Instead of drawing simple maps, I can show awesome maps. It all depends on your set-up.
@@HowtobeaGreatGM Just noticed your reply in my spam folder. So, sorry for the delay! So using your laptop, are you able to view monster stats etc then throw the map up on a big screen without the players seeing the stats and notes you have?
I am yet to find a way to integrate software into my IRL gaming sessions. I don't feel like there's a product that I'm gonna be able to use easily, and I'm planning to write my own instead. Currently, I feel like I'll need a server on the main computer with the screen me and my players will look at. I'll have apps on mobile to play during the game, GM one and player ones, with mini-games I'll choose to integrate. And I'll have a client for desktop that will allow me to place maps there. I want to make movement and visibility displayed on the map, I don't want to bind myself to any existing system since we're playing a homebrewed ruleset that's loosely based on FATE core and GURPS. So that's what I'm planning to use. Preparation in WorldAnvil feels disconnected from the tabletop experience itself when it happens IRL with very little tech involved, so writing things twice is not the thing I'm really fond of. I tried that for a bit, but currently, I feel like WorldAnvil is more suited to my writing ambitions than to my GM aspirations.
I can't play without hero labs... its my best friend for my planing and DM'ing, ghihi. I still build my Maps with photoshop... because I have to print them and those digital ones costs me way to much.
*screaming like a 13 year old girl at a Justin Bieber concert* Why have I not looked at fantasy grounds before?!? I play ffg genesys and finding something that allows me to use the dice and build a character is REALLY hard. They have extensions that are amazing.
I"m an old school DM, attempting to learn new formats for me and my player's... Thank you for the info. I, like my player's, are paupers and I did notice that you did not mention a $$$$ tag pertaining to any of these and how virus free are they -- Fantasy Grounds many of us already know is rather virus & "Pop-ad" free...could you please try and let us (you audience / Recipients to your show) gain insight to cost's. Please?
Another program: I am a longtime user of TableSmith. I use it for so many off the cuff things, and things like inns, NPCs, stats, just about anything can be done in TS. I have used it for 10+ years now. It is completely customizable for your world or game system. Check it out. www.mythosa.net/p/tablesmith.html.
@@HowtobeaGreatGM Do they still cost like 70 dollars a piece, I am DMing on a budget, i literally wouldnt be able to afford to use the program if i have to invest into it to use any monsters and whatever else i need.
@@scruffypuppet8633 in fantasy grounds the books are around $30. you can catch them on sale from time to time as well. for example i believe there's a sale going on now.
A badly want to love fantasy grounds... But I have no clue how to use it. I bought mutants and masterminds 3rd edition to try it out... But I have no idea what I'm doing
Speaking as someone else who got m&m for Fantasy Grounds, that was a poor choice. The m&m module hasn’t been updated in forever, and is barely functional. If you just try out some of the 5e stuff (the basic rules are available for free) it works much better. There’s still a lot to learn, but it has more support.
Dungeonfog looks cool...and worldanvil is pretty okay (I think City of Brass - www.cityofbrass.io/ is better)... but Fantasy Grounds is really expensive and is out of reach of many many gamers (but if your rich and can afford it and all the overpriced supplements they schill, then more power to you).
i WOULD USE WORLD ANVIL IF IT WAS NOT SUBSCIPTION BASED AND HAD NO NEED TO CONNECT VIA INTERNET. THOSE TWO ASPECTS HAVE KEPT ME FROM PURCHASING. I WOULD PUT UP WITH LOGGING ON IF THERE WAS A ONE TIME PURCHASE AND NO SUBSCRIPTION. PARDON THE CAPS BUT MY EYESIGHT IS POOR.
I know you like your intros, but this one just cost you a subscriber bud. I came for advice, not you pretending to be bad players. There's a phrase we use in America, Shit or get off the pot.
I feel the intro was personally making fun of me.
Same... hahah
😂😂😂
Same here.
That intro is the way so many games I've played have gone.
Watched you for so long I could guess what the 3 resources was 😂
as a DM i love this program for my home game, i still roll everything by hand but it makes organizing things and NPCs so much easier
i also connect my PC to a TV and use it for maps which is lovely
Used Fantasy Grounds for years! A fantastic standard as my gaming partners are in different countries. I've been out of the actual gaming side for a while now other than text, interpretative RP, but I'd love to rally my friends again!
After this explaining, I may switch to fantasy grounds, compared to roll20. Is looks better at all - hud, dices etc! Most of the time I'm playing on table, but those programs can become handy for beeing a great dm :)
Hahaha!
"Let's just play bridge..."
Also that map is absolutely gorgeous, Project Deios is going to be amazing!
Also did you get to mess around with Heroes yet? I'm curious if you've made any characters yet!
Omg, I found the first cut in a How to be a Great GM! 17:58
I was just thinking, "Does Guy _ever_ cut/reshoot?" While doing so wouldn't be a bad thing, I kinda like that he leaves in all the tongue-tangle moments. :D
Tried World Anvil after watching you use it in your videos and have loved the basic version so far. I don't want to be too spoiled by the paid version, but I do want to try it out at least once since it does have some nice features.
Thanks, Guy! I like the nautical theme and early congrats on running Saltmarsh! Very excited to watch it.
(Also, your background this video is mesmerising.)
I've been using kanka.io myself, it has a lot of the paid features of WA all for free :D
Great video guy love the stuff
I’m currently a first time gm and I’m running my first campaign
These really help
Thanks sooo much
World Anvil is a godsend. It’s user friendly, and the templates make you really think about how things in your world really connect.
I’ve only been using it for about 5 days so far, but it’s really allowed me to have more focus with my world building.
Might upgrade beyond Journeyman at some point, because it’s a useful tool.
Between World Anvil and Wonderdraft, I don’t know how I managed to DM without them for 20-odd years.
Ok I'm only 10 minutes in and i feel like I need this. I obviously I don't but man it would make everything so much more smooth.
Mhm, my toolchain is quite simple: Hexographer for my maps, Onenote/Word for my campaign notes (limiting to A5 pages, so I don't overwrite myself). And at the table I run behind my GM screen a tablet, where I have dndbeyond and onenote open at any given time and syrinscape in the background, thanks to the unofficial beta release, for ambience. Next to that tablet i have a scratchpad for notes that I will digitize after the session.
I have never been more grateful for my comp's power and 16 gigs than since I started running virtual games. At any moment, I've got World Anvil, Improved initiative, Roll20, PDFXchange, and Discord running as bare minimum, often with a half dozen browser windows, a few notepad windows, and sometimes OneNote. And when I'm prepping, add Wonderdraft and PS. XD It's murderous. My poor comp must hate me!
Hello Guy! My daughter runs our family campaign via Zoom, and we all get on camera and play, we even have 2 other players who are not "in house" who log in and play with us. We have a blast. We find it is a good alternative for her, since she does not have the funding to have a paid Fantasy Grounds account.
Nice to see the evolution in the videos, and in the game sessions. I nearly fell out of my chair the first time you mentioned using Fantasy Grounds while GMing the Adventures of the Windswift!
You got me into World Anvil with your last "software" video more than a year ago. I need to use it more "on the fly"; I tend to do my actual day to day writing/creation/ game running in Microsoft OneNote (for which I thank Cody for recommending on a Taking20 video).
I use D&D Beyond a great deal, and share the subscription as a campaign with my players. It makes looking up rules, items, spells quick and easy. I often find myself copy and pasting into OneNote if I do it a great deal.
I use Kobold Fight Club to gauge encounter difficulty.
I use Photoshop to craft PNG files to depict characters and items for the VTT.
My VTT of choice is Roll20. Yes, the "WhiteGuy" controversy was infuriating, particularly since Cody's tutorial videos for Roll20 were outstanding! However, much like being assimilated into the Apple ecosystem, the cost/bother of changing to another system makes the idea of switching daunting. The outlay, not only for the Rules and supplements, but the investment of time and energy in making art, character sheets, NPCs, etc create a barrier to migrate to another VTT. Fantasy Grounds looks great, and I'm very glad it is working well for everyone. I hope the new version is even better, to motivate Roll20 further enhance their product.
VTTs as a whole have enabled far flung friends to play their games, with much less clean up than in the past! I bet the caloric intake per hour of gaming has also decreased! Crunchie munchies don't do well with microphones!
I use Microsoft OneNote to stay organize whether as a DM or a player. I use my smartphone to snip anything that I jotted down on paper and transfer it to my OneNote. From world map, important npc and setting lore to dungeon designs to just possible plot hook that provided by my DM. Everything is save in my OneNote. Nothing more frustrated when losing the note of previous session.
Other thing is that it's standalone free Window application or comes with Microsoft Office. Can easily synchronized with your Android or iPhone.
The intro is me as a returned gm
Yay, I could guess two out of three! Probably because I have been binge watching all your videos in preparation for my first big campaign :D
World Anvil is a definite must-have. I can't imagine writing or GM-ing without it.
As for the other two... Fantasy Grounds doesn't cover the RPG systems I use, so I have no interest in it. Aside from that, in my opinion, it still has a long road ahead, until I would be willing to spend money on it. Especially, with the free alternatives out there, like Roll20. Dungeonfog - I will not be using it out of pure principle, as they employ a business model I wholeheartedly detest. You either hide features behind a paywall or use ads. Never both. I'd rather stick to hand drawing than support this kind of greed.
For me, there is one very important question I ask myself before I spend a single dime on some RPG apps - is there a way I could spend money on something more useful to my games? And the answer is almost always 'yes', overwhelmingly so.
Right? If only there were a FEATURE like AD-FREE that was part of some sort of payment package...
all sarcasm aside theyre still providing you 25 megabytes of free upload space on a free account with a possible 500 more if you invite 2 friends (easy as heck to do). Sure you don't have a lot of their great props, but one Google search of Dundjinni and you can have professional looking maps done quick.
complaining about them using a pay wall to get rid of ads is like complaining about 99% of the internet. Sorry but pointless complaints is a huge pet peeve of mine. I get having Morales but "pay or have ads" it's such a old and such a very common and honestly Fair marketing practice.
Remember having ads is your way of paying as a free user for the space you get.
@@MegaMawileTheNommer Obviously, you misunderstood me. I have nothing against ads. And I am perfectly willing to pay to make them go away. Same goes for limiting available features. I support World Anvil almost from the star in order to get more functionality.
However, I will be a staunch opponent of anyone employing both of those business models at the same time, as thousands of online services proved that you only need use one of those models to turn a profit.
think you can do a video of how you use fantasy grounds as a gm? I am looking to use an app on the tv for my players to see, for a battle maps, with player icons, and enemy ones as well. Models are expensive, an I prefer accuracy, so an icon with a portraits of enemies and npcs would be helpful, and the cheaper option which would take less time from my games, and more time into prep, since I only have one map, making it limited on how much I can prepare, lots of it having to do with me having to upgrade the map due to terrain changes, or revealing secret doors, or just my party just as players do, go somewhere else (not saying ill be prepared for everything, it will just help me be prepared for more."
World Anvil's absolutely invaluable. My other go-to tech I can't imagine playing without now is Improved Initiative. Can't recommend it enough. (For mapping, I use Wonderdraft, which is brilliant, but still quite Beta.)
I just started to look for a digital replacement for my game. This helped a lot, thanks!
Also for playing Pathfinder, D20PFSRD is, to me, an absolute MUST!!! Literally everything written for Pathfinder on one site.
I mean, I do often draw my maps and then spruce them up in photoshop. But I'm an artist, so it doesn't take me as long as one might think. Other times I will just pull top down assets into photoshop for ships, dungeons, etc,
Good comedy at the beginning of the video. That’s what I’m like when I DM with my tons of papers and books.
I think the important topic we need to cover is Goblin rights, Join the Goblin Unions!
No! No fracking for you! Back to the coal mines, greenie!
I bought Fantasy grounds and have already backed the fantasy Grounds Kickstarter. I was introduced to it by Guy and the guys at Save or Dice. I will happily post there so you get more of their support.
Posted this on the backer comments, hope it helps in some way :) Hey @SmiteWorks, I just wanted to post to let you know I discovered you through Guy at How to be a Great GM, Cody at Taking20 and all the Guys at Save or Dice crew which I know you sponsor. I both purchased FGC and have backed here thanks to their influence so please keep giving them all your love so they can keep the lights on and continue to entertain us with great content and advise :D. Also since I am giving a shout out, everyone at Fantasy Grounds College have been amazing at getting me up and running with both your software and also learning roleplaying and DMing, so please also continue to support then in any way you can as they perform an amazing job for the community all for free and organised by volunteers.
Something I really like with Fantasy Grounds as well is the manual dice entry option. So, that you can directly input what you rolled rather than having FG roll everything for you.
I use Fantasy Grounds Unity/Roll20 and Padlet. Padlet is a kind of pinboard/wall online. I use the mindmap format for planning and the more organised one to document my sessions with my players - they can write a kind of diary on there and keep track of what has happened so far, they can also give me feedback and look up NPCs we have encountered so far.
Omg, that intro was way too real. Haha! Great video as always!
Don't know if anyone mentioned this. I didn't scroll through the multitude of comments below, but the chat window can be moved to another location. Also, at Fantasy Grounds College, we teach people how to use the program. If you are interested in the link to our discord, let me know. I don't want to spam the comments with unwanted links. We are not affiliated with SmiteWorks, but we love the program and have classes for both DMs and Players. -- Lady Shel
For any german reading this, the current version of Fantasy Grounds does not support IPv6, so if you don't have an IPv4 connection, no one can connect to your games. The software is useless unless you have IPv4.
I run into this problem and solved it. You need a router with dynamic IP. In my case: I have cable and needed a "fritzbox". But when you have a router with dynamic IP, you can simply unlock the ports and everything runs fine.
extra note: just the host needs to do that.
Hey Chron, Fantasy Grounds Unity now supports IPv6. We have it up on Kickstarter currently.
Guy I need that jacket!
Great ep.
Find out about the Fantasy Grounds Unity Kickstarter here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/smiteworks/fantasy-grounds-unity?ref=miwsex
I already backed the Kickstarter...and I would love to see a full on video of using Fantasy Grounds.
Your intro is every theatre of the mind game ever.
And I want to know more about Deios, now! ^^
I just got Fantasy Grounds yesterday as I saw it was dicounted on Steam.
Not sure if I'm going to use it for actual gaming sessions as my group plays face to face. However it will be a great addition to our remote session zeros.
I use inkarnate to make my maps, then edit them a bit with a photoshop like program, chrome cast them onto my board so players can move their characters around, and then an app gamemaster 5 to organize my notes. Works really well, but definitely look at game master 5!
Good video, also I liked the background. : )
Back in my day we just put together chess boards for our battlegrounds and paint for our maps
Honestly I've been using Inkarnate and Roll 20 to success
I still use Inkarnate for some map-making. Although Wonderdraft is pretty cool to.
An excellent video. As I don’t play VTT RPGs I find the online products of limited use. Our gaming location does not have WiFi either so there’s no online access. I have played with World Anvil and think its an excellent site but I don’t use it much. For tabletop GMing I’m “old-school” with printed prep notes still. I do use an iPad and use Scrivener as my go-to campaign/scenario organiser. As an amateur artist I draw my N/PC portraits and scan them in so the material is all there on the tablet. However, IMHO I think a GM needs printed material for live games in the event that the IT lets you down. I’m guess I’m just Old School.
For maps I use Pathfinder tiles, or a battle mat. I am interested in developing world maps outside of Photoshop and Dungeon Fog interests me but as I’d have to print it all out I’m holding off for now. If I got into VTT RPGs then I’d certainly be looking at these options.
Music lay out is where I really use technology. I would love to be able to fade in and out music as well as cut in different tracks. I haven’t really found a program yet that does that well. I would also love to able to hook my computer up to colored lights to be able to change the atmosphere at the table. As far as maps I love drawing them. I have drawn so many maps I will never utilize all of the little cities that are in them. I think tech at the table can be a great tool as long as it isn’t the main focus taking away from the players face to face interaction.
We're really living n the future aren't we. Makes everything so easy.
I've also found that Syrinscape is very handy for various sound effects etc
What more could I want? I need you to get sponsored by some type of nerd sports drink... maybe Gatorade would be interested, as well as be able to do some sort of spin-off drink in honor of the Ghosts of Saltmarsh... maybe Sahuaginade? it's just a thought... I am about to begin my world building and I have not made my final choice on the medium in which the building will take place; so I will check out these resources before deciding. Thanks for the great video!
My only problem with world anvil is that I always forget how to access what I've already written wish that was a bit more grandpa friendly
Dungeonfog looks fantastic, which is a damn shame because I will /never/ pay a subscription fee for a piece of software. Props to Fantasy Grounds for at least having a one-time price alternative.
Running my first online group at the moment and initialy planned using fantasy grounds cause this is a amazing programm. But due to some changes in my every day life i´m struggling to pay that much money for it. I got full acess to Dungeonfog though and can´t wait for the campaing mode they will be introducing.
any chance you can share those map assets? Not the ships or the water, but the parts that make up the bottom part of the screen.
The program I use is Arkenforge, so far i love it and they're adding more features all the time
The concern I have is longevity. I have notes on one game going back 35 years. (Yes it still gets ran when an adventure comes to me). But as far as I know these various software used to create the maps and the world (not worried about the VTT) are dependent on a continued subscription. If you either can’t continue to pay or if the company goes under (and let’s admit that does happen) then what? Multiple years worth of work and info lost?
You could build modules into these programs. Could they be patched in and out as needed?
Beyond Tabletop and Hero Lab are a godsend for me.
Fantasy grounds DOES let you use real dice. It gives a prompt and you type in what was rolled, and it figures the rest out like if you had used the virtual dice.
So, I'd certainly like to try out Project Deios, but I'm not sure what's up with it. I need a pass phrase to check out content? I get that it's slowly being revealed over time, but it feels like we're not meant to try it out unless we're "in the know" and have the pass phrase. Unless of course I'm just thick and can't find the pass phrase even though it should be obvious?
Thank you for the great video and tips!
Have you dealt with the Cypher system? Or Invisible Sun? I'm starting an IS game as soon as I get everything in order, and all the utilities I can find don't support it. Now way back when I got a copy of Realm Works, so I'm working with that, but I am spending far too much time editing it to work for me.
You've created the map in project Deios to bring into World Anvil - but obviously Deios is a while away from being available, what other resources can you recommend for creating a map to bring into World Anvil?
Wonderdraft is my choice at the moment.
Can you create a homebrew campaign in Fantasy Grounds with custom dice rules/stats?
i would love to see a link for the template on ship combat!
Dungeon fog is a great tool
DM using electronics... good.
Players messing with their cell phones in game... generally causes a mess.
The DM needs access to stuff that would require 50 lbs of books and papers.
The player can have everything they need on 4 sheets of paper (photocopy card protector pages with the needed spell cards in them then put the cards back in your binder so they are easy to find for the next character)
Player using DnDBeynd to make their characters... fine. Print them.
So, why would I use Fantasy Grounds that I have to pay for over a f2p option?
I love this channel.
So what if you want to play a custom game with a system that isn't one of the featured ones, can you do that? For instance, if I wanted to play Panty Explosion Classic, Shadowrun 3e, World of Darkness, Wu Xing, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, or Legend of the 5 Rings, could I do that?
There are dozens of systems loaded up. For custom systems you can program in a lot of your mechanics, but I'd suggest you seek out Fantasy Grounds College.
Fantasy Grounds user here.
So, you’re just telling me to use the programs that are sponsoring your show? Uh...
Guy has a good history of only taking on sponsors for tools that he uses, or believe has value. He started using Fantasy Grounds originally because of his time playing on Save or Dice, after years of resisting virtual tabletops. After using it for a while, my guess is that he began to enjoy it, and has become much more involved in using it. I know the same happened with World Anvil, though he interacted with that when trying to find a world/setting/campaign builder. As for Dungeon Fog, I'm certain it's the same.
I would imagine that part of the agreement they have, of course, is that he does a video explaining features, but I don't imagine he is under contract to shill for anything that he hates.
I use Maptool from rptools for a VTT it is free and works without an internet connection
Guy, can you do a video on helping people who get overwhelmed with world anvils massive amount of options on each article? I like filling them all in but it ends up causing me burn out really easily...
I shall pass your comments along to the WA folk! And don't worry - you are not alone, there are so many options, where do you begin! Rather more than less though I say!
@@HowtobeaGreatGM Thanks! Always great to see you communicate with fans :)
But how does Fantasy Grounds help a face-to-face group or me as a face-to-face DM? We all have dice and character sheets and I don't want to show my characters the stats of whatever beast they are fighting? I really like the look of these VTTs but so far, no one has demonstrated what they can do for an old fashioned face-to-face group!
I guess that VTTs really are just suitable for online play, where you can manage like everything, from encounters to maps to player characters. Using VTTs like Roll20 for offline play looks like a pain in the butt to me and I prefer the good old fashioned GM Binder (or digital in the form of OneNote) with real miniatures to place in front of the players. Using Compedium Software on mobile devices (dndbeyond et al) or the reference cards by gale force nine makes everything even more smoother.
I used to be like you Richard, and then I took a fan-base to the knee. The way I use FG for round the table games is on my laptop instead of a GM screen. It sits to the side and when I need Monster stats I can bring it up. I used to hook it up to a projector and throw the map onto a wall with character tokens. My biggest issue with real-life mini figs - as awesome as they are - is the time delay, the space they need at the table, etc. Now I don't need to search for monsters or figure out stat blocks or page numbers. Instead of drawing simple maps, I can show awesome maps. It all depends on your set-up.
@@HowtobeaGreatGM Just noticed your reply in my spam folder. So, sorry for the delay! So using your laptop, are you able to view monster stats etc then throw the map up on a big screen without the players seeing the stats and notes you have?
I am yet to find a way to integrate software into my IRL gaming sessions. I don't feel like there's a product that I'm gonna be able to use easily, and I'm planning to write my own instead.
Currently, I feel like I'll need a server on the main computer with the screen me and my players will look at. I'll have apps on mobile to play during the game, GM one and player ones, with mini-games I'll choose to integrate. And I'll have a client for desktop that will allow me to place maps there.
I want to make movement and visibility displayed on the map, I don't want to bind myself to any existing system since we're playing a homebrewed ruleset that's loosely based on FATE core and GURPS. So that's what I'm planning to use.
Preparation in WorldAnvil feels disconnected from the tabletop experience itself when it happens IRL with very little tech involved, so writing things twice is not the thing I'm really fond of. I tried that for a bit, but currently, I feel like WorldAnvil is more suited to my writing ambitions than to my GM aspirations.
sounds like an ambitious plan for a software, but quite feasible. Do you want to develop it yourself in private or do you plan to go opensource?
Does that map of the island remind anyone else of Ulthuan from Warhammer Fantasy?
I can't play without hero labs... its my best friend for my planing and DM'ing, ghihi. I still build my Maps with photoshop... because I have to print them and those digital ones costs me way to much.
*screaming like a 13 year old girl at a Justin Bieber concert*
Why have I not looked at fantasy grounds before?!?
I play ffg genesys and finding something that allows me to use the dice and build a character is REALLY hard. They have extensions that are amazing.
Already own fantasy grounds. =3
How do I play in one of your games?
I"m an old school DM, attempting to learn new formats for me and my player's... Thank you for the info. I, like my player's, are paupers and I did notice that you did not mention a $$$$ tag pertaining to any of these and how virus free are they -- Fantasy Grounds many of us already know is rather virus & "Pop-ad" free...could you please try and let us (you audience / Recipients to your show) gain insight to cost's. Please?
No problem!
Another program: I am a longtime user of TableSmith. I use it for so many off the cuff things, and things like inns, NPCs, stats, just about anything can be done in TS. I have used it for 10+ years now. It is completely customizable for your world or game system. Check it out. www.mythosa.net/p/tablesmith.html.
Map on a post-it?
Realistic
Scuffed roll 20.
I already own these books.. do i need to buy them again digitally for this program?
Sadly yes. But only one of you needs to in a group of players and GM.
@@HowtobeaGreatGM
Do they still cost like 70 dollars a piece, I am DMing on a budget, i literally wouldnt be able to afford to use the program if i have to invest into it to use any monsters and whatever else i need.
@@scruffypuppet8633 in fantasy grounds the books are around $30. you can catch them on sale from time to time as well. for example i believe there's a sale going on now.
@@stevenwaters591 Still too much for digital back ups without even the versatility of PDFs.
A badly want to love fantasy grounds... But I have no clue how to use it. I bought mutants and masterminds 3rd edition to try it out... But I have no idea what I'm doing
Speaking as someone else who got m&m for Fantasy Grounds, that was a poor choice. The m&m module hasn’t been updated in forever, and is barely functional.
If you just try out some of the 5e stuff (the basic rules are available for free) it works much better. There’s still a lot to learn, but it has more support.
@@eugenideddis damn, only other one we use is Pathfinder and Mekton Zeta
Dungeonfog looks cool...and worldanvil is pretty okay (I think City of Brass - www.cityofbrass.io/ is better)... but Fantasy Grounds is really expensive and is out of reach of many many gamers (but if your rich and can afford it and all the overpriced supplements they schill, then more power to you).
i WOULD USE WORLD ANVIL IF IT WAS NOT SUBSCIPTION BASED AND HAD NO NEED TO CONNECT VIA INTERNET. THOSE TWO ASPECTS HAVE KEPT ME FROM PURCHASING. I WOULD PUT UP WITH LOGGING ON IF THERE WAS A ONE TIME PURCHASE AND NO SUBSCRIPTION. PARDON THE CAPS BUT MY EYESIGHT IS POOR.
15 people decided to play Bridge :(
Not a fan of fantasy grounds, tbh, I will have to buy all the books that I already own just so I could use them. That's a big nope for me.
I like FG, but port 1820 is an issue
Unity claims to resolve this problem.
I'd use fantasy grounds more if it didn't require port forwarding.
FG Unity will do away with that. I had to port forward my Japanese language router... that was a fun experience.
@@HowtobeaGreatGM Awesome. I'll probably try it out when it comes out.
You keep saying amount when you mean number.
The intro hit way too close to home
this video aged well lol
To much advertising time
pft..infomercial
Lets go I’m first
I know you like your intros, but this one just cost you a subscriber bud. I came for advice, not you pretending to be bad players. There's a phrase we use in America, Shit or get off the pot.
First
89th ha