Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
2
Welcome to Fantasy Grounds.......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Program Setup ...................................................................................................................................................................................................3
www.fantasygrounds.com ....................................................................................................................................................................3
Getting ready to play ............................................................................................................................................................ 4
Hosting Games.................................................................................................................... 4
Joining Games....................................................................................................................... 5
Creating Characters Locally .............................................................................................................................................................. 5
Player's guide ................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
The Desktop ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
The Character Sheet ................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Conversation and Chat Modes ........................................................................................................................................................8
Dice ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Drag and Drop .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 10
The Radial Menu ..........................................................................................................................................................................................11
Sheets and Drawings...................................................................................................................................................................................11
Sheet Bookmarks .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Smooth Gameplay Walkthrough ................................................................................................................................................. 12
Gamemaster's guide ............................................................................................................................................................... 14
Gamemaster Controls .............................................................................................................................................................................. 14
Record Sheets .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 16
Advanced Sheet Options .....................................................................................................................................................................19
Running the Game ......................................................................................................................................................................................19
Where to go for more information? ......................................................................................................................................... 21
Foreword
Fantasy Grounds is the result of about a designed to emulate the gaming table in
year of development. The original basic principles as well as the user interface.
motivation for the project was the Special care has also been taken in making
seeming void in the field of online the basic functions as easily available to the
roleplaying software. Although budding beginner as possible; to make sure anyone
with expectation, the community of role can step in and concentrate on the fun and
playing game enthusiasts has not not the technicalities.
discovered the medium to take their
hobby to the internet in earnest. I believe we have managed to create a
package that captures the essence of role
Many of the existing means available for playing games - storytelling and the world
online roleplaying haven't often been of the imagination. I hope you have a good
designed with this purpose in mind. With time enjoying it with your friends.
Fantasy Grounds, we made making sure
the user feels like playing the RPG our Tero Parvinen
primary goal. The software has been Smite Works Ltd.
INTRODUCTION
or Server Alias provided by Fantasy directory to install the software in. When
Grounds game hosting options (see you start the program for the first time, you
Hosting Games, below). are prompted for a license key. This license
key is written inside the CD package or on
PROGRAM SETUP the purchase confirmation e-mail if you
bought Fantasy Grounds from an online
The minimum system requirements for
distributor. Once you have entered a valid
running Fantasy Grounds are:
license key, you are taken to the main
menu (see the next chapter).
Windows XP or 2000 with DirectX 9.0
Pentium@ 3 500 MHz or equivalent
RAM:256MB WWW.FANTASYGROUNDS.COM
Video Memory: 32 MB The Fantasy Grounds website is located at
Hard Drive Space: 30 MB www.fantasygrounds.com. In addition to
Internet Connection general information, the site has a message
board with several forums, one of which is
Insert the Fantasy Grounds CD or if you for Customer Support. In the downloads
bought Fantasy Grounds electronically, section, you can find software patches,
run the downloaded installer package. token and portrait packs as well as new
Follow the on screen installation rulesets when available.
instructions and choose an appropriate
@efii93 ready to play
This chapter explains how to get started in person by your players and the
with Fantasy Grounds. The first section is "Gamemaster" is the name used for
for the Gamemaster, who hosts the game master chat messages and could be
gaming server. The last two sections are e.g. GM, Gamemaster, or some other
meant for players, who either connect to identity. You can change the settings at
a game or want to create characters the beginning of each session if you
locally. want to. Click "Continue".
d. The players can connect directly 1. Open the Fantasy Grounds application.
to your IP address. but it could
2. Select the "Join a Game as a Player··
be convenient to give them only
option from the selection menu.
your unique alias because with
many Internet connections the 3. Write down a ··User name··. which is the
computers· address changes
name you are knovv:.n in person ?,y the
frequently. When connecting to
other players. In the Host address field.
your game using an alias the enter the IP address OR the alias your
{)layers first contact Fantasy Gamemaster has provided you with.
Grounds servers that map the
You can change the settings at the
alias to your IP address. So. click
beginning of each session if you want to.
on the Generate button to get Click "Starf.
your own server alias and check
the check box active. You do 4. If your Gamemaster has protected the
not need to generate another game with a password. you are
alias in subsequent sessions - the presented with a passwor~ r~quest.
one just generated is your own. Enter the password and click OK.
e. If you like. you can also assign a 5. Wait until the gaming desktop and a
password to your game. but if character selection screen appear.
you do. remember to give that Create a new character and enter a
also together with the unique name for your character and double
alias to your players. click on it. Alternatively. you can select
an existing character (if any) by double
5. Click ·Starf clicking it.
6. Refer to the Gamemaster's GUide for 6. Refer to the Player·s Guide for further
more instructions. instructions.
LOADING A CAMPAIGN
CREATING CHARACTERS
Omit steps a to c in phase 4 above. click LOCALLY
"Load campaign" and select the name of
the campaign. Campaigns you have With these instructions you can start
created will appear in the drop-box creating characters locally even if you are
under the "Load campaign" button. not hosting or connected to a game.
1. Open the Fantasy Grounds application. buttons for character creation and
selecting existing characters.
2. Select the ··Create and View Local
Characters·· option from the selection 6. Create a new character and enter a
menu. name for your character and double
click on it. Alternatively, you can select
3. Select the d20 ruleset from the list (in an existing character (if any) by double
fresh installations the only choice) and clicking it.
click Start.
7. Refer to the Player·s Guide and the
4. Wait until the gaming desktop appears. rulebook for your game for further
instructions.
5. There are two items in the right-hand
side of the desktop, one includes d20
reference material and the other holds
PLAYER"S GUIDE
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This chapter is devoted to describing how empty part of the desktop opens up
to play roleplaying games (RPGs) with additional features. A feature in local mode
Fantasy Grounds. The Player's gUide is an only is the character selection item above
information source for each user, the the d20 reference material.
Gamemaster or the player. For the
players, learning this chapter is sufficient, THE CHARACTER SHEET
but the Gamemaster should also study the
Gamemaster's gUide. The following OPENING / CLOSING
sections describe the player-accessible
features and properties of Fantasy Your character's portrait can be found in
Grounds. We hope you have a pleasant the upper left corner of the window.
learning experience! Successive left-clicks of the portrait reveal
and hide the character sheet. The character
sheet first opens up showing the main tab;
THE DESKTOP left-clicking the tabs on the right SWitches
After joining a game or starting the local to different pages.
mode (LM) of Fantasy Grounds, the
gaming desktop opens. It contains the
character portraits of active players in the
top-left (LM feature), the chat window
below the portraits, dice (LM feature), and
hot-key slots in the bottom. On the right-
hand side of the desktop are items for
making notes, accessing reference material TYPING IN TEXT AND NUMBERS
(LM feature) and a box containing tokens; Left-clicking fields in the character sheet
the buttons in the top-right corner open evokes the text cursor. The fields requiring
customization options. Right-clicking an numerical values can be modified also using
PLAYER"S GUIDE
Imood (anxious beyond reason) Brian (anxious beyond reason): I don't The mood is applied until
I don't want any part in this! want any part in this! another mood or empty
Brian (anxious beyond reason): This is mood is selected
This is wrong!
wrong!
Imood
Imood anxious I don't want any Brian (anxious): I don't want any part The single word following
part in this! in this! Imood is taken as the mood
This is wrong! Brian: This is wrong!
Imood anxious Brian (anxious): I don't want any part
I don't want any part in this! in this!
This is wrong! Brian (anxious): This is wrong!
Imood
yield the desired results. The hot-key counters tells the number of different
radial menu evoked with the right mouse modifiers in the stack. The stack empties at
button (see below) provides an option for any dice roll or it can be erased using the
relabeling the hot-key. For instance, radial menu option.
"Greetings! I am Brian the Fist, earl of
T rollhaven. Who might you be?"', could Dragging modifiers from the character
be conveniently labeled as "greeting". sheet also characterizes the action. For
example, dragging the hide bonus (+3) from
DICE skills to the modifier stack and a
subsequent roll of a d20 (14) gives a result,
The desktop offers six different dice.
Hide 17. If a player drags a Long bow bonus
Dice use described in this section covers
rolling one or several dice, using modifiers (+5) and a Rapid shot modifier (-2) to the
and attaching messages to roll results. modifier stack and makes a d20 roll of tt, it
results in: "Long bow +5, Rapid shot -2: 14."
ROLLING ONE DIE
IDlE
To roll one die, grab the die with the
mouse and drop it into the chat window. It is also possible to "throw" dice with the
You need to put some swing in the throw text interface. The dice thrown must be of
or the die will not roll properly, just as the types available on the desktop. For
with real dice. Releasing the mouse example:
button anywhere but in the chat window
does not count but is a "practice rolf" Idie 6d20+10 ExplOSion damage
whose result will not show up in the chat.
may result in "Explosion damage 13 9 20 3
315 +10"',
ROLLING SEVERAL DICE AT ONCE
Several dice of the same type can be
DRAG AND DROP
rolled at once. Each click of the right
mouse button while dragging a die brings Certain user interface elements, numbers
up an additional die. ReleaSing the left and text fields, for instance, can be grabbed,
mouse-button tosses them all at once. dragged and dropped onto other parts of
Alternatively, the radial menu (right- the desktop and various sheets. Stat
mouse button) on a die lets you select the modifiers on the character sheet, attack
number of dice required. bonuses, skill check modifiers as well as
dice results, tokens from the token box and
ROLL MODIFIERS text from the notebook are examples of
dragable items. The mouse pointer changes
Making a skill check, for
into a hand every time it hovers over a
example, might need a skill
field whose contents can be dragged. While
modifier. Numeric fields from
dragging a number, say, over the character
the character sheet, chat
sheet, the fields accepting the dragged item
hot-keys (regardless of their label) can be
show a highlight. If the dragged value adds
dragged and dropped to the modifier box
to the target field, there is a small "plus-sign"
below the chat window. Dragging them
in the field, otherWise the target field
onto any die results in the same. Dragging
changes into the dragged value when
several modifiers to the modifier box or
dropped. Bonuses and modifiers retain the
dice prior to rolling puts them in the
description text of the source, meaning that
modifier stack and the number of lit
PLAYER"S GUIDE
dragging such an item into a hot-key slot dra wing mode. the pen draws line on the
or on the modifier stack shows the image.
modifier·s name when it is used.
USING POINTERS AND POINTER
WOUNDS AND HEALING TYPES
The die results can be dragged and A pointer is a special type of drawing used
dropped. which allows e.g. qUick to deSignate intended character movement
application of wounds from damage roll or attack targeting. for example. Usually it
results. Pressing the Control-key while is an arrow. drawn in the color of the
dragging a numeric item negates the player·s dice. Holding both the left and
value. This is useful when healing right mouse button down and dragging the
wounds. gaining negative experience. and mouse draws the pointer. Another way is
soon. to select it from the radial menu. where the
various pointer types can also be found.
THE RADIAL MENU The additional pointer types are the square.
Right mouse button used on any object circle. and cone. Using the two-button-drag
evokes an options menu. Clicking once on method they can be drawn by holding
an item brings up the options and shows down the Shift. Control. or Alt key while
them until choosing one of them or dragging. There can be only one pointer
canceling the selection by clicking outside per user at a time.
the choices. Another way is to hold the
right button down and releasing it on the DESKTOP ITEMS
selected option. Using the radial menu is The buttons on the right-hand side of the
both convenient and essential in getting Fantasy Grounds desktop include dice and
the most out of Fantasy Grounds. It is pointer color selection. portrait selection.
good ad vice to check the options each notebook. d20 reference book. and token
item on the desktop offers. box.
The modifiers in the hot key slots can be preferably you should have images whose
dragged onto the modifier stack and sides are of equal length.
pressing the corresponding function key
adds the modifier there. See also the hot OPEN THE CLASS DESCRIPTION PAGE
key paragraph in the ··Conversation and The d20 system reference book on the
chat modes·· section. right-hand side of the desktop includes the
character classes from the d20 System
USE TOKENS Reference Documents. Click open the
Click the token box open and drag a page of your character·s class. For
suitable set of tokens to the hot key bar convenience. you might want to drag the
or onto the desktop. Placing a token on page to the hot key bar for qUick
the desktop makes one copy of the token referencing; drag the "draggable link"
whereas putting the token into a hot key beside the class name.
slot creates a ··mini token box"" from
where you can obtain any number of If you play a spell caster. you can find
such tokens. another (or several) additional "draggable
links··. Clicking the link opens a spell page.
SELECT POINTER AND DICE COLOR but it can also be dragged to the hot keys.
To customize the color of your dice and
the pointer used on images click on the DRAG SPELLS FROM THE SPELL LIST
button with the arrow icon on it. In the TO THE CHARACTER SHEET
selection box that appears. click on the Now open the spell list for your character
color of your choice. Note. however. that class as described above and open the spells
it is best if all players have different tab of your character sheet. Now just drag
colors. You can evoke the color settings the appropriate spells from the link symbols
also from the radial menu of your beside the spell names to the spell selection
character portrait. list. The spell appears on the list and the list
sorts according to spell level.
SELECT OR CREATE A PORTRAIT
Fantasy Grounds comes with a set of COMBAT SITU A TIONS
portrait images to assign to a character. Eventually. a combat situation arises. often
Just click the portrait button in the top- requiring some dexterity by the player. For
right corner of the desktop and choose; smooth gameplay you might want to. once
alternatively. bring up the choices from again. check the possibilities of using
the radial menu of your character pointers in target selection. Dragging &
portrait. dropping damage to the wounds field and
using the Control key for healing should be
If you wish. you can also use your own assets worth paying attention to. Utilize the
images as portraits. Simply copy an image minisheets and the hot keys and draw on
in PNG. JPG. BMP. GIF or TGA format to the images to improve game flow on your
the "Fantasy Grounds\Portraits" folder. part. Make an impression by collecting all
The image will be selectable among the relevant modifiers to the modifier stack
premade portraits. When selected. the before making the rolls.
image is scaled and centered. so
GAMEMASTER·S GUIDE
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One of the users participating in a session CHA T CONTROLS
acts as the Gamemaster (GM)' In Fantasy When the Gamemaster types chat messages
Grounds, this user is also the one whose ··in character··, they are displayed in a
computer acts as the network host, with special font face to distinguish them from
other users connecting as players. To start regular chat by players, and the I1!essa~es
the game in Gamemaster mode, you need are sent using the Gamemaster Identity
to follow the instructions for acting as a specified when the session is created (see
host in chapter 2. You can also start in this chapter 2), The GM also has access to two
mode if you want to create information in special actions, using narrator mode and th.e
preparation for a game session in the identity list. Narrator mode text IS
future. presented to the players in a special font
and without a speaker title. For the
Note! The Gamemaster mode is only Gamemaster, narrator mode takes the place
available using the full version of Fantasy of the action chat type, and is accessed by
Grounds. entering a line of chat using Control-Enter.
A special way of entering text prepared
GAMEMASTER CONTROLS beforehand is by using chat frames in the
The Gamemaster has some special story book (see The story book below for
controls at his disposal in addition to more information).
those offered to players. Before acting as
a Gamemaster, it is a very good idea to The identity list is located below the chat
familiarize yourself with the controls window on the screen, and contains all the
available to all users by reading chapter 3 identities the GM can chat as. When
of this manual. starting a session, it includes only the GM
identity, but other identities can be added
to this list to represent the non player
GAMEMASTER·S GUIDE
THE STORYBOOK
The story book contains
pages of formatted text,
which can be used for
many purposes. The most
basic use is as the body
text for adventures,
where notes for encounters, locations and
story arcs are described. It can also contain
a library of descriptions for cities, religions,
organizations et cetera. Story book pages
can also be shared with players, so they can
be used to prepare handouts such as letters
or journal pages.
By default, existing story book pages are The bitmap layer can be masked, or hidden
in viewing mode. To edit a story book from the view of the players. When an
page, enter edit mode by accessing the image is masked, its contents are visible as a
radial menu and select "Enter Edit Mode". transparent ghost layer to the GM only. He
After this, you will be able to use most of or she can then use the mouse to draw
the standard text editing functions. The selection areas that are revealed to the
radial menu contains options for changing players. This way, the player characters
paragraph types and text formatting. To (PCs) can enter a dungeon, and the GM
create links, change the paragraph mode reveal the map gradually as the PCs
to "Link" and drag an icon from a list or explore.
record sheet to the empty link icon.
The process used for creating image sheets
IMAGES varies depending on the availability of the
Image sheets can be used bitmap layer. If you want to use a bitmap
to display maps, generic image, the file containing the image data
images or freehand needs to be copied into the image folder for
drawings. An image the active campaign. This folder can be
consists of different found under the Fantasy Grounds program
layers, any or all of which folder by first entering the "campaigns"
can be used in a particular sheet. The subfolder, then the folder with the name of
bottom layer is a static bitmap image. the current campaign, and finally the
Typically maps prepared before the play "images" folder. Fantasy Grounds
session are bitmaps created using a map automatically detects images added or
making program, downloaded on the removed at this location. The application
internet, or scanned in from a supports PNG, )PG, GIF, BMP and TGA
conventional paper drawing. A grid image formats.
overlay layer can be activated by the
GM, using a freely definable grid size. Bitmaps can be big files, and
The third layer available is the drawing transferring them over the
layer, onto which any player or the network to all players can
Gamemaster can sketch freehand take a while. For this purpose,
drawings. The GM has controls for you can find the "Preload Image" option on
erasing the entire drawing layer. the image radial menu, which sends the
image data to the players without
displaying the sheet. Use this if you know
you will need to display an image in a
minute to ensure the smoothest possible
operation.
RESIZING SHEETS
Some sheets can't be resized (such as
character sheets), others can only be
resized in one direction (the combat
tracked, and some are automatically
resized on the players' screens to match
the size of the corresponding sheet on the
Gamemaster's screen (images). To resize a
sheet, press down control and drag inside
the sheet with the left mouse button.
NPCs. Use the lid command to create Module files are placed in the "modules"
identities for different NPCs, and make folder under the Fantasy Grounds program
them chat with one another as well as the folder. After this they can be loaded and
PCs. You can also use chat frames to unloaded using the module selection view.
write crucial parts of dialog for NPCs. After you load a module, you can make
modifications to the record sheets created
PROPELLING THE GAME FORWARD as a result, but they will be lost if you
During the game, pay special attention to unload and reload it. Modules are meant to
the state of the game. It is harder to judge be used in the same way as many
the reactions of other players without conventional RPG supplements, usually
seeing them in person, but it is also easier published as books. When you make
to take action in text chat. If a situation modifications to items from modules, keep
seems to bog down, step in and propose a in mind their nature, and limit the changes
course of action, or use the stop icon and to small, session specific information.
move the story on. Calling votes using the
Ivote command is good for such COMBAT
situations. The most important tool for the
Gamemaster during combat situations is the
USING MODULES combat tracker. It is a list that can be used
You can download module files that to keep track of all PCs and NPCs
contain record sheet collections. The participating in the combat, sorted
actual content of the modules can vary according to initiative, along with their
from campaign settings and adventures to wounds and active effects.
libraries of NPCs or magic items. See the
Fantasy Grounds official web site at To add entries to the list, use drag and drop
http://www.fantasygrounds.com for starting from an entry on the NPC or
downloadable content. monster list or a PC portrait. You can also
add empty records using the radial menu
on the list. The radial men u also has the
option for removing entries.
The Gamemaster can either move the require Gamemaster adjucated modifiers.
token to an alternative location. or Sometimes it is convenient to take this into
ayprove the move. Pressing down the account without telling the players. Other
Control key and left clicking on the times. it might be easier to have the players
token or simply clicking on the token take care of them. or just be able to present
with the middle mouse button will the modifiers in order for the players to
approve the action and move the token to have an easier time judging the difficulty
the target position. of an action for the character. To create
modifiers the players can drag directly
Combat usually progresses in rounds. from the chat window to the modifier
Fantasy Grounds supports this by stack. use the /die slash command. Specify
allowing the Gamemaster to flag one the modifier as the die roll. and any
f>layer at a time ~s having his or her turn. description you may want to attach to it as
When a player s turn is activated. an the message. Another nice way to use this is
indication of this is displayed in the chat to award experience the players can drag
window. the active player gets an audio and drop directly on the experience field. It
signal of the event. and his or her will be automatically added to the value
character·s name under the portrait is already in the field. Some examples of the
displayed in bold text. To set a player as use of this command are:
active in the round order. bring up the
radial menu on his or her portrait and /die -4 Range penalty
select ·Toggle Turn··. Selecting this option
again on a player who is in turn will /die 1500 Experience award
deactivate all players. effectively moving
the turn to the NPCs. A blank turn WHERE TO GO FOR MORE
indicator line will appear in the chat to INFORMATION?
indicate this.
This manual can only introduce you to the
Special situations will often occur during most common aspects of Fantasy Grounds.
combat and when they do. characters For more information and a user
attempting skill checks or attacks may community. check out the Fantasy Grounds
website at www.fantasygrounds.com.