FGU and Getting Going

So, after last week’s problems we had a much more successful session using Fantasy Grounds Unity.

My group has pretty much settled on Tuesday nights being game night. We all had characters now, and the group ran into a band of five goblins, two hobgoblins, and a goblin chieftain.

The fight was fairly bloody, on both sides. Somehow the players all forgot about the need to parry, or even to move.

Out numbered, and out gunned the result was fairly predictable.

I am hoping that it was because it was all new, but the game session did end up focussing on the map and tokens than on any roleplaying. This is what happened when I played in a 5e game online as well.

The good thing is, even the players said that it was very wargamey or boardgamish.

I want to run something more theatre of the mind next time.

Things I liked was the line of sight in Fantasy Grounds Unity maps, and I like the character creation.

What I found difficult was that there was a massive lag between someone rolling an attack, and the Tabler Resolver appearing and showing the right attack table.

I am not sure if I can bypass that. I don’t know how to add damage to a foe, and the conditions. I would still like to use the condensed combat system by hand, but I am not sure if that is going to be possible.

I have read online that FGU is still being optimised, so I am hoping it wall become more responsive over time. I don’t really want to buy a new laptop just to run FGU.

The other alternative is to let someone else GM. Wouldn’t that be a shame, if I only got to play 😉

As part of my practice and learning I have been making quite a few characters. I cannot decide which I want to play. I am hovering between an Illusionist and a Mentalist. I am also considering building a monk tomorrow and seeing how he turns out.

4 Replies to “FGU and Getting Going”

  1. We moved our games online last March due to Covid, and while I was hesitant at first, I have come to appreciate some things about the online experience. It is not quite as good as an in-person game, imho, but it gets pretty close — it certainly scratches that itch.

    Some of the benefits to me are:
    –Ease of play. You can find and connect with people easily. I was finally able to get together with some of my old group from the 80s, and with a few new recruits, we’re back to gaming. My previous group is still going too, so I am alternating weekends. I haven’t been playing so much since high school!
    –Line of sight on maps. Wow, that is so cool to me, and something that was just really hard to recreate at a real table when everyone can see the map. The moment my players first got into the caves, and the one with extended darkvision could see everything up ahead (including the zombies!) while the one without it had to keep asking people what they saw was really fun. I understand what you mean when you say that the game can devolve into a wargame, but the line of sight aspect at least actually helps roleplaying imho. Both my groups tend to be hack-and-slashers too, so they seem to have adapted to online play quite well.

    Hope you are having fun!

  2. I don’t know about FGU options, but on Roll20 I have found include images to represent locations as place holders work well to promote the roleplay elements. It doesn’t matter if it is exact replica for what you want but it provides enough to move out of a tactical mindset. On occasion when crawling though a dungeon map it helps to move away and leave the players looking at an image and for me as the GM to see the map and move them. It leaves them thinking more and visualising. If they have a spatial query you can always flip the map at the current location to help.

    At some point soon I’m going to have to commit to a VTT properly (eek cash), but I keep thinking we will be able to play in person soon.

    1. I have seen that done before, it looked really good. Putting up a picture of the spooky haunted house but then just describing the rooms and layout. I am sure that every game will improve with time if I am on my guard against battlemap creep.

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