FG Academy Looking For a PF2e Guru

[Laerun]

The Fantasy Grounds Academy Community is seeking one or two individuals proficient in the Pathfinder 2nd Edition (PF2e) ruleset to assist in onboarding new users to the Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop (VTT) platform.
Selected candidates will receive the PF2e Beginner Box and a standard Fantasy Grounds license. (If applicable or needed.)
Volunteer duties include guiding users through PF2e character creation, explaining recent ruleset updates, and instructing on using Fantasy Grounds for game sessions. The role also involves developing video tutorials and organizing practice games and hands-on events.
Our Fantasy Grounds Academy Discord community comprises over 6,000+ members and continues to grow.

For more information or to join our community, please visit:

Website: https://www.fantasygroundsacademy.com/

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Ew6nYyw


To explore the Fantasy Grounds VTT platform and the PF2e Beginner Box, visit the following links:

Fantasy Grounds Standard License: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/

Pathfinder 2 RPG - Beginner Box: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store...ZOSMWPZO2106FG

Paizo PF2e Ad_20241205_164151_0000.png

[Montis]

I hope you get a few good candidates. I'm much too busy myself to do volunteer work, unfortunately.

[Ludd_G]

I wish I was well versed enough to contribute, but feel I'm more on the consumer end of this endeavour rather the creator end.

With regards that, I've been a long time 5e DM, running very 'extended' sessions (many extensions all playing together perfectly... mainly!) and can generally get everything running smoothly for my players to get the benefit of all the extra automation, without them having to engage with the nuts and bolts, as it were.

Since the OGL (etc etc) situation I've been working at getting up to speed with the PF2e ruleset both in an IRL and a FGU context and I feel like I keep running into a brick wall in terms of flow. I love the granularity of the PF2e ruleset and feel it solves a lot of the issues I have with 5e in terms of mechanics, so am very happy with that. And I think the implementation of the ruleset within FGU is remarkable, and possibly the most fully featured and robust self contained ruleset on Fantasy Grounds. I'm often blown away with how much is built in, things that i would need extensions for when playing 5e, and the addition of the 'how to use this...' notes at the end of item/rules/mechanic descriptions just points to how much of a labour of love this has project has been for Trenloe and the team.

My issue has been, and what I would love some video tutorial to help address, the 'flow' of the game. With so much crunch to the ruleset I don't feel I'm getting anywhere near to the benefits I'm sure the FG implementation can afford me and my players in terms of the smooth running of a session.

My main example of not feeling I am able to provide to my players the benefit to the 'flow' is in the concealment/cover/hiding/sneak/off-guard mechanics. I think for me this is the crux, as once I can make these mechanics, and the rulesets implementation of them, run smoothly for both me and my players, many other systems in the ruleset will much more easily fall into place. It was the same for me with the similar (but obviously much less granular) rules in 5e, once we had them nailed down in both theory and in FG practice it really solidified the whole ruleset.

Obviously it's not just this particular rule sub-system, but i do find this is when i bump my head against that wall the most.

So what I'd love to see are videos taking a deep dive, not just into how a particular sub-system works, but more importantly how it works mechanically within FG, how it flows within a session, what the players should be responsible for (FG wise) versus what I as DM am responsible for. I'd love to see videos on: cover/conceal/hide/sneak/off-guard; the exploration phase (much better than 5e but still a bit loosie-goosie for newer players to know what they are meant to be doing i think); the targeting of effects between different discrete combatants; how skills test should be approached; the complexity of encounters with different enemies/players affected by different conditions/circumstances/effects (concealment/cover/lighting/vision etc.) and how FG can simplify/automate all this. Maybe with a couple or more people actually running these situations and exposing how the mechanics work, are implemented, are used by players and DMs, within FG.

I hope this looooong post makes sense and is taken in the spirit it was written in. I think this is a truly great implementation of the PF2e ruleset but, as someone with several years of FG under my belt, i find myself getting bogged down in situations that I know the ruleset is made to simplify, but which I don't know how to use to it's full potential in aiding me and my table in this.

Thanks to all of you who work to make our fun at the virtual table as good as it can be, it's very very much appreciated.

Cheers,

Simon

[Laerun]

PF2e Beginner Box:
Getting started as a GM video.

https://www.youtube.com/live/iHeakRm...Uwp5NODyAMvzYe

Resources:


Pathfinder 2E Beginner Box Setup Resources for Fantasy Grounds

A list of basic resources to help you set up and get the most out of the Pathfinder 2E Beginner Box on Fantasy Grounds:

Getting Started:

1. Fantasy Grounds Unity (priced competitively now)

Purchase on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/1196310/Fantasy_Grounds_Unity/

Purchase on Fantasy Grounds Store: fantasygrounds.com/

2. Pathfinder 2E Beginner Box Module

Steam
store.steampowered.com/app/1397770/Fantasy_Grounds__Pathfinder_2_RPG__Beginner_Box/ (Steam works well for non US countries in regards to local pricing.)

Fantasy Grounds Store: fantasygrounds.com/store/product.php?id=PZOSMWPZO2106FG

3. Paizo Account Link (to claim discounts if you own the PDF)
Link your account: fantasygrounds.com/store/syncPaizoAccount.xcp

4.) When you buy from the Fantasy Grounds store, you are also buying access to the PDF on the Paizo store. If you already own some Paizo Digital PDFs, synchronizing your account will qualify you for some potential Fantasy Grounds cost reductions due to the fact that you have already purchased the digital PDFs.

5.) Make sure to watch for Weekly, Seasonal, and Humble Bundle discounts and sales to save yourself some money!

Learning Pathfinder 2E in Fantasy Grounds:

Fantasy Grounds Pathfinder 2E Ruleset Guide
fantasygroundsunity.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FGCP/pages/996640385/Pathfinder+Second+Edition+Ruleset

Community Help & Discussions
Pathfinder 2E forums: fantasygrounds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?102-Pathfinder-2-0

Additional Resources:

Shaderaven’s YouTube Channel (Fantasy Grounds & Pathfinder 2E tutorials)
youtube.com/@shaderaven327/videos

Martin Blake’s YouTube Channel (in-depth Pathfinder 2E content)
youtube.com/@martinblake4215/videos

Archives of Nethys (PF2E rules, lore, and tools)
2e.aonprd.com/

FGA Affiliate Support
Support Fantasy Grounds Academy by purchasing through our affiliate link:
affiliates.fantasygrounds.com/316071/15958/url_31611

[HuseyinCinar]

Nice round up Laerun!

I'll check some of those links.

I ran like 3-4 sessions of one shots and 3 sessions of a long form campaign so far. I'm used to FGU from my 5e days but PF2 works so differently that it's like learning anew.

[slaapliedje]

I wish I was well versed enough to contribute, but feel I'm more on the consumer end of this endeavour rather the creator end.

With regards that, I've been a long time 5e DM, running very 'extended' sessions (many extensions all playing together perfectly... mainly!) and can generally get everything running smoothly for my players to get the benefit of all the extra automation, without them having to engage with the nuts and bolts, as it were.

Since the OGL (etc etc) situation I've been working at getting up to speed with the PF2e ruleset both in an IRL and a FGU context and I feel like I keep running into a brick wall in terms of flow. I love the granularity of the PF2e ruleset and feel it solves a lot of the issues I have with 5e in terms of mechanics, so am very happy with that. And I think the implementation of the ruleset within FGU is remarkable, and possibly the most fully featured and robust self contained ruleset on Fantasy Grounds. I'm often blown away with how much is built in, things that i would need extensions for when playing 5e, and the addition of the 'how to use this...' notes at the end of item/rules/mechanic descriptions just points to how much of a labour of love this has project has been for Trenloe and the team.

My issue has been, and what I would love some video tutorial to help address, the 'flow' of the game. With so much crunch to the ruleset I don't feel I'm getting anywhere near to the benefits I'm sure the FG implementation can afford me and my players in terms of the smooth running of a session.

My main example of not feeling I am able to provide to my players the benefit to the 'flow' is in the concealment/cover/hiding/sneak/off-guard mechanics. I think for me this is the crux, as once I can make these mechanics, and the rulesets implementation of them, run smoothly for both me and my players, many other systems in the ruleset will much more easily fall into place. It was the same for me with the similar (but obviously much less granular) rules in 5e, once we had them nailed down in both theory and in FG practice it really solidified the whole ruleset.

Obviously it's not just this particular rule sub-system, but i do find this is when i bump my head against that wall the most.

So what I'd love to see are videos taking a deep dive, not just into how a particular sub-system works, but more importantly how it works mechanically within FG, how it flows within a session, what the players should be responsible for (FG wise) versus what I as DM am responsible for. I'd love to see videos on: cover/conceal/hide/sneak/off-guard; the exploration phase (much better than 5e but still a bit loosie-goosie for newer players to know what they are meant to be doing i think); the targeting of effects between different discrete combatants; how skills test should be approached; the complexity of encounters with different enemies/players affected by different conditions/circumstances/effects (concealment/cover/lighting/vision etc.) and how FG can simplify/automate all this. Maybe with a couple or more people actually running these situations and exposing how the mechanics work, are implemented, are used by players and DMs, within FG.

I hope this looooong post makes sense and is taken in the spirit it was written in. I think this is a truly great implementation of the PF2e ruleset but, as someone with several years of FG under my belt, i find myself getting bogged down in situations that I know the ruleset is made to simplify, but which I don't know how to use to it's full potential in aiding me and my table in this.

Thanks to all of you who work to make our fun at the virtual table as good as it can be, it's very very much appreciated.

Cheers,

Simon

When I was playing around with the Beginner's Box the other night, it seems to me that part of the concealed/hiding/off-guard stuff was automated, but not all of it. The rogue had 'HIDDENDC' and 'IFT: off-guard; DMG: 1d6 precision' added. But when an enemy is in a position where the off-guard penalty should be applied, it has to be manually applied. I'm not sure if there is any way to automate this, but it'd be very nice, as one pair of players could be on either side of an enemy in a combat, and get the off-guard bonus attack, but if a third player is also attacking the same enemy, they would not. (At least that's my understanding how 'off-guard' works, you have to have two players flanking an enemy).