This is a guide to help people understand best practices for creating adventure modules for Fantasy

Grounds. The AAW guide from 2013 is the original base for this guide (see link below). When creating an
adventure module, read through these best practices before beginning.
Note; some rulesets may not include all of the capabilities mentioned below.

Create a Module Development Campaign

Create a new campaign using the ruleset the module is designed for. Only use this campaign for the
creation & editing of your module, do not use it as a live campaign with players. Even if you are only
creating this for your own use with a single group, this is still the recommended practice. A name that
includes "Development" or similar is suggested.

1. Do NOT include any extensions unless these are going to be required to use your module (not
recommended).

2. When loading library reference modules be aware:

• If you are going to distribute the adventure, even on the FG forums, you can not include
the Intellectual Property of any other entity without explicit permission.

• You can include SRD references and distribute the module as long as you include
the full text of the appropriate OGL (this is your explicit permission).

• Inclusion of D&D 5E material from the PHB, MM, and DMG can be done if and
only if you are only distributing via the Dungeon Master's Guild and you follow
their guidelines (this is your explicit permission).

3. In general, data should be entered in the order the subjects are presented below.

Map / Image Preparation

• Image file sizes should be less than 1 MB each, and much smaller when possible. This is to
minimize the impacts of bandwidth limitations during play.

• Image size should normally be less than 1280 x 720 pixels. This is so that prior to window scaling,
the image can fit upon the screen of most clients.

• Image format is suggested to be JPEG.

• Image quality is typically 40 - 70% for a JPEG image. Usually very little visual quality is lost in this
range and yet file size can be greatly reduced.

• Images that will be linked to from with a story, NPC, etc entry should be entered into the
campaign image list prior to linking them in the entry. To facilitate organization, these images
should all be placed within their own tab/group.

• Image name will default to be the same name as the filename. This can be modified in the image
window to a friendly name as desired and is the name that the GM will see in image lists.

• Image name vs Unidentified name; Values should be entered into the unidentified name field as
this is the value players will see if the image is unidentified. It is usually best practice for players
 not to be given the official GM name for images as that can lead to unintended disclosure. (i.e.
“Corvar’s Lair” vs “Muddy Caves”). This function must be enabled by turning on the GM
campaign option, “Image Identification”.

Battlemap Considerations

• Scale: A scale of 10 pixels per foot (50 pixels per 5ft square) is most common. This yields a
resolution of approximately 1 inch per pixel, usually sufficient for any battlemap detail.

• Grid Alignment Guide; placing a 5 foot square box of an unobtrusive color in the top right corner
(never the bottom right) is suggested. This helps with placing the token grid overlay.

• Pre-place the token grid overlay on the map

• Unfortunately, masks are not exported when you create a module, so applying a mask is
unnecessary.

Large Map Considerations

Maps larger than 120 x 70 feet may require alterations to the above considerations.

• Keeping file size under 1MB should be the primary consideration or goal.

• Scale of 10 pixels per foot is the second most important goal. This may lead to images that
initially do not fit upon a players screen, but this can be corrected by the GM by scaling and then
Sync'ing the view or by the players scaling and resizing the image window.

• Image Quality can usually be adjusted to as low as 20% to maintain file size.

• An example battle map of 200x300 feet with 10px/ft and a JPEG quality of 20% yields a file size
of less than 500KB.

• Map size should be kept to less than 2048 x 2048 pixels except in rare cases. This is because
when the image is opened on the client it will take up a substantial portion of the available
RAM, which may impact stability as other resources are used during a game session.

• Somewhere around 3-4000 x 3-4000 pixel wide images will cause problems including non-
responsiveness and crashing in FG. This is because images this size require a lot of RAM
(regardless of file size, this is the amount of memory the file takes when opened) and may
exceed the process size limitation for a 32-bit application. (Depending upon your operating
system, this can be as low at 1.5GB or as high as 4GB, and has nothing to do with how much
physical RAM is installed in your computer.)

Item Creation

Any items that you are going to give to NPC's or make available as treasure should be created in the
module Item list.

• If you are using items from another source (library reference or module) they should be dragged
from that source to your Item list. This will make them independent of the other source. Be
aware of Intellectual Property restrictions if you intend to share this module.
 • Items should be formatted according to the rule system you are creating your module for.

• Abbreviations should not be used (except where standardized in the rule system).

• Item name vs Unidentified name; Values should be entered into the unidentified name field as
this is the value players will see if the item is unidentified. It is usually best practice for players
not to be given the official name for item until it is identified as that can lead to unintended
disclosure. (i.e. “Medallion of Thought” vs “Rune Inscribed Amulet”) This function must be
enabled by turning on the GM campaign option, “Item Identification”.

NPC Creation

All creature or NPCs that are going to be used in the module should be created in the module NPC list.

• If you are using NPCs from another source (library reference or module) they should be dragged
from that source to your module group in the NPC list. This will make them independent of the
other source. Be aware of Intellectual Property restrictions if you intend to share this module.

• NPCs should be formatted according to the rule system you are creating your module for.

• Tokens should be assigned to all NPCs prior to their use in Encounters. Use letter tokens when
no other appropriate image is available. See Tokens below.

• Images added to a NPC description entry should be linked from an image added to the campaign
and not from an open resource to insure they can be exported in the same module. (Otherwise
the link will not work unless the new campaign also has that resource open in the campaign
library.)

• For 5th Edition DnD, spells do not need to be added as actions to the NPC. By adding a
“Spellcasting” trait, the spell will be pulled from an available open reference and automatically
added to the NPC’s actions when the NPC entry is opened. The format for this trait should be
formatted as follows:
Spellcasting
The priest is a 5th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is
Wisdom (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). The priest has
the following cleric spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): light, sacred flame, thaumaturgy
1st level (4 slots): cure wounds, guiding bolt, sanctuary
2nd level (3 slots): lesser restoration, spiritual weapon
3rd level (2 slots): dispel magic, spirit guardians
Traps & Hazards

• In most cases traps or hazards that can deal damage, apply effects or impose conditions on
characters should be created as NPC’s so that they can be added to the map, combat tracker
and automation can be used and XP can be applied through the party sheet.

Tokens

• Recommended file format of PNG for best transparency support

• Size of 100x100 pixels for medium size creatures, 75x75 for small, and 200x200 for large
 • Tokens should be added to the development campaign by adding to the folder (create the folder
if it is not present); <FG Data>/campaigns/<campaign name>/tokens

• Tokens that are added to NPC’s that are exported will automatically be selected and exported
when the NPC is exported.

• Tokens that are not assigned to exported NPC’s that you wish to export with the module must
manually be dragged to the export window. See also, Token Usage Guide linked below.

Tables

• The output for tables that can be used by players should be set to “Chat” so that the players can
see the results of the table.

• Tables should (normally) be locked prior to export

Story Entries

Story entries should be consistently named and formatted throughout your module. They should include
the following;

• Entries should be numbered where applicable to control the order in which they are listed and
to indicate chapters. Typically the format is "Chapter.Entry" such as "3.01". Leading zeroes are
used to control sort order.

• Typically one story entry should be created for each location, event, or encounter. Story entries
that become overly long should be broken up into multiple logical story entries when possible.

• Sidebars should usually be created as their own story entry. They may be numbered something
like “4.07sb Roleplaying the Bad Guy” and should be linked to from appropriate story entries.

• Skill Checks are typically handled in one of three manners (but should be done in the same
manner throughout the entire adventure module).

o Inline in the story text as appropriate, often in bold font.

o Inline in the story entry but placed within a table to distinguish it.

o As a sidebar linked from the appropriate story entry.

• A link to any applicable Maps or Images

• A link to any applicable Encounters

• Links to NPCs only for non-combat entries, all hostile or map based entries should use
Encounters to facilitate easy addition to the combat tracker and map pre-placement (see
Encounters below).

• A link to any applicable Treasure Parcels (not directly to the items, as they should be placed into
a parcel for distribution to the party).

• Links to other story entries as appropriate

A Story list, filtered for the module Group, should look like this;

A typical encounter story entry may look like this;

or

A Note about a Module Index Entry. Some people prefer to have a single story entry that has an ordered
set of links to all other story entries. Basically an index. To me, I find this unnecessary as the Story list
itself serves this purpose. And it does especially well if you name the story entries with the
“Chapter.Entry” prefix. That said, there’s also no harm in creating one.

A Note about page references when converting published adventures. When converting published
adventures, references to page numbers (i.e. “see page 12”) should be replaced with something like
“See Link” and a links to the appropriate story entry, usually immediately following the paragraph.
Encounters

All map based or combat based NPC's should be organized into Encounters. This facilitates population of
the combat tracker and the encounter map with a single click.

• NPC's can be renamed in the Encounter to prevent identification by the players once added to
the Combat Tracker (i.e. “Kobold” can be changed to “Small Reptilian”)

• NPC tokens should be dragged from below their encounter entry and placed onto the
appropriate battle map (to help with automation)

• For encounters with a variable number of NPC's, the maximum number should be used in the
Encounter entry. This allows the GM to later reduce this number, but to still have all NPC's pre-
placed.

• Tokens can not be varied for different NPC instances by dragging a different token to the token
icon in the row(s) below the NPC name as this will not be kept when exported. If different
tokens are desired for the same type of NPC, unique instances of the NPC with unique tokens
have to be added to the encounter.

Parcels

• All treasure or items that may be distributed to the party should be included in treasure Parcels.
• Parcels should be numbered the same as their story entry but can be named descriptively (i.e.
“7.23 Beazle’s Hoard”

Groups

Also known as list categories, groups replace the former tab functionality and allow for list entries to be
organized into subsets.

• There is a limit to the length of a group name, for practical reasons, they should be limited to
less than 24 characters.
• All list items (Stories, Items, NPC, Encounters, Parcels, Images, Tables, etc) should be placed into
a group unique to the module.
• Groups should have a consistent naming convention throughout the module, such as the
module name “Hero’s Quest”. Or if multiple groups are needed because of many entries a
module prefix should be used (i.e. “BDC-1: Part 1, Campaign Setup”, “BDC-1: Part 2, Fleeing the
Army”, etc.).
• Empty groups (groups with no entries) will be automatically deleted upon exiting the campaign.

Map Pins

• All map locations should have a map pin placed on them linking to the appropriate story entry.
• Pins to encounter and parcels are not usually recommended as the linked story entry should
already have those links and more.
 • If a single map location has multiple related story entries, two or three may be linked with pins
independently, but otherwise a story entry with the location name and the links to all
appropriate story entries should be created. For example, if on an overland map there is a town
and that town has multiple story (and possible even a detailed map) entries based upon the
adventure timeline, the map pin should link to a story entry that contains the town name and
links to all the related town entries and the detailed town map.

Pre-Generated Characters

• Character Portraits are 63x63 pixels. If larger sizes are used, FG will rescale them automatically.
Note that the auto-assigned tokens for PCs that are generated based on the portrait will be
63x63 pixels. Regular tokens can be assigned to the PC in the Combat Tracker.

Module Export

When exporting, there are several fields that you can specify. Each field should be used accordingly;

Name

• File Name should not include version or date information as the file name is used to uniquely
identify the module. If the file name changes between versions, FG will not recognize it as the
same module and you will not be able to update live campaigns by synchronizing (called “Revert
Changes”) in the Library.

Thumbnail

• This is the icon that will be shown in the Library > Module activation window. It should be a PNG
file with the size of 63x63 pixels.

Category

• This is the title of the Library section that the module will be shown in when activated. It allows
modules to be grouped within the Library together with related modules.

Author

• The name of the module author

Read Only

• Usually only marked for reference material that is not intended to be modified once activated in
a campaign.

Create Backups
Periodically export the module and save the module file elsewhere so that it can be used as a backup or
otherwise backup the development campaign folder.

Updating Modules and Campaigns

Update to the modules should be done in the original development campaign. When ready, these
changes can be exported.

Updating a live campaign

Once the module has been updated, a campaign can be synchronized with the new module either in its
entirety or each individual modified entry.

To update all campaign entries to use the latest module entries; Select the module in the campaign
library, and from the right mouse button select "Revert Changes". Note, this will revert any entries that
have been modified in the campaign and remove shared objects.

To update individual campaign modifications; Select a modified entry (as indicated by the book and pen
icon in the campaign object list) and from the right mouse button select “Revert Changes”.

Note that entries that have not been modified from the original will automatically show the new
updated versions and do not need to be synchronized or “Reverted” (and actually will not have the
option available).

Modifying Official/Purchased Modules

If you want to modify an official published adventure (i.e. one that has been released by SmiteWorks,
such as “Lost Mines of Phandelver”), then you need to do the following;

• Create a "Mod" campaign, such as "LMoP Custom Mods"

• Open the published adventure in this new campaign

• Take the entry that you desire to modify, such as a story entry or NPC and drag them to the
campaign list for the same type.

• Open and Unlock this campaign version of the object. Modify to your hearts content.

• Rinse & repeat until you have all of your customizations done.

• Export to a module such as "My Custom LMoP Mods"

Now, when you want to run an LMoP campaign using your custom mods, do this;

• Create a new campaign, such as "LMoP Friday Night Group"

• Open the published adventure, then open your custom module

Resources/References

Adventure A Week module creation guidelines

Xorne’s Adventure Module Creation Tutorial

FG Wiki: Campaign Data

FG Wiki: Export

FG Wiki: Lists

FG Wiki: Image Pins

FG Wiki: Tokens

FG Wiki: Formatted Text

Token Usage Guide (TBD)

Edits

7 Aug 16 - Add large map considerations, Wiki links, Chapter summary entry additions

9 Aug 16 – Add Tables information, re-order Tabs

13 Aug 16 – Add information about image links in NPCs and other entries

8 Sep 16 – Add section on NPC spells and spell parsing, added Note to Updating a Live Campaign

1 Mar 17 – Incorporate elements from Xorne’s tutorial. Removed Tabs info. Added info for FG v3.2
groups. Added info on unidentified names/entries for images and items. Note about page references
added. Previous/Next link in story entries removed due to new UI functionality. Added “Modifying
Official/Purchased Modules”. Added 2048 x 2048 statement for large maps. Revised Story entry sections
for completeness. Corrected statement about differing tokens for each NPC instance in an encounter.

x Mar 17 – Token sizes updated to 100x100 pixels etc. Thumbnail size updated. Character portrait info
added. Example images added.