Fantasy Grounds - Port Forwarding and a "transparent" OpenVPN setup

fg/ovpn blurb by ZeFerby (https://zeferby.gitbook.io/transparent-openvpn-for-fantasy-grounds/)

This document, initially written in June 2019 for FG "Classic", is now being updated (September 2020) for :

simultaneous GMs/games through a single VPN server for FGC/FGU/FGC+FGU
FG "Unity" hosting games in LAN mode

For these use cases, specific sections have been added before appendixes.

FGU = Fantasy Grounds Unity vs. FGC = Fantasy Grounds Classic :

With FGU, hosting a game in "Cloud" mode should be ok for all GMs, whatever their specific network situation, without needing any kind of VPN.

However, if for any reason (platform unavailable, broken Internet routes, privacy concerns, whatever...) you want to host an FGU game in LAN mode :

it is the same kind of networking topology and constraints as FGC
the default protocol/port for FGU is UDP 1802 while FGC uses TCP 1802

Most of what I wrote in this document for FGC = FG "Classic" (and the TCP protocol) can be transposed to FGU = FG "Unity" hosting in LAN mode (and the UDP protocol).

FGU game hosting in CLOUD mode should be totally straightforward in all networking situations and not require any kind of port forwarding or VPN (except if some countries block traffic to the Unity servers...)

This document will describe a solution for GMs (Game Masters) to publish their Fantasy Grounds virtual table to remote players through an ad-hoc "GM-only" VPN, hosted on a small AWS (Amazon Web Services) Linux server.

But first...

Do you really need a VPN for Fantasy Grounds "Classic" ?

Most GMs do not need to use a VPN to successfully share their virtual table for players

Players generally do not need to use a VPN

There are however situations where a VPN may be needed on the GM's side :

temporary connection from a "public" internet facility (hotel room, etc)
country/ISP setup makes a unique public IPv4 address unavailable
proper port forwarding not possible for one (or more) router(s)
upstream "closed" firewall

Also : if you are a player and your GM is using a "closed VPN" offer like Hamachi, you will have to be a member of the same VPN as the GM to join the game.

This document presents a "transparent" VPN solution, where :

only the GM uses the VPN
the VPN is used to forward FG traffic only (TCP 1802)
the players do not have to install/use any kind of VPN or custom IP routing software

More help

To find out about everything you ever wanted to learn about Fantasy Grounds, and more, go visit :

FGC is a fantastic group of FG fans (GMs and players) providing voluntary help and training about FG, and can be joined :

on Discord : https://discord.gg/Ew6nYyw
on the website : https://fantasygroundscollege.net/
the Knowledge Base : https://fgc-kb.fantasygroundscollege.net/

We are a fan-driven Fantasy Grounds help and gaming place created by FGC offsprings (especially from EU-like timezones). You'll find us on Discord here : https://discord.gg/6s6WCuZ