An Introduction to Bazaar Packages

The Bazaar supports many forms of content! In this guide, we explain packages on The Bazaar, and what kind of package your content might be categorized as.

This post is part of a series of posts dedicated to explaining the Bazaar Creator process. If you are uncertain about anything else related to The Bazaar, The Forge has a series of guides meant to teach new Bazaar Creators how to get started:

What is a package?

A Bazaar package is any one product/content distributed on The Bazaar. A package can vary wildly in content. A software module adding a new sheet to a Foundry VTT game system is a package. A ready-made adventure for Foundry is also a package. Even a collection of tokens, sold together on The Bazaar can be a package.

On the Forge, we currently have four different kinds of packages- module packages, world packages, system packages, and asset packages.

What kind of package should my content be?

We explain common Bazaar content below, and what package form they should take. There may be some overlap between the examples below. When in doubt, reach out to Forge staff on our Discord or via email for help.

Distribute your content as an asset package when…

  • You are distributing images, audio, or video files compatible with Foundry VTT and…
  • They are not bundled with Foundry VTT data like scenes or characters and…
  • The media is not packaged alongside content that is.

For example, if you are distributing map images without preparing them as a scene within Foundry VTT, you would want to distribute them as an asset package. This applies in general to other media- if it is compatible with Foundry VTT, but not configured for Foundry VTT use (as an actor, scene, etc.), it should be distributed as an asset package. You can see what media files are compatible with Foundry here.

The exception to this would be when you are distributing assets alongside content bundled for Foundry VTT. For example, some mapmakers will distribute map packs with pre-configured dynamic lighting on a scene, accessible within Foundry VTT. In some cases, they may also pack together assets for a Game Master to put on the map, such as rubble, or furniture. In these cases, it is better to prepare and distribute the content as a module package.

Distribute your content as a Foundry VTT world when…

  • You are distributing a TTRPG adventure with pre-configured scenes/journals/actors, and want users to access the content by installing a world.
  • You have a creative/desired reason for distributing the content as a world, instead of as a configurable compendium.

Worlds, sometimes known as “adventures” on other VTTs/platforms when referring to RPG products, are usually intended to be feature-complete campaigns or mini-campaigns, ready to run within a single Foundry VTT world. Clash at Kobold Cauldron is one example, containing everything a gamemaster needs to run the adventure, already set up for their usage. The content within Clash at Kobold Cauldron is self-contained within the distributed Foundry world, and has a central purpose as a self-contained world.

If you want your content to be importable into existing worlds, is a small “one-shot”, or an add-on intended for a larger adventure, it is usually better suited as an importable module.

Distribute your content as a module when…

  • You wish to distribute media such as images/audio/video files, prepared for usage within Foundry Virtual Tabletop. You wish to distribute this content in a way that allows users to access the content without importing a world.
  • You wish to distribute Foundry entities such as actors, items, journals, etc., without being bundled together into a world. Media files may or may not be associated with this content.
  • Your content is prepared as a typical software module, changing features or behaviors of Foundry Virtual Tabletop in a method different from creating a system.
  • You wish to do some combination of the three use cases mentioned above.

Modules are the broadest type of package distributed by The Bazaar, encompassing a wide variety of content. Compendium modules are the most common form- modules that exist to store entities (items, actors, playlists, journals, etc.). Map packs are often distributed in compendium modules, where a map image is readied for use with scene data, ready to drag and drop into a user’s game immediately. Software modules also exist, which function by altering the behavior of Foundry VTT to add some kind of new feature, or edit an existing one.

If this sounds complex, it really isn’t! It just means that media content is often distributed with associated Foundry data, making it easier for a user to drop and use within Foundry Virtual Tabletop.

If your content does not fit into any of these specified use cases, it does not belong as a module package.

Distribute your content as a system package when…

  • Your content is a developed game system for Foundry Virtual Tabletop.

Foundry Virtual Tabletop uses systems to define how a world/game is played within the software. Without a system, a world cannot be used, or even created on Foundry Virtual Tabletop. Most packages are not systems. If you have created/are distributing a system on The Bazaar, you are likely aware of whether your content belongs as a system package. If your content is not a Foundry VTT system, it is not a system package.

Why does it matter what kind of package my content is?

By knowing what kind of content you are distributing, you can learn how to create it more easily! Also, as is explained in our guide to publishing on the Bazaar Marketplace, a Bazaar Creator must submit their content as a type of package, selecting from categories in a dropdown menu pictured below:

If you submit your content under the wrong category to The Bazaar, The Bazaar will be unable to process it, and you will need to contact Forge Support to fix the package.