Before I buy...

[PainInUrHead]

This program looks amazing. Having a family and a working all the time leaves little time for a good sit down table top. But i have a few questions:
Can I play this over a LAN instead of the internet where I work?
Do I need anything extra to play 3.5?
And do all my friends need to buy the full version to play?
Is there enough people in the community to just pick of a game and play because my schedule is needless to say crazy?

Thank you all for your help I hope this software is for me because it would make A Lot of things easier for me.

[Griogre]

You can play use FG over a LAN. If you do so, you should use the local IPs.

FG comes with the 3.5 (and Pathfinder) ruleset. The data included for 3.5 is only from the SRD.

Only the GM needs the Full version. Players of a GM with the Full version need to get at least the lite version. If the GM chooses he can get the Ultimate version and the players can then use the Unregistered (free) versions. If you have a group that has more than one GM, cost wise, several Fulls and lites are less than an Ultimate license.

While there are some pick up or one shot games most games run regularly with the same group of players just like face to face games. You are going to find almost no games where you can just "drop in".

[Moon Wizard]

* You can use Fantasy Grounds over a LAN. You just use the internal IP, instead of the external IP, to connect to the host game. If you decide to use the Ultimate license, it will require an Internet connection, but can still be used on a LAN.

* The 3.5E and 4E rulesets are included with Fantasy Grounds automatically. The 3.5E ruleset can be used to play Pathfinder as well. The 3.5E ruleset comes with the SRD data, as well as some of the Pathfinder core SRD data. There are also community projects to build modules for additional Pathfinder SRD data.

* I really need to add the license types to the FAQ. ;)
There are 4 license types for Fantasy Grounds:

* Unlimited - Can host a game for any license; Can join any game
* Full - Can host a game for Lite, Full or Unlimited licenses; Can join any game
* Lite - Can join any game
* Unregistered - Can join a game hosted by Ultimate license.

Regards,
JPG

[PainInUrHead]

Wow this is awesome software I really cant wait to try would anyone mind me getting the unregistered version and let me join and see what its all about?

[Griogre]

You should try downloading the installer and messing around with the demo here to get an idea of what FG can do: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/downloads/
You can then try posting on the 3.5 board and maybe going into the IRC chat to see if someone can demo FG, but you should be aware there aren't that many people with Ultimate licenses.

[angelicnargles]

I, too, am considering getting this for myself and some friends, and I wanted to confirm a few things.

1. Is the only difference between Ultimate and Full the ability to host unregistered players? (Is there any other benefit to Ultimate?)
2. What rule sets are specifically included with the purchase? (I.e. what is the difference between what comes with the purchase, and the "Complete SRD for Fantasy Grounds" listed in the store? If it helps, we are playing 3.5.)

I'll be trying out the demo sometime soon, but I wanted to get those cleared up before I decided if/what to purchase.

Thank you in advance.

[dr_venture]

Q1) I believe you are correct - that's the only difference. It is cool to be able to have folks check out your game without their having to own a copy of the software. That said, I believe that the next version of FG is going to allow you to have one unregistered player connect at a time, in order to help GMs & players decide if they want to buy a registered copy.

Q2) Only 3.5 and 4e are included. It's important to note that the 4e ruleset is functional, but contains no game data: no monsters, spells, items, etc. This is because of licensing issues with WotC. You *can* use a free utility that the community has created that will connect to your WotC online account (can't remember what it's actually called) and gather game data from there. It does require a little bit of computer knowledge, but a lot of people seem to get it done ok, and it's a very popular ruleset.

I'm not sure about the whole SRD thing (the only "SRD acronym I'm familiar with is "software requirement document"... which doesn't seem to apply here). I *think* that what it includes (which I'm sure will be corrected if I'm wrong) is all of the Open Gaming License content arranged for use with FG. There's quite a bit of game content in the OGL source docs, while the basic FG 3.5 rules mainly contains just items, creatures, etc. I think that the SRD contains all that textual rules content that isn't included in teh basic FG ruleset.

...or am I totally wrong about that?

From what I've seen, the purchased rulesets include everything you need to play those games. In particular, the Rolemaster ruleset and Castles & Crusades include tons of rule book content for a very reasonable price.

[Nestor]

This program looks amazing. Having a family and a working all the time leaves little time for a good sit down table top. But i have a few questions:
Can I play this over a LAN instead of the internet where I work?
Do I need anything extra to play 3.5?
And do all my friends need to buy the full version to play?
Is there enough people in the community to just pick of a game and play because my schedule is needless to say crazy?

Thank you all for your help I hope this software is for me because it would make A Lot of things easier for me.

if you are looking for steady games at irregular times then you should look into the FGII Pathfinder Society, we play 4-5 hour self contained sessions with re-occurring themes and characters that are reported back to Pazio, similar to LFR. Everyone takes turns GMing. Pathfinder is great, mainly because they sell their books for around 9.99 for a pdf.

[Trenloe]

2. What rule sets are specifically included with the purchase? (I.e. what is the difference between what comes with the purchase, and the "Complete SRD for Fantasy Grounds" listed in the store? If it helps, we are playing 3.5.)
As mentioned by others, Fantasy Grounds comes with a 3.5E and 4E ruleset - Pathfinder is incorporated into the 3.5E ruleset. There are other community rulesets available for download and some available to buy in the FG store.

The Complete SRD is a library module that contains reference material for use within Fantasy Grounds, it is not a ruleset in itself. This module in particular was designed for the older d20 ruleset, but most of it should work with the 3.5E ruleset.

You can see what I mean by reference modules by loading up the demo version of Fantasy Grounds, clicking the "Modules" icon in the top right, open the modules you want to use (double-click on the image) and then go to the "Library" entry to view them.

More details on modules here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/userguide35E/gm_library.xcp

[damned]

drV - srd is the system reference document:
https://www.d20srd.org
https://www.d20pfsrd.org
https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/srd35

the other question that was asked was is there enough activity to just jump in with a pickup game? i would suggest there probably is not - but a number of people have been expressing similar sentiments lately so maybe its getting closer to that point?

[Tubel]

I must admit, when I first started looking at FG2 I thought "I'll download the demo and try it out" I was watching the demo download when I thought to myself "what am I doing? It's reasonably priced, the video tutorials looked impressive, just buy it Dave and stop fiddling around. Worst case scenario - you end up not using it but you've supported an independant company that is helping to keep PnP alive in a world with lots of other options."

I texted my mates to see if they were interested and about 10 minutes later I bought 4 full licences - with the bundling discount you're close to getting the 4th licence gratis - and we haven't looked back. Go the impulse buy!

[dr_venture]

Welcome Tubel & co. One thing that doesn't get advertised is this great community - just some of the nicest and most helpful folks I've run into anywhere on the net. Being a small product with limited resources, FG has it's issues, but that doesn't stop a ton of folks from getting a whole lot of use and enjoyment out of it. The developers are regulars up here, and so far, after a few years posting up here, I have had nothing but positive experiences.