Question about Fantasy Grounds.

[David32780]

Hello, I am a new possible user of Fantasy Grounds and I have a few questions about the software.

I just downloaded the software demo and wanted to check out what the campaign editor looks like for savage worlds. I am going to be DM'ing a SW Hellfrost campaign and when I went to click on SW it was directing me to purchase some sort of plug in. Was I looking at that right?

If I purchase the 149.00 deluxe package do I have to purchase all of the Hellfrost books for this program AFTER I have already purchased them and spent hundreds of dollars?

Also is this software a one time purchase or is this a yearly subscription?

[Trenloe]

Hello, I am a new possible user of Fantasy Grounds and I have a few questions about the software.
Welcome to the Fantasy Grounds community. :-)


I just downloaded the software demo and wanted to check out what the campaign editor looks like for savage worlds. I am going to be DM'ing a SW Hellfrost campaign and when I went to click on SW it was directing me to purchase some sort of plug in. Was I looking at that right?
The demo software comes with D&D 3.5e, Pathfinder (in the 3.5e ruleset) and D&D4e rulesets - the rulesets that are included with the base Fantasy Grounds product; it does not include Savage Worlds, or any of the other additional rulesets.

There are Savage Worlds videos available under the "Downloads" link at the top of this page that will give you a good feel of the Savage Worlds ruleset.

Also, running the demo in 3.5e mode, for example, will give you a good idea of the basics of all Fantasy Grounds rulesets - story entries, maps and images, dice rolling, sharing, tokens, masks, chat window, etc., etc...


If I purchase the 149.00 deluxe package do I have to purchase all of the Hellfrost books for this program AFTER I have already purchased them and spent hundreds of dollars?
See this thread where the same question was asked: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18741


Also is this software a one time purchase or is this a yearly subscription?
One time purchase. Historically, upgrades have been free too.

[David32780]

Trenloe thanks for the quick reply. I appreciate it.

I think I am going to pass on this software. I do not mind doing the 149.00 for the software but when I have to purchase the other books yet again I just will not do. I am an oldschool dice thrower so I am not really interested in D&D 3.5 or 4. I mainly stick to basic D&D in Mystara, Hollow World and Gazatteer or AD&D 1st editions only.

I will look into other options. My son is living 4 states away from me now and wants to continue table top gaming so we are having to convert to a virtual tabletop program to keep him and his other friends involved.

It was worth a shot at asking. Thanks again and I appreciate your time.

[Trenloe]

I think you may have missed out on some of the finer details on what you're looking for and what you may find available.

You can play a full Savage Worlds game on Fantasy Grounds with just an additional purchase, but the GM only, of the excellent Savage Worlds ruleset: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=DGASW3

If you already have the source books you're looking to play with then you don't need to buy anything extra beyond the base Savage Worlds ruleset - you can still use those books yourself and manually add in any info you really feel needs to be in Fantasy Grounds.

The key thing to remember here is that the Savage Worlds products you have already purchased are copyrighted material - so you will not be able to find any other, legal, Virtual Table Top (VTT) that gives you the material from these products for free. As mentioned in the thread I referenced above, the majority of the cost of any Savage World add-ins is the licensing agreement with the copyright holders.

Also, to reduce your expenditure, you may want to look at how you will be using the software - that is, how many GM's and players will be in your group and purchase a bulk discount package of full (GM) and lite (player) licenses instead of buying one ultimate licence.

To re-iterate - you can play Savage Worlds games within Fantasy Grounds with only the Savage Worlds ruleset: a one-time purchase by only the GM for $15. This includes GM and Player reference material from the Savage Worlds Deluxe Rulebook (as shown in screenshots 5 and 6 in the store entry I referenced earlier in this post).

If you really like the look of some of the setting modules then you can purchase them if you want - but they are not specifically needed for you to play.

[Griogre]

It should also be mentioned that if there are only two of you then it would be much cheaper to get a full and a lite license instead of an ultimate license, ie $60 (with a small bundle discount) vs. $150.

[David32780]

It should also be mentioned that if there are only two of you then it would be much cheaper to get a full and a lite license instead of an ultimate license, ie $60 (with a small bundle discount) vs. $150.




We have 5, sometimes 6 players.

[Trenloe]

We have 5, sometimes 6 players.
Will these ever GM or are they just players?

[David32780]

They are just players, all around the age of 15 ish. I DM for them because they are all my sons friends and they rekindled my love for table topping begging me to DM some D&D for them so I finally caved in. hehe

Well, I never lost the love for it, its just all of my friends I played D&D with including myself eventually parted ways because of jobs, wives and all that good stuff.

[Trenloe]

They are just players, all around the age of 15 ish. I DM for them because they are all my sons friends and they rekindled my love for table topping begging me to DM some D&D for them so I finally caved in. hehe
1 Full (GM) licence and 6 lite (player) licenses will cost $118.20 when ordered in one go (you get a bulk discount). But, if the 5/6 players will not always be the same 5/6 then you may be better off with the ultimate licence as this will cover you for as many different players as you want.


Well, I never lost the love for it, its just all of my friends I played D&D with including myself eventually parted ways because of jobs, wives and all that good stuff.
It sounds like you're similar to many people in the Fantasy Grounds community. Don't just limit yourself to running games for your friends - why not get involved with some of the other games being ran within the community! :-)

[Doswelk]

I am biased of course (I created most of the Savage Worlds settings for FGII modules), the main reason to buy the Savage Worlds ruleset is that unlike other rulesets this is a fully licensed product.

i.e. instead of the limitations of only being able to have a character sheet, the full functionality and rules for Savage Worlds is built in, dice will explode, all the edges/hindrances/skills/powers are there complete with rules.

In addition the settings add ALL the extra rules/skills/hindrances/edges/powers are added, of course you do not need to buy anything and could use another "cheaper" VTT but to my knowledge NONE of the others have any official support for Savage Worlds.

I'll end my sales pitch now, all I will add is that you can see the full functionality of the Savage Worlds ruleset on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/doswelk

[David32780]

You guys have talked me into it lol. It honestly looks to good to pass up!

When I get home Ill pick the software up, the SW Deluxe, Fantasy companion and all the Hellfrost stuff.

Thanks again for the input gents.

David

[phantomwhale]

I'm sure you won't regret it !

I've got a new version of the SW Deluxe coming out soon (It's a free upgrade, as always, so buy now and you'll still get it) which should have even more useful tools and options to help your Savage Worlds games online flow better.

Beyond that, everyone in the forums (as this post hopefully demonstrated) are top notch at helping people out and getting the most out of Fantasy Grounds.

Cheers,
Ben (-PW-)

[damned]

Savage Worlds is one of the best maintained rulesets and there are quite a few players here should you want to get back to playing a game or running more than one game.

[David32780]

I just picked up the SW handbook and Hellfrost plug ins. I am really exited to get back into gaming. hehe

Ill be looking forward to your SW upgrade as well Phantom.

Now I just have to find a game that excepts new players with no SW experience hehe.

[David32780]

@Damned

It seems like a really good system. I watched a group stream a SW zombie apocalypse game on twitch and really liked what I saw.