What do I need to buy to get started?

[Ecnassianer]

One of the players in my campaign showed me Fantasy Grounds and said we should start using it. None of us have used it before.

We are playing 5th Edition Hoard of the Dragon Queen (which I hear is coming to Fantasy Grounds soon).

We are:
1 GM
1 Tiefling Warlock
1 Half-elf Druid
1 Drow Rogue

What do I need to buy to move this campaign in to Fantasy Grounds?

My guess for what I, as the GM, need to buy is:
1 copy of Fantasy Grounds ($39.99)
Hoard of the Dragon Queen(~$19.99)
D&D Basic Rules and Theme ($2.99)
D&D Warlock Class Pack ($5.99)
D&D Rogue Class Pack ($2.99)
D&D Druid Class Pack ($5.99)
D&D Character Customization Pack ($8.99)

For a total buy-in of around $90 (ouch, and I don't even have a monster manual yet). Are all these assumptions correct? Or do I not need all of this?

I've no clue what I need to tell my players to buy other than a copy of Fantasy Grounds. Can someone explain what my players will need to buy? (Please tell me that after I just dropped $90, they only need their own copy of Fantasy Grounds).

P.S. The D&D pricing structure is freaking confusing. I shouldn't have to post on a forum asking about this. The descriptions of all the DLC needs to explain who buys what. Also, why isn't this a F2P game already, you've already got the MTX model in spades.

[Nylanfs]

Each player and GM will need a copy of FG $39USD (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=SWK01) (Unless everyone chips in for the GM to get the Ultimate License (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=SWK03) which lets people with just the demo/free version connect $37.50USD split four ways)

That's it at the barest minimum, this will require you to create all the class, monster, & adventure info themselves.

If you the GM get the HoDQ $19.99USD (forthcoming) then you do not need to input any of the adventure, maps, monsters in the module etc.

If you the GM get the Complete Core Class Pack (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=WOTC5EPHBDELUXE) then you have all the classes, spells, some portraits, tokens and such in it.

If you the GM get the Complete Core Monster Pack (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=WOTC5EMMDELUXE) then you have all the monsters to run what ever adventure you want.

Alternately you could sign up for the the Ultimate Subscription, and get just the packs you listed and it would knock 30 dollars off (at least the first month).

[Trenloe]

What you mention is about the bare minimum (unless you want to enter PC and NPC/adventure data manually) and won't allow for too much deviation from the classes and standard NPCs that come with the adventure - of course, you can always add to the packages you've purchased later. Your players will need the full license if you have a full license - outright purchase or monthly subscription. Or you can get the ultimate license (one off purchase or monthly subscription) to allow the players to use the free version to connect.

[damned]

Id go the Ultimate Sub for 1 month and the rest of your purchases. That leaves the players not needing to buy anything.
Lost Mine of Phandelver contains all the Monsters you will need for this Adventure.

That'll get you all hooked and then discuss with your players -
Maybe they can chip in 40 each and buy the Steam buy 3 get 4 pack and gift you the extra or they can chip in a little more and buy you the Ultimate license.
Then as you need extras you can get them without the big wallet hit.

The Basic Pack is pretty good - It runs from levels 1 to 20 and covers the cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard
It also provides the dwarf, elf, halfling, and human as race options
the rules contain 120 spells, 5 backgrounds, and character sheets
And there are about 100 NPCs all loaded from Acolyte to Zombie - these only have letter tokens associated with them and not any official artwork but all the attacks, descriptions etc are all there.

[Moon Wizard]

I'm going to try and simplify what has already been said. :)

Bare minimum, you need $9.99 for a month of the ultimate license, and your players can use the free license to connect to you.

With the bare minimum, you get the 5E version of the FG tabletop without any data. You can enter any data that you want to use to speed up your games, such as PCs, creatures, maps, etc.

All of the rest are data packs that you can purchase contain data from the books and modules which has been entered for you, including graphics. They are not required to play; they just save you time.

Regards,
JPG

[Trenloe]

Lost Mine of Phandelver contains all the Monsters you will need for this Adventure.
It would... if the OP wasn't wanting to run Hoard of the Dragon Queen. ;)

[Griogre]

First, I'll tell you if you drop the $90 all you players will need to get is the FG license. :) I would like to point out your 4 man group is a perfect fit for the buy 4 FG licences for the price of 3 Steam bundle which would drop the price to $30 each on the FG licenses.

Now lets talk about the $90. First, I started running Hoard of the Dragon Queen for two groups several months ago before Smiteworks got the 5E license from WotC. This means I have already built most of HotDQ adventure. Depending on how far your group is along in HotDQ it may or may not make sense to wait for the release of this module by Smiteworks. I build my HotDQ module from the equivalent of the Basic Rule Pack's Monsters. Probably 85%+ of the generic monsters you need to build your own version of the adventure are in the Basic Rules Pack. There is also usually only a few monsters per episode that are not in the basic pack and it doesn't take that long to input a monster or two by hand into an adventure. If you have the module book and use VoIP then you only need to put monsters, encounters and maps since you can read from your book the rest.

Even still, unless you have a lot of free time the adventure modules are worth the money. As I've shown you how save about $10 each on the FG licenses with the bundle, you might ask your players to spend part of their savings to gift you on Steam the packs they need for their characters. You could be a nice guy and pick up the D&D Character Customization Pack for 9 bucks. This would put out each of you players less than $40 and you would need to spend a bit more for you license + Basic Rules Pack + Character Customization for $52. My long winded 2 cents.

By the way, you are welcome to sit in one of my HotDQ games and observe if you would like.

[VenomousFiligree]

Probably 85%+ of the generic monsters you need to build your own version of the adventure are in the Basic Rules Pack. There is also usually only a few monsters per episode that are not in the basic pack and it doesn't take that long to input a monster or two by hand into an adventure. If you have the module book and use VoIP then you only need to put monsters, encounters and maps since you can read from your book the rest.

I believe the Basic Rules Parser (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?21835-D-amp-D-Basic-Rules-PDF-Parser&p=185095&viewfull=1#post185095) will do the Hoard of the Dragon Queen Supplement.

[Griogre]

Very true, I was trying to keep my reply simple above but that was the module I originally used before I got my Monster Manual parsed. Using the basic parser to do the module supplement would probably boost the monster's you wouldn't have to do by hand up another 5%ish to around 90%, maybe more. You still have to do the module only monsters/NPCs since the supplement monsters are just those that are in the MM but not in the Basic Rules.

[Callum]

I don't have anything to add to the excellent replies above, but I do have a question for you.


One of the players in my campaign showed me Fantasy Grounds and said we should start using it. None of us have used it before.

Why did your player say you should start using Fantasy Grounds? What do you want to use it for?

[Ecnassianer]

Thanks everyone for your explanations, particularly Griogre!

I might pick up the ultimate subscription for a month and then buy Basic Rules Pack + Character Customization to get a sense if I want to spend the rest. It's also good to know that we only need one copy of each module (for me). I'll just make each player buy their own class pack.

@Callum, I'm interested in Fantasy Grounds for a couple of reasons.

1. I GM pretty fast and loose with the rules. I've never been one for looking up stuff in books, and honestly I think it hurts the experience. ("Why did that kobold have half the hitpoints as that other one?" "Don't worry about it, you ripped his ribs out, trust me, it was really cool"). This is my first time running a pre-made campaign, I usually just make them up myself. I've found burying my nose in the Hoard of the Dragon Queen book really disconnects me from my players. My hope is that by pushing some of the page flipping into software, I can focus more on telling a cool story in Forgotten Realms. And really, that campaign book is a mess. How does anyone ever find anything in such a linear format?

2. My players suck at keeping track of their character sheets, and the notes they write are atrocious. The druid meets exclusively over skype, and the rogue has started to skype about 50% of the time, so we're all in front of our computers and can't pass character sheets around anyway. Getting all that stuff on our computers would help keep things organized. And man, saving them time looking up how the spells they cast work would be great. They can never remember what everything does. *sigh*

3. I like keeping secrets between party members and pulling in source material (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApxnAr6pRt0) a lot. Seems like bundling that in Fantasy Grounds would be easier than holding my webcam up to whatever I'm sharing with my group.

I think my player mostly was interested in getting my nose out of the book.

[Ecnassianer]

Thanks everyone for your explanations, particularly Griogre!

I might pick up the ultimate subscription for a month and then buy Basic Rules Pack + Character Customization to get a sense if I want to spend the rest. It's also good to know that we only need one copy of each module (for me). I'll just make each player buy their own class pack.

@Callum, I'm interested in Fantasy Grounds for a couple of reasons.

1. I GM pretty fast and loose with the rules. I've never been one for looking up stuff in books, and honestly I think it hurts the experience. ("Why did that kobold have half the hitpoints as that other one?" "Don't worry about it, you ripped his ribs out, trust me, it was really cool"). This is my first time running a pre-made campaign, I usually just make them up myself. I've found burying my nose in the Hoard of the Dragon Queen book really disconnects me from my players. My hope is that by pushing some of the page flipping into software, I can focus more on telling a cool story in Forgotten Realms. And really, that campaign book is a mess. How does anyone ever find anything in such a linear format?

2. My players suck at keeping track of their character sheets, and the notes they write are atrocious. The druid meets exclusively over skype, and the rogue has started to skype about 50% of the time, so we're all in front of our computers and can't pass character sheets around anyway. Getting all that stuff on our computers would help keep things organized. And man, saving them time looking up how the spells they cast work would be great. They can never remember what everything does. *sigh*

3. I like keeping secrets between party members and pulling in source material (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApxnAr6pRt0) a lot. Seems like bundling that in Fantasy Grounds would be easier than holding my webcam up to whatever I'm sharing with my group.

I think my player mostly was interested in getting my nose out of the book.