New 5E campaign, need purchase guidance

[presence]

Looking to buy an ultimate license to avoid logistics issues with player purchases.

The intent is to buy "The Lost Mine of Phandelver" to learn the toolset, and give players new to 5e exposure to the rules and gameplay. Afterward I intend to buy one of the major adventures (it will likely be "Out of the Abyss").

What will my players have access to for character building, and how difficult is it going to be for them to do so? Do they need to buy anything to streamline this process? What if I purchase it, and they continue with just a demo/free license?
How much effort does the DM have to put into the adventure to make it playable other than standard research and reading?
What 5E accessories will make the game more streamlined to lay? I already have the rulebooks in print, but this doesn't really map directly.
For the time being, there will be no custom content, the campaign will follow whats available in the adventures purchased.

Looking at what I have spoken of here: expected costs $150 (ultimate license), $20 (phandelver), $35 (OotA) or $205 for the whole. If I add in the MM, PHB, and DMG, its another $150, or $355. If it really helps streamline the game during gameplay, or if it makes a big difference in prepping the adventure, I will consider the extras.

Thanks guys,
Kevin

[Griogre]

If you buy Lost Mines (or OotA), and an ultimate FG license then you, the DM, have everything you need to run the adventure. The players will either have to use the races/classes out of the SRD or Basic rules that comes free with FG or enter anything not in the SRD or Basic rules by hand.

Thus if you want to streamline things for the players and allow them to play things not in the Basic rules or SRD then you can get the Character Pack (PH) for them or they can buy it (or just a subset) for just themselves.

As long as you are running pre-built adventure modules you can wait on the MM and DMG.

Edit: PS Welcome to the boards. :) If you have other questions, just ask.

[damned]

Start with Ultimate + Lost Mines Of Phandelver.
LMoP includes pregens.
Tell the players to stick with what is available within the Free and SRD until they finish LMoP.
Then when they are screaming for more have them tip in $15each and you can put that towards Core Classes (PHB) and OotA.

You will need to read the LMoP so you understand some of the story links that arent immediately apparent if you just do it linearly as you go.
You will need to get some familiarity with running FG as the GM but the LMoP is a really good module and will ease you into things nicely.

Oh yeah - once they finish OotA they will be ready to subsidise the Core Monsters and whatever it is you next play with them :)

[Zacchaeus]

One other point, you can buy the ultimate license as a subscription which lessens the initial cost and would allow you to add the Complete Core Pack (PHB) to your initial outlay ($10 - per month for the subscription).

Having the PHB will considerably enhance the players options in character creation - the basic rules and SRD are a bit limited in this respect.

[PopinFRESH]

...

Having the PHB will considerably enhance the players options in character creation - the basic rules and SRD are a bit limited in this respect.

I'll second Zacchaeus on this, the Deluxe PHB (Complete Core Class Pack) is hugely worth the price and makes the character creation (& Leveling) process significantly better. I also agree with damned's sentiment.

Ultimate Sub/License + Lost Mines of Phandelver + Complete Core Class Pack is a great start and will have everything you need to both learn Fantasy Grounds and to run LMoP with very little setup effort by the GM nor the Players. I would agree that there really is no reason to get OotA right away and that $35 would be better put toward the Deluxe PHB. Once you've started getting near the end of the LMoP adventure then have people chip in to pick up the next adventure module you want to play.

The MM and DMG are largely un-needed starting out with the pre-made adventures since all of the NPCs, monsters, & encounters are already linked and ready to go. They are incredibly useful when crafting additional content, such as additional encounters, or creating some short adventures to bridge from one adventure module to another; however, they really can wait until you've got play time under your belt.

I did this exact same thing and it helped immensely in learning the software and absolutely amazed me at how quickly I was able to get LMoP up and running. I've since purchased all of the 5E content and have been working on organizing it along with creating some additional bridging content to run a long-term campaign through ToD, EE, and RoD.

Welcome to Fantasy Grounds & the community,
-PopinFRESH

[presence]

Thank you all for your great responses.

I won't be asking the players to put any money in at this point, but I don't mind. I picked the platform, and for the time being I feel obligated to pay for it, at least for the near future. If they buy into the platform and enjoy it, then its their option.

I do believe I will ask them each to pick a pregent for LMoP as that will get us going quickly. I have read the module multiple times and have the knowledge I need to run it. Any technical mechanics I need to change or add into FG so I can run it more smoothly? I'm not talking about the read-aloud text at the beginning of the adventure that isn't temporally correct or consistent (travel time and the read aloud don't correlate much at all), but actual effort that might be needed to make sure everything is in good stead? Not setting up initiative and all that, but things that are missing or otherwise incomplete.

Also, if my players are all using a free tier license, how do they create characters using my version of the PHB (Complete Core Class Pack)? Can I put a server up and they just connect and somehow do it there, or is it expected that they need to buy their own?

[Griogre]

FYI, the LMoP pregens were build using the D&D Basic rules so you could get by without the Player Packs if you want to use them. Generally, you either have a session where everyone gets together to build their characters in the first session (useful when people aren't that familiar with the system or sure what the character mix is) or you can schedule something with each individual and go over the character with just one or two players at a time.

If you are using the pregens that isn't really necessary though, they can just log in and grab the character. You might want to schedule a mock combat so the players can become familiar with their pregen characters. When I played in that module we also got the PDFs of the pregen characters to look at before the game: media.wizards.com/downloads/dnd/StarterSet_Characters.pdf

[Trenloe]

Also, if my players are all using a free tier license, how do they create characters using my version of the PHB (Complete Core Class Pack)? Can I put a server up and they just connect and somehow do it there, or is it expected that they need to buy their own?
You will need to create a 5E campaign in FG, allow access to the core class module through the library and then the players will need to connect to your campaign (join game), open the core class module and use that. Similar to what occurs in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nurEMR4JJeU but they'll join game and open your core class module rather than use manage characters.

You need to keep your campaign running when the players are creating/editing their characters.

[presence]

Awesome. Works for me! :D