Tabletop Newbie

[ZeroRaptor]

I've always wanted to try tabletop RPGs but ended up playing MMORPGs instead. Thanks to a guildie, I've started looking into tabletop RPGs again and came across Fantasy Grounds. It looks great, but I'm not quite sure how to go about trying it out.

So in order to get a game going, I see I need to get a license in order to even use Fantasy Grounds. However, I also see that there's these add-ons and modules. Are those necessary to play a game or is the bare basic Fantasy Grounds license enough to play? Would the Fantasy Grounds client know how to calculate hits and stuff without modules and add-ons? Is it possible to enter that information myself so friends and I can just play with the Fantasy Grounds license?

[Lucidator]

Okay so first of all hi and welcome to FG.
When you're first starting out you have the free licence. With the basic licence you can play with any game master with the ultimate licence that has the spesific ruleset and assets to run a game without you requiering anything. with the standard licence you can gm for anyone that has the standard licence or the ultimate licence. Now FG calculates stats, rolls, hp etc. on its own with most rulesets and has character sheets incorporated into the system. And yes you can input your own info but you migth want to look it up as it can be a bit of a pain to do so. finally if you want to gm you might want to get the standard or the ultimate licence, if none of your friends has the standard one the ultimate licence will allow you to host those with the basic one assuming you have the assets.

The addons and modules is the stuff like rulebooks, extra content for characters, adventures, rulesets etc. once you get a feel for things go for the standard licence as you get everything you need there.

i reccomend trying to find a gm who has ultimate to get you started and comfortable with FG. also there is an online convention called FG con in april i believe so look out for that.

[damned]

Well hello ZeroRaptor.

All licenses come with the smarts for several rulesets (3.5e, 4e, 5e and Numenera) and there are many community (free) rulesets available. These all work with you putting your data in but the engine can calculate the results for you. 5e in particular (but also games like Savage Worlds, Call of Cthulhu, Castles & Crusades etc) have reference libraries you can buy which enable you to hit the ground running so much faster.
In addition 5e comes with a large amount of included SRD content which is enough to get you started.

Also check my signature for FG Con 8 coming up next month.


https://www.fg-con.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/fgcon8-banner-05.jpg (https://www.fg-con.com/events/)
FG Con 8 – Invite A Friend April 8-10th 2016
Register at www.fg-con.com (https://www.fg-con.com/) for all the latest info.

[ZeroRaptor]

Cool. So everyone in my tabletop group has to download the client, but only the dungeon master needs the license, correct?

[damned]

That depends on the license...

There are two types of licenses and two ways to buy.

Full License allows you to be a player or a GM. As GM all your players also need a license.
Ultimate License allows you to be a player or a GM. As GM you can have players with or without licenses. There is no additional content in the Ultimate License.

You can buy outright for $40 and $150 respectively - or - subscribe for $4 and $10 respectively.

If you play a commercial ruleset you would buy that ruleset if you are the GM. Your players can then access the player materials while connected to your game. If players want to access the players material offline then they could also buy a license. For Savage Worlds or Castles & Crusades for example the rulesets are very cheap. For 5e you pay about $50each for the PHB, MM and DMG. So the cost can vary a lot. With 5e there is a whole stack of included content but most tables will buy at least the PHB.

[damned]

And yes - everyone needs a client. If the GM has an Ultimate License the players may just have a demo client but they do still need to download and install a client.

[ZeroRaptor]

Okay, thanks for all the help!

[damned]

Be nice to your GM. If he buys the Ultimate license you guys might chip in and buy the adventures or PHB etc :)
Have fun!