Getting started

[MadMax33309]

Hello,

me and a few friends want to play D&D and I found Fantasy Grounds.
Very promising but I am a little confuse about the whole licenses and module things.
My question is what will we need to play D&D 5E with Fantsy Grounds?
Any tips?

[LordEntrails]

So, there are lots threads that you can look at and the wiki for more details, but here's a summary.

First, Licenses:
Each person can get a Standard license (subscription or permanent) OR if you have a fixed GM/DM then that person can get an Ultimate license (subscription or permanent) and everyone else can just use the free/demo license. I hear Steam often (always?) has an option to buy 4 standard licenses for the cost of 3.

Second, Content:
I'm assuming 5E, if not, some of this doesn't apply.
The SRD and the Basic Rules are included with any license. So you don't NEED to buy anything else in many cases. You can buy a module from the store or create your own (Lost Mines is often suggested as a great starting point).
If the players want access to the full drag and drop automation of any character in the PHB, then the DM needs to purchase the Core Class Pack (PHB) and the players must be connected to the DM to access it (or each player can buy their own if they want to do it offline). Note that individual class packs can be bought as well (either buy a player for their own use, or by the DM for shared use).
If the DM creates their own adventure and wants drag & drop access an automation to all of the monsters in the Monster Manual, then buy that (or you can buy it in sub-sets as shown inthe store). Then, the DMG can be bought by the DM as well, it adds all the magic items, a magic item forge, and all the tables from the DMG.

Third, let us know any other questions,

Fourth, Welcome!

[MadMax33309]

Hey LordEntrails,

thank you for your post, very informative.
One more question.
If I take the 30 days free trial, I do have to buy at least one month or can I cancel the subscription befor the end of the 30 days?

[Moon Wizard]

You can cancel at any time, but due to the way that the integration with PayPal subscription system works, the cancellation goes through immediately.

So, just set a reminder on your phone to cancel just before the one month mark. If you go over a bit, just let us know at [email protected] and we can refund.

Also, any purchases of 5E content do require at least a standard license to access. So, any 5E purchases will not be available after cancelling, but are remembered in case you later pick up a license.

Regards,
JPG

[LordEntrails]

I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure others have said you can cancel before the 30 days is up. But, I'd wait until someone who knows for sure chimes in. Odds are it won't be long before someone certain answers.

[damned]

You can cancel before the 30days are up and thus not incur any charge but the cancellation is effective immediately so dont do it until 29 days have elapsed!

[dulux-oz]

Hi Max,

Let me also add this (not quite answering your question, but helpful nevertheless) - If you haven't done so already, let me encourage you to take a look at some of the great Tutorial Videos available on the Fantasy Grounds Wiki (and on YouTube). Damn's are good, as are Xorn's, and people seem to like mine as well (mine are also available from the links in my sig, below).

Start with the ones on the CoreRPG, because the CoreRPG forms the foundation of just about all the RPGs we play with Fantasy Grounds - so by learning how to use FG with the CoreRPG you'll learn about 80% of what you'll need to know to play any RPG with Fantasy Grounds. Once you've gone through the CoreRPG Videos you can then go on to Videos about your chosen RPG.

When you get familiar with the basic Fantasy Grounds product the next step is to check out some of the Extensions (Plug-Ins) for FG, such as the DOE Sound, Locations, Weather and Organisations Extensions (to name a but a few).

And keep on asking questions - we're a pretty friendly lot here, and we love answering questions.

Cheers

[MadMax33309]

Thank you all very much!
Very nice ppl around here!

I will watch a few tutorial video, Fantasy Grounds seem to be a very powerful tool.

I spoke with my friends.
Ofc we talked about the price. Is very overwhelming and we never played D&D before, thats why is for us a high risk.
But I have a idea:
We want to buy the D&D Starter Set and combine it with the free trial version to see if it something for us.
I'm assuming that should work?

[damned]

Hi MadMax33309

If you are going to be playing around the table in person then do the Stater Kit.
If you are going to be playing online put the Starter kit money towards this instead:

$10 Ultimate Subscription
$20 Lost Mines Of Phandelver

This is a great starter adventure and it has taken some groups up to 27 by 3hour sessions
Your first $10 between the group will give you 61days of playing (first month free) - say 7 to 9 lots of 3 or 4 hour sessions

If there are 5 of you have everyone throw $6 into the pool and let the GM do the above.
If you love it the group can continue to throw in $2/month each and if you want to buy another module in the future you can each put in another $5 each or whatever it costs

[dulux-oz]

Yeah, that should be fine - I know a lot of the guys recommend that for people like you and your group to start with a 1 month Ultimate subscription ($10) for the DM and a bunch of free licenses for the players, and also pick up Lost Mines as it has everything you need to play (can't remember the price of Lost Mines) - that's probably the cheapest, lowest-risk way of getting started.

FG Daze is coming up soon (an online convention) so see if you and your group can get a game in there as well with experienced DM's and players - that'll teach you the system and you'll have fun while you learn. Damned's the person whom can talk the best about that.

DAMN! Ninja'd by damned :ninja:

[MadMax33309]

Oh I see "Lost Mines Of Phandelver" is like a starter set. Very nice.
Thats really all what we need? Like I said, we never played D&D before and my knowledge about it is little.

If I understand it right, the basic rules are included with the ultimate version of FG.
Is the basic rules the same as from the dnd site(the free PDF rules)?
I ask this only because I think before we can playing D&D we have to read the basic rules and to waste time of the free trial just reading the rules is not really a good idea^^

[damned]

Lost Mines of Phandelver is both a Starter Adventure AND a pretty decent campaign.
It also includes 4 or 6 pre-made adventurers for you to pick up and run with.

Fantasy Grounds (licensed versions) contain two free 5e resources and they are:

Basic Rules (same as on the Wizards website but in FG format) - these include ALL the stats/info/options on 4 Core Classes and 4 Core Races and a bunch of spells and equipment and monsters.
5e SRD (same as on the Wizards website but in FG format) - these include ALL the Races and Classes but not all the info/options for them. It contains some other additional info.

Id pick one or the other to use but not both (it will be simpler for you this way IMO). You absolutely can download them from the Wizards website and read them before hand. You dont need to read the whole thing (about 300 pages from memory!) but do read anything on Playing Characters, Building Characters, Running the Game.

Try and play a game this Saturday (even if its not D&D it will help you understand some of what is going on).

Also the rules can be house ruled for your own group. You dont have to know EVERYTHING. Dont get bogged down trying to learn it all (same goes for FG).

Always... Have Fun.

[Zacchaeus]

Yes, head on over to the FGDaze thread here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?97-FGDaze) and get your first taste of FG this Saturday.

[damned]

Zacchaeus is running a most delightful one shot. Make sure you are hungry.

[Callum]

If I understand it right, the basic rules are included with the ultimate version of FG.
Is the basic rules the same as from the dnd site(the free PDF rules)?
I ask this only because I think before we can playing D&D we have to read the basic rules and to waste time of the free trial just reading the rules is not really a good idea^^

Yes, the free Basic Rules PDF from the D&D website is the same as those included in Fantasy Grounds. Reading the PDF before you start trying to run your own game is a good idea!

[HoratioDrank]

MadMax33309,

I heartily recommend sticking it out. As someone who was dragged kicking and screaming into VTTs (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?32783-Here-are-some-things-I-ve-been-enjoying-about-Fantasy-Grounds), I feel it's worth the effort. And this community is incredible with regards to helping us newbies get into the groove.

I second (or third or fourth?) the above recommendation to read through the basic rules for D&D. They are included with your copy of Fantasy Grounds and they can be downloaded for free (https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules?x=dnd/basicrules) from Wizards of the Coast.

The next thing I would suggest is that you start two sessions of Fantasy Grounds on the same computer. In the first session, start a new campaign. In the second session, connect to the campaign as a player by connecting to "localhost" (without the quotation marks) instead of an IP address. I learned so much about the fiddly bits of running a game by doing this. You can do things as a DM and instantly see how that affects a player, and vice versa.

Also, do yourself a huge favor and watch some tutorial videos on YouTube (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?27296-Guides-videos-and-other-helpful-information). Not to slight any of the other excellent mentors and video makers, but I learned so much by watching Xorn (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/member.php?10261-Xorn)'s videos.

Be patient. Ask questions. Put in the extra effort on your end. It's worth it.

[MadMax33309]

Very nice.
Then we will first reading the basic rules.
If I understand it right, it is only important for the player's to read the player basic and for the GM only the GM basic? Or have we read both?

3 questions about Lost Mines of Phandelver.
1. 5 pregen characters are included but it is possible to create new ones?
2. Any information about the 5 pregen characters outside of the module? I like to take a look on them^^
3. What is the max lvl? 5 like the starter set? (edit: I see on the Lost Mine page that it will be like in the starter set)

FGDaze looks interesting.
If I have time, I will come and say hello^^

[Zacchaeus]

No, the GM should read all the rules. The Player's should only read what the players should know - which is everything except what the GM should only know.

Yes, you can create new characters with the SRD or Basic rules; I'd recommend the SRD since there are more options.
The five pregens are just straightforward characters. One thing to note is that some of the background information which was included in the paper version isn't in the FG module. That is down to get fixed but the FG module hasn't been updated yet.
Max level for what? Characters can reach level 20 but if you run through the Lost Mines I believe they should get to level 5.

[damned]

The Basic Rules supports characters up to level 20 in the four core classes.
You should start LMoP as 1st level characters - and play with some caution.... :)

[Hecklerus Prime]

Hello Max and welcome! In the very same post that CNYGamer linked, above, I mention how this program has really impacted my gaming career. I cannot stress enough how much it is worth it. I admit that I'm worried about your experience level overall. Have you played any d20 based RPG before? Or is this your first foray into the genre? I ask because the rules of D&D alone can be somewhat imposing, even though 5e has greatly simplified them overall. My concern is that your group may get frustrated at the challenge of learning the game and how to use the program at the same time.

I'm not sure when you and your friends are looking to play, but you might consider asking for a seasoned FG-er to host or watch a session with you, to help showcase some of the basics. I think this will be even more helpful if you've never played D&D before. Someone already mentioned looking for a game during the upcoming FGDaze, which is about as close to a Fantasy Ground convention as we can get, but there is also the Calendar (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/gamecalendar/dashboard.php) resource. This can be used to easily identify games that fit your desired time of play that are looking for members. Look for those games that have DM's with an Ultimate license, as you'll be able to play even without a license yourself. Once you get a hang of it all, I strongly encourage you to purchase licenses yourselves and start running adventures of your own.

At any rate, it seems like you're approaching this with a level head and a good measure of research, so I doubt you'll have that much trouble. Just keep hitting the forums with any questions you have, watch the tutorial videos, and keep exploring the program. Do those three things and you'll be fine, for sure.

[MadMax33309]

Hey Hecklerus Prime,
thank you for your post.
Yeah I never played a d20 or any other kind of a RPG before.
But I played Tabletop games like Wh40K, BFG and other "not casual" boardgames.
I already saw the CoreRPG video and read most of the player basic rules and I understand almost anything. I can learn very quick.
I am very impressed how powerful FG are.

Thanks for the offer but I don't know if we want that. We don't speak english as our native language and we are "more" a closed group but I will talk with them and tell them we can find someone here.

[damned]

What is your native language and we might be able to find someone to demo for you or at least chat with?

[MadMax33309]

german, but like I said, first I will chat with my friends about this topic.