Advanced Apologies for Basic Question...(Newbie to FG)

[LinkRS]

Howdy Everyone,

I saw Fantasy Grounds pop-up in my Steam library late last year, and I have been lurking around looking at it since then. The initial cost has prevented me from taking the "plunge," and I finally decided to dip my toes in with the current Steam sale. Anyway, I am an old-school Advanced Dungeons & Dragons player (pre WoTC, under TSR and SSI), and an experienced GM of several different games (Vampire the Masquerade, Star Wars the Role-playing Game, RIFTS, etc..), but I am a total newbie to the VTT concept. I have been poking around the FG software, reading things here in the forum, and on Steam, but have not been able to find unambiguous answers to the questions I am about to ask. So, I apologize in advance if I am asking stupid questions, but I really did try to find the answers for myself first....

Several different posts here in the 5E forum, refer to the "SRD" library items, and the WoTC licensed items, specifically the Player's Handbook (PHB), Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG), and the Monster Manual (MM). It seems to be strongly encouraged to purchase these items, rather than rely on the "SRD" versions included with the install of FG. So, my questions revolve around this topic:

1 What is 'SRD'? It seems these are just a subset of the official WoTC Rules?
2 Where can I find the PHB for FG? The only thing I can find is the D&D Complete Core Class Pack, which costs the same as the physical 5E PHB ($50).
3 Where can I find the MM for FG? Again, I found D&D Complete Core Monster Pack, which is on sale for $40, compared to the $50 Physical book
4 Do you need to have the physical books AND the FG versions? I am new to 5E, and have not actively played/DM'd a game since version 3.0.
5 Assuming the answer to question 4 is 'no', can I "read" the FG versions once purchased?

Thanks a million in advance for any help.

Rich S.

[Zacchaeus]

Greetings Rich, welcome to FG and the community. The answers you seek are as follows:
1) SRD stands for System Reference Document and basically that document details what WotC will allow third party publishers to use in any 5e product that they publish. In effect an Open Gaming Licence. It is a cut down version of the three core rule books (PHB,MM and DMG) rolled into one. Whilst it can be used to run the game it is missing a considerable quantity of material particularly when it comes to options for character creation.
2) The Complete Core Class pack is the FG version of the PHB. It contains everything that the PHB does.
3) Similarly the FG version of the MM is the Complete Core Monster Pack.
4) You do not need the physical copies of the books as well as the digital versions.
5) Yes.

If you check out the 5e forum you will find a number of 'stickies' in the first few posts which will direct you to a number of resources which will help you answer many of the questions you might have. If you have other queries however feel free to jump on here and type away ;)

[NotRussellCrowe]

Edit: I decided to proof read and make sure what I was typing sounded good as it's really late and then Zacchaeus beat me to it!

Hi, LinkRS. Welcome to Fantasy Grounds!

1 - SRD stands for System Reference Document. It's what Wizards of the Coast have released that includes the rules and allows other companies to make D&D compatible content with. It doesn't include all the magic items, monsters, or races and class options but it's got a lot.
2 - You are correct, the PHB is called the Complete Core Class Pack but I only ever hear people talk about it as the PHB.
3 - Same as above, it's called the Complete Core Monster Pack, same as above in that I only hear people refer to it as the MM
4 - Not at all, the entire contents of the PHB (Complete Core Class Pack), DMG, and MM (Complete Core Monster Pack) are included in the Fantasy Grounds modules, just formatted a little different.
5 - Yes you can. The books are reproduced word for word into Fantasy Grounds. It's not a PDF though, you need to consume them from within Fantasy Grounds.

Here's a link to discussioning in a bit more detail about what the SRD modules contain vs what the PHB, MM, and DMG contain
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?33312-Using-the-Basic-Rules-SRD-on-Fantasy-Grounds

You don't have to buy the PHB, MM, or DMG to play 5e, the ruleset is included with the license of Fantasy Grounds, including all the drag and drop functionality. The modules provide more options for character creation, more monsters, pictures, and writeups of the monsters, as well as all the tables and magic items from the DMG. You could enter those all in by hand if you so chose and play with that but with the purchased modules everything is already entered. It's a personal choice if you buy them or not.

I'm not familiar enough with AD&D rulesets for Fantasy Grounds or modules available, but the above is only for 5th Edition. There are alternate AD&D rules sets like Castles & Crusades and Rolemaster Classic, though I confess I don't know the differences between them and how they differ from AD&D. You'd be best to ask in those forums I suspect.

Happy gaming!

[dulux-oz]

Hi LinkRE, and Welcome! to the Community,

As a self-confessed "newbie", 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

[damned]

Please note that the SRD is governed by the OGL. There are restrictions and requirements for its use. See here: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd

[LordEntrails]

Link, the only suggestion I'll add until you have more questions is that though you can read the rules through FG (I have not bought the hard copies either), I do suggest you read the basic rules PDF that WotC makes available for free. These are in a PDF format and typical flow of a book. So this way things are in a more familiar format etc and then you can read the FG versions for further detail and use as reference. (FG is a better reference source than inital read style source).

The Player's Basic Rules (https://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/PlayerBasicRulesV03.pdf), The Dungeon Master's Basic Rules (https://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/DMBasicRulesV05.pdf) from WotC (https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules):)

[Mask_of_winter]

5. Yes but you only have access to the FG modules for 5e as long as you have an active license.

[Andraax]

5. Yes but you only have access to the FG modules for 5e as long as you have an active license.

Yeah, but if you flat out buy a license (rather than a subscription), your license never expires.

[LinkRS]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to my questions. I have been in several forum communities that are openly hostile to what are perceived as "basic" questions, that is questions that a person "should" already know. I purchased a full standard license for Fantasy Grounds from Steam, and this morning I picked up the Core Monster Pack as well. I plan on picking up the Core Characters and the DMG over the next couple of weeks as finances permit. I am going to convert my old Ravenloft from AD&D 2E campaign over to 5E and use FG to run it. At least that is the plan. I already have a bunch of hand-written material from when I ran the campaign in the early 1990s, so I just need to 1st figure out how to convert form 2E to 5E, and 2nd input it into FG for use. So far the videos have been helpful with the interface and, I am more comfortable with it today than I was yesterday. It took me a little while to figure out how to "open" a module in the Library, but I got it a little while ago. Thanks again for all the friendly help!

[Zacchaeus]

Yeah, you were lucky; it's the friendly team that's on this week. If you had asked last week however..... ;)

[damned]

Yeah, you were lucky; it's the friendly team that's on this week. If you had asked last week however..... ;)

Have you had any sleep old man?


Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to my questions. I have been in several forum communities that are openly hostile to what are perceived as "basic" questions, that is questions that a person "should" already know. I purchased a full standard license for Fantasy Grounds from Steam, and this morning I picked up the Core Monster Pack as well. I plan on picking up the Core Characters and the DMG over the next couple of weeks as finances permit. I am going to convert my old Ravenloft from AD&D 2E campaign over to 5E and use FG to run it. At least that is the plan. I already have a bunch of hand-written material from when I ran the campaign in the early 1990s, so I just need to 1st figure out how to convert form 2E to 5E, and 2nd input it into FG for use. So far the videos have been helpful with the interface and, I am more comfortable with it today than I was yesterday. It took me a little while to figure out how to "open" a module in the Library, but I got it a little while ago. Thanks again for all the friendly help!

People around here are pretty good... eccentric but otherwise ok :)