Is the core class pack for D&D worth 50$?

[JC the Roleslayer]

Ive been debating buying the core class pack but the 50 bux is kinda making me wonder. It seems like most of the content is included with a subscription. What else would i get with the core class pack and do you recomend it? I play in games and occasionally will run modules. In the future i will make campaigns.

[damned]

The licensed clients contain the 5e SRD and the 5e Basic Rules.
There is a lot of content in the SRD and the Basic Rules.
There is however a lot more content in the full versions of the product - eg Players Handbook (Complete Core Classes), Monster Manual and Dungeon Masters Guide.
As a player your GM will often have these and share them with you (for the duration of the game session), as a GM they do make things a lot easier.

[Varsuuk]

I think I would heartily recommend it!

If you run modules like LMoP, you will find the base 5e ruleset + SRDs + module (which has monster stats/maps/tokens/etc already setup), you will do fine to start. More than fine. The Core rules will just be icing, but particularly tasty and useful icing?

If you intend on creating modules, I think having the Core Pack is useful especially for creating npcs as pcs and some other general stuff with spells etc. I'd also recommend the Monster Manual if you WRITE dungeons because then you get the better descriptions (not required, you can always refer to rpint books) and easy electronic access to some monsters not in the SRD. But... you can also just create them yourself and input. I find most think its a nice time saver plus having the artwork/images to share and tokens, is really cool.

DMG is more icing. I bought that last of the big 3. I started off buying the Ultimate (vs buying 3 standard since I'd pay for wife and son) which let me try to convince friends to try it too. I bought with that the Core and MM right off. A couple months later, I got DM guide.
I bought LMoP module and another starter one from WotC. There are some good looking ones from WoTC as well as Legendary, AAW and many others. I eventually bought the D&D "complete my bundle" 'cos what the heck.

C&C ruleset was inexpensive - so got that along with one module and bunch of pdfs on Troll Lord sale. Figure, may want to use that to ease back into old 1E play maybe someday too.

I got Savage Worlds because many here like it and I really wanted to try War of the Dead (hopefully AFTER I get to play it as a player if can find a game) to run for my Walking Dead friends. (I mean, they are FANS of the show, they aren't actually undead. OK... Chris might appear to be, but he is over 50 and is rough before morning coffee... but I digress...) Deadlands looks cool too. I've not done much horror ever before but between horror and six-shooters, looks like might be fun.

I hope you have as grand a time as I am playing with these.

Note, if you want to keep costs down - buy a minimum and watch for sales - up until recently 2 products were usually on sale each week. Plus there is bound to be a Christmas sale in near future.

I only wish the Smiteworks website had "wish list" option to track items I want and make it easier to check if they are on sale like I do in Amazon and Steam. I REALLY prefer to buy from this site directly so that they get to keep more of the profits (which hopefully help them keep up the furious output they've been doing) - so I cheat and add them to Steam wishlist so can tell when on sale then come back here to buy it - it's clunky, but since they share sales prices, it works at least.


Welcome aboard :)

[LordEntrails]

The Core Class Pack (CCP) is the same content as the PHB. The PHB has a great deal more content than just the SRD.

If you are only a player and already have a hardcopy of the PHB and your DM has the CCP, then you don't need it yourself. It would be valuable to have in that you could work on characters while not connected to the DM etc.

If you DM pre-purchased modules, your players will thank you if you have the CCP, as it will make their character creation easier and it's a great reference for spells etc. But, you can get away without it if you need to.

If you create your own modules, then the CCP, MM and DMG are all pretty valuable and helpful. To me, the MM would be the most critical, while the DMG (for magic items and all the tables) would be second most. Of course, the CCP/PHB is the most valuable, if you want to run the modules you build *G*

So, I think you'll find most everyone thinks they are worth it, but you can get away without them if you have to. It's really a cost vs time thing. The purchased sources will save you a lot of time. But none of them are absolutely required to play or DM if you have more time than money.

[Zacchaeus]

More information about what you need or don't need here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?32987-What-do-I-need-to-play-5e).

[Talyn]

I waited to get the PHB (Core Class Pack) til it was on sale. As a player, I could tweak my character with the SRD to start off with, and GM's will set their PHB to "share" so if I needed that data I could connect to the GMs server and manage my character that way, until I got my own PHB.

[Varsuuk]

More information about what you need or don't need here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?32987-What-do-I-need-to-play-5e).

Great write up.

[JohnD]

In order of importance, I'd go with:

CCP/PHB
MM
Volo
DMG
SCAG

If you're playing a published adventure, insert in order right after the PHB.

[LindseyFan]

You all are forgetting the most important part of purchasing: you get to brag in your signature line! Priorities, people.