Looking to game some questions first

[Fullmetaljacket]

Hello all I have a few questions for you all out there. I have been a long time gamer both in historical minitures, RPG's and etc and etc... Was looking at this site with a friend and we seem very interested in getting started with D&D online here at Fantasy grounds. I have a few questions first though.

1. Do you need the D&D players handbook And dungeon masters handbook sold thru the wizards of the coast or will the Players bought here on this site all you need to play?

2. How hard is it to get into games or campaigns with others?

3. Is there a monthly fee with this site or just the PHB and GM handbook?

4. Is it only 3. 5 rules used on here or is there other ruleset used?

Thanks for your time all and hope to maybe see you all in a game

[Spyke]

1. Do you need the D&D players handbook And dungeon masters handbook sold thru the wizards of the coast or will the Players bought here on this site all you need to play?
Fantasy Grounds ships with a sizeable chunk of the open content d20 rules (which are also available from https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/srd35) but if you're intending using FG to play D&D and you've not played d20 before I'd recommend getting the D&D Players Handbook, as it lays the rules out in a readable way and will lead you through character generation. If you've refereed before, you won't need the Dungeon Masters Guide, at least at first, as all the combat and spell-casting rules are given in the PHB.

As a long-time player of RPGs (I'm assuming you mean face-to-face here, not computer RPGs) you'll feel at home with the FG interface immediately.


2. How hard is it to get into games or campaigns with others?
It depends on your timezone and your attitude. The community is still growing. Don't expect to get into a long-running campaign immediately, but if you're willing to play D&D 3.5 you should be able to join a one-off or sit in for a missing player reasonably quickly. Keep an eye on www.adventuresomedreams.com as well as this site.

The best way to get started is to run your own game. I'd recommend offering a short adventure first (one or two sessions) rather than launching straight into a campaign. It takes time to build up a group of players who match your gaming style and who want to commit to regular sessions, so be prepared for dropouts early on.


3. Is there a monthly fee with this site or just the PHB and GM handbook?
Just to clarify: Fantasy Grounds is a program that provides a virtual tabletop that allows you to play roleplaying games across the internet as though you were face-to-face around a table (or sprawled over several comfy chairs and hidden by piles of paper and dice). If you want to referee as well as play, buy the Full license. If you only want to play, you only need the Lite license. There are no other fees. You don't need to buy any books to play (though as mentioned, if you want to play D&D 3.5, I'd recommend the PHB).


4. Is it only 3. 5 rules used on here or is there other ruleset used?
The program ships with a character sheet and ruleset for D&D 3.5 but can be customised for other games systems if you're comfortable with programming concepts, xml and can produce your own character sheet artwork. Various alternate character sheets have been created by the community, such as AD&D and GURPS, and I'd expect more next year once scripting is released in the next upgrade.

However, you can use FG as shipped with any RPG system. Simply share your character sheets outside the program using email or an Instant Messenger, then log in with a D&D sheet just to supply your character's name. The FG interface is not D&D-specific, it just provides you with a chat window, dice, maps, images and tokens. If I was refereeing face-to-face I'd have copies of my players' sheets to hand (i.e. the equivalent of having them emailed), I wouldn't keep getting up to go and peer over their shoulders (the equivalent of sharing within FG). The character sheets within FG are useful of course - as a method of handing out characters at the start of a session, as a source of dice modifiers if you're playing D&D, and as a way to update a common sheet during play - but aren't actually necessary.

To sum up: this is a wonderful program - come and join us!

Spyke

[Dupre]

2. How hard is it to get into games or campaigns with others?

You can use the Guild House forum on this message board to find groups, but we will also be introducing a grouping tool on this website in the near future.