Ultimate license, additional rulesets?

[chortick]

Hi, am I confused? I thought that Ultimate edition got me all the rulesets. That doesn't seem to be the case, specifically, when I try to load the Cthulu rules, it prompts me to pay for them. Would appreciate clarification, and instructions if I *should* be able to access all the DLC.

If not, I wish to cancel the purchase, but I think I know how to do that.

[Trenloe]

Welcome to the forums chortick.

The Home Screen of this website shows you which rulesets you get with your FG license: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/home/home.php Call of Cthulhu is not part of the license set listed there. The Ultimate license does not give you everything - the main difference between the standard and the ultimate license is that the ultimate allows players without a license to join games, whereas the standard license requires all the players to also have a license.

If you want to cancel your license then email [email protected]. Seems a shame though, as you'll be missing out on a fantastic VTT that helps you play great games online with your friends...

[vodokar]

"Ultimate" means simply and solely that you may DM for players who do not have a standard license or above, themselves. In other words, it allows you to DM for players who are only using the free Demo copy of Fantasy Grounds. "Ultimate" only applies to the type of connections your host server can allow. It does not state or imply any extra content comes with it.

If you feel you have purchased the incorrect license for your personal needs, please contact [email protected] so that they can offer you a refund so you can purchase the Standard license. If you are only going to be playing online with other Fantasy Grounds players who already have a Standard license, or using Fantasy Grounds as a DM assistant for IRL games, then you only need Standard, which is $40. The savings to you will allow you to pick up some of the extra rulesets and materials you need.

Ultimate license exists primarily for those DM's who already have a stable gaming group and want to save money as compared to making each of those players to purchase a standard license or for those longstanding DM's in the community who act as a welcoming committee and mentors to new users who may not have made a purchasing decision yet; which allows us to give the fullest experience that FG has to offer so that they can make informed decisions.

I can understand your confusion. For the price that an Ultimate License cost, it is a reasonable assumption that you made. Just know that there is a much cheaper way to get into FG than the Ultimate license; either $40 up front or a $4 a month subscription, which will allow you the full access to all Fantasy Grounds features; though not additional rulesets and adventure materials, as they are sold separately.

[JohnD]

What gave you the idea that a whole bunch of extra stuff came free with Ultimate?

Others are right though; you'll be missing out on greatness.:)

[Zaelocke]

It is a little confusing. I purchased the Ultimate so my friends & I could play together. I'm honestly surprised that Ultimate License doesn't include everything in the Core Rulebooks for 5e but alas you have to buy the Feats & Monsters DLC when the physical copies of the core rulebooks costs the same as the Ultimate License. If you don't buy the additional DLC you have to manually enter each entry. I'm still glad that I purchased the UL my friends & I are having a blast.

[Trenloe]

Welcome to the forums Zaelocke


I'm honestly surprised that Ultimate License doesn't include everything in the Core Rulebooks for 5e but alas you have to buy the Feats & Monsters DLC when the physical copies of the core rulebooks costs the same as the Ultimate License.
Wizards of the Coast set the cost of the 5E products sold by Fantasy Grounds, if the three core D&D 5E rulebook products were included with the Ultimate license then there'd either be very little return for SmiteWorks, or the Ultimate License would cost twice as much to include this additional material, and many people who don't play 5E would complain. Fantasy Grounds is not just about 5th Edition - there are many, many more RPG systems that Fantasy Grounds supports and lots of people who play them but don't play 5E.

The base licenses (Standard or Ultimate) come with the 5E SRD and Basic Rules modules - lots to get you going. The home page on this website lists what you get - it shows 5E SRD and D&D Basic Rules, not the PHB, MM or DMG.

[damned]

Yeah if you are not seeing the D&D 5e SRD rules go into Library and activate Races, Classes, Spells, Backgrounds, Feats, Skills and then click on -> Modules and activate the 3 SRD modules and Share (green tick) the DD5e SRD Data (but not the other two) and you will get a decent chunk of the 5E material without spending any more money.

[Zaelocke]

Welcome to the forums Zaelocke


Wizards of the Coast set the cost of the 5E products sold by Fantasy Grounds, if the three core D&D 5E rulebook products were included with the Ultimate license then there'd either be very little return for SmiteWorks, or the Ultimate License would cost twice as much to include this additional material, and many people who don't play 5E would complain. Fantasy Grounds is not just about 5th Edition - there are many, many more RPG systems that Fantasy Grounds supports and lots of people who play them but don't play 5E.

The base licenses (Standard or Ultimate) come with the 5E SRD and Basic Rules modules - lots to get you going. The home page on this website lists what you get - it shows 5E SRD and D&D Basic Rules, not the PHB, MM or DMG.

Fair point. I still plan on getting all the additional DLC because I'd like to try out 5E.

[Honken]

Fair point. I still plan on getting all the additional DLC because I'd like to try out 5E.

You do not need to get the 5E stuff to get the 5E ruleset, it is included. You would have to add the items and monster. You would need the physical PHB though.

/H

[LordEntrails]

As Honken says, the standard or ultimate license includes the 5E ruleset (and other rulesets too) and the 5E SRD and 5E Basic Rules. So you can play D&D 5E without buying anything additional.

That said, I do recommend the PHB (Core Class Pack is what's its called in FG) if you are serious about playing and can afford it. The MM is awesome if you are making your own adventure and the DMG is awesome for all the magic items and tables it includes. So, if you are going to play and develop adventures, you'll do yourself a favor by buying them if you can.

Just want to make sure you understand they are not required.

[jrh18]

I had much the same reaction when I first looked at the Ultimate license, but I got over it pretty quickly as I watched the videos on each of the 5e bundles. From a business point of view Ultimate means that SmithWorks likely will get less money because players won't be buying the $40 license to play, but at the same time you get a lot of good advertising and once someone wants to GM they will likely buy the license.

The packs, however, are different. They cost you money imo for 3 reasons:

The licensing fee whatever game company that owns the materials charges SmithWorks to resell
The time it saves you from having to create everything that SmithWorks did manually. I have seen several videos where people have recreated the PHB for themselves and it usually takes them 100+ hours. So by buying a pack you just saved yourself 100 hours, at full price that is a cost of 50 cents an hour. Personally, my time is worth more than 50 cents an hour. I can do a lot more productive things with that 100 hours where I am not reentering what Wizards of the Coast wrote.
You get all of the materials as if you bought the books. I actually choose to buy the MM pack instead of buying the MM book because the pack has the same data and is sortable by CR. All I have to do is load up FG if I want to read it.


I think the hardest part with the packs is that they cost so much (thanks, Wizards of the Coast) so there is a lot of sticker shock. Thanks to Amazon and Ebay no one pays full price for the books for most games anymore unless it is the day after release. It seems like most of the packs are going on sale though slowly. I am just sad I missed the PHB sale.

[Nylanfs]

Also 4) the community developer that makes that DLC gets a small portion of the proceeds. :)

[Dalkhir70]

If I buy the ultimate license and the 5th edition core apps/ books do players need to buy the core books as well to habe access to the all the character classes? Or do they have to buy them as well?

[Trenloe]

If I buy the ultimate license and the 5th edition core apps/ books do players need to buy the core books as well to habe access to the all the character classes?
The GM shares what they have with the players when they are connected. So, no, the players don't need to buy the PHB etc. unless they want access to it when not connected to the GM.

[Dalkhir70]

Thanks, that is encouraging now I'm not seeing dollar signs!

[LordEntrails]

Thanks, that is encouraging now I'm not seeing dollar signs!
Mr. Z put together a good post to help explain all this; https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?32987-What-do-I-need-to-play-5e

[Nylanfs]

OR, you could just assume you need all of it and send Doug a check, for what is it up to now $7k?

[InfinitePudding]

Really I think the price for the ultimate license is a steal considering it's a license for you and everyone who will ever play with you. :) I'm sorry you were confused though but I hope you come to see the value of your purchase in time.

[Mellock]

I can understand the confusion. If you get something named ultimate, it sets expectations. Way back when though, there was only a player license, and a DM license. The DM could host games, the players could only join as players. Later on, it became just "the license". You could host, and you could join. Everybody needed a license to play or host. Some people asked if there was a way for them to get "floating" licenses, in essence to pay for more licenses themselves, so their players could play for free with them. Some of them ran one-shot games with many fluctuating players. Some ran demos. Some just liked short adventures. Before, you had to buy a license in a store, and then email the player their license code. And that would be that. So they created the ultimate license to let people host unlimited players for free, and set a reasonable price for that.

I'm rambling on, ofcourse, but I just wanted to show you that it wasn't some clever marketing trick to fool you into spending heaps of money. Over the years, licenses have adapted to what people asked for. Do you set one reasonable price for everyone? Do you give a discount for people who need less features? If you set one price for a player license, then what is unlimited player licenses worth, and what would someone actually pay for it? It's obviously not an exact science.

A lot of people have experience with other software's ultimate, platinum or expert licenses, and I suppose that sets expectations. But you can start from $0 for a month if you take them up on their money-back guarantee. "Starting from $3.99" would be a fine slogan, and it'll set you up as nicely as any other player if you decide to stay on board. It'll cost a fistful of dollars more if you want some bells and whistles and if you want to DM premade adventures, but the last thing you need to try out FG is a full $700 buy-in. It's very easy to spend money on this hobby, but most of it is just because it IS your hobby.

[Mellock]

Oh, if FG Unity comes around, I would again like to be able to get my ultimate license, or a bunch of floating licenses. It doesn't have to be named "ultimate", but I'd still like to have the opportunity to host for free for new players.

[JohnD]

I still struggle to understand this.

New person looks in the store, sees in excess of $7k in products. Assumes all of this is free with a $149 outlay.

That's a hell of a promo discount. Nobody could stay in business with that business model.

[Mellock]

Digital products. I have a webinar for you, which is a $1300 VALUE, now for the NEXT 2 HOURS only $49.99. It comes with an FREE EBOOK, valued at $199! But hurry, you only have 2 HOURS to get this crazy deal. Or those ebook bundle deals, supposedly worth thousands, now for only a few bucks. Crapola like that is ruining it for the rest of the interwebz.

I think a "starting from.." would do a lot already. FG's an honest product.