Is Fantasy Grounds right for me?

[CriticalXHit]

So, I recently moved from my home with all my friends and gaming group, and we're looking to start an online thing. The simplest way to ask the question is; can I run Fantasy Grounds on my end while they're all in the same room together? Or do they each need to be on a computer with a Fantasy Grounds license? Thanks in advance!

[dulux-oz]

Hi Crit, and Welcome! to the Community,

Yes, Fantasy Grounds is right for you - but then again, I've been accussed of being a "FanBoy" :)

Yes, you can run your group with them all in the same room - I run one of my groups that way. All that my people have are a screen which they all can see and a laptop connected to the screen which they use to "drive" Fantasy Grounds.

To do this you (the GM) will need either a Standard or an Ultimate License, while the group will need a Standard License (if you have a Standard) or a Demo License (if you have an Ultimate) - or they can have one of the "better/more functional" license as well (ie a Standard or an Ultimate).

I have an Ultimate License so my players use a Demo License - and some of the guys are starting to bring their own laptops to the game because they like to "drive" their own copies of Fantasy Grounds (and hence they use their own Demo License) - this isn't necessary, but that's what they like to do.

Any way, 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, DOE: Locations, DOE: Weather and DOE: Organisations Extensions (to name a but a few - and a Shameless™ Self Plug).

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

Cheers

[LordEntrails]

Hey CriticalXHit, welcome tot he forums.

Well, I think there is more to consider than just what you are asking. But, if I just answer what you ask, then the answer in my opinion is yes. I play with several groups in several different formats and one of them is very similar to how you are looking to play (people in two locations).

So, you can run a campaign/adventure while the players are in another location. The players in the other location will need at least one computer (with internet access and FG). If they share one computer, they will either want to pass the keyboard and mouse around, or to have one dedicated player responsible for doing the computer things (such as moving tokens, etc).

You can (and people do) use FG to simply share maps and token locations and then have printed character sheets and roll the dice on the table. Also be aware that you can then start do more and more automation with FG (die rolls, combat tracking, effects tracking, attack determination and damage tracking, etc) and your players may then want to control their own characters.

So, hopefully this very short outline of the possibilities will help. But also don't hesitate to ask more questions. Plus you can check out the FAQ and some of the linked videos about FG to see some of what people do (as well, if you are interested, we can point you to discussions and people using FG with a TV as the game table. Lots of cool and creative ways to use FG, but don't want to flood you with things if they are not of interest to you.

Again, welcome and let us know how we can help.

[CriticalXHit]

Awesome! I will check the tutorials. So, do they just have paper character sheets then? Or do I keep track of them all digitally?

[LordEntrails]

Most people do it digitally, but a few use paper character sheets (or print the FG character sheets out).

[dulux-oz]

Awesome! I will check the tutorials. So, do they just have paper character sheets then? Or do I keep track of them all digitally?

That particular group of mine is about 50/50 paper/digital.

(BTW, Lord E is one of my players in another game - he's not too bad, but he has a tendency to really "fluff" his die rolls :p )

[LordEntrails]

That particular group of mine is about 50/50 paper/digital.

(BTW, Lord E is one of my players in another game - he's not too bad, but he has a tendency to really "fluff" his die rolls :p )
Ha! I only fell off the bridge 4 times in a row! (missing both the balance and reaction check each time!) It's all because you have cursed my dice. Not sure how, but somehow you must have!

(Time for me to go to bed, I got up more than 19 hours ago to play in Dulux "the Cruel" Ox's game!)