Any Pathfinder users with the official content?

[ECDMuppet]

So I'm just returning to tabletop after a couple of decades away from the game, and naturally none of my old 2E content applies anymore. My new group plays Pathfinder and I purchased a core rule book, but I noticed that FG has licensed this content.

Looking at the interface from what I can tell, FG already has all the text based stuff from the PFRPG beastieries and guides built in.

What do I get if I purchase all the licensed content for the stuff that the existing rule sets already accommodate? Is it just the images and art, or is there more to it?

I have also read a couple of threads here about it being difficult to share this content with other players, but the ads for the content packs say you can share the content in the interface. If I start doing DM duty will I be able to display all the sexy art from those content packs? Will other players who buy those packs be able to share with me?

Just asking because I haven't bought any beastieries or other paper resources yet, and I'm thinking about making my FG library my primary investment, skipping pen and paper altogether to live in VTT (nearly) full time. Are the licensing restrictions going to prevent me from sharing the content I have with my groups, the way I would be able to share my books in a meatspace session? Sorry for the confusion.

Best regards,

[Zacchaeus]

I can't answer specifically about Pathfinder material but what I can say is that if the DM owns a module then they can share that module with the players. However you would not be sharing a bestiary with players. If the bestiary is one of the official Paizo books then it will contain all of the artwork from the book and you can share images with your players. Players cannot share anything that they own with anyone else; only DMs can share.

[ECDMuppet]

Ah perfect. Thanks for the clarification.

So I'm paying the $10 monthly for ultimate, to make sure that my party members don't have to pay. Does them logging into my session automatically make me the DM, or can I transfer DM control?

As I'm just coming back to the game, I have a more experienced friend who wants to DM for the group at least until I get back up to speed. He hasn't bought a subscription or any of the content. Will I be able to set him up with my content and DM rights if I want him to DM for a session, or do we both have to have ultimate licenses and all the content?

[Zacchaeus]

The DM is the host and the players connect to the DM. Players cannot share material, nor can you transfer DM rights to anyone else. So, yes if someone in your group wants to DM they will need a license and the material.

[ECDMuppet]

Ok thanks. Not what I was hoping for but at least it's a firm answer. Looks like we will have to roll our own for my buddy's campaign since he already owns a paper library and isn't interested in reinvesting.

[Nylanfs]

Use PCGen to make your characters and import into FG. :)

[Talyn]

@ECDMuppet: the official modules get you some fancy graphics (theme), some additional drag-n-drop functionality that does not exist (actually it might now, I think the SRD modules were recently upgraded???) in the free community stuff (I don't think any of the community modules have been upgraded) in the forums here.

That said, people played PF just fine on FG for years before Paizo finally licensed. And there's a metric crapton of OGL-compliant community modules already free on the forums, from spells to classes to all the bestiaries.

Just like 5E, the retail DLC makes it nice for the extra features and not having to enter data yourself, but with so much OGL content for PF already done, your whole group can get by just fine with what's already here.

[thebwt]

The base rules are nice, but what actually gets useful for DMs is the adventure path material. They're all pre-mapped with mini set up and items fully entered. Prep is just reading the material.

I'd say that pcgen and herolab work pretty good for doing imports, but I've now stopped that at my table because the importers cannot work with the herolab native version of items. The native items can have their rules linked up and everything, so by having blank import items in there you actually lose some of the value.

I'll say that if you buy any lic'd content on the FG store, you also get to have the pdf content of that material added to a paizo account, so you also get the full pdf document for any material you buy.

I'm a roll20 convert running all lic'd stuff (Core rulebook, Adv player's Guide, Ultimate magic, Curse of the Crimson throne atm) and it's pretty great. Main thing is for my players there isn't enough of the rules in the system (I also subscribe to the paizo content lines, so I've got almost every book) so they end up manually doing a lot for their prep (which is still an improvement for us over roll20, where it was all manual).

[Trenloe]

There's also two importers that take native Pathfinder statblocks and create FG NPC records/modules.

Outside FG - creates a FG module from a text file containing statblocks: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?20522-Pathfinder-Creature-Parser-V2-Beta-Version

Runs inside FG: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?34199-CreatureGen-Extension-Import-Stat-blocks-on-the-fly-with-populated-spells

[Myrdin Potter]

PF has good OGL rules and monster content for free and can be found on the forums. If you want the official rules with all the pictures, then you need to buy it, but if you have already bought it via Paizo, then you get a discount by linking your FG account to your Paizo account.

The base install of the game comes with the ruleset with all the automation built in and just waiting for content modules.

The free OGL Pathfinder content is much more extensive and available than the 5e SRD, so there is much less need for investment. The real time savings are the adventure paths which many are already converted and ready to use which saves a ton of time entering them.

[ECDMuppet]

Wow! So many great responses!

I've been on no less than 20 different interest forums as either a user or a employee moderator, and this is the friendliest, most helpful community I have seen. I've never actually seen a community where I've received too many great responses to follow up on!

I dare say that if people we're this decent and generous on political chat forums, we would solve every problem in our entire global society in a single election cycle! Thanks so much to everyone who has responded!

[ECDMuppet]

PF has good OGL rules and monster content for free and can be found on the forums. If you want the official rules with all the pictures, then you need to buy it, but if you have already bought it via Paizo, then you get a discount by linking your FG account to your Paizo account.

The base install of the game comes with the ruleset with all the automation built in and just waiting for content modules.

The free OGL Pathfinder content is much more extensive and available than the 5e SRD, so there is much less need for investment. The real time savings are the adventure paths which many are already converted and ready to use which saves a ton of time entering them.

The only Paizo content I've purchased so far is the Core Rule Book, so I'm in a funny place from an ownership perspective. I'm actually thinking of making this my core set of content and bypassing paper books altogether, just because of how effectively it looks like everything is integrated and automated.

[LordEntrails]

I've been on no less than 20 different interest forums as either a user or a employee moderator, and this is the friendliest, most helpful community I have seen. I've never actually seen a community where I've received too many great responses to follow up on!

The community here was one of the top 3 reasons I choose FG as my VTT. Never been sorry I did.

The only Paizo content I've purchased so far is the Core Rule Book, so I'm in a funny place from an ownership perspective. I'm actually thinking of making this my core set of content and bypassing paper books altogether, just because of how effectively it looks like everything is integrated and automated.
FYI, going purely digital via FG is the decision I've made when I started playing 5E. Again, never been sorry that I did.

[Myrdin Potter]

The only Paizo content I've purchased so far is the Core Rule Book, so I'm in a funny place from an ownership perspective. I'm actually thinking of making this my core set of content and bypassing paper books altogether, just because of how effectively it looks like everything is integrated and automated.

The good news is that with the link between FG and Paizo, is that you get the official PDF along with the FG content so you get the best of both worlds. I prefer 5e as a system (this is just an opinion), but the link between the Paizo account and the FG account is pretty friendly as you do not pay twice (which WoTC forces you to do with the 5e rules).

[JohnD]

For 5e I made the choice to only buy FG versions. IMO a solid decision. Could be the right move for you with Pathfinder.

Also, don't be afraid to hit your players up for a $10 donation each to defray the costs you are taking on that all of them will benefit from. It's not an unreasonable request IMO. Really, that's one trip to a fast food joint or one quad long pour venti latte with extra froth and an espresso shot at Starbucks (I call it the Traffic Jam because of the lineup it creates while being made), vs evenings and hours of gaming fun.

Definitely make use of avenues to flatten the learning curve, but honestly, in short order working FG will just slip into the background and you'll all just focus on the story. It really will.

[ECDMuppet]

The good news is that with the link between FG and Paizo, is that you get the official PDF along with the FG content so you get the best of both worlds. I prefer 5e as a system (this is just an opinion), but the link between the Paizo account and the FG account is pretty friendly as you do not pay twice (which WoTC forces you to do with the 5e rules).

That's great info.

Actually the group I'm joining is pretty hardcore on preferring PF to anything WotC, not really sure why because we were all MtG nerds back in the day lol

But it's serendipitous that PF has such a good relationship with Fantasy Grounds, since I'm sort of lucking into the happy accident of getting the best of both worlds in the process. That makes the decision to go all FG with my content extremely easy.

[ECDMuppet]

For 5e I made the choice to only buy FG versions. IMO a solid decision. Could be the right move for you with Pathfinder.

Also, don't be afraid to hit your players up for a $10 donation each to defray the costs you are taking on that all of them will benefit from. It's not an unreasonable request IMO. Really, that's one trip to a fast food joint or one quad long pour venti latte with extra froth and an espresso shot at Starbucks (I call it the Traffic Jam because of the lineup it creates while being made), vs evenings and hours of gaming fun.

Definitely make use of avenues to flatten the learning curve, but honestly, in short order working FG will just slip into the background and you'll all just focus on the story. It really will.

I'm starting to see that already. I've watched a couple more vids, and I'm starting to see how it allows together dragging and dropping skills into chat and so forth.

[mac40k]

Actually the group I'm joining is pretty hardcore on preferring PF to anything WotC, not really sure why because we were all MtG nerds back in the day lol


Since you’re just coming back from a long hiatus, you missed the whole "edition wars" thing. I’ll do my best to briefly summarize for you while trying not to raise anyone’s hackles.

When WotC acquired D&D, they released D&D 3e (later referred to 3.0 as it was subsequently updated to 3.5) with an Open Game License (OGL). Their intent was to allow smaller publishers to be able to produce the less lucrative content such as adventures, new spells/magic items/feats, etc. while expecting that everyone would still require their core rules to play, creating a feedback loop that allowed them to ensure ongoing sales of their books, with lower investment on their own part. Most publishers did exactly that, which led to a d20 boom and bust cycle, but a few took advantage of the OGL to create entirely standalone games that did not require any WotC material to be able to play.

As this was not their intention, when WotC started work on D&D 4e, they not only scrapped the OGL model in favor of the much more restrictive GSL (which would only allow third-party developers to publish products compatible with D&D 4e), they overhauled the game so radically that as pre-release details continue to emerge, many fans went as far as to call it D&D in name only. It also pretty much made the wealth of prior edition material non-compatible, which angered many fans both long term ones and those that had only come on board during the d20 era. Meanwhile, since the OGL itself is irrevocable, Paizo (who had been creating AP’s for D&D 3.5) seized the opportunity to create PF (originally marketed pre-release as 3.5 Survives and updated post-release to 3.5 Thrives) which many initially referred to as D&D 3.75.

While D&D 4 had (and continues to have) fans, this fracturing of the fanbase led to the previously mentioned “edition wars.” As time went on, PF continued to gain market share while D&D 4 wasn’t making the kind of money Hasbro (WotC’s corporate overlords) needed it to to make it worth continuing to invest resources in. This ultimately led to D&D 5e, which WotC returned to the games roots, but was informed by more modern game design. It also streamlined the rules in a attempt to not only appeal to new players who would be daunted by PF, but also win back those that were starting to grow weary of the level of crunch PF had built up over the years.

Based on what I’ve read, they succeeded and D&D is once again the big fish in the small pond that is RPGs. Meanwhile, although plenty of fans seemed to have been willing to jump back to D&D, there are still enough PF fans that Paizo continues to do quite well. Fans reasons for sticking with it range from the typical of just being comfortable with a system they already know and thus uninterested in trying yet another version of D&D (who unlike the grognards that have stuck with older editions of D&D for the same reason, benefit from continued active support from Paizo and others) to those who feel betrayed by WotC (because of 4e) to the extent that they have vowed to never give them another cent. Without additional data, I can’t do more than speculate, but you make it sound like your group may fall into the latter category. :D

[Erin Righ]

That's great info.

Actually the group I'm joining is pretty hardcore on preferring PF to anything WotC, not really sure why because we were all MtG nerds back in the day lol

But it's serendipitous that PF has such a good relationship with Fantasy Grounds, since I'm sort of lucking into the happy accident of getting the best of both worlds in the process. That makes the decision to go all FG with my content extremely easy.

Warlocks of the Coast really botched the whole market with the abomination that they call 4th Edition D&D, a lot of people no longer trust them after that, but to be fair, D&D 5E is supposed to be really good. But I refuse to buy a game book that doesn't come with a pdf, because I have only one arm, and big clunky books are a nightmare for me. So I own all the Paizo core stuff in Hardcover and PDF, and I own whatever core stuff is available for FG too. I don't find a need for adventure paths or adventure modules as I have been gaming since Christ was a carpenter, and most of my stuff is now custom world building.

As far as it goes, if you took the plunge and bought the core rules, there is really nothing in the rest of the core material that you cant get with a community mod or ext except a bunch of graphics

[ECDMuppet]

Warlocks of the Coast really botched the whole market with the abomination that they call 4th Edition D&D, a lot of people no longer trust them after that, but to be fair, D&D 5E is supposed to be really good. But I refuse to buy a game book that doesn't come with a pdf, because I have only one arm, and big clunky books are a nightmare for me. So I own all the Paizo core stuff in Hardcover and PDF, and I own whatever core stuff is available for FG too. I don't find a need for adventure paths or adventure modules as I have been gaming since Christ was a carpenter, and most of my stuff is now custom world building.

As far as it goes, if you took the plunge and bought the core rules, there is really nothing in the rest of the core material that you cant get with a community mod or ext except a bunch of graphics

This is kindof the impression I'm getting just looking around. That's nice to know.

At the same time, I've worked for content companies before, and I'm stable enough financially that I don't mind supporting a company in exchange for a licensed product, as long as the licensed stuff isn't actually worse than the free stuff that's out there.

Of course, that's subject to change considering the sheer amount of money it looks like one can spend on Paizo content for FG. I figure I'll buy a couple of beastieries at least, and then see where things go with campaigns and adventures and stuff.

Wowzers! so much good info, guys! I'll be busy for a month just tracking down all the great leads!

[GreyMouser69]

I took the plunge and grabbed a bunch of the PF core stuff when I decided to go with FG to get back in to tabletop rpg's just this week. I am impressed with the link between SW and Paizo since I linked my accounts and now have all of the pdf's of the FG content I bought automatically granted. Now I just wish that SW would work on the PF core to include the big features they have with the DMG & PHB for 5e like the templates, tables and forge which were the biggest selling points for me to go FG and I did end up going back and buying the DMG, PHB and MM for just those reasons. I was unfamiliar with Pathfinder since I kind of lost track of the tabletop rpg world for several years but I am impressed with the variety of things that are possible with PF such as the strange aeons and metal gods AP's along with the "classic" fantasy.

[GreyMouser69]

By the way, you should take a look at the PF modules list here -- https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?16074-List-of-Modules