New here. Returning to D&D after about 40 years

[Whelen]

So my brother is trying to drag me back into D&D after he spent a week teaching it to my kids.

Last time I played was late 1st edition, early 2nd edition. And there was no internet.

Looking into Fantasy Grounds as an option to get back into it with my brother and our collective kids.

I read a lot of research for different engines and decided on FG. Haven’t purchased yet. Is it worth going ahead and buying now, or better to wait for this new Unity engine to come out?

[dulux-oz]

Hi Whelen, and Welcome! to the Community,

Buy it now, don't wait - its as simple as that!

We don't have an ETA for the new Unity version, and the current version keeps getting updated regularly anyway. I've had it sine 2012 and I've never paid for an upgrade, but I went from v2.1.7 (I think it was) to the current v3.3.5 (and soon to be v3.3.6) without cost, or issue - get it now!

So, having said that, 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 (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?31369-DOE-Sound-Extension), DOE: Locations (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?20794-DOE-Locations-Extension), DOE: Weather (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?22142-DOE-Weather-Extension) and DOE: Organisations (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?27169-DOE-Organisations-Extension) Extensions (to name a but a few - and a Shameless™ Self Plug).

You may also way to drop into the FG College (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?40020-Join-Fantasy-Grounds-College-Learn-Fantasy-Grounds-learn-D-amp-D-and-then-play!); a great place for newcomers to get started.

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

Cheers

[LordEntrails]

I think of it this way, if you wait for FGU, what are you going to miss out on in the mean time? Months and months of gaming with your brother, kids and nieces & nephews. What are you going to save by waiting? Well, we don't really know. It's been said that their will be a graduated upgrade fee, with no fee if its been a short enough time frame. We don't know what those costs or times are. But I will say SmiteWorks has an excellent reputation for taking care of their customers. One that I've had the pleasure of experiencing.

I think you will really enjoy using FG, and you will have even more fun with your extended family. I have faith any FGU upgrade cost will be well worth the enjoyment you get our of FG now.

[Valyar]

With the guys above me being quite verbose, I can only say this: I regret I didn’t buy it earlier. So don’t wait :)

[celestian]

So my brother is trying to drag me back into D&D after he spent a week teaching it to my kids.

Last time I played was late 1st edition, early 2nd edition. And there was no internet.

Looking into Fantasy Grounds as an option to get back into it with my brother and our collective kids.

I read a lot of research for different engines and decided on FG. Haven’t purchased yet. Is it worth going ahead and buying now, or better to wait for this new Unity engine to come out?

FG does a lot to remove the learning curve for a game system. There is a bit of a learning period of the FG UI but once the players figure that out it's pretty simple to use any game system you want.

There is even a community based AD&D ruleset.

[Whelen]

Thanks for all the replies -- I reckon I'm going to go for it. One final question though -- do I *HAVE* to use STEAM to download, or is the installer and download independent of steam?

LOL -- I don't use steam and I don't want to use steam.

[Erin Righ]

Go to the main fantasy grounds page and click Downloads > Windows Users

[LordEntrails]

I suggest you don't use Steam. No need to unless it gives you a beneficial currency exchange/market adjustment. By purchasing here you avoid a layer of interaction, and Smiteworks gets more of your money. Plus the refund policy through the FG store is 30 days, where Steam I think is 2 hours...

[iiiTRiBEiii]

Similar situation here, to stoke the fire I grabbed the D&D comic pack from humble. https://www.humblebundle.com/books/dungeons-and-dragons-comics-2018?hmb_source=navbar&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=tile_index_4
Welcome back wary adventurer