What do I need to run Out of the Abyss?

[NineShadowEyes]

Hi. I (and the players) have the Ultimate version of FG. I'm going to purchase Out of the Abyss here to run. Do I have to buy the PHB (or DMG, MM) to run this campaign? I really hope not. If I do this will be the fifth time I'll have been forced to buy the PHB just to play the damn game online.

Oh, and do the players also need to buy the PHB?

Geez, what a racket WotC has going on.

Thanks.

[LordEntrails]

No you don't not need anything else to run OotA. It is fully contained in that it will have all the story entries, maps, NPCs, treasure items etc that are listed in the print version. The encounters will be ready to go when they exist, tokens will have pre-defined map locations etc when appropriate.

Your players do not need to purchase the PHB or anything else. The Basic Rules and the SRD are included for free and any race, trait, class, etc can be manually typed into the character sheet as desired if you or a player wants to reference something not in the Basic Rules or SRD.

The PHB & MM are also available in FG in small packs (class packs, monster type packs, etc) if you do decide you do want the automation and not wanting to manually enter info and you decide you don't want to invest in the full DLC book.

There is a post "What do I need to play 5e?" that you can get more details on what you get when purchasing the DLC content and reasons you might want to buy them at some point.

[darrenan]

Having run OotA to completion, I can second what LordEntrails says. I would recommend downloading Zachaeus' free supplementary map module, as well as casting around the interwebs for other suitable maps. It really only includes maps for dungeon and set-piece portions of the adventure. Your players will spend weeks and months travelling through the underdark and having numerous random encounters, and the OotA module does not include maps suitable for such encounters.

Also, I would highly recommend downloading both of the free "how to run Out of the Abyss" guides from dmsguild.com, and thoroughly read through the entire adventure (a mistake I made) before starting. The two guides both give good beginning-to-end walk throughs of the entire adventure and provide suggestions for running it and places where the DM can deviate to improve the overall experience.

Good luck, hope it goes well!

[NineShadowEyes]

Having run OotA to completion, I can second what LordEntrails says. I would recommend downloading Zachaeus' free supplementary map module

How do I get this module?

And I have my previous questions all sorted out now. Thanks.

[Trenloe]

How do I get this module?
In the sticky threads at the top of the 5E forum.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?27298-Extensions-Modules-Pregens-and-other-5E-resources

[NineShadowEyes]

Oh, thanks. I was on that page, but missed the download link somehow. Just didn't look carefully enough.

[esmdev]

One thing to consider about many modules is that they have most everything built in. So even if the SRD doesn't have a monster or magic item the modules do. Once it moves to the character sheet a magic item moves with the character so if you run same characters through multiple adventures the items will follow even without the DMG.

[lostsanityreturned]

You would want to purchase the OotA module, I would HIGHLY recommend purchasing the PHB. While it isn't necessary it is really useful to have all of that data and automation at your fingertips in fantasygrounds.

Players gain access to all of your books in FG if you have ultimate while they are connected to your game.
If buying the PHB again is an irritant to you (I can understand that, but again in FG it offers a heck of a lot of time saved) I would recommend splitting the cost with your players.
Assuming 4 players that would make it $5 a person and not too bad.

[SirGraystone]

To buy or not the PHB...

Not buying it mean entering what you need manually while with the PHB you can quickly drag information into your character sheets. So it all depend on what have more value for you time or money.

[NineShadowEyes]

To buy or not the PHB...

Not buying it mean entering what you need manually while with the PHB you can quickly drag information into your character sheets. So it all depend on what have more value for you time or money.

Yeah, I get that. It's just that I bought a license for dndbeyond, one for roll20, and 2 physical books. Having to buy it AGAIN kinda rubs me wrong. It shouldn't be like that.

[esmdev]

Sadly, D&D Beyond and Roll20 are different companies with different and incompatible systems.

Not sure if this helps but I've found that FG is worth every penny I've spent. It took some getting used to and there are still some things that aren't fully automated and it is possible that they won't ever be. But having the ability to look through or search the books while in FG is really convenient.

I initially started with the core rules and a couple of modules. My players and I shared the cost which made it easier to get so much at once. Over a couple months we bought pretty much all the 5E rules, some Rob2 accessories (so awesome), some modules and stuff. The reason is that the cost of FG in the long run is actually cheaper for a single campaign server where everyone gets together and makes characters than for everyone to buy their own book.

Anyways I hope you take the plunge but if you don't your license still gives you the SRD which has a surprising amount of free stuff.

[lostsanityreturned]

Yeah, I get that. It's just that I bought a license for dndbeyond, one for roll20, and 2 physical books. Having to buy it AGAIN kinda rubs me wrong. It shouldn't be like that.

I know the feeling, although in this case smiteworks have done a lot with it and it will make your FG experience much smoother. It is good enough that I use FG for in person games on my laptop, not just the digital ones.

It will be on sale at the end of the month for the Halloween steam sale (they mirror sales over there here) and the default price is lower than that of Roll20s.