Question from a Parent...

[Traveller1202]

Hello all,

I am a past D&D player (mostly 3.5) and my nearly 15 year old son is very interested in D&D. He really enjoys playing and tries to get his friends involved. They play but I don't get the impression they "love" it the way he does. I will play with them from time to time but, as a nearly 50 year old man, its hard to sit in a basement with a bunch of stinky teenagers for too long (lol). He is also hoping to not HAVE to DM all the time.

Having played in a very successful online campaign a bunch of years ago (on OpenRpg) I decided to see what was available in this fashion and found FanatasyGrounds which, looks to me, the answer to his problems.

I do have a couple of questions as a parent though and I hope y'all can help with that...

1. First, and most obviously, I am wondering about the general content during the games. I realize this is the Interwebs and nothing can be policed 100% but would you describe these forums and games as "safe"? He's 15 so he's certainly not a little kid and can make judgement calls ( i trust him in that sense) but I wouldn't be doing my job as a parent if I didn't ask.

2. When I was looking through the demos and info on the site, I see the monthly fee or full licencing fee, but then it appears that the various books and campaigns, etc need to be purchased separately. So if he bought the software and wanted to play 3.5 D&D, would he then need to buy the PHB, DM books, etc to "add" them to his games? Or am I misinterpretting that?

Thanks very much...I may have other questions that I don't know I have yet...but thats a start

Traveller1202

[NuclearMonkey]

Based on your first question, I am not sure this will solve your problem. Like any ungated multiplayer product, the experience will depend on the participants. I run a PG game, but I reached out to people I knew before starting the game.

As for two, I would do an outright purchase over a subscription. Unfortunately, there were just back to back 50% off sales. They match steam sales, so whenever the next occurs would be a good time to buy. And yes, anything beyond the srd would need to be purchased. You’ll find a lot more pathfinder content than 3.5 and tons more 5e. That content goes on sale every other week or so. DMsGuild also has modules converted to FG 5e that run less than 10 bucks.

[Traveller1202]

Thanks Muchly NuclearMonkey

His birthday is next week so we may look at a trial (I agree that the outright purchase makes WAY more sense than the monthly). Then the books and modules, etc, he can either buy for himself or we all have Christmas/Birthday/Etc figured out. Win/Win!

[Zacchaeus]

Hi Traveller, welcome to FG.

Yes, these forums are safe as is the game content. You will have experienced what the game content is when you played and it hasn't changed much since then.

As to actually playing online that is a different question. It depends very much on whether you play with a group of people you know or with complete strangers. With the latter there will always be some kind of risk and it also depends on what level of risk you are comfortable with. There will generally be adult language and humour; so if you are averse to that then you might see that as a considerable risk. As you say it is the interwebs after all.

As to your second question I'm not best placed to answer it but I do know that Smiteworks don't have a license to publish material for 3.5. There is a ruleset but that's just the structure - you would likley want a rulebook, monsters etc and I'm not sure how much of that is available via the Open Gaming License.

As noted above there is a license with Paizo for Pathfinder which is basically the same game (I think) and therefore there is lot's of content for it.

And again you are correct in that the payment for the license (or subscription) is just to be able to download and use the software; anything is else is additional. Although you can - given time - add everything in yourself.

[Kelrugem]

About 3.5: Since there is no license you can basically not buy really any module for it except some old complete SRD module which has still some little disadvantages but also lead to some confusion because it has not every automation due to its age (besides Pathfinder modules which you can easily implement in 3.5e games) :)

But any data you have from books can be added manually, so there is no need to buy a module when you have some time to implement it on your own :) (I play 3.5e, too, and I only implement things from my books when I know I need them for a session, then it doesn't take so much time)

The SRD of 3.5e is added already without any further purchase needed and as you probably know it contains a lot of data :) This should be already everything you need, especially at the beginning :)

[Traveller1202]

Thanks all! That helps a lot

[Talyn]

To add to the above: If you and he are into 3.5E, I'd also take a look at Pathfinder (1st Edition). Pathfinder 1E has long been nicknamed the unofficial D&D 3.75E — it took 3.5E and made a few minor adjustments and balances since Wizards of the Coast had moved on to 4E. You'd be able to jump right in and feel at home. On Fantasy Grounds, the two rulesets (3.5E and PFRPG) are compatible and any DLC will load into each ruleset perfectly fine. For now, Wizards of the Coast has only allowed 5E and 2E (labeled "D&D Classic") to be officially licensed. There's a handful of DLC here in the forums for 3.5E (under the OGL) and a bunch more for PFRPG, plus whatever is in the FG Store (I think there might be a couple 3.5E third-party products?). Most of the ongoing support has been for PFRPG though, as that quickly became the more popular game over D&D 3.5E, then Paizo officially signed on a couple years ago and things have just exploded with support.

[Traveller1202]

Thanks. He only knows 3.5 because thats all I know! But I am sure if he started exploring this site he would get into a lot more than that

[Willot]

Pathfinder from Paizo is the way to go. Its most like 3.5 and has alot of content. Pathfinder 2nd Edition was recently release is is a great improvement on 1st edition BUT is further away from 3.5 and has less content being newer

[LordEntrails]

Note, though I'm big on a one time license, be aware that a new version of FG comes out this year and will require an upgrade for the license (all purchased content will be useable in the new system for no extra charge).

Which means you might want to consider a subscription until FGU is released.

[damned]

To keep the information overload coming -

There is a new version coming out this year that wont be upgraded to for free. You will not have to change but by the end of the year I would think that at least 2/3rds of games will be running on the platform. But that will only matter if playing in a group that has moved to that platform.

As many have said - for 3.5E look at moving to Pathfinder -it will be very familiar but you will have plenty of source material available and Paizo make fantastic adventure paths.
Do consider throwing off the shackles and moving to 5E - it might also be easier for his friends to get into (or not - 15 is a tricky age!).

Every table will be different in terms of style, content, maturity and much more.
I would suggest you monitor his interactions or group during the first session or two and make sure you are comfortable with the mix.
My online group has always been mostly over 40 years olds (now its split with over 50yr olds too!).
I did have a 16yr old join the group and he played till he was 18 and allowed to go out and drink (Australian).
I regularly asked him over the first few sessions if his parents were ok with his participation.

As far as online communities go this is a pretty good one - but experiences will definitely vary.
Perhaps you might join him and together you can create great stories!

[deer_buster]

I think as long as he knows basic internet safety, he'll be fine. He's probably heard/said more at school than he would ever hear/say at home, so I don't think you need to worry there. I would honestly go into Pathfinder or 5e, as you'll likely find a lot more games available in either of those. If he is a player, he doesn't need to buy any content, and doesn't even have to buy a license in a lot of cases as there are a lot of game masters that own the ultimate license, which only requires a free license of the players. That would be the best place to start. I would highly recommend stopping by Fantasy Grounds College online and in discord, and there are a ton of YouTube videos on playing various rulesets in FG. I would recommend holding off being the game master until he has more experience with FG.

[dendarii]

In terms of versions, you might consider D&D 5e, as many of the really big online streaming campaigns that he and his friends might watch are 5e-based.