Possible Convert

[Peryl]

I recently had the experience of playing a game of Pathfinder 2E via Fantasy Grounds. It was much better than I expected it to be, but still had to get acclimated to the mechanics that are very different from (I'll just say, The Other Platform that we usually use). Considering that I've been having a lot of issues with The Other Platform, I'm looking into signing up for the Unity Ultimate License. However, I'm never able to find out the info I need without asking people. So, I'd like to ask for help from the community, to gather information to present to my budget officer to justify either staying with The Other Platform, or coming over to Fantasy Grounds. I expect some bias, since we are in the FG forums, not over at The Other Platform, so I'm asking for specific details.

We play and GM Pathfinder Society, both 1st and 2nd Editions, rather extensively. Right now we're averaging 2-3 games each week between online, in-store, and at home. We've been using The Other Platform for a few years, but recently upgraded from the free account to the top paid version. We haven't bought much other than that, so we don't have a huge investment, but I would rather not just cancel The Other Platform and jump to a new ship without having more details. The free version was ok, occasionally clunky. But even after upgrading, though, we've been having a lot of technical issues. Even to the point where I had to cancel our Friday night game because I could not even connect to the game. I think the whole website may have crashed because I couldn't even get the home page to load.

How many game sessions, or campaigns can I have going? For example, I'd like to have a game for PFS 2E Organized Play, another for a Home Campaign, another for a PFS 1E, and maybe a few more. I presume I can create multiple iterations, but only access one at a time.

How many GM's can I have? Over at The Other Platform, anyone I promote to GM can use all of my goodies in that game. I can also log in as a GM in the same session to help them when the other GM is unfamiliar with all of the GM tools. We have done this several times as my wife and daughter also GM. This is useful for not having to buy everything for everyone who wants to GM.

How easy is the prep for individual scenarios or Adventure Paths? If I get a scenario pack from FG what work is already done?

Are there options for limiting each player's line of sight to what only their character sees?

I'm sure there are other things that some of you can tell me that I don't even know about. So, please, sell me on signing up, or caution me against it. Please be honest and forthright. Thank you.

[Zacchaeus]

Hi Peryl, welcome to FG.

You can mention Roll20 here; we don't discriminate :)

With an Ultimate license you can host games for any number of players who only have the demo license. With a Standard license you can only host games for other license holders. You cannot promote a player to a GM in FG like you can in Roll20. Only license holders can host games. If you have a number of GMs in your group you would have to consider either all of you buying a Standard license or rotating a subscription. In other words one of you subscribes for a period of time and hosts games and then cancels and another then takes up the cugel by taking out a sub for a period of time.

Content cannot however be shared so all of the GMs would need to buy their own (core rule books adventures etc).

You can only host one game at a time but you can have multiple campaigns running. There's no limit on that.

As for your questions on Pathfinder specifically I'll leave that too someone more knowledgable since I don't have any experience with it. But I know the bloke that is writing the 2e ruleset and he's done a superb job of it.

There are two versions of Fantasy Grounds - Classic and Unity. Only Unity has Line of Sight and you can limit that to each party member (this isn't dynamic lighting however - this is something that we'll see down the road a bit).

[Oladahn]

Hi Peryl, welcome to FG.


There are two versions of Fantasy Grounds - Classic and Unity. Only Unity has Line of Sight and you can limit that to each party member (this isn't dynamic lighting however - this is something that we'll see down the road a bit).

I really like the walls, doors, toggleable walls and terrain feature in LOS.

Dynamic lighting = if a light source has a range of 30' then that's how far the characters can see?

[Zacchaeus]

Yes, dynamic lighting would limit view to what a character could see based on light sources and lighting conditions.

[LordEntrails]

Take note, FGU is in Beta. Meaning it sometimes can have issues. And often the issues affect some users and not others. So if you go the FGU route, you need to be willing to have some tolerance for issues occurring as well as for frequent updates to the software.

FGC is stable, and very functional, but it does not and never will have Line of Sight. And eventually (unknown when, but at least months and perhaps years from now) will no longer be updated/supported.

[JohnD]

Welcome. Most here believe that FG is the better choice over Roll20. Personally I have used FG for over 8 years and never regretted it.

Things will work a little differently than you are used to on Roll20, but overall the experience is extremely positive, especially for a DM who is working from officially released content. If you buy the FG version of a module or adventure path or campaign (whatever they're called), you will get everything the print/PDF release has - maps, NPCs, encountes, items, Treasure parcels, background text and descriptive paragraphs. NPCs will come with as much functionality as the ruleset is currently able to provide - FG really makes it easier to run a game once you get through the learning curve.

The learning curve is seen as a negative by a lot of people who seem to just expect to boot up a program and instantly have everything happen without effort. FG is not an app or a browser window; it is a fully featured software package which is extremely powerful. Like any powerful software program, it takes most people a little time and experience and effort to truly wield it at full functionality. Don't be afraid of the curve; it is worth working through and absolutely a solid gaming decision to make.

People like the volunteers at FGCollege can help you work through the initial stages of the learning curve and even provide some ruleset specific instruction.

Welcome - take the plunge - IMO it is highly worth it.

[similarly]

I'm in the process of coming to Fantasy Grounds from Roll20.

Here's my best recommendation:
Look at the fantasy grounds manual:
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/filelibrary/FantasyGroundsUserManual.pdf

Look at the fantasy grounds youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/smiteworksprez

Look at the fantasy grounds college channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaDbJrVUbiqJoGUObU__lbQ

Download the demo and play with it. I bought FG Classic Ultimate, and as soon as FGU comes to steam, I'm buying that. The more I use it, the more convinced I am that I made the right decision. The software speaks for itself.

Honestly, if you're already committed to paying money to upgrade your R20 gaming experience, and you're planning to game for more than a couple of years, FG will give you a lot more functionality for a lot less money in the long run. There are very few advantages I can see to R20 over FG.

[Willot]

And (with a little effort) customizable
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[Peryl]

Thank you all for the info. I've talked it over with the family and we want to switch over, but it will have to be after Gencon Online. Anyone know if there's going to be a discount code offered? :-)

[Granamere]

IMO before you spend any money take a couple of free classes.

https://fantasygroundscollege.net/events/calendar/

This will show you the ropes and they can answer all of your questions. Also not go to the Fantasy Grounds store.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/

Realize to use the book for any systems you will need to buy them. I know more of DND than Pathfinder. With DND you do get a base to play with out of the box and I think you also do with Pathfinder. If you want to use all of the monsters you will need to buy the book they are in, etc. Pathfinder has a ton of content in Fantasy Grounds so it is well supported. You might want to setup a PC in your house and make that the DM pc. On that account you would buy all the books and modules then whoever is Dming that night would sit at that PC. I just want to make sure you understand that if you buy a license for FGC or FGU or even a subscription you will still need to invest into which ever system you are going to run.

All said my group loves playing in FG and we keep finding new and fun things we can do in the system.

[TeddyQ]

Currently there is a 10% discount for Fantasy Grounds Unity. Since you are a Pathfinder player you should know about the benefit of syncing your Paizo account with Smiteworks (Fantasy Grounds).
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/syncPaizoAccount.xcp
Benefits of syncing your accounts and retrieving your ownership will allow you to get free PDF versions from Paizo for all Pathfinder products you purchase on Fantasy Grounds. Similarly, retrieving a list of PDFs you own at Paizo will discount the full cost of the PDF from purchases on Fantasy Grounds. The discount is added when you add it to your cart.
And one final note, there is currently a Humble Bundle offering Pathfinder 2E products. The PDFs would also qualify for the discount I mentioned above.
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/pathfinder-second-edition-paizo-inc-books?hmb_source=navbar&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=tile_index_1