Questions about Fantasy Grounds and DnD 5e

[bilesnaun85]

Hello,

I have been playing some fantasy grounds Curse of Strahd and I am enjoying it. I do not own a physical copies of the books so was wondering peoples thoughts on a few things.

Are the digital books a good replacement or is it better to have both?

Do the adventures add anything outside of using the modules? (thinking items, monsters and stuff) or should i just not buy them until I want to play them?

Is there a list of what books I would need to buy to have all character/class options at the moment and every option for creating adventures?

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[JohnD]

Everything in the printed book is duplicated in the FG module. Added bonus is the automation that FG offers is already set up.

If you are building your own adventures, IMO you'd want the MM and DMG, although opinions vary on the DMG (its worth it for the automated parcel generation from the treasure tables alone IMO).

A very good idea getting the PHB.

You can enter things yourself, but this is a time vs money trade off and you're looking at a lot of hours of data entry to get even close to the full capacity of what FG offers if you go the manual route.

[Imagix]

I would like to have the physical book handy as well... but that's only a preference thing. The digital versions have all of the information in them.

[Fear Grounds]

Welcome to Fantasy Grounds

The digital books are a good replacement, in my experience. The included reference manuals make the digital books easy to read, understand, and use. That said, some people just enjoy reading a real book.

Each adventure module generally contains an assortment of monsters and NPC's that players can interact with. They also contain useful tables, templates, items, encounters, and more. You can easily find things to pull from various adventures, in the process of building your own unique adventure. They are useful but by no means are they required. The included 5E SRDs are more than enough to build/run an adventure.

As JohnD stated, it really comes down to how much time you want to invest in data entry.

[LordEntrails]

I have most of the WotC 5E book on FG. The only one I own a physical copy of is Frostmaiden, and that's because it was a gift/reward for running some games at a Con.

The FG books are all you need. But, it does take a shift in mindset and a willing attitude to give up physical books. I did it years ago when I used to travel for work. Didn't matter how many books I carried with me, my laptop still weighed the same. Not true with physical books.

Give the FG book versions a chance, don't forget to use the Reference Manual to 'read' them like a book. Then if you can't make the switch, you can start buying the physical copies too.

[Griogre]

The digital books can be a good replacement. You will certainly want to get them to avoid having to input the material yourself. Whether you want the physical ones too is going to be a personal preference. I still have the PH, MM and DMG for face to face, but I haven't bought a physical adventure in a long time.

I'd suggest you start with the FG books you are interested in and see how much you miss the physical copies.

[Zacchaeus]

Some further details for you here https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?32987-What-do-I-need-to-play-5e

[NuclearMonkey]

I ran Curse of Strahd and had the physical book handy. Here are the pros and cons of the hardcover. Pros: If your screen real estate is at premium, its one less window (or windows); you can read it away from the computer; you can add bookmarks, highlights, underlines to emphasize text in the adventure; Cons: every D&D adventure I've read is organized in a way to make it as hard to read as possible; your players won't see any of the maps; I know I've already mentioned organization, but the way Castle Ravenloft is displayed and described in this book is horrible.

That being said, before I started my next adventure I bought the book. I spend so much time in front of a screen, I like having a physical book to go through while making notes.

[damned]

I think they are a good replacement.
Just buy them as you need them (or when they go on sale!) :bandit:

[*Neuro*]

I have nearly 500 hours on FG Classic Ultimate, as a DM, total preparing and playing since 2016.

I can say that physical copies are really not required. Buy them only in case you think to play also at the table or in case you want to read the module without staying too many hours at the PC. I too have some copies physical copies of the modules I own in FG, but there is really no real need. On FG there is everything.

If you play 5e I strongly advice the 4 expansions, Volo, Xanathar, Tasha, Mordenkainen. They will open u many possibilities.

Would be nice to have on FGU a way to change the FONT or to make it bigger without enlarging the UI. Maybe they will do it in the future. Or maybe is already there, I am pretty new of FG Unity-

[Mytherus]

I'll add my endorsement to the good advice given already. The digital books in FG are really all you need , you don't have to buy any physical book. So i agree first try that to see if you like just the digital.

As for me , well I like both so yes i spent a lot on this hobby i get the hard copy and the fg version.

Why? Well because I'm strange...kidding. (i think). I just like my way of writing or planning adventures. I use the fg material to create the session in fg but i dont like sitting at the computer reading from a screen all the time ...i have eye issues for one but i wont get into that too deep...and i work in IT so im already looking at screens all day at work. Its nice to sit on my couch in comfort with the hard copies and take notes, plan, write using the material in the book etc.

My method is slow. But its much more comfortable for me than sitting at my computer everytime i want to read or lookup something.

Also my last step is setting up my fantasy grounds for the new campaign or session. Everything is thought out written downed or planned first. When im in front of fantasy grounds its just data entry type stuff transferring everything to fg..

[Palladius]

For me, I agree that the digital books are a solid option, but personally I wouldn't want to be without my physical copies of at least the Player's Handbook and Monster Manual. If I started over, knowing what I know, I'd still buy both. I have a physical copy of the Dungeon Master's Guide, but I think that could be adequately replaced by a digital copy, as I find I'm generally looking up something specific and not really browsing.
In terms of module books, we're running Lost Mine of Phandelver and I think a physical copy is entirely superfluous, the digital version is great.

[damned]

Just another spammer.