THANKS!!! ... and a question about purchasing modules (e.g., Xanathar's, etc.)

[BrettM]

First, my thanks to many people here (and on the support email)! My gang was considering shifting from Roll20 to FG (and before the PR issue they had last month I'll add), and we just finished our 3rd session. We have about 10 days left in the refund period, so I asked for everyone's thoughts, and they are happy to keep going (as am I). Sure there are differences, and "I wish it did XYZ", but that's with anything. A lot of this has to do with the forum here, and the support email, answering what I'm sure are questions you hear everyday. (I did try to search first :> !). On behalf of the five of us, my thanks!

The Question...

Various players are interested in different modules. E.g., two are interested in Xanathar's Guide; another is interested in Sword Coast, etc. for their various PCs. Are there pros and cons who should buy these? I.e., as GM, should I buy them and share so everyone has access to them... or can the interested player(s) buy them, but also share them in-game so other players have access to them (in that game) if needed?

Obviously the person who buys them is the owner, so if they leave the gang, the remaining people lose access to those modules, which is one consideration. Beyond that, is there a preferred suggestion on who should buy various modules so some / all the players have access to them as needed?

Thanks!

[damned]

players can access their own content if the GM allows it
but they cannot share it to other players.

my suggestion - have the players top in $6each a month and help you buy the books they want.

[BrettM]

Thanks Damned -- appreciate it.

To clarify this:

players can access their own content if the GM allows it
but they cannot share it to other players.

If Player A buys Xanathar's Guide, that player can add it to the game, but only if I (the GM) allow it. If I allow it, only Player A can access the info in Xanathar's Guide for that game. Players B - D cannot access Xanathar's Guide (unless they purchase it themselves)?

(Hence your recommendation that the GM buys the content, and therefore it can be shared with everyone?)

Thanks again!

[LordEntrails]

So, as with everything in life, it depends. (Helpful I know, but hold on!)

So, if your group is stable and you can get your players to chip in money, then imo its best if you buy everything. That way you can share with everyone and not just the one player that buys something can benefit from it.

Now, I like Xanathar's. I haven't bought SCAG, it got bad reviews (not the FG version, the print version) so if its one or the other, I would go XGTE.

If your group isn't stable, or your players will only chip in if its something they want, then you'll have to manage that.

[BrettM]

Thanks LE. The group is pretty stable -- playing for over 2.5 years with 1 of the players and 2+ for two of the players. I'll let them know!

[Xemit]

Allowing a PC to use their own purchased content in a game hosted by another is awesome!

Now, allowing all others (GM and PCs) in the same campaign to share the content owned by any one PC would be totally awesome! This would allow handing over the reigns (so to speak) for another to be GM. To 'continue' a campaign, they'd have to create a new campaign with the shared content and then export/import the PCs, but it would be possible.

The caveat, if the PC who owns the content doesn't show up for the session, then the content isn't available. I expect the coding to handle this would be 'fun' as there are many permutations to this sharing, but it would be technically possible. Sadly, I expect the WotC licensing prevents this from being a possibility (or it would already be included in FG).

Personally, I own all content I would want to ever use, so the current share mechanism works for me. But it could make things unfair for others, so it has to be used with some care.

[Bidmaron]

It would also require two different host computers and God knows there are enough problems just getting things to work with one host.