D&D 5E Fantasy Grounds, Roll20, or both

I really wanted to like Fantasy Grounds, but the price point is too high. I mean, my recent groups have dozens of players across multiple groups with multiple storytellers. That is way more money than everyone can afford, and we would even need to get multiple Ultimates just to accommodate the multiple storytellers.

So Roll20 is the winner for me.

ehenning said:

... If you get Ultimate, does that include all the core 5e material?

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A Fantasy Grounds license costs $39. If everyone in your group has this license, then no one needs an "Ultimate" license. The ultimate license for $149 allows unlicensed free installs of Fantasy Grounds to connect to the ultimate license holder's hosted game. The licenses are also available as subscriptions, $4 for the regular license and $10 for the ultimate.

The basic installation of Fantasy Grounds comes with both the 5e basic rules and the SRD, in separate modules that you can use independently or together. Those rule sets are free. No license for Fantasy Grounds comes with the PH, MM, DMG, or SCAG - those are separate purchases. The three core books are each $50 and the SCAG is $40. There are a couple of free adventures for 5e, others range in price from $5 through $20, and the official adventure paths like Out of the Abyss are $35.

Only one person (the DM) needs to have the books, other users connecting to the hosted game can use any of the books that the DM sets to "public."

What that means for groups using Fantasy Grounds is that if you want to try it out cheaply, the DM can spend $10 per month for the ultimate license, use the SRD material, and input anything else the group needs (including homebrew material) manually (copy/paste works.) This is all you need to do for a full 5e virtual tabletop experience. Honest. You can run a complete and awesome campaign this way, for just $10 a month.

On the other end of the spectrum, you can have each member of the group get a license (so no one needs the ultimate) and everyone can get their own Player's Handbook module (so they can create characters and explore level-up options offline, etc.) while the DM gets the DMG and MM modules, as well as perhaps the SCAG and a WotC adventure path. You certainly can spend a lot of money on Fantasy Grounds and related products, and honestly if you do, you get your money's worth out of it (especially as a DM.) Time is money, and you save so freakin' much prep time using the official licensed products. You get full drag-and-drop functionality with those modules, the DMG comes with fun toys like the "item forge" (and rumor has it the "npc forge" is being worked on.) A published adventure module will have everything ready to go, with the maps marked-up for the GM and the NPCs bundled in encounters ready to drop into the combat tracker, and treasure parcels ready to drop onto the party sheet to be assigned to characters.

If you're unsure, my advice would be this: install the software (free) and mess around with it some. Look at the tutorials, wiki, videos, etc. to get a basic feel for the functionality, then find a game to join for one or more sessions. There is an active Fantasy Grounds forum community, and from time to time SmiteWorks will arrange a virtual convention, FGCon, where people can play using the free software and experience a game run through the VTT. If you and your group want to jump right in, you can actually have a pretty fun first session on the VTT figuring out the software and getting everything set up the way you like it (with macros, etc.) I would suggest starting with the SRD content, because manually adding the bits that are missing in the SRD will help you learn how Fantasy Grounds stores records and parses info.

Iry said:

I really wanted to like Fantasy Grounds, but the price point is too high. I mean, my recent groups have dozens of players across multiple groups with multiple storytellers. That is way more money than everyone can afford, and we would even need to get multiple Ultimates just to accommodate the multiple storytellers.

So Roll20 is the winner for me.

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Roll20 only has the SRD stuff available, which is free on Fantasy Grounds. All you would need would be for the DM of the month to have the $10 Fantasy Grounds subscription, and you would have the equivalent of what Roll20 offers its paid subscribers.

If you compare the two platforms at the free/low cost level, the most important difference is the UI. Play around with both, pick the one you feel most comfortable with, win. The real advantage to Fantasy Grounds comes when you consider the licensed - and expensive - content that makes setting up and running encounters a lot faster and easier.

For my crew, we use FG. We weighted the options, and while we like Roll20, there are a couple of "minor" points which pushed us towards FG.

We use ultimate and I have the account (DM), players all log in as demo version. Everyone chipped in for the ultimate ($149, but occasionally on sale - which we grabbed), PHB, and PotA. Players chipped in by buying gift card direct in FG that I could use to purchase. That's just under $250 for 5 people, or $50 each. At the pace we are on, PotA will last us about a year. $50 for a year is not bad. Thereafter, its another $50 ish for a module ($10 each) for 6 mo to a year, or $50ish ($10 each) for a new book (like SCAG). All that makes economic sense to us, and for the money I don't have to do much prep (scanning maps e.g.). My time is a precious commodity, so that is a big plus for me, the DM.

There is talk of an upgrade (FG 3) that will use the unreal(?) engine, smiteworks has purchased a 3d rendering company that looks pretty sweet. Don't quote me, but I am pretty sure if you have Ultimate then you can upgrade for free/cheap when it goes live (who knows when). another plus.

My recommendation: Group of solid friends, use FG. Casual pick up groups: use Roll20

Thanks [MENTION=6796566]epithet[/MENTION]. Are you a paid spokesperson or just a super fan? That has to be the most informative thing I've read on the internet in a long time.

Another VTT option is the granddaddy Maptools and its successor, Mote.

Both are free and have many features that are only available on the paid versions of other programs. Maptools is great if you are just using maps, light and shadows if you just wanted a digital map for your table game. Mote has the better scripting capability if you want to automate more.

Greatly appreciate all the information guys. My final decision will be to primarily focus on using FG to DM and i will play games on both. Since I currently have 0 books it won't be an issue to purchase the books on FG. Thanks again guys.

Thateous said:

Thanks [MENTION=6796566]epithet[/MENTION]. Are you a paid spokesperson or just a super fan? That has to be the most informative thing I've read on the internet in a long time.

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I'm just an end user. I started playing in a Pathfinder game using Fantasy Grounds a few years ago, and started a 5e campaign about a year ago.

If Doug of SmiteWorks wanted to pay me to evangelize for Fantasy Grounds, though... I'd take it.

Roll20 with voice over skype gets my vote.

citystar said:

Roll20 with voice over skype gets my vote.

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Yeah, I will say that Roll20's own voice service is really troublesome.