Fantasy Grounds Drops Prices For Electronic D&D Books

One thing people often hesitate over when it comes to the Virtual Tabletop versions of books they already own is that the electronic versions cost as much as the originals, and this can reduce the number of players using the platforms. Fantasy Grounds has recognised this, and has decided to take action by reducing the prices of Fantasy Grounds versions of books by up to 40%, depending on the book. That means something like the Dungeon Master's Guide or Volo's Guide to Monsters will go from $49.99 to $29.99.

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Here's what they say about it: "SmiteWorks is working alongside Wizards of the Coast to significantly lower the cost of entry for Dungeons & Dragons players looking to play online with the Fantasy Grounds virtual tabletop. While the project has been a major success, both partners would like it to be even more successful. The prices for official D&D content for Fantasy Grounds will be reduced on August 15, 2017 as part of an initiative to increase new player adoption. Modules which previously cost $49.99 will now be $29.99. Large adventure modules will now be $24.99. Existing customers will benefit in lower prices on all newly released content."

It sounds like WotC is involved in this pricing strategy, as SmiteWorks says that they are working with them to lower the cost of entry. I've reached out for some more information on the initiative, and I'll update as soon as I hear anything.

UPDATE: SmiteWorks' Doug Davison confirms that it's a SmiteWorks initiative:

"I think it is fairly safe to share that SmiteWork's standard agreement is that we license content from publishers and pay them royalties at a fixed rate based on the final sale price of each product. Our publishers set the prices of all products we license from them, although some publishers agree to let us manage periodic sales within set parameters to manage frequency, total discount, etc.

The initiative to increase new player adoption is a SmiteWorks initiative. It is supported by Wizards of the Coast in a generic way as they support us in general, like they do all of their partners."

Here's the full list of upcoming price changes (from August 15th):

40% Cheaper (From $49.99 to $29.99 each)
D&D Complete Core Class Pack
D&D Complete Core Monster Pack
D&D Complete Dungeon Master's Guide
D&D Volo's Guide to Monsters
D&D Tales from the Yawning Portal
D&D Sword Coast Adventurers Guide

28% Cheaper (From $34.99 to $24.99 each)
D&D Storm King's Thunder
D&D Curse of Strahd
D&D Out of the Abyss
D&D Princes of the Apocalypse

25% Cheaper (From $19.99 to $14.99 each)
D&D Lost Mine of Phandelver

Pricing Unchanged
SRD Data Modules are still FREE
D&D Basic Rules are still FREE
Individual Class Packs
Individual Monster Packs
D&D Hoard of the Dragon Queen
D&D Rise of Tiamat
D&D Legacy of the Crystal Shard
D&D Scourge of the Sword Coast
D&D Map Pack Volume 1
D&D Token Volume 1
D&D Token Volume 2
D&D Lair Assault - Forge of the Dawn Titan (5E)
D&D Lair Assault - Talon of Umberlee (5E)
D&D Lair Assault - Attack of the Tyrant Claw (5E)

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[Enevhar Aldarion]

I do all my gaming in person, not online, so a VTT does not really have any use for me, but it is good that people who do use this format are getting better prices. I am more interested in the DDBeyond Compendium pricing for the crunch books. $19.99 is right in the sweet spot for a price for a digital version of a $40-50 book, especially once they implement the offline version of their site. Sure, it is not a pdf that can be moved from hard drive to flash drive to whatever, but it is close enough for me.

 

[LordEntrails]

I do all my gaming in person, not online, so a VTT does not really have any use for me, ....

Some posts that might change your mind, or at least show you the potential of using a VTT for in-person gaming;
- https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-5e-pathfinder-cthulhu-savage-e/posts/1954453
- https://mgpotter.com/in-person-5e-dd-using-fantasy-grounds/

There are more examples too. It's certainly not an approach for everyone, but just shows what you can do with an open mind and a desire.

 

[Valetudo]

Fantasy Grounds’ main competition is Roll20, and that’s been around for ages. D&D Beyond isn’t a virtual tabletop; entirely different type of product. There’s a few other VTTs, but I’m not too familiar with them all.

Beyond might not be a vtt, but it is defifinatly competition for digital sales. Digital is fighting to become the new majority right now and i think they are looking at future competition.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

As if the timing of this has nothing to do with D&D Beyond's much lower pricing. Geez. FG have had a long time to adjust their pricing and yet within one week of D&D Beyond announcing their pricing, FG suddenly drops their own? Not a coincidence, and says a lot about the people at FG. Scummy company.

 

[Zardnaar]

Still a bit over priced IMHO its one reason I do not use VTT yet. If you are charging more than Amazon for a PDF vs dead tree format there is something wrong IMHO.

Maybe Paizo and OSR spoiled me with cheap PDFs or sales.

Basically digital needs to be cheaper than real copies for me. They do have one advantage about not being able to smell another player though or have them mess up your house.

 

[Nylanfs]

The two that I know about and have played with are;
- https://www.alonlinetools.net/FGCharacterSheet.aspx
- http://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?27390-Universal-Character-Sheet-Printer-for-FG

I believe you can also import the FG XML into both HeroLabs and PCGen and then print from those as well.

Doesn't look like PCGen imports .xml files - only .pcg ?

Sorry, don't know. I thought it did, but have never used it.

PCGen can not import xml files, you build your characters in PCGen, then can import them into FG (and supposedly Roll20?).

 

[halberd10]

Still a bit over priced IMHO its one reason I do not use VTT yet. If you are charging more than Amazon for a PDF vs dead tree format there is something wrong IMHO.

Maybe Paizo and OSR spoiled me with cheap PDFs or sales.

Basically digital needs to be cheaper than real copies for me. They do have one advantage about not being able to smell another player though or have them mess up your house.

Comparing fantasy grounds mods to PDFs is really apples and oranges. The FG mods have to be coded in, encounters pre-placed and set up, maps imported, etc. someone has to be paid to do all that stuff. It's a lot of work, and the result is that prep time is drastic reduced when running them, so to me (and many others) it's well worth the price.

 

[halberd10]

As if the timing of this has nothing to do with D&D Beyond's much lower pricing. Geez. FG have had a long time to adjust their pricing and yet within one week of D&D Beyond announcing their pricing, FG suddenly drops their own? Not a coincidence, and says a lot about the people at FG. Scummy company.

So a company that doesn't sell products at the lowest possible cost all the time is scummy? You must not buy a lot of stuff.

 

[smiteworks]

As if the timing of this has nothing to do with D&D Beyond's much lower pricing. Geez. FG have had a long time to adjust their pricing and yet within one week of D&D Beyond announcing their pricing, FG suddenly drops their own? Not a coincidence, and says a lot about the people at FG. Scummy company.

We are not allowed to set our own prices for content we license from other publishers. That is not how the industry works.

 

[fantasmamore]

I do all my gaming in person, not online, so a VTT does not really have any use for me...

I do the same thing. I connect my laptop with the TV to show my players the maps and handouts. I don't have to search for maps, tiles and tokens before the session, all the stats for the monsters are two clicks away and I use fog of war or similar techniques to slowly reveal the map. My players use their character sheets and dice as they always did - the only thing that's different for them is that they have to look at a monitor instead at the map on the table. Before the VTTs I always forgot about bonuses, conditions, power recharge rolls (in 4e) etc. Now I spent less time on preparing for a session and running the game is easier and faster. I created some "modules" in FG (think of them like packages containing monsters, maps and text, much like a real module) and when my players want to do something completely different that I was not prepared for, I "activate" a module and I present them with a side-quest or I just borrow a couple of encounters to continue my story. Most important of all, since we meet in different places each time, I have everything with me on my laptop and cloud service.
Using VTTs for in person gaming forever changed the way I play and I suggest you try one too.