D&D 5E Roll20 vs Fantasy Grounds

[Dax Doomslayer]

Sounds like the OP has most of what he needs to know. Thought I would add a reply I sent ot a friend a couple of weeks ago while he was doing the same research as you. Here's a slightly edited version of what I sent him.


Also you can see my review of it from November 2015; http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?386930-Fantasy-Grounds/page6&p=6750807#post6750807

Thanks for this LordEntrails. Actually I did see that (I've gone through some of the older threads on this) and I appreciate the information. On the topic of pricing, if one gets the ultimate license, that basically really just covers who can access / play with the DM and how much they, the player would pay.. It also includes the 5E SRD (and some other rule sets). However the PHB; DMG and MM would still need to be purchased. If the DM buys the books, it is my understanding that everyone that connects to that DM's game would have access - is this correct? Also, are the players able to 'gift' books to the DM?

I just want to say thanks for all the replies so far.

 

[Rhenny]

[MENTION=7151]Dax Doomslayer[/MENTION] - With the ultimate FG license, anyone who joins the table can gain access to any book in the owner's library while connected to the server only.

As for gifting DM books, I'm not sure. I've only purchased my own and I'm not that savy about digital downloads and the like.

 

[Dax Doomslayer]

[MENTION=7151]Dax Doomslayer[/MENTION] - With the ultimate FG license, anyone who joins the table can gain access to any book in the owner's library while connected to the server only.

As for gifting DM books, I'm not sure. I've only purchased my own and I'm not that savy about digital downloads and the like.

Thanks Rhenny. OK - that's what I thought. I realize they'd only have access as long as they are connected. Thanks for that confirmation!!

 

[LordEntrails]

Thanks for this LordEntrails. Actually I did see that (I've gone through some of the older threads on this) and I appreciate the information. On the topic of pricing, if one gets the ultimate license, that basically really just covers who can access / play with the DM and how much they, the player would pay.. It also includes the 5E SRD (and some other rule sets). However the PHB; DMG and MM would still need to be purchased. If the DM buys the books, it is my understanding that everyone that connects to that DM's game would have access - is this correct? Also, are the players able to 'gift' books to the DM?

I just want to say thanks for all the replies so far.

You get the 5E SRD and 5E Basic Rules with the Standard or Ultimate license. You are right in that they both are the same with the exception of who can connect. With a standard license, all players and GM need a standard license. With an Ultimate, only the host (GM) needs the license, everyone else can use a demo/free license.

And you have it right that anyone the host (GM) allows can access any of the GM resources while connected (in addition to their own resources).

The best way to gift things like adventures and DMG, etc is to gift money via PayPal or Steam. SmiteWorks used to support gift cards or something (I forget the details), but because of issues or difficulties with the vendor, SmiteWorks has withdrawn that.

Happy to help

 

[Dax Doomslayer]

Thanks again LordEntrails. Another question (if you'd indulge me), for playing a live game, does FG add any dramatic benefit? I wouldn't be using the VTT so to what extent could I use this for to help in a face to face game?

 

[NotRussellCrowe]

Dramatic? Not sure what you mean by that but I think FG could be very useful when running at the table.

My first thing I'd do is create characters for all your players and then you can run combat from the Combat Tracker. Just manually input the player's initiative rolls and it will order for you and when it's a monster's turn it will tell you all their options. You can turn on the option for manual dice rolls and enter all damage the players make (I'm assuming they will roll their own physical dice) and it will keep track of hit points and such.

If you have a second monitor or TV or something you could run another instance for the players to watch with maps and other images and such. Or you could use a second computer, give them a mouse and let them move their tokens around.

If you want to go all out you could use another TV/monitor as a battle map in addition to the following extension: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/foru...esize-to-TV-resolution-for-Face-To-Face-games

Fantasy Grounds is also great if you have the official products (or even the SRD may be good enough) as it's quicker to lookup information than flipping pages.

 

[Rhenny]

Dramatic?
Fantasy Grounds is also great if you have the official products (or even the SRD may be good enough) as it's quicker to lookup information than flipping pages.

Yes! This is awesome. It is so amazing to be able to view monster stat blocks and jump to spell descriptions to refresh memory and then drag spell or target multiple pcs to make saving throws or attacks against pcs automatically. Or to view a map and click on a pin to get descriptions of locations and relevant encounters,etc.

Setting up the hot keys to open often used tables or upcoming encounters or maps is also really helpful.

 

[LordEntrails]

Thanks again LordEntrails. Another question (if you'd indulge me), for playing a live game, does FG add any dramatic benefit? I wouldn't be using the VTT so to what extent could I use this for to help in a face to face game?

As [MENTION=6857038]NotRussellCrowe[/MENTION] and [MENTION=18333]Rhenny[/MENTION] say, I think it can help a great deal with face-to-face.

I use it when I play f2f. Not so much for the dramatic effects (I like fog of war), but for the record keeping and the combat tracker. We find that the speed of our combats is much faster, especially when there are lots of NPC's. Plus, the mini's never get messed up if the cat jumps on the table!

There are a couple of threads on the FG forums where people talk about f2f games and even include pictures of their setups. It can be pretty cool. I use a large TV on the wall, but others use projectors or tables flat on the table (with tokens or with minis).

 

[Lwaxy]

I can't host games on FG anymore, which is sad, worse is I can only connect to a handful of GMs. Additionally, it is a PITA to use om small screen, which means always for me as I can only play on laptop or tablet, with rare exceptions.

Roll20 lets you connect from anywhere, whereas FG limits the numbers of computers you can install it on. Which makes it troublesome if you, like me, have to connect from several comps, even if it is just to prep not to play.

R20 would be so much superior in my eyes, also because it is free (I have a paid account though) and creates more of a table feeling for me, if not for all the bugs and support issues. I have unresolved issues going back 2 months, and on most posts people do not even get a reply anymore even when the issues aren't resolved. Currently I can't even prep my many games because I am unable to properly access my library, which makes it worthless to me right now. I am really thinking of alternatives now which won't require my players to shell out money, as most would not be able to.

So if all your players have a little money, or you can get the ultimate license, go with FG. If you have a large enough screen, it is plenty easy to figure out, and if you do not need to switch around between computers a lot it is even easier.

 

[Dax Doomslayer]

Thanks for the replies folks. When I used the word 'dramatic' it was more along the lines of "big" (i.e. big benefit). My apologies if my word choice caused some issues. Not really having access to a second monitor looks like it makes it somewhat useful from a book keeping standpoint it sounds. Thanks again for the comments!