D&D 5E Do you find Fantasy Grounds just too much of an investment?

[I'm A Banana]

If price is a factor, FG probably isn't the best idea. It's pricey. Probably, if I'm being honest, TOO pricey to really justify what it is. If you're a homebrewer, you'll still have to make your own stuff, put it into FG's occasionally counter-intuitive code, and especially mapping is a HUGE headache. Getting a simple gridded combat map is something I find to be a herculean task in FG.

If you're price-sensitive, steer away. Roll20 is solid and smooth (though mapping there is also annoying). MapTool is kind of amazing (though with a high entry barrier), these are free (or nearly so) and well worth your time.

FG isn't bad, and it has its high points (combat tracking is quite easy, and if you're running WotC adventures over a VTT it's kind of why the heck NOT?), but being affordable is not one of its high points.

 

[Prism]

If you're price-sensitive, steer away. Roll20 is solid and smooth (though mapping there is also annoying). MapTool is kind of amazing (though with a high entry barrier), these are free (or nearly so) and well worth your time.

Our group has used both of those extensively in the past. The main reason we have stopped using them is that you can't actually buy the D&D content even if you wanted to. If you could buy the content, lets say through Roll20, then it might be an attractive option but there is just too much work involved (for me) to spend ages uploading my characters, macros and monsters.

I suppose what I am saying is that if I could get the PHB and MM in Roll20 I might use it, but I can't. And if I could it wouldn't be cheap then either.

 

[Prism]

I just can't justify spending as much on the digital game as I have for the books themselves.

The only way I could see it getting cheaper to own both is if a single place sells the book and digital version but at the moment that's not the case. Wizards sell nothing, Amazon and gaming shops sell books, Smiteworks and Steam sell digital. One of those would need to sell both and also be able to obtain a discount package from Wizards to sell them as a bundle. Unless you can guarantee a book is never opened a voucher system won't work

Additionally, you can't transfer the data between DMs within the group, so EACH DM has to invest a crap load of money. Since I play in a group with 2-3 other DMs, that's just not viable at all.

You can share a single account, just one person DMing at a time. We did this for a while at first, but now we have all bought a copy.

Roll20 works great for free.

Kind of, but it doesn't actually contain any D&D content - which is party why its free. You need the books to play and you need to manually upload content and create macros. With FG you don't need the physical books at all if you buy the digital versions

 

[hejtmane]

I keep coming and going when it comes to Fantasy Grounds. I really would like to get the whole thing but it's just the price at the end of the day that keeps me away. I was looking on Steam and to add SCAG to Fantasy Grounds is 31.99 on top of all the other things they have broken down into individual packets that cost money each.

Do any of you find the large investment just not worth it?

Why you find the sale and pay $23 for SCAG instead

 

[I'm A Banana]

Our group has used both of those extensively in the past. The main reason we have stopped using them is that you can't actually buy the D&D content even if you wanted to. If you could buy the content, lets say through Roll20, then it might be an attractive option but there is just too much work involved (for me) to spend ages uploading my characters, macros and monsters.

I suppose what I am saying is that if I could get the PHB and MM in Roll20 I might use it, but I can't. And if I could it wouldn't be cheap then either.

Yeah, this is similar to what sold me. But someone concerned about the price is probably gonna have different priorities, meaning "I want to throw lots of money at something to have official D&D content!" might rank a notch or two lower for them than it did for me.

 

[Marandahir]

It's too expensive for me to buy the books and FG.

I could afford the DDi Subscription last Edition, and we used a free virtual tabletop (Opentable, name is different now because of the Opentable app for restaurants). I just don't think I can justify such high buy-in costs on their own with FG. At least with DDi I got the character builder + tabletop + online Compendium + Virtual Magazines. And it was all-inclusive and updated with no extra investment. Here I'd have to make huge purchases with each module. I just can't justify the cost.

 

[Cody C. Lewis]

Yes.

I feel like I would be paying for the material twice, with FG being more expensive than what I spent on Amazon.

 

[Zardnaar]

Seems a bit expensive for me and not really that interested in D&D online. Digital for me is using MS word to write out mah crap.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

If I was playing an online game I'd use it and wouldn't have a problem with the costs but since I don't its not worth it.

 

[Nylanfs]

just to chime in here you can now buy gift certificates in this might work store for small amounts email them to yourself so you can save up for the books you want. And for the record I've bought my copy of FG in 2006 and has spent maybe $60 more since then and that's it.