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

[Gnashtooth]

Seems like they are targeting the people who only play online, and if you are going to play with friends, then I guess according to WotC, you deserve the back injuries you get carrying 12 books to the game.

They have some big cajones charging as much for digital as they do for a physical print product. The content isn't that good.

 

[Tia Nadiezja]

Yeah... FG's price point is a little... painfully high.

 

[sleypy]

I didn't find it to be worth the price. Having people using Macs, tablets, Androids, iPhones, desktops made it feel like a job. I didn't want to have to remove people from a game just cause I wanted to move to Roll20.

Last time I attempted to use FG, it had too steep a learning curve for some players and the minimum requirements eliminate others altogether.

 

[aramis erak]

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?

I don't want/need FG; I want PDF or ePub rulebooks that I can use offline. I can easily enough use VASSAL or Maptool coupled with skype.

 

[Shiroiken]

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.

When I looked into FG this was expressly forbidden, with violation possibly terminating your license. Not an investment I'd want to gamble on.

 

[Quickleaf]

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?

We play on Roll20.

To really take advantage of it, you need someone to have a Pro level subscription which is about $100/ year so you have access to the API scripts.

There are many cool things this allows us to do to save time! I believe [MENTION=45267]Mithreinmaethor[/MENTION] was saying how much time R20 requires inputting things. But with the API script and a monster PDF, all you need to do is copy-paste the monster stat block onto a token, run the appropriate API script, and voila! Monster created!

It works for us.

I haven't tried Fantasy Grounds yet, but FG strikes me (based on what I've read/seen here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/buyFG/) as being exorbitantly priced without saving much extra time or offering much added utility over R20.

 

[ddaley]

We play on Roll20.

To really take advantage of it, you need someone to have a Pro level subscription which is about $100/ year so you have access to the API scripts.

There are many cool things this allows us to do to save time! I believe [MENTION=45267]Mithreinmaethor[/MENTION] was saying how much time R20 requires inputting things. But with the API script and a monster PDF, all you need to do is copy-paste the monster stat block onto a token, run the appropriate API script, and voila! Monster created!

It works for us.

I haven't tried Fantasy Grounds yet, but FG strikes me (based on what I've read/seen here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/buyFG/) as being exorbitantly priced without saving much extra time or offering much added utility over R20.

When we were looking into which VTT to use, we ruled out Roll20 for a few reasons. For me, I avoid subscriptions like the plague. I know Roll20 has a free account, but if you want the character vault, you need to pay. FG is a one time cost. On top of that, FG has the 5e content. If you wait until Black Friday, FG will probably be on sale (we got it while it was on sale).

FG is far from perfect, and there are a number of things that I do not like about it, but, for us, it was the best of what was available.

I am hoping that RealmWorks gets 5e content soon.

 

[Prism]

We play on Roll20.

To really take advantage of it, you need someone to have a Pro level subscription which is about $100/ year so you have access to the API scripts.

Fantasy Grounds is $120 a year (or a one off fee of $149 which can make it cheaper in the long run). Not much in it really so it just comes down to preference. I have used both and they are pretty comparable as a tool. Fantasy Grounds is better for organising games, notes and has many of the macros done for you. Roll20 is better for maps and easier to access being browser based

There are many cool things this allows us to do to save time! I believe [MENTION=45267]Mithreinmaethor[/MENTION] was saying how much time R20 requires inputting things. But with the API script and a monster PDF, all you need to do is copy-paste the monster stat block onto a token, run the appropriate API script, and voila! Monster created!

Not much use for 5e as there is no pdf for monsters

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

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?

So far, yes, but it's not the monetary investment that keeps me away. It's the learning curve of using someone else's system instead of one I wrote myself and know intimately, plus the related fact that a custom system will always suit your needs better.

 

[Quickleaf]

Fantasy Grounds is $120 a year (or a one off fee of $149 which can make it cheaper in the long run). Not much in it really so it just comes down to preference. I have used both and they are pretty comparable as a tool. Fantasy Grounds is better for organising games, notes and has many of the macros done for you. Roll20 is better for maps and easier to access being browser based

We really like that Roll20 is browser based, and with the API scripts you can generate sheets and spells with automated macros. There's a little checking to make sure the macros work right, but it's basically all done for you.

I agree, however, that Roll20 is not good for organizing campaign notes. I mean, it's really really piss poor at it.

Not much use for 5e as there is no pdf for monsters

You mean there's no legal pdf of the Monster Manual. That is true.

Legally, however, there is the free DM's Basic Rules PDF which has a lot of monsters, and there are the various free PDFs for each of the adventure books with bunches of monsters in there too.

And not legally, well, we don't discuss those things here because it would offend Eric's grandma.