D&D 5E Fantasy Grounds for home games

[cmad1977]

Hey!
Anyone using Fantasy Grounds for home games? I don't play remotely and I'm wondering if it's worth the money to use for my home game.
Thanks!

 

[epithet]

I use it remotely, I have heard some folks suggest that Roll20 might work better for a home game. It really depends on what you want to automate.

If you just want to throw a map up on your big screen with character tokens and a mask over the unexplored portions, and track your characters and npcs but roll the dice on your coffee table, then maybe Fantasy Grounds isn't the best option. If you want fully automated dice rolling, an integrated ruleset, a full-featured combat tracker, and basically the ability to do everything on the computer, then Fantasy Grounds is your best option.

Check out the Fantasy Grounds forums, especially the 5e forum and "The Tavern." Several folks have posted descriptions of how they have used Fantasy Grounds in their home games, some were very pleased and others were looking for different functionality.

 

[cmad1977]

I use it remotely, I have heard some folks suggest that Roll20 might work better for a home game. It really depends on what you want to automate.

If you just want to throw a map up on your big screen with character tokens and a mask over the unexplored portions, and track your characters and npcs but roll the dice on your coffee table, then maybe Fantasy Grounds isn't the best option. If you want fully automated dice rolling, an integrated ruleset, a full-featured combat tracker, and basically the ability to do everything on the computer, then Fantasy Grounds is your best option.

Check out the Fantasy Grounds forums, especially the 5e forum and "The Tavern." Several folks have posted descriptions of how they have used Fantasy Grounds in their home games, some were very pleased and others were looking for different functionality.

Ah! Thanks!

 

[GuardianLurker]

Hey!
Anyone using Fantasy Grounds for home games? I don't play remotely and I'm wondering if it's worth the money to use for my home game.
Thanks!

I do. In fact, I explicitly bought it for *just* that purpose.

It's working great.

To detail where I came from: I had been using a combination of notes on my computer, the written/published adventure, and hand-drawn tabletop maps for *many, many, many* years.

The first time I used FG, I used it in almost the most crippled way possible - All I had was the GM client. I still hand-drew the tabletop maps for the players, and just used the client to handle initiatives, and handle monster combat. All I had for the PCs was AC and HP. Just that wasn't any worse, and combat arguably went a little faster.

Next time, I projected a player client on to a screen, and used the tokens on the projected map to handle client movement with one of the players handling all the characters. It went better.

Now, I've pretty much switched over full time - and I'm not going back. Surprisingly, what's really sold me on the software isn't what I first started my experiments with. It's the fact that my campaign management just go so much incredibly easier!


So, you just fought {incredibly long list of monsters}. /Click/, /drag/, /click/ - there's your XP, properly split per character. Oh, and that hoard its was guarding? /Click/, /drag/. If you'll check the party sheet your party inventory has the new loot. Claimed what you all want? What about {item X}? Ok. /Click/,/click/ All the loot's been distributed; all the spare equipment's sold, everyone's got their share of the loot.


What was a half-hour or better process just became 5 to 10.

Oh, and there are a couple really neat extensions. The Fantasy Language Chat extension for instance. I type "/lang goblin Who goes there?" and characters without goblin see "Ke-rek-wargle!" (or some such), while the others (who understand goblin) see the translated phrase "Who goes there?".

The long and the short, just using it as a GM aid is worth it, IMO. If you can get your players to buy into it as well, it just gets better.

 

[cmad1977]

I do. In fact, I explicitly bought it for *just* that purpose.

It's working great.

To detail where I came from: I had been using a combination of notes on my computer, the written/published adventure, and hand-drawn tabletop maps for *many, many, many* years.

The first time I used FG, I used it in almost the most crippled way possible - All I had was the GM client. I still hand-drew the tabletop maps for the players, and just used the client to handle initiatives, and handle monster combat. All I had for the PCs was AC and HP. Just that wasn't any worse, and combat arguably went a little faster.

Next time, I projected a player client on to a screen, and used the tokens on the projected map to handle client movement with one of the players handling all the characters. It went better.

Now, I've pretty much switched over full time - and I'm not going back. Surprisingly, what's really sold me on the software isn't what I first started my experiments with. It's the fact that my campaign management just go so much incredibly easier!


So, you just fought {incredibly long list of monsters}. /Click/, /drag/, /click/ - there's your XP, properly split per character. Oh, and that hoard its was guarding? /Click/, /drag/. If you'll check the party sheet your party inventory has the new loot. Claimed what you all want? What about {item X}? Ok. /Click/,/click/ All the loot's been distributed; all the spare equipment's sold, everyone's got their share of the loot.


What was a half-hour or better process just became 5 to 10.

Oh, and there are a couple really neat extensions. The Fantasy Language Chat extension for instance. I type "/lang goblin Who goes there?" and characters without goblin see "Ke-rek-wargle!" (or some such), while the others (who understand goblin) see the translated phrase "Who goes there?".

The long and the short, just using it as a GM aid is worth it, IMO. If you can get your players to buy into it as well, it just gets better.

Did you buy the $40 version?

 

[GuardianLurker]

Did you buy the $40 version?

No, I bought the Ultimate (and all the 5e products at the time). I could afford it, and didn't want to force my players to pony up the money just to play. If you're the GM, and money's a concern, they also offer a subscription license on the ultimate that's well within anyone's pocket money ($10/month).

And since that always brings up the licensing scheme:
$40 version (and its subscription equivalent) allows for the GM, any number of players who have bought a license, and at most one player with the free/demo version to play together. (i.e. essentially everyone has to pay $40)
the Ultimate ($150) version (and its subscription equivalent) allows for the GM and any number of players, with or without a license, to play together. (i.e. only the GM pays).

If you're not sure, or don't think you'll be using the software for long, I recommend the subscription license. Keep in mind that the trial period should be expected to be 3-4 sessions to get a real understanding of the software. And I strongly recommend the introductory videos linked from the FG Wiki.

Final Caveat: I'm running a pure vanilla 5e game using the Tyranny of Dragons, which is just about the ideal use case. Like all TT software, the more customization you do as part of your campaign, the worse the software will fit. For instance, I'm currently playing in a Temple of Elemental Evil campaign that's allowing any official 3.x/Pathfinder rule (e.g. Tome and Blood, Complete Arcane and Ultimate Magic are all available). I haven't even suggested to the GM that we switch to FG (even though he's a player in my 5e game), as it'd be a nightmare.

 

[cmad1977]

No, I bought the Ultimate (and all the 5e products at the time). I could afford it, and didn't want to force my players to pony up the money just to play. If you're the GM, and money's a concern, they also offer a subscription license on the ultimate that's well within anyone's pocket money ($10/month).

And since that always brings up the licensing scheme:
$40 version (and its subscription equivalent) allows for the GM, any number of players who have bought a license, and at most one player with the free/demo version to play together. (i.e. essentially everyone has to pay $40)
the Ultimate ($150) version (and its subscription equivalent) allows for the GM and any number of players, with or without a license, to play together. (i.e. only the GM pays).

If you're not sure, or don't think you'll be using the software for long, I recommend the subscription license. Keep in mind that the trial period should be expected to be 3-4 sessions to get a real understanding of the software. And I strongly recommend the introductory videos linked from the FG Wiki.

Final Caveat: I'm running a pure vanilla 5e game using the Tyranny of Dragons, which is just about the ideal use case. Like all TT software, the more customization you do as part of your campaign, the worse the software will fit. For instance, I'm currently playing in a Temple of Elemental Evil campaign that's allowing any official 3.x/Pathfinder rule (e.g. Tome and Blood, Complete Arcane and Ultimate Magic are all available). I haven't even suggested to the GM that we switch to FG (even though he's a player in my 5e game), as it'd be a nightmare.

Hmm... The subscription model seems ideal for a test run. I hadn't considered that.
I too am running Tyranny if Dragons. Guess I'll look I into that method and see how it goes.
I'm thinking if using it primarily as a DM aid, projecting maps onto the tv, maybe using the tracker and stuff.
If everyone likes it maybe I'll look into acquiring the 'ultimate' version for the future.

 

[Meliath1742]

I used the Ultimate subscription for about two months before purchasing the $150 license. By then I realized that FG was the VTT for me.

 

[Blue]

What are you looking at getting out of a VTT? If it's just providing maps and a grid, MapTools and Roll20 (with fog of war) can do it for less. If you want to run everything mechanically, are you intending your players all have computers around the table? (Or around the room, since you might now be focused on a room with a large TV and a bunch of laptops instead of around a table.)

I'm in a 5e game run on FG and liking it, but knowing what you want to use it for will help talk about the tools out there.