Fantasy Grounds Is Going Free To Play

Effective immediately, Fantasy Grounds is free to use.
Screenshot 2024-08-22 140135 copy.webp


Fantasy Grounds, the Virtual Tabletop (VTT) which launched over 20 years ago in 2004, has always been a premium option for VTT users. That is--until today! Because, effective immediately, Fantasy Grounds is free to use.

Previously an FG license cost $50, and then you had to buy the games and other modules you wanted to use with it. As of today, all users can host and join unlimited games with no purchase or subscription.

The software itself is free, although of course the marketplace contains a massive quantity of official licensed content, and add-ons like art, maps, tokens, and digital dice. Officially licensed material includes Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition, Traveller, Call of Cthulhu, and more, with over 50 game systems and more than 3,000 products.

There's also a new 'Online Reader'--a web-based compendium which enables you to access your Fantasy Grounds library from your browser.

Screenshot 2025-11-08 at 22.50.40.png
 

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...I wonder if in this same situation, wherein I am at someone else's home, they could have the FG set up and be the server-side host? Or is it that the GM always should be the server-host? (I guess I could go look it up in the documentation...)
The most important thing is that your campaign folder is there in the Fantasy Grounds data folder. FG campaign data is never stored remotely - always in the local data folder. I do FG server hosting at IRL tables, mostly to host players that can't make the session and need to connect remotely. I add a pseudo-player to the party and move their token around the map on an HDTV, so players at the table can have a player's view of the remote player(s) on any maps. And yes, I usually put that pseudo-player's combat tracker up on the big screen to show initiative order - many rulesets display info in the GM's Combat Tracker that's shouldn't be seen by players.

The other important thing is that the host computer have the necessary ruleset, DLC (adventures, companions, purchased maps, etc.), and extensions that are being used. If another player hosts, but doesn't own the ruleset and DLC it won't be available, as FG content is tied to a license. If I'm playing around a table at a player's home, I just bring my laptop along and connect it to their HDTV - all the necessary content is there. For one of our campaigns, 2 of my players own the campaign content and have nice gaming rigs and gaming tables. So I've used their PCs and FG licenses to host the session. In those situations, I just bring my campaign folder and any extensions on a thumb drive and copy it to their FG data folder.

Our general rule is not to have players at the table connect to the FG server via their laptop, but that's mostly due to player's preferring to have a break from tech. But if we wanted to allow that we could certainly accommodate it. If there's no remote players, you can even do that completely disconnected from the Internet, as FG has a LAN mode.

The tying of content to a license makes using FG a bit more challenging than roll20 or Foundry in such scenarios. There's no sharing of content between different GMs, so if you want have a friend do the hosting on their PC, they also need to own the necessary content. TBH, it hasn't mattered much to me, because I'm not big on reading content like GM guides, companions or supplements in-game and prefer PDFs on my tablet or another screen. And I now have the option of the Oline Reader too. (y) So when using those 2 player's gaming rigs, they've really only need to own the core ruleset.
 
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I've updated my Steam review to clarify that I'm acting in good faith, and that I'm willing to change my review if the following problem(s) are sufficiently addressed or properly acknowledged: 1) problem with updater "looping & crashing" when installing the product to non-C:\ directory, 2) problem(s) with running the product directly from Steam via the 'Launch' button found on the library page of every product sold through Steam, (it should not be an issue running it from Steam if the product is being sold on Steam - and if it somehow is a problem, there should be notification to that effect available to the potential buyer), 3) that help requested for this issue by users on the Steam forums is met not with a plea from another Steam user to go to some other forums for an answer, but is instead answered directly and by a developer where the user is requesting the help.

I look forward to updating my review accordingly.
 

I've updated my Steam review to clarify that I'm acting in good faith, and that I'm willing to change my review if the following problem(s) are sufficiently addressed or properly acknowledged: 1) problem with updater "looping & crashing" when installing the product to non-C:\ directory, 2) problem(s) with running the product directly from Steam via the 'Launch' button found on the library page of every product sold through Steam, (it should not be an issue running it from Steam if the product is being sold on Steam - and if it somehow is a problem, there should be notification to that effect available to the potential buyer), 3) that help requested for this issue by users on the Steam forums is met not with a plea from another Steam user to go to some other forums for an answer, but is instead answered directly and by a developer where the user is requesting the help.

I look forward to updating my review accordingly.
You need to contact support@fantasygrounds.com so they can assist you. The support team does not try to conduct support through a review.
 

You responded to the Steam review that I posted, but your response did not address any of the other questions I raised in that review. Your response to my Steam review mentions 'kicking a pet' which another user on the ENWorld forums also brought up, and which, even metaphorically, has no place in discussion of the issue.

Why not take the simplest of possible steps, and pin a message in the Steam forums explaining that some users have had issues either running it on Steam, or installing to non-default locations, or both?
The "help" I see in the Steam forums has Steam users directing users seeking solutions for their issue(s) to your Discord or your forums - has any customer service person or developer provided a solution on the Steam forum for the product in which the help was sought, and specifically for the "looping"/auto-shutdown issue that users experienced?

The product has been on Steam for eleven years - no one in all that time saw any value in revisiting the updater/installer to correct the "looping"/auto-shutdown problem that several users described?
i have installed Fantasy grounds on numerous computers either my own or my players remotely and have never encountered this issue. Saying that the installer updater is a bit rubbish. I prefer how foundry does where you can chose what bits you want to update rather than a lot of rules sets and modules im not currently running.

Fantasy grounds sometimes gives me flashbacks windows 3.11 as i always end up with loads of windows open. Its telling that when i run on foundry i can get by with one screen but with foundry i prefer to have it spread over two monitors
 
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I've updated my Steam review to clarify that I'm acting in good faith, and that I'm willing to change my review if the following problem(s) are sufficiently addressed or properly acknowledged: 1) problem with updater "looping & crashing" when installing the product to non-C:\ directory, 2) problem(s) with running the product directly from Steam via the 'Launch' button found on the library page of every product sold through Steam, (it should not be an issue running it from Steam if the product is being sold on Steam - and if it somehow is a problem, there should be notification to that effect available to the potential buyer), 3) that help requested for this issue by users on the Steam forums is met not with a plea from another Steam user to go to some other forums for an answer, but is instead answered directly and by a developer where the user is requesting the help.

I look forward to updating my review accordingly.
Doesn't sound like good faith to me. Sounds like an attempt at blackmail.

Which has never been necessary if you are willing to actually work with the established support system.

They have a ticket system you can use: Jira Service Management
And an email that has already been given to you: support@fantasygrounds.com
The Steam Community, and the FG Forums are not the official places for getting support. Often users will help each other in both places, but official support is through the official channels.
 


Doesn't sound like good faith to me. Sounds like an attempt at blackmail.
If blackmail is actually what I'm doing, then I would be engaging in illegal behavior under Federal Law: 18 U.S. Code § 873

So your conscience should probably be telling you to contact the FTC, the DOJ, or some other three-letter federal agency to report it.

P.S. I've made my clarification regarding what I think needs fixed. Whether Smiteworks does or does not act on it beyond whatever they've already done makes no difference to me. I wanted other users, potentially other consumers of their product, to know what I observed. I've done that, and I'm personally satisfied to be completely done with this thread, unless others want to throw more stuff at me personally.

I can't say that I won't eventually tire of people throwing stuff at me, nor that I won't use the ignore function. But please don't misconstrue that as anything other than a tongue-in-cheek response. =)

P.P.S. This post should be included in any discovery process (if needed).
 


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