FANTASY GROUNDS Virtual Tabletop's D&D License!

Officially licensed D&D electronic tools! For real! Fantasy Grounds, one of the leading virtual tabletops, has just released a set of D&D 5th edition licensed data packages. These include the D&D Basic Rules, packs for each of the core classes, and a pile of monster packs. Each states specifically that "This product is licensed from Wizards of the Coast." This appears to be the first officially licensed and branded electronic product. (thanks to Matchstick for the scoop)

Check out their D&D wares here. They mention that "The DMG is still in the works, along with the Hoard of the Dragon Queen, The Rise of Tiamat and Princes of the Apocalypse." and that "The basic 5E ruleset will continue to be provided directly within Fantasy Grounds to all licenses. These purchasable options add a new graphics theme that is officially branded, along with the library module support, and whatever other enhancements we could squeeze in, like tokens or portraits or decals."

Here's the announcement:

We are proud to announce that we are officially licensed to sell D&D source material and content inside of Fantasy Grounds! This is the beginning of a great new partnership between SmiteWorks and Wizards of the Coast that will benefit gamers worldwide.

You can purchase the D&D Complete Core Class Pack with all the class, feats, spells and equipment or you can purchase individual classes only. You can also buy the monsters in packs or as the D&D Complete Core Monster Pack. These products have been converted to work really tightly with Fantasy Grounds to give you the best possible gaming experience - we know you're going to love them. They contain all the great artwork and content from the official products and all the smarts and integration to work with Fantasy Grounds. Not only will you get the same content that can be found in print, but you also get an exciting new Fifth Edition theme, adventures and content customized specifically for ease of play inside of Fantasy Grounds.

For Dungeon Masters and players on a budget, you might pick up a Player Customization Pack and one or two Class Packs of your choice. Dungeon Masters can often get by with just the Adventure of their choice and one or two Monster Packs.

Don't forget that players can gift purchases through Steam for Dungeon Masters who have linked their license on Steam.
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[FormerlyHemlock]

[MENTION=87795]smiteworks[/MENTION], quick question for you if you don't mind: is FG going to be able to handle large maps gracefully? Say I want to track all 120 inhabitants of this mile-square cave complex. As a developer, would you say that scenaio is within scope for what you've built FG to handle, or would I run into UI issues around zooming and clutter?

For me that is really the killer app, because I really can't do that easily on a tabletop.

 

[smiteworks]

[MENTION=87795]smiteworks[/MENTION], quick question for you if you don't mind: is FG going to be able to handle large maps gracefully? Say I want to track all 120 inhabitants of this mile-square cave complex. As a developer, would you say that scenaio is within scope for what you've built FG to handle, or would I run into UI issues around zooming and clutter?

For me that is really the killer app, because I really can't do that easily on a tabletop.

That is somewhat hard to say for sure. We often do fairly large dungeons and we pre-place all the tokens as part of our building of the encounters. Even though they are pre-placed, they aren't actually placed onto the map until you decide to launch that encounter. Doing that keeps it from having to track so many things at once in the combat tracker. As a GM, I will occasionally trigger the monsters in adjoining rooms when players are in a combat, because it's possible that enemies nearby might respond to the sound of combat. I can reveal them as they become visible. If I have fog of war laid down, they can dart back into the unknown to auto-flip to invisible mode or I can turn them back invisible from the combat tracker.

For really large maps, I sometimes break these up into multiple, smaller maps. The Rise of Tiamat, for instance, has some very large maps that are 20' per square. Since I want those maps to be usable at 5' per square, the map obviously needs to get a lot bigger. Some other maps have multiple levels all shown on the same map. For those, I sometimes split them up and have 1 map per level. It might be worth just playing around with the demo some and your map of choice to see how well you think it works for your needs.

 

[mattcolville]

Hi,

Lots of focus on 5E. What are the options for FG + 4E, FG + 3.5E, or FG + PF?

Can anyone comment on the ability to create and update characters, and to customize monsters and treasure?

How hard is it to create or import custom maps?

Can you use most of the function but still have players roll to hit, save, and damage dice? I've found automated rollers to take a *lot* of fun out of playing. Luv to roll them dice!

Thx!

TomB

I've spend a few score hours in FG running 4E and let me tell you, I don't think people really understand how much of 4E was designed, from the ground up, to be played on a VTT. But once you play via FG2 with all the data you realize how much better the game is this way and you understand what a colossal blow to RPGs the death of that dude in charge of the 4E e-tools was.

I.e., it's aces, go for it.

That being said, you need the data. Valeros over on the forums made an EXCELLENT tool for scrubbing the DDI for the 4E data, but I have no idea if that stuff still works.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

For really large maps, I sometimes break these up into multiple, smaller maps. The Rise of Tiamat, for instance, has some very large maps that are 20' per square. Since I want those maps to be usable at 5' per square, the map obviously needs to get a lot bigger. Some other maps have multiple levels all shown on the same map. For those, I sometimes split them up and have 1 map per level. It might be worth just playing around with the demo some and your map of choice to see how well you think it works for your needs.

Thanks. I've watched some videos now, and between those and your description above, I have a good feeling that this will work for me. I'll do some more research but it's 75-80% likely you've got a new customer in me. Thanks!

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I am only able to play D&D online and this is pretty much exactly want I want for it. Added on once my next pay sub comes in Money won't really be an issue. So yeah you probably got a customer out of me as well.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

First, let me join the choir praising [MENTION=87795]smiteworks[/MENTION] for his appearance here and his willingness to answer all of our questions!

Coming from (and still using) MapTool and 4e, my questions regarding they way spells are implemented are based on experience. In my weekly use as player and DM I find it hard to memorize the border between automated actions and manual ones. We actually toned down our MapTool automation to make it more clear. But of course it feels weird to manually set a status effect and apply the appropriate rules when playing at a computer.

Regarding the price one might consider the history of FG. I don't know exactly when it was published, but it has a long history of being continually developed. Compared to MapTool, which has been pretty much dormant for years, this is a big plus IMHO. Plus the fact of licenses being lifetime makes the price much more palpable in this context.

Yes, you can do - and many people do so - achieve a lot of these things in MapTool as well, and there are many frameworks around to get you started. In a way, FG provides a convenience you pay for, but regarding the hassle to get MapTool - with its but ugly scripting language - to comparable functionality, the price seems fair to me.

Okay, so if you get me either shared DMing with a single ultimate license or dynamic lighting, you'll have won a customer!

 

[Hussar]

Right. $190(40 base product, 50x3 for the core books) is what you will pay to play/run a custom 5th edition game with the rules currently out...by yourself. $300($50x3 for 5th core material and $150 for license) a is what you will pay to pay that...with anyone besides yourself who didn't shell out their own $190.

That's not quite right. The other players could shell out 40 bucks and they'd be fine.

 

[Hussar]

Oh. I never considered just rotating an ultimate sub. That would work. You don't need any license to prep stuff on your own do you?

That makes it much more attractive. Thanks.

/edit for stupid autocorrect. Wtf is a "rot stating"?

 

[Nylanfs]

But, it is a fair question — is there a way to have multiple GMs and share content between these GMs? For instance, on Roll20, the subscription features offered to a campaign are determined by the creator of the campaign, not the GM. (Though I think the creator has to remain as a GM.) This way, you can create a campaign and then promote somebody else to GM to allow them to run a leg of the campaign, while allowing them to use your subscription features. Is something like this possible with FG? Is there a reasonable way for a group to share resources within one campaign?

Yes, your campaign is your campaign. Just zip up the campaign folder and email to the new GM.

 

[transtemporal]

27 different products? TWENTY SEVEN? Really?