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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[Reynard]

27 different products? TWENTY SEVEN? Really?

Yeah. Choices and options are such a drag!

 

[Nylanfs]

It's broken down so if players didn't want the whole book could get what they need as they needed it.

 

[Shasarak]

Good for those who use a virtual tabletop, but it's pretty useless to me. I was hoping for a tablet app to use around a physical table, similar to what Dungeonscape/Morningstar was supposed to be.

That pretty much mirrors my position. And again good to see something starting to come out.

 

[damned]

[MENTION=2525]Mistwell[/MENTION] - the bulk of the other stuffs pricing goes to the good folks who wrote the other games. the base product, the engine, the smarts - these all have value too and these were written by SmiteWorks. They deserve to get paid too. The price is what it is. Its not for everyone. For me, hands down its a great application and great community. Fantasy Grounds allowed me to start gaming again after 25+ years away from it.

 

[damned]

[MENTION=6787650]emdw45[/MENTION] in my experience I avoid massive maps. other gms will use them. i also wont usually have every single person loaded and active on the map at the same time. i use encounters, lots of them. and i use pins to link the encounters to their locations. you have a room with an encounter (ohh look there is a nice red pin - click it and it displays the encounter - click add and the tokens appear in place and the critters appear in the combat tracker), and the encounter is noisy so the dudes in the next room (look - another pin - ohhh its another encounter) come charging in. click the pin - maybe adjust the numbers - then add to combat tracker and we got ourselves a real fight now! so the pcs clean up and are feeling pretty good. but that *was noisy*. they skip out the side door (the gm clicks another pin) and Gruumuth and his friends are grinning their toothy grins at you
thats how I have my 100 potential folk all ready on my map. but not cluttering everything up waaaay before I need them.

 

[Sunseeker]

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

So only one person at the table needs to have the "books" in order for anyone who can access them, to use them?

 

[smiteworks]

So only one person at the table needs to have the "books" in order for anyone who can access them, to use them?

If the DM has them, (s)he can share them with the players that connect to the game. Players can't share with other players though.

 

[Mask_of_winter]

So only one person at the table needs to have the "books" in order for anyone who can access them, to use them?

Only the GM needs the books. But then again, the players will only have access to them while connected to his table. If they want to work on their character "offline" they need to own the material as well.

 

[Nylanfs]

So only one person at the table needs to have the "books" in order for anyone who can access them, to use them?

Not quite, the GM has to have the book and shared them, but they are only accessed when connected to the GM's campaign.

 

[Reynard]

How does communication work? (I have not had a chance to watch any of the videos.) Is it built into the program or do you have to use another chat system or program to make it work? Thanks.