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.


WOTC5EDDBASICRULES.jpg
 

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transtemporal

Explorer
The 5e mechanics comes with FG for free.
So without the rules provided by the store you have to:
a) Type and format everything yourself
b) figure out the parser which will convert raw data from the ocr'd d&d books into a language FG understands
or c) play with the book on your lap.

The automation will track HP, conditions, distribute treasure parcels, etc. That comes out of the box, you don't need to purchase any official 5e material for that.

You seem very curious. Have you checked out any youtube videos yet? Trying to explain how FG works with words is as tricky as trying to explain what D&D is to someone who's never heard of it. I encourage you to go on youtube and run a search with keywords like: fantasy grounds and d&d . You'll find tutorials, actual plays and reviews. It's also worth noting that FG works pretty much the same way with any ruleset so what you'll find with Castles & Crusades, 4e or Pathfinder applies.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fantasy grounds&sm=3

I picked up the ultimate subscription so I can muck around. Been looking for a decent VTT for ages.

I've watched the 5e videos but to be honest they confused me because the developer already has all the rulesets available so when he's explaining how to make a character, he's dragging and dropping from the library window and I'm thinking "How come I can't see any of that?"
In other words, its not targeted at people who've just downloaded the software and don't realise you need to buy the rulesets (because come on, what kind of lunatic is going to manually type out all of 5e?). So now that I'd figured that out, I'll just buy the rulesets and do it that way.

Thanks for your help! :)
 

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mattcolville

Adventurer
yes, there is a draw tool included by which you can hand-draw maps or pretty much anything else. You can even overlay a grid or the fog of war on it just like you'd do on an imported jpeg image

This is something I think needs some work as a feature. Right now the pencil tool has one thickness, no snap-to-grid (as far as I know) and no way to change the color. I end up doing things in Photoshop which I am not proficient in.
 

deactivatedadam

First Post
[MENTION=1300]mattcolville[/MENTION], sorry for the slightly off topic post, I was wondering if you were still doing your "build a fighter in every edition" videos. Thought that it would be pretty cool if you did one for 5E in Fantasy Grounds, I think those videos have been heavily followed in the past and it would go a ways to providing more exposure and a nice how-to. I know Doug did one already, but the more the better in my opinion. It might be nice to have another video with someone who doesnt have such intimate knowledge of the software, could give a lot of those out there thinking about trying it out an idea of what its like as you are just learning it.
Just at thought, you're videos have been very helpful in the past.
 

transtemporal

Explorer
This is something I think needs some work as a feature. Right now the pencil tool has one thickness, no snap-to-grid (as far as I know) and no way to change the color. I end up doing things in Photoshop which I am not proficient in.

OK, good its not just me. I agree. I've just been trying to puzzle out how I change the brush size.

Does it have an undo tool? I'm trying the usual shortcuts but I have no idea what it is.
 

RSKennan

Explorer
There's an eraser tool. Ctrl-z etc. doesn't work.

Edit: One thing you could do is keep paint or a similar program open, and quickly save to the images folder. FG does hotload images, tokens, etc. It won't be quite as quick as a set of dedicated tools in FG, but it might work.
 
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smiteworks

Explorer
This is something I think needs some work as a feature. Right now the pencil tool has one thickness, no snap-to-grid (as far as I know) and no way to change the color. I end up doing things in Photoshop which I am not proficient in.

The drawing tools inside of FG are extremely light and not really suitable beyond a quick one-time map every now and then. The primary usage is to create or find an image outside of FG and then save and drag the image onto FG's image & maps window. The campaign will update in real-time to make it immediately available. My recommendation would be to run Paint.net (if that's still around), GIMP or another free graphics tool if you plan to do much drawing for your own maps. If you actually have Photoshop, then it would of course work too, but is very expensive. You are much better off with a drawing tool that supports layers, IMO.

For any image you drag in, you can lay a grid over top of it inside of FG using the right-click menu. Check out the Map video on the Smiteworks YouTube channel for a rundown on how to best utilize your images from outside of FG.
https://www.youtube.com/user/smiteworksprez/videos
 

Lindeloef

First Post
[MENTION=87795]smiteworks[/MENTION]

As one can activate the Ultimate edition on Steam, could the "switching DM" Problem be solved by having basically a Steam DM Account with that license and the one that is DMing right now would just login on that and would have access to everything that account has bought? (while the others just use the free version to join)
 

Nylanfs

Adventurer
[MENTION=87795]smiteworks[/MENTION]

As one can activate the Ultimate edition on Steam, could the "switching DM" Problem be solved by having basically a Steam DM Account with that license and the one that is DMing right now would just login on that and would have access to everything that account has bought? (while the others just use the free version to join)
You could, but I believe Fantasy Grounds would need reinstalled every time you switch Steam acct. Plus I believe that violates Steams acct policy.
 

SkidAce

Legend
Supporter
You could, but I believe Fantasy Grounds would need reinstalled every time you switch Steam acct. Plus I believe that violates Steams acct policy.

You could use the Family Sharing option, which is made for several people to be able to play a game, just no one at the same time.
 


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