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.
​

​

 

[smiteworks]

[MENTION=40810]Mirtek[/MENTION],

If you have any license, you can run a Check for Updates and it will temporarily upgrade to an Ultimate license. We do this to support the community run and organized FG Con (www.fg-con.com) twice a year. That means that you can let your friends connect to you and play with just a Free/demo license until the Con is over.

Note that you don't need the Complete Core Class Pack plus the PC Customization Pack. It's content is already included. The product details indicate this at the top of the product description. If you bought both, send your receipt to support@fantasygrounds.com and I can refund the double purchase.

Regarding multi-classing, we have to do some more work on this area. It's on our to-do list still. Your interpretation is correct, so you'll want to unmark those so they are not shown as proficient.

 

[Mirtek]

Note that you don't need the Complete Core Class Pack plus the PC Customization Pack. It's content is already included.

Wow, didn't figure that out.

The product details indicate this at the top of the product description.

Could it be that steam uses different description in different countries? Because from Germany, despite still displaying an english description, it says:

"You get the class description, special features, spells and abilities used by your class and general character customization options such as equipment and feats."

From this I thought that backgrounds would not be included as part of this. Maybe this could be made more fool proof by just stating that the character customization pack is fully included.

If you bought both, send your receipt to support@fantasygrounds.com and I can refund the double purchase.

Thank you very much! Will do so immediately. I have to say your support here is top of the class!

Your interpretation is correct, so you'll want to unmark those so they are not shown as proficient.

A shame, I was really hoping for two extra skills for my character

 

[Inglorin]

And you can totally have GM map layers

Really? Great to hear this. After checking out FG last week this was one of my main complaints as well: The (in-)ability to really work with the map in game.

In roll20 I love to add little twists, items, scenery and such things to the map. With the library available I can drag and drop countless images right onto my map layer. I can prepare alternate terrain images on my GM layer to switch portions of the map out, when somethin happens and so on. It may be my missing experience with FG, but I couldn't find these features in there.

The combat tracker, on the other hand, is great. An Excellent tool. This weekend I will have the opportunity to play a game of 5E in FG and we think about the advantages and disadvantages between our current solution (roll20) and FG.

Re: The Sage Background - there is something wierd going on right now. My "D&D Basic Rules - Player" module has a severe error in the sage background. Part of the text is from the criminal background, the criminal background on the other hand doesn't have the tables for the personality traits at all. Only text is available. I presume that this will be fixed in the next update.

CU,
Olav

I did make the mistake of canceling my paypal subscription after paying my initial $10 for one month. DO NOT DO THIS. When you cancel you future payments the current subscription period end immediately. The people at FG were very helpful and fixed this for me at once, but it wasn't necessary if I only had known. They told me that I could have learned this from the FAQ, but I failed there. English isn't my first language.

 

[smiteworks]

Wow, didn't figure that out.
Could it be that steam uses different description in different countries? Because from Germany, despite still displaying an english description, it says:

"You get the class description, special features, spells and abilities used by your class and general character customization options such as equipment and feats."

From this I thought that backgrounds would not be included as part of this. Maybe this could be made more fool proof by just stating that the character customization pack is fully included.

Thank you very much! Will do so immediately. I have to say your support here is top of the class!

Since the Complete Core Class Pack contains all 12 of the sub-packs plus the base PC customization pack, we decided that the description would get overly complicated to add this to that product. Instead, we added a single line to the top of all the sub packs that reads as follows:

*This product is included in the D&D Complete Class Pack

Every character needs a background, some equipment and a weapon. Inside this pack, you will find information useful to all characters, no matter which class you choose to pursue. Combine this base pack with one or more class packs and head off for adventure.

 

[smiteworks]

And you can totally have GM map layers.

Really? Great to hear this. After checking out FG last week this was one of my main complaints as well: The (in-)ability to really work with the map in game.

I think he is referring to a custom extension some of the FG users wrote. There was one floating around the forums called enhanced images. We haven't incorporated this feature into the core app yet since we wanted to spend a little more time working out the exact architecture that we really wanted there.

 

[Mirtek]

Since the Complete Core Class Pack contains all 12 of the sub-packs plus the base PC customization pack, we decided that the description would get overly complicated to add this to that product. Instead, we added a single line to the top of all the sub packs that reads as follows:

Well, I really need to read more carefully That's as clear as it can get

 

[Inglorin]

I think he is referring to a custom extension some of the FG users wrote. There was one floating around the forums called enhanced images. We haven't incorporated this feature into the core app yet since we wanted to spend a little more time working out the exact architecture that we really wanted there.

Ah, ok. Then this isn't what I meant with a GM layer. A GM layer should only be visible to the GM. The extension (if I understand it correctly) gives you three layers, but I couldn't (in the three minutes I looked at it ;-) find a way to not display a particular layer to the players or even a way to move something from one layer to another.

While we are talking about this: Is there a way to resize the images I drop into the map freely? Meaning: I want to use stuff like benches or even trees. They should be scalable in (for example) only the x direction, while staying constant y-wise. Does FG support this?

Thanks for your time,
Olav

 

[RSKennan]

I think he is referring to a custom extension some of the FG users wrote. There was one floating around the forums called enhanced images. We haven't incorporated this feature into the core app yet since we wanted to spend a little more time working out the exact architecture that we really wanted there.

If you do incorporate it, it would be great if you could put the mask on the top layer, rather than the bottom one, or otherwise allow access to the mask from any layer. That's my only gripe with the extension.

 

[smiteworks]

I made need to leave that question up to the folks who wrote the extension. Posting the question on the FG Forum where the extension is available is probably your best bet. If you need to hide a specific token for furniture, you might be able to add it to a blank NPC record called "furniture" or something and then toggle the visibility on or off or use the mouse-wheel to scroll up and down over the token you used for it. That seems a little bit kludgey though, so I'd recommend checking in with the extension writer.

 

[Nylanfs]

Hehehe, furniture as tokens, mark them as gm visible only. Then tell the players they are walking into invis furniture. :-D