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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[Psikerlord#]

Interesting - what does roll20 do better than FG ?

Is it just dynamic lighting?

 

[Lwaxy]

No, not only, and DL is only available if you pay, anyway. I seem many advantages in R20, and I see as many in FG2 - it is a bit depending on your style of gaming I think.

For one, FG2 is free unless you want all the bells and whistles. It is way easier to quick set up a game as you can just drag in all the graphics you want, and if you search the net you do not even need to save them on your account. You can access the game everywhere at any time, not depending on if the GM is online or on what machines you've got it installed. And you can appoint co-GMs easily. For a game with switching GMs or a pool group with multiple GMs to begin with, this is priceless.

On the downside, making it this easy can also men some campaigns will not run that long or start ill prepared because the GM has not put much effort in beforehand. I have found that with FG2, if a GM commits to a game and gets the first few sessions of a campaign running, they are more likely to stick with it, although it might have just been me with this experience. Plus, in FG2, you can easily play with any group of inexperienced players, which is especially cool for one shots. They don't need to get much of the rules as the program is doing all the calculations for them. They just need to roll what they are told to roll and can, if interested, learn the rules little by little while already getting into the art of roleplaying.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Well I have run session on Roll20 and me and my group have decided to switch to Fantasy Grounds. I have not yet run a proper session in Fantasy grounds yet. We are still getting to grips with The UI setting up characters and so forth.
Frankly I find that, from a DM point of view FG offers a much better experience than Roll20. simply hte fact that i can have all my notes in the system hyperlinked to each other, to encounters, map locations and major NPCs. The ease of simply draging in monsters from the monster manual is a huge plus for me and well worth the cost. It is also pretty simple to setup an automate a custom monster or npc.
I may add more here when we get running properly.

 

[smiteworks]

While there is a fair amount of automation for players, the main focus of the app is to improve upon the experience as a Dungeon Master. I'm glad to see that you are enjoying it so far.

 

[Rhenny]

I gave Roll20 a go, but found it less responsive. It may be my computer having issues with it, but the movement and scrolling seemed to lag or be harder to control. Since one of my DMs used FG, I switched over and with a little tutoring from him, I started to love it. I think it is worth the time (and money) I invested learning how to use it. Using maps is a breeze. Character sheets are terrific, and it is pretty easy to set up rolls and effects in the character sheet. I like how there are multiple ways to use it. For example, you can target a creature and attack so that it is fully automated if you have everything set up. You can also just set up the attack and damage rolls and roll in chat. Then the DM can apply the damage to the creature manually by dragging the chat damage onto the creature. You can even do everything completely manually if you don't want to spend time setting up character sheets, etc.

 

[Uchawi]

Overall, the monster manual pack is probably the closest to meeting the content to price ratio. I believe what players want out of digital content, is digital content. They already have the rules for free, or purchased the players handbook. So digital portraits, tokens, maps, objects (chairs, tables), etc. is what is going to sell FG content. That will also create a bridge to use the same material for other games. Paying again for the rules and only having a token offering (pun intended) for characters portraits and tokens appears to be the minimal effort at a higher price.

 

[jimmifett]

The waifu picked up Ultimate for me, so I'll be playing with that tonight/this weekend. Definately looking forward to using 5e content and swrpg (community mod) stuff.

 

[Lwaxy]

Annoyingly, for me it is FG2 which tends to be laggy after an hour or two of play at least or downright kicks me out, and it doesn't work when I'm on WiFi. So I can use it a lot less than I would want.

You can also drag the damage onto your opponents yourself btw.

I have to say, tokens and maps etc are of little importance to me. I agree I do not like to buy the content again, but then I don't have to manually add it to the program. Maps and tokens I have aplenty and can use them in FG2 already, and I have a seemingly unending library of maps - plus the commercial adventures do come with their own maps anyway.

 

[Obvious_Ninja]

[MENTION=87795]smiteworks[/MENTION] I hate to ask this... and it may have been answered and I may have missed it. Is there a release date or the DMG or the two adventures beyond LMoP? How are you handling the EE Players Companion? Are the new race option and spells going to be included with the EE expansion for Fantasy Grounds? Just curious. My group is using Roll20 for now but I think we're ready to jump over! Thanks for the info and thanks for being so responsive on this board!

 

[Ghost Matter]

Interesting - what does roll20 do better than FG ?

Is it just dynamic lighting?

It's not a question of better, in my case. I'm just too invested in Roll20 and nothing in FG really caught me and made me want to switch. I think it's a great program, I just don't feel the need to use it. I don't mind running stuff manually, it feels more like at a table too.