D&D 5E Foundry Gets Official D&D Support

Joining Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, and WotC’s own VTT plans, the Foundry virtual tabletop is getting official D&D support. You can se their announcement video below.


This will give yet another way to play D&D and that's some very good news.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

ya, that doesn't answer the "is it worth buying on Foundry" question, but it is a great thread (and I follow it on his blog)

Sorry, I missed which thread this was a reply to.

 

[Zaukrie]

I have it. If you've seen any of the PF2 modules, it's very similar. The issue that I have that the maps basically use the ones from the adventure. Yes, they have all the walls, doors, and lighting setup so it's ready to go, but I don't think those maps just work as well as they could for a VTT. The forgotten adventures site has some amazing looking maps you can use in their place. That's a minor quibble, though: you can totally run the adventure with what's included. Let me know if you have questions, I'll be glad to help.

I plan on running this, but only when the full game rules are released.

Ya, the maps being from teh books is a real turn off for me. There are so many good versions of these maps out there......but then, why buy it on Foundry if I'm not using the maps? I mean, I can get better maps.....I will say it looks great on some of the playthrus I've seen to have it all in Foundry, but I feel like most of the time I can just have it on beyond on another monitor if needed. I'm confused some....clearly.

 

[LordEntrails]

While Basic Rules are available for personal use from WotC's website, I don't think they're available for commercial use like the SRD. So they really couldn't unless they got permission from WotC to do it (which they probably wouldn't bother to while trying to get a deal for selling the whole licensed system at the same time).

The license that other VTTs have with WotC allows them to convert all physical products (not all DDB content). This means that the other VTTs have the Basic Rules converted and available on those platforms. I would be shocked if Foundry's license does not allow them to convert the Basic Rules. But if they were to implement/convert the Basic Rules, they would basically be building the 2014 rules, which the Foundry devs said they are not planning on doing.

 

[jdrakeh]

Oh, man! This is great news! I've been meaning to buy Foundry for a bit now, but have been a bit reluctant to pull the trigger (my income is quite restricted). Looks like I may have to budget for this next month!

 

[LordEntrails]

Sorry, I missed which thread this was a reply to.

I assume the Phandelver thread from the last page.

 

[SteveC]

Ya, the maps being from teh books is a real turn off for me. There are so many good versions of these maps out there......but then, why buy it on Foundry if I'm not using the maps? I mean, I can get better maps.....I will say it looks great on some of the playthrus I've seen to have it all in Foundry, but I feel like most of the time I can just have it on beyond on another monitor if needed. I'm confused some....clearly.

That's a good question. I have a bunch of the PF2 adventures and they always have completely re-done maps. You do get the Journals with everything to run the adventure along with all of the monsters and tokens pre-made for you. And the items as well. The maps look good, and there's been work done on them, I just think that part could have been done better. I still don't regret the purchase in any way.

Just one more note: there are a ton of quality of life modules for the rules set that are still being adapted at the moment. I would hold off a bit until they are done with them. I ran a sample combat and missed some of the stuff that I'm used to in PF2. Should be soon.

 

[Zaukrie]

That's a good question. I have a bunch of the PF2 adventures and they always have completely re-done maps. You do get the Journals with everything to run the adventure along with all of the monsters and tokens pre-made for you. And the items as well. The maps look good, and there's been work done on them, I just think that part could have been done better. I still don't regret the purchase in any way.

Just one more note: there are a ton of quality of life modules for the rules set that are still being adapted at the moment. I would hold off a bit until they are done with them. I ran a sample combat and missed some of the stuff that I'm used to in PF2. Should be soon.

We don't automate much, and we start a new campaign in 8 days ...

 

[Cergorach]

That's a good question. I have a bunch of the PF2 adventures and they always have completely re-done maps.

Yeah, I asked some questions about how they build the maps in the 5e and PF2 modules vs the D&D 5e module. The answer has to do with contractual obligations to WotC, the rules of the contract where different from those with Paizo (and no rules from their own 5e creations).

I think that the PF2 Abomination Vault and the Kingmaker campaigns are a lot better, more complete and include sound. But they are a LOT more expensive, AB requires the $38.99 PDF and then the $21 Foundry module => $60. The KM is $120 (including the PDF).

@Zaukrie If the Foundry VTT module is 'worth it' is very difficult to judge for you, for me it was worth it, even though I'm not even playing the campaign. The monsters and the tokens are already 'worth it' for me at €33.38. It completely depends on how much your time is worth to you, and how much time this saves for you. But IF you plan to run the campaign, I would say it's absolutely worth it at $30 unless you're extremely strapped for cash.

I got the Abomination Vaults with one of the Humble Bundle deals for a steal (and a TON of PF books). I eventually also went for all the Foundry created 5e modules (2 of them), the Kingmaker campaign, the PF starter box and this week for the PF counter collection. I even bought the 'Pathfinder Kingmaker Bestiary (5E) PDF' to start converting the Kingmaker campaign to 5e with all the bells and whistles, just not in PF2e. Just started importing the monster statblocks manually via a monster statblock importer for 5e. And the 24th of May they'll release a 5e version of the Abomination Vaults in physical and pdf form, I'll but the pdf and will try to convert the AB to 5e as well in FVTT.

The PF2 implementation in FVTT looked so much cooler then the 5e implementation! The character sheets (now greatly improved in 5e) and the round tokens with the status effects in color around the border!

 

[Zaukrie]

Yeah, I asked some questions about how they build the maps in the 5e and PF2 modules vs the D&D 5e module. The answer has to do with contractual obligations to WotC, the rules of the contract where different from those with Paizo (and no rules from their own 5e creations).

I think that the PF2 Abomination Vault and the Kingmaker campaigns are a lot better, more complete and include sound. But they are a LOT more expensive, AB requires the $38.99 PDF and then the $21 Foundry module => $60. The KM is $120 (including the PDF).

@Zaukrie If the Foundry VTT module is 'worth it' is very difficult to judge for you, for me it was worth it, even though I'm not even playing the campaign. The monsters and the tokens are already 'worth it' for me at €33.38. It completely depends on how much your time is worth to you, and how much time this saves for you. But IF you plan to run the campaign, I would say it's absolutely worth it at $30 unless you're extremely strapped for cash.

I got the Abomination Vaults with one of the Humble Bundle deals for a steal (and a TON of PF books). I eventually also went for all the Foundry created 5e modules (2 of them), the Kingmaker campaign, the PF starter box and this week for the PF counter collection. I even bought the 'Pathfinder Kingmaker Bestiary (5E) PDF' to start converting the Kingmaker campaign to 5e with all the bells and whistles, just not in PF2e. Just started importing the monster statblocks manually via a monster statblock importer for 5e. And the 24th of May they'll release a 5e version of the Abomination Vaults in physical and pdf form, I'll but the pdf and will try to convert the AB to 5e as well in FVTT.

The PF2 implementation in FVTT looked so much cooler then the 5e implementation! The character sheets (now greatly improved in 5e) and the round tokens with the status effects in color around the border!

I mean, my players are going to pay for it if I want, since I pay for Forge and Foundry......so it isn't about money, really.

You asked about the maps, and WotC requires them to use maps not optimized for VTTs? Bummer....real bummer.

 

[Cergorach]

You asked about the maps, and WotC requires them to use maps not optimized for VTTs? Bummer....real bummer.

What do you mean maps not optimized for VTT? Those maps are very optimized for Foundry, 200 pixels per square!
Some maps have animations added like this:

https://foundryvtt.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/website-media-dev/user_70/screen/wailing-battlefield-2024-01-19.webm

Now... It's certainly not my favorite artstyle (except for the region maps), but it's very usable!

https://foundryvtt.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/website-media-dev/user_70/screen/wyvern-tor-combat-2024-01-31.webp

https://foundryvtt.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/website-media-dev/user_70/screen/phandalin-in-foundry-vtt-2024-01-30.webp

https://foundryvtt.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/website-media-dev/user_70/screen/meeting-hamun-kost-2024-01-30.webp

https://foundryvtt.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/website-media-dev/user_70/screen/mire-of-doubt-meeting-2024-01-30.webp

Also, those tokens look absolutely awesome!