D&D 5th Edition Gets Digital With New Fantasy Grounds Packs

[StewShearerOld]

D&D 5th Edition Gets Digital With New Fantasy Grounds Packs

<a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/wizards%20of%20the%20coast?os=wizards+of+the+coast>Wizards of the Coast and SmiteWorks have released a new series of content packs for the digital role-playing software Fantasy Works.

As much fun as a live session of Dungeons & Dragons can be, the process of actually arranging one can often be a pain in the butt. First you need to find a place. Then you need players. And then, finally, you need to arrange a sizable chunk of time when you can all come together to play. It's an act of coordination that can bring a game to it knees before it even begins. Luckily, there are a some nice digital tools out there geared toward giving gamers options to meet up and play from the comfort of their own home.

Fantasy Grounds, for instance, is a piece of software that dungeon masters and players can use to role-play together online while also automating many of the more tedious element of gaming (a.k.a. math). Today, Wizards of the Coast has announced that it's releasing new <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/dungeons%20and%20dragons?os=dungeons+and+dragons>Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition expansion packs for Fantasy Grounds. The new content packs, developed in cooperation with Fantasy Grounds maker SmiteWorks, will make it possible for players and DMs to load up 5th edition rules, classes, monsters and adventure modules complete with official artwork from Wizards of the Coast.

The first round of 5th edition content will be split into three packages. The D&D Complete Core Class Pack will cost $49.99 and includes "twelve core character classes, class descriptions, special features, spells and abilities, as well as customization options such as equipment and feats." Accompanying that will be the D&D Complete Core Monster Pack which will also cost $49.99 and give DMs access to all of the monsters featured in the 5th edition D&D Monster Manual. Finally, Wizard is also releasing Lost Mine of Phandelver, 5th edition adventure that can be purchased and played for $19.99. Smaller, individual class and monster packs can also be purchased for a variety of more affordable prices. Fantasy Grounds itself can purchased on Steam for $39.99.
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While I personally applaud any efforts by Wizard or anyone else to make the process of role-playing easier, I do have to say the costs of these new Fantasy Ground expansions strike me as being potentially prohibitive. Granted, if you're a player you could just buy whatever class pack you need for your character. That said, if you're a DM, you're probably going to want the wider suite of options which, with Fantasy Grounds itself, will cost around $140. When you compare that to other free digital platforms like <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/140306-iPad-and-Android-Available-For-Roll20-Virtual-RPG-Tabletop-App>Roll20, we could see many players just opting to do a little more work and use their books.






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[Kenjitsuka]

"we could see many players just opting to do a little more work and use their books."
You either use your books, or... your check book!

I think the free option is the better one, that cost is indeed very prohibitive!
Just like the core books price, actually. So it's more of a digital alternative than anything else. Hence the princing I suppose.

 

[Jburton9]

So the price point is nearly the exact same as the books? Does this tie in with D&D Insider?

Hmm if not I can see why people would go with the open source option.

 

[Shinkicker444]

Wow what overpriced BS. it's more than the physical book copies. Will just stick with D20 thanks.

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

Oh WotC, will you never learn how to make online content? A program that costs $40 a pop is a hard enough sell for most RPG groups, where you can generally expect to have maybe two or three copies of the books shared in the group, let alone an additional $50 for the DM, more for monsters, and another few shekels for each character class (which don't have standardized prices: the traditional Wizard/Fighter/Rogue/Cleric are $3.29, Monks and Barbarians are $5.49, and classes like the Paladin and Ranger are $6.49, even though they are all the base classes of 5e available in the PHB, but fuck you if you don't want to play White Box classes).

Hilarious side note: The Steam page for the game offers a 4-pack for $129.99 CDN, so for just 6 times the price of the current hottest complete book on DriveThruRPG you can have enough copies of Fantasy Grounds for not quite an entire party. And I guess a bonus fuck you if you bought the hardcopy books when they first came out, you don't get any kind of integration or discount on the D&D products.

I feel sorry for Greg Tito, who had to write up this press release for WotC. His recommendation if you are on a budget? The Player Customization Pack ($9.99) and one or two Class packs (between $3.29 and $15, depending on your choices) per player, while the DM 'can often get by' with just the adventure ($21.99 for Lost Mines) and one or two Monster Packs ($5.49 apiece). For those keeping score at home, that means that for a table of 4 players and a GM, if you buy the 'deal' on the basic program and the recommended bare essentials, the cost is $283.49.

[HEADING=1]$283.49[/HEADING]

 

[Canadish]

Cool to see Wizards trying to step into the 21st Century at long last, but this is a really bad way to go about it. I've run a couple of online groups before, and over the course of a few years. The cost of Fantasy Grounds made getting a full group together immensely difficult, especially when trying to convince people to put down money for something they have no idea will work. Groups fall apart very easily due to real life issues needing to take priority on someones end, and it usually meant a lot of people put down cash for nothing.

As mentioned, Roll20 dealt with that issue by being free and browser based, and it's a hell of a lot more intuitive to use as a bonus. I would have looked towards them if I were WotC.

 

[Ftaghn To You Too]

Why didn't they pick a service that actually sees widespread use, like Roll20? Not able to squeeze enough money out of their free service?

 

[Smooth Operator]

I guess it's a start, but as has been pointed out already... this shit is expensive as all hell. You made the digital shit cost more then the real shit, who the fuck do you imagine playing that?

Meanwhile Roll20 has a free website going, completely open to all platforms, no installs, no insane entry fee.
Anyone can run their own rules, custom characters, custom sheet, custom maps, custom art, anyone can join in at any time for free,...
That is your competition WotC, a much much better service that costs nothing until you decide to pick up a commercial ruleset/art.

 

[Callate]

Part of the beauty of pencil-and-paper RPGs is their low barriers to entry. I've played games without books, without the usual slew polyhedral dice, without dice at all.

Spending $160 to play online (and presumably an additional cost for each player!) works counter to that beautiful "you only need your imagination" kind of promise.

I haven't used the system in question; maybe it's marvelous, intuitive, functional, and efficient. Maybe it's the perfect tool for people who can't play together in person, casting aside all the tedium of searching through rulebooks for grappling rules and siege warfare rules and magic item cost rules.

Or maybe it's just a cash grab.

But in any case, I can't envision ever wanting to shell out that kind of money to maybe play a game with friends in front of a computer- it seems far too likely that it would end up being one of those things you keep on a back shelf and never actually get around to using.

For that kind of money, I could probably get a nice quiet booth at a restaurant or bar that doesn't mind harboring gamers for a few hours, pick up the check, and leave a nice tip. Which sounds like a much better way to get people together anyway.

 

[delroland]

And of course Hasbro will use the failure to sell this overpriced PoC as justification that "players don't want online content".

 

[Folji]

Good freaking lord, at that collected price tag what's even the motivation to want to get it? Aside from when you got too much disposable cash, or a tabletop group tied in with some tabletop league funding your gaming.