Wrapping my head around purchases

[Rhalar]

I am part of a group that is playing 5e and we are planning on playing some/all of our sessions online. I have looked over the store and am mildly confused by what we would need to buy to get started.

What exactly do I get with a standard subscription/Fantasy Grounds License?
To play as a player do I need to buy books/modules with races/classes? Can I just manually add a race or class?

What is the minimum cost to get a player started?

Am I correct in thinking that if I buy an Ultimate license (or subscription) and buy the books I want I could just make the characters for my players and they can use them when they join without needing thier own license/modules?

I am very sorry for the confusion and the crazy questions, but I have been looking for clarification for the past day and cannot find it.

[Moon Wizard]

Welcome to the forums!

Some answers:

* If the GM is using the Standard license, then the players must all own the Standard license as well. If the GM is using the Ultimate license, then the players can use the Demo to connect.

* The Standard and Ultimate licenses for Fantasy Grounds both come with the 5E SRD data, which is a subset of the full 5E data. The full PHB, DMG and MM data packs are available for sale as additional DLC. Also, you can always manually enter any information you want into the sheets, without needing any additional DLC.

* When players are connected to a GM, the GM can choose to share any data packs that they've purchased, and the players will have access while they are connected.

* All the adventures sold as additional DLC come with all of the creatures and items contained.

For playing 5E, we usually recommend that the GM pick up a Standard or Ultimate license to get started with reviewing the tabletop and the 5E data. We have a 30 day guarantee on any purchases through our web site. Also, you can pick up the PHB, if you want to give your players more options than what's available in the SRD. And, finally, you can pick up a pre-built adventure, such as Lost Mines of Phandelver (which has pregens), if you want to try a fully crafted adventure instead of building one yourself. Both licenses can be picked up as a one-time purchase or a subscription.

For players, all they will need is a Standard license (if the GM has a Standard license) or the free demo license (if the GM has an Ultimate license).

Probably the cheapest option to try out quickly is to pick up an Ultimate subscription ($9.99) and the Lost Mines of Phandelver adventure ($15). Then, you can figure out what other DLC you might want.

Regards,
JPG

[Rhalar]

Thank you so much for the clarification!

[damned]

I totally agree with this: Ultimate subscription ($9.99) and the Lost Mines of Phandelver adventure ($15) and dive on in...

[LordEntrails]

Agreed, just make sure you know that the subscription is a cost per month. It's a great way to try out FG and to support SmiteWorks with a continuous revenue stream, but if you are confident you are going to be playing consistently for years then one-time license is less expensive.

[damned]

Agreed, just make sure you know that the subscription is a cost per month. It's a great way to try out FG and to support SmiteWorks with a continuous revenue stream, but if you are confident you are going to be playing consistently for years then one-time license is less expensive.

Just in case its not obvious - the DLC cost is a one time cost - only the app license has a choice of subscription or outright.
If you did the 1 month Ultimate + LMoP and then chose to upgrade to an outright license your LMoP would still be there in your account fully paid for.