Playing RPGs Online with Fantasy Grounds: A Decade of Experience

Playing Dungeons & Dragons Again — Online, Revisited

In 2016 I wrote about dusting off my old RPG hobby and trying out Fantasy Grounds as a way to play Dungeons & Dragons again with friends scattered across the globe. At the time, online tools were rough, the costs were unclear, and the logistics of actually running a game online felt like half the adventure.

The world has changed a lot since then — and Fantasy Grounds has changed with it.

Fantasy Grounds Is Now Free

The biggest update is that Fantasy Grounds no longer requires a paid license just to play.

As of late 2025, SmiteWorks made the base Fantasy Grounds virtual tabletop completely free for both Game Masters and players. You can now download the program, host games, and join sessions without paying an upfront license fee. Previously, you needed an Ultimate License or a subscription just to run a game; that barrier is now gone.

There are still licensed content packs you can purchase — official rulebooks, adventures, tokens, and high-end maps — but the core platform, including its robust automation and ruleset support, is available to everyone.

This is a major change. It dramatically lowers the barrier to entry for new players and new GMs, and it makes Fantasy Grounds far more competitive with other free or low-cost virtual tabletops.

Feature Enhancements Since the Original Post

When I wrote the original post, Fantasy Grounds did many things well — automation of rolls, character tracking, combat management — but it lacked some of the visual polish and ease of use modern gamers expect. That has changed significantly.

Animated Maps and Visual Effects
Fantasy Grounds now supports animated maps and tokens, adding motion and atmosphere to encounters. Subtle animation brings environments to life in a way that simply wasn’t possible before.

Dynamic Lighting and Line of Sight
Lighting effects, fog-of-war, elevation, and line-of-sight are now first-class features. Players see only what their characters can see, which adds tactical depth and immersion similar to a physical tabletop with terrain.

Improved Map and Prep Tools
Multi-layer maps, tiles, decals, and better drawing tools make game preparation faster and more satisfying. Building encounters visually is no longer a chore.

Web-Based Content Access (Beta)
SmiteWorks has introduced an early web reader that allows access to your Fantasy Grounds library from a browser. It’s useful for reference and prep without launching the full application.

It’s still not perfect. There is a learning curve, and the interface is not as slick as some competitors. But it is far more capable and refined than it was ten years ago.

What hasn’t changed is the strength of Fantasy Grounds’ automation. Major RPG systems are very well supported, allowing GMs to enter rules and adventures once and then let the software handle the mechanical overhead. That frees you to focus on presentation, pacing, and storytelling rather than bookkeeping.

For Dungeons & Dragons (both the 2014 and newer editions), Fantasy Grounds can roll and track initiative, manage spell durations, handle saving throws and damage, perform skill checks against DCs, determine hits, and apply damage to characters and NPCs automatically.

The visual presentation ties this together, showing the map and exactly what each character can see — assuming line of sight is configured — which significantly improves player engagement.

Multiple Games, One Platform

What’s surprised me most is how Fantasy Grounds has evolved from “play D&D online” into “play almost anything online.”

Since writing the original post, I’ve run or played more than ten different RPG systems using Fantasy Grounds, including:

• Cyberpunk Red
• Traveller
• Swords & Wizardry
• Star Trek RPG
• Shadowdark
• Mothership
• Aliens RPG
• Dungeons & Dragons 5e
• …and several others across sci-fi, fantasy, and old-school genres

That breadth highlights the strength of Fantasy Grounds’ ruleset architecture. Once you learn the platform, moving between systems is far easier than learning a new virtual tabletop each time.

Another key strength is SmiteWorks’ extensive licensing agreements. Many rulebooks and adventures are available pre-entered in native VTT format. This is a massive time saver — you spend more time playing and less time preparing. And if you prefer to homebrew, the built-in tools make entering custom material straightforward and fast.

Video and Voice: Discord, Zoom, Teams

The original post mentioned Skype and Teamspeak (remember those?). The communication landscape has shifted just as much as the VTT space.

Today, most groups pair Fantasy Grounds with:

• Discord for voice, text, and screen sharing
• Zoom for hybrid video/voice sessions
• Microsoft Teams for groups that prefer structured scheduling

Fantasy Grounds still doesn’t include built-in voice or video, but modern third-party tools are far more reliable and integrate smoothly into a typical game night.

Wrapping Up

If you’ve been curious about playing RPGs online — whether your friends are scattered, your local group faded, or you simply want to try something new — Fantasy Grounds today is far more accessible, richer in features, and more enjoyable than it was when I first returned to the hobby.

It’s still not completely plug-and-play, and you should expect some setup and learning. But with free access to the core platform, animated maps, strong automation, and broad system support, Fantasy Grounds has grown into a mature and capable way to keep tabletop gaming alive — even when the table itself is thousands of miles away.to advanced tools — make it a powerful choice for virtual tabletop gaming.