Please help me understand what I can buy, and why

[Lemantia]

Hi,

I'm about to start a campaign of PF2E with my group, all of us are newcomers to this edition, having played a lot of 5E. As a DM for our 5E current campaign, I love dndbeyond for the DM and player tools it offers, so as we're about to start a PF2E campaign, I figured I would look at the alternatives for this system.

I've tried the free demo of the online builder, and I must say - I'm impressed. Everything seems very smooth, and having all of my spells descriptions just one click away is always wonderful. So now I'm looking at what I should buy, what the DM view will be, and what I have to tell the other players. So my questions, in order:

1) I see that I can buy the bestiary for 13$, as a player, is there a point for me ? Besides summoning spells, perhaps ?
2) I see an Age of Ashes add-on going on for 10$... It seems a bit steep to me, considering how little I might use of it. As a player, is there a point for me to buy it, or could I just wing it, creating "custom" magical items when I get them ?
3) Kinda related to 1 & 2, but everyone who wants to use Hero Lab needs to buy the content separately, I presume ? So, say, if my DM (or another player) buys the Bestiary pack, or the Age of Ashes Character Content pack, this won't help me in any way ?


To sum everything up to a single question: if I want my group to all use hero lab (because I know how much better it makes life for a DM to have access to all information in a centralised location), what do each of us have to buy ? Is it sufficient to get the 35$ "upgrade" license for each player ? Does the DM need it too ?

Thanks in advance for any clarity you might bring me on this !

[Farling]

If you are a player, it is probably worth waiting until the official announcement before 24th February about group licenses. It might be cheaper for the GM to do things first.