TL;DR - Cast your vote for either Digital or Physical Adventure books, and preferably explain why :D
So, I'm really just looking for some opinions. I want to get the Lost Mines of Phandelver for a relatively new group to run through, but I don't know if I should buy the book or get it on D&D Beyond. Since I don't have any digital adventure books to see if and how it integrates with D&D Beyond, I hesitate to spend money on the digital version, but if it does integrate, that would be incredible.
The benefit of the digital books is the linking provided by DDB. If something tells you to refer to x section of the PHB, the digital book can link you directly there.
Also, hoverable items such as magic items, monsters, or similar work in the books, so if it refers to an item, you can hover your mouse over the name and see what it is without having to look anything up.
I'm personally a fan of the digital resource. I love flipping through the physical books as an experience, or while I'm winding down for bed, but at the table I find the digital offering much quicker and more intuitive.
Awesome. Thank you for the contribution. Another thing I was thinking is if the adventure has any items associated with it, you get them added to your item lists. Minor perk, but not bad.
I am all in on digital now. I used to love to have everything physical like books or video games. But as I now travel often for work just having everything on my iPad is much better than carrying a few books on the plane. Also searching is much faster for me to find what I need as I am still learning D&D instead of flipping through pages I just throw in a search keyword and find it. Great resource to just have things in one place.
The relative ease of reading and navigating on the digital side provided by Beyond cannot be understated. Nothing will ever replace the superiority of just having the feel and weight of a book in your hands, but it's like riding a tricycle after learning to drive.
It becomes a debatable question when one already owns the physical book if you're going to repurchase digitally, but if that is not the case then it's a no-brainer in my opinion.
As far as integration is concerned, they are as integrated as the sourcebooks are. So if you have the Basic Rules compendium, which is free, then you have an idea.
The tool-tips and ctrl+f-ability of the digital, plus the table real-estate saved by having multiple tabs open at once instead of multiple books sprawled out open in front of me is what makes this decision easy for me: digital all the way.
Same as the others so far. Digital is far better. Misprint found in the book? It can be corrected in the digital version. Everyone can use the PHB at the same time. Tough to do with the physical book. But the ability to carry the entire library of books on an iPad? Much better than lugging books around.
You all are awesome. Thank you for the points. I definitely agree with sharing the books, like the PHB. That perk is amazing. I wish I could share it with more campaigns, but only because D&D Beyond has really opened up this world XD.
That being said. I think it's pretty clear that even the adventure books will benefit from the digital versatility. I'll have to see if everyone is down to run it :)
Looks like you've decided already, but I'm another one for digital. I created a campaign here, even though most of my players don't have DDB accounts. I use it to store NPCs, and sheets for a few of the players. But, more importantly, I use the DM notes feature for both campaign history and session prep. I link to monster stats, sections of the Adventure, etc. I also use it to track which "minor mcGuffins" the party has, who has found the others, etc. While I'd love more sophisticated formatting/organizing tools, it's still very helpful, and better flipping pages in the physical book.
I am fortunately to have a physical copy of the Adventure, purchased by the friends of the library where I run the table, while I bought it on DDB. There are times the physical book is handly, but if I had to choose one or the other, I'd definitely go digital.
I've moved to digital. My print books sit on my shelf, even though I host the game. Why? A combination of:
I don't like carrying around all the physical books I'd need to run the game. All I need is my laptop -- which I have, anyway, because I use an initiative tracking tool.
It's easier to open 15 tabs in my browser for monster stats, etc. than to flip around in a physical book.
I want my shelf space back. Also, I've realized I keep almost nothing with each change of editions. When 6E eventually comes out, I'll either move on or switch systems, in all likelihood. There's a 35+ year block of evidence to support that. So, "what about 20 years from now?" isn't really a thing.
I don't really use much in the way of third-party stuff from the DMs Guild or elsewhere. What little I do use falls within the currently permitted ability for custom content. The exceptions are, frustratingly, the UA Ranger and a home brew Artificer (the UA one sucks).
What would change my mind?
If "errata" becomes a "living rule set" like with late 3.5 (polymorph, I'm looking at you) or the WotC digital offering for 4E. Fixing typos and adding clarity is one thing, but the rules I'm using should functionally match what my player is using from his physical, first printing PHB. If I ever find something (other than UA and the like) where that player actually has different rules than mine, we're done, on the spot. Of course, if WotC is going to do that to the rules, it's not just DDB that I'm done with. I'll pull out my physical books and use those, if I don't just walk away from 5E because I'm not dealing with actual rules changes mid-edition.
Thanks for the vote, SobekRe. Very good points. I just had an epiphany that this is probably a very biased pool of individuals given that we're on a forum for the digital D&D content XD, but alas, I think it fits my point. I love D&D Beyond. I didn't start playing until this year, and it's made information so much easier to consume, getting small pieces at a time when it's needed, but also consolidating all additional class features into the right places has made this experience amazing for two whole groups of new people.
I'm glad to hear that digital is the way to go, and that I'm not going to be missing out on anything. I do like having the physical books, but unless I find someone ditching them for cheap, I'm going for function over form.
DnDB means less page flipping for me, but it doesn't do what we hoped it would and allow full Campaign use for us, specifically me, because our favorite Ranger version isn't on here and rumored to never be. We love the Revised Ranger. DDB doesn't even let us share homebrew versions of it, we have to be able to personally use the homebrew subclass builder to hack something together and I for one can't do it. If only I could at least use someone else's but it's Private Use Only or it'd get deleted.
Our gaming group will have to keep using paper character sheets and supplements instead of being able to all work off of DDB, because my character I've been waiting years to play can't exist on this. I am miserable about this.
Hey everyone,
TL;DR - Cast your vote for either Digital or Physical Adventure books, and preferably explain why :D
So, I'm really just looking for some opinions. I want to get the Lost Mines of Phandelver for a relatively new group to run through, but I don't know if I should buy the book or get it on D&D Beyond. Since I don't have any digital adventure books to see if and how it integrates with D&D Beyond, I hesitate to spend money on the digital version, but if it does integrate, that would be incredible.
The benefit of the digital books is the linking provided by DDB. If something tells you to refer to x section of the PHB, the digital book can link you directly there.
Also, hoverable items such as magic items, monsters, or similar work in the books, so if it refers to an item, you can hover your mouse over the name and see what it is without having to look anything up.
I'm personally a fan of the digital resource. I love flipping through the physical books as an experience, or while I'm winding down for bed, but at the table I find the digital offering much quicker and more intuitive.
Awesome. Thank you for the contribution. Another thing I was thinking is if the adventure has any items associated with it, you get them added to your item lists. Minor perk, but not bad.
I am all in on digital now. I used to love to have everything physical like books or video games. But as I now travel often for work just having everything on my iPad is much better than carrying a few books on the plane. Also searching is much faster for me to find what I need as I am still learning D&D instead of flipping through pages I just throw in a search keyword and find it. Great resource to just have things in one place.
The relative ease of reading and navigating on the digital side provided by Beyond cannot be understated. Nothing will ever replace the superiority of just having the feel and weight of a book in your hands, but it's like riding a tricycle after learning to drive.
It becomes a debatable question when one already owns the physical book if you're going to repurchase digitally, but if that is not the case then it's a no-brainer in my opinion.
As far as integration is concerned, they are as integrated as the sourcebooks are. So if you have the Basic Rules compendium, which is free, then you have an idea.
The tool-tips and ctrl+f-ability of the digital, plus the table real-estate saved by having multiple tabs open at once instead of multiple books sprawled out open in front of me is what makes this decision easy for me: digital all the way.
Same as the others so far. Digital is far better. Misprint found in the book? It can be corrected in the digital version. Everyone can use the PHB at the same time. Tough to do with the physical book. But the ability to carry the entire library of books on an iPad? Much better than lugging books around.
You all are awesome. Thank you for the points. I definitely agree with sharing the books, like the PHB. That perk is amazing. I wish I could share it with more campaigns, but only because D&D Beyond has really opened up this world XD.
That being said. I think it's pretty clear that even the adventure books will benefit from the digital versatility. I'll have to see if everyone is down to run it :)
Looks like you've decided already, but I'm another one for digital. I created a campaign here, even though most of my players don't have DDB accounts. I use it to store NPCs, and sheets for a few of the players. But, more importantly, I use the DM notes feature for both campaign history and session prep. I link to monster stats, sections of the Adventure, etc. I also use it to track which "minor mcGuffins" the party has, who has found the others, etc. While I'd love more sophisticated formatting/organizing tools, it's still very helpful, and better flipping pages in the physical book.
I am fortunately to have a physical copy of the Adventure, purchased by the friends of the library where I run the table, while I bought it on DDB. There are times the physical book is handly, but if I had to choose one or the other, I'd definitely go digital.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
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I've moved to digital. My print books sit on my shelf, even though I host the game. Why? A combination of:
What would change my mind?
Thanks for the vote, SobekRe. Very good points. I just had an epiphany that this is probably a very biased pool of individuals given that we're on a forum for the digital D&D content XD, but alas, I think it fits my point. I love D&D Beyond. I didn't start playing until this year, and it's made information so much easier to consume, getting small pieces at a time when it's needed, but also consolidating all additional class features into the right places has made this experience amazing for two whole groups of new people.
I'm glad to hear that digital is the way to go, and that I'm not going to be missing out on anything. I do like having the physical books, but unless I find someone ditching them for cheap, I'm going for function over form.
DnDB means less page flipping for me, but it doesn't do what we hoped it would and allow full Campaign use for us, specifically me, because our favorite Ranger version isn't on here and rumored to never be. We love the Revised Ranger. DDB doesn't even let us share homebrew versions of it, we have to be able to personally use the homebrew subclass builder to hack something together and I for one can't do it. If only I could at least use someone else's but it's Private Use Only or it'd get deleted.
Our gaming group will have to keep using paper character sheets and supplements instead of being able to all work off of DDB, because my character I've been waiting years to play can't exist on this. I am miserable about this.