Thanks for all the help testing in such a short time. I wanted to provide an update on the builder and sheet that I posted in another thread:
I wanted to drop a line here and say that we appreciate the feedback so far. The good news is what we're seeing is pretty simple for us to fix on our side.
We'll be combing over each post starting tomorrow to either 1) add missing data, 2) mark as "not in the SRD," or 3) mark as feature feedback.
The vast majority of what we see falls into the first category.
We have also heard (and understand) the feedback about the Equipment and Spells sections, and are already in progress on improvements there. We are also going to offer options to have a builder flow that starts with Abilities and possibly Backgrounds. The default will still be the order that Wizards of the Coast uses in the Player's Handbook, but players can choose to use the alternate flow (which I use in my own games by the way!).
Both of these feedback points are things we suspected we would hear, but we wanted to test it out to see. So, thanks for that!
I'll keep you updated as we go along. Cheers!
Hello everyone!
These release notes are pretty long (wall of text incoming), but that's because there's a ton of new content coming your way. I've collapsed several sections for space. I encourage those interested to expand and check it out.
I am pleased to share that we have unlocked both Phase 2 and Phase 3 for beta testing. This includes the character builder, digital character sheet, homebrew content creation, and the first steps of campaign management.
Your help so far in the beta has been incredible and appreciated. In short, you're all pretty epic. As we've said from the beginning, we favor the same approach that Wizards of the Coast has taken with Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition when it comes to testing. Playtesting has been instrumental in making the game what it is today. We are excited to get these features into players' hands to continue to get the feedback we need to prepare for launch.
On that note, please remember that this is indeed beta testing - not everything you see here is in its final form. We want to get this out to start getting feedback. Some features are not included because they're not quite polished enough yet. Some others are not included because we want to focus initial testing in certain areas. Some features might not be included in the final product if the community provides feedback that they don't accomplish what we set out to do. Still other entirely new features could be added as a result of feedback.
We have worked hard and are proud of what we are sharing with you now, but we absolutely want to hear from you and make it the best it can be.
Mobile and Desktop
Since the beginning, we have made it a priority to make DDB available (and usable) on all types of devices. With everything we do, we take a "mobile first" mentality. It's harder to get things working well on desktop and then condense that all down to the phone than it is to go the other direction.
With the character builder and sheet, we have not spent as much time on desktop views because the UI itself might change over the course of beta testing - it would be less time and effort for us to make those changes in one place first and then expand out to the desktop views to polish it all for launch.
I wanted to share that philosophy so everyone testing will know - the desktop views will certainly see updates towards the end of testing.
Beta Content Reminder
Keep in mind that during the beta, all Basic Rules/ SRD or otherwise freely-available content is included. You will NOT be able to include chromatic orb or a weapon of warning on your characters yet. We are primarily testing the features, not the entirety of the content.
We realize that this restriction is frustrating for some of you. We made a commitment at the start of the beta that we will never "take away" any of the content you have been accessing for free, and we meant it.
Anything you'll see or use in this new update is and will remain completely free.
We are marching with intention to launch, where all the things will be available for use!
Phase 2 Features
The new features added with the Phase 2 are described below.
Character Builder
You can now build characters! Character creation in D&D is typically a lengthy process that includes significant referencing of books and recording every detail described in those books - not to mention the "softer" aspects such as forming your character's identity.
Our purpose with the character builder is to streamline character creation by automatically applying all traits and features that are granted to a character by virtue of her race, class, background, etc. and instead focusing on those traits and features that require player choice. So, using the builder, you can create a character in minutes, because everything you would ordinarily write down on your character sheet that you just "get" is already done for you. You can then make the choices that you need to make and have a completed, play-ready character.
You can access the builder through the "Builder" menu option in the main nav, under the "Characters" menu option in the main nav, or by visiting dndbeyond.com/characters/builder.
Remember that only Basic Rules/ SRD/ EEPC content is usable in the builder as of now - all official content will be available at launch.
As everyone that plays D&D is aware, there are a great deal of rules involved! We have good an honest effort in to integrate, automate, and display as much as we can on a first pass, but we know that things have been missed. This is a great way to get help from the community. If you see attack bonuses, AC, Hit Dice, features, or whatever that aren't appearing as you would expect, please tell us about it and we'll address it!
Things NOT Available Yet
To make sure we don't waste anyone's time, here are a few things that are not currently included that will be later in the beta or for launch:
- Creating more than 6 characters. As mentioned above, we will not give players content in the beta that then is moved behind a paywall. This means that all accounts are treated as free accounts during the beta, with the character slot limit of 6 in place.
You will be able to sign up for one of the two subscription tiers at launch that will allow you to create an unlimited number of characters. More details on pricing will come soon.
For testing purposes, if you want to continue to create characters after you have used all 6 slots, you can delete an existing character to free up the slot. I realize this might be a frustrating restriction to some, especially since the point of the beta is to test, but we have made the decision to honor our commitment to keep free free - we feel this is the best overall solution.
- Exporting a character sheet to print. We absolutely will have this (please don't panic!), but we would like to focus testing at this point on the digital character sheet. We'll add this later in the beta for testing too.
- De-leveling or removing classes. At this point, the process to remove classes and/ or character levels is not available, but it certainly will be before launch. This means that for now, if you level up with a character and make a mistake or change your mind, you can't edit adjust the level down. You can delete the character and start over, or if you can't bring yourself to do that, wait until we add the functionality.
Help Text
Help text is turned on by default - it's helpful for most players starting out with the builder. You can turn it off or back on by clicking/ tapping the (?) icon in the builder header:
Player Choices
Throughout the builder, things that require your attention will be marked with an icon (!) as seen here:
We will be adding to this system through the end of beta, but look for these in order to make the choices that are needed to complete character creation. Never forget to choose a Tool Proficiency for your dwarf again!
Sheet Readiness
In the builder, a blank character is created as soon as you enter the process to better protect your work. Until a character has certain essential parameters defined (Race, Class, Ability Scores), you cannot access either the digital sheet or export your character (available later in the beta).
Once a race, class, and ability scores are determined, the character is now "Sheet Ready." At this stage in the beta, you can now view the character's digital character sheet. You will know that a character is sheet ready when the character sheet icon activates, as seen here:
My Characters Page
Once a character is created, you will be able to access it on your 'My Characters' page.
This page lists all of your created characters and allows you to view, edit, or delete characters.
You can access the page from the Characters section of the main nav, the profile menu, or by visiting dndbeyond.com/profile/[insert your profile name]/characters.
Character Creation Method
You can create characters in three ways:
Standard
This is the method to use if you want to build a character in the typical way.
Quick Build
A way to get a play-ready 1st level character (that's optimized according to the PHB guidelines) fast.
Randomize
This will either make a completely random character (level, race, class, background, spells, etc.), or you can specify a few of those parameters. Keep in mind that these are completely random - this method will not create a necessarily optimized character. It might be fun to play with that kind of randomness though!
Builder Sections
The builder has different sections corresponding to different parts of the creation process.
Home
The home screen allows you to change your character level, set a portrait and name, and set some character preferences. You can skip the character level or name/ portrait at the start (they'll be available in other sections too). Note that the default advancement method is Milestone, but you can change this to XP if that's what your campaign uses. Fixed hit points are also the default, but you can adjust that in preferences as well.
1. Race
Choose your race here. Remember that only races from the Basic Rules/ SRD/ EEPC are available during the beta.
No firbolgs yet!
2. Class
Choose your class here. Remember that only classes and subclasses from the Basic Rules/ SRD/ EEPC are available during the beta.
No swashbucklers yet!
3. Abilities
Determine your ability scores in this section by using the standard array, point buy system, or entering them manually.
4. Description
You can choose your portrait and set your character's name here, as well as select your character's background. Notes of all sorts are available to flesh out more details for your character.
5. Equipment
This section is the starting point for what will eventually become a more feature-rich inventory management system. Our goal for initial release is to allow players to record, equip, and use equipment at least as well as you can with pen and paper. On top of that, any equipment that affects your character's statistics (such as armor), will automatically update the character sheet with those modifiers. You can also track attuned magic items here.
Again, a full-blown inventory management system is definitely on the roadmap for this year - things like party inventory, trading/ selling, and more.
What's Next
This final section provides helpful context and links to go and play your character, including going to the digital sheet, exporting for print (which will be available later in the beta), and creating or joining a campaign.
You can also now view an interactive digital character sheet for your character for use between sessions or at the table during play.
Our purpose with the sheet is to provide all the information needed to play your character conveniently on the device you want to use at the table. We also want the sheet to serve as another way to engage with your character between sessions - whether that's looking up your stats during your lunch break or planning meticulously planning your prepared spells while you're supposedly watching Netflix.
The digital character sheet can be accessed after you build a character and that character is "sheet ready" (see above).
You can access the character sheet from the sheet icon in the builder or by clicking 'View' on the character from the My Characters page.
Things NOT Available Yet
To make sure we don't waste anyone's time, here are a few things that are not currently included that will be later in the beta or for launch:
- Companions and Wild Shape sections. We are putting the finishing touches on a Companions section that will handle familiars, ranger companions, other pets, and cohorts/ followers. We'll add this into the beta soon. We will also incorporate a Wild Shape section that will enhance things a good bit for druids later in the beta.
- Unarmed Strike / Martial Arts. We're working on adding these attack types in the next few days.
- Adding custom Attacks, Defenses, Senses, etc. I think everyone's aware at this point that Dungeons & Dragons is a highly-customizable game. Though we are covering many, many bases with the calculations and automation in the sheet, we know that we'll never cover them all.
For instance, if you equip a greataxe, that will automatically appear in the Attacks section with your to hit modifier and the information for the weapon. Later in the beta, we'll add the ability for you to create a custom attack that could show the modifiers if you use the greataxe with the Great Weapon Master feat. Or you could add an attack to account for an off-hand weapon while two-weapon fighting (although we plan to automate that in the future too!).
Your character might visit a shrine that grants her darkvision for a tenday. Later in the beta you'll be able to add darkvision as a custom sense to keep track of it.
Character Header
The top portion of the sheet (darker background) is what we call the character header.
Basic/ core statistics and information are found here. Clicking your portrait or name will reveal a character menu with various actions:
Edit Character takes you to the builder to modify your character. Manage Experience opens a window to manage your character levels (for Milestone advancement) or XP. Short Rest opens a window to track Hit Dice and reset Limited Use abilities, as does Long Rest. Open Preferences to manage your character-specific settings.
The box in the top right is called the status area, detailed below. You can also keep track of Inspiration for your character in the character header.
Status Area
You can manage your hit points and keep track of conditions applied to your character in the status area.
Use the wheel, arrows, or manually type values to apply damage or healing. No need to do the math - enter the points of damage or healing and the totals work on apply. You can also track temporary hit points here.
Sheet Sections
The sheet has different sections under the character header that present information about different aspects of the game.
Abilities
This screen shows your ability scores, modifiers, and saves, as well as any relevant save modifiers.
Skills
This screen displays all of your skill modifiers, including proficiencies, Expertise, Jack of All Trades, etc.
Attacks
You'll see your equipped weapons and any spell attacks in this section. The ability to add custom attacks will be added later in the beta.
Spells
In this section, you can manage your spell slots, use the Manage Spells window to add known spells and to prepare spells, and view your prepared spells for table play. Spells that appear here can expand to display the spell's details and quick-info such as the Save DC and type.
Equipment
You can add, equip, and attune to items in the Manage Equipment window. You can also see encumbrance details, note other personal possessions, and manage your currency in this section.
Limited Use
This section aggregates all your traits, features, or abilities that have a reset condition, such as Short Rest, Long Rest, or Dawn. The intent is to collect special abilities you can't use at will in one place so your options are more visible.
You can track the uses of such abilities in this section by clicking the appropriate buttons.
The Short Rest, Long Rest, and Dawn buttons at the top of the section can be used to reset all the relevant abilities at one time. Hit Dice can also be tracked as part of a Short Rest.
Features
This section is a reference that displays all the various features, traits, proficiencies, or feats your character has. If you're looking for your feats, they're here. If you have a question about a class feature, find it here.
Description
Your character's background and personal characteristics are displayed in this section.
Notes
You can add notes in sections or create freeform notes that come up during play here.
The new features added with the Phase 3 are described below.
Homebrew Content
You can now create your own custom spells, magic items, and monsters! Content you create can be used within the character builder and sheet, as well as other tools that will be introduced in the future (such as the encounter builder).
Our purpose with homebrew content is to accommodate the incredible creativity in the D&D community and the flexibility of the D&D game in the toolset. We want players to be able to make custom content that can then be used with their characters - fully integrated and not tacked on or managed separately.
The process and tools provided here are the same ones we have used to generate the "meta data" for the various listings, filters, and other content used throughout the site.
Our moderators have put together a really handy tutorial post for homebrew content - check it out here!
Homebrew Creation
For launch, you will be able to create spells, magic items, and monsters. You can navigate to the creation forms from the Spells, Items, and Monsters buttons in the main nav, from the profile menu, or by visiting dndbeyond.com/homebrew/creations/create-[spell], [magic-item], [monster].
The basic information for these three content types is all that is required to display a magic item for your character to equip. However, to take advantage of the more advanced features on DDB, you can provide additional information and add various modifiers. This will allow the magic item to be included in automated calculations (such as adding a +3 magic bonus to plate armor - the resulting bonus to AC from the armor would be 21).
The process for supplying the advanced information for spells, magic items, and monsters is, well, advanced. It's not for the faint of heart. Over time, we will listen to feedback and see if there are ways to improve the experience, but at its core, it's not intended for beginning players and will take a few times for a veteran to feel like a master.
A great place to start figuring out how the various modifiers work is to create a spell, magic item, or monster from a template of existing content.
Using this method, you can see how we actually parsed the data for those elements.
To view all of your created content, visit the My Homebrew Creations page at dndbeyond.com/homebrew/creations.
Homebrew Sharing
Once you create a homebrew spell, magic item, or monster, you can also share it publicly with the community! Other players can view the homebrew content and choose to add it to their library of content that will eventually be usable in the builder and sheet at launch.
Publishing
To share homebrew content, view the content's details page and click 'Publish' to submit it for review. Public content has to meet certain standards to pass through moderation - check out the Homebrew Content Rules & Guidelines.
Once your homebrew content is approved, it will appear in the appropriate homebrew listing (Spells, Magic Items, Monsters).
If your content is rejected, you can edit and resubmit if desired.
Homebrew Collection
Your personal Homebrew Collection is tied to your account and is treated as any other source, such as the Basic Rules or Player's Handbook, in the toolset. By adding content to your collection, you are able to use that content with the builder or sheet, plus additional tools that will release in the future.
You can access your Homebrew Collection from the profile menu or by visiting dndbeyond.com/homebrew/collection.
All content that you create yourself is automatically added to your Homebrew Collection, although you can remove it if you don't want to see it there.
Important Note: During the beta, public homebrew content cannot be added to your Homebrew Collection since doing that requires a subscription. Your private homebrew content (what you create yourself) is and will always be free to use with your characters and in other tools.
Things NOT Available Yet
To make sure we don't waste anyone's time, here are a few things that are not currently included that will be later in the beta or for launch:
Using homebrew content in the builder or sheet. As noted above, this will not be available until launch.
Creating backgrounds, feats, races, or subclasses. We want to start testing with a smaller subset of content types. We'll add more opportunities for custom content as we move forward.
You can now create and join campaigns! For launch, we're introducing the first pass of what will become a much larger system in the future. You will be able to create a campaign and share the campaign's invite URL with your players to have them join it. Once players join a Dungeon Master's campaign, the DM can view and edit those characters within the campaign. Players in the campaign can see the other characters' names, race, classes, and level.
Our purpose for campaign management at launch is to allow players to be connected to a Dungeon Master and for parties to form in anticipation of features yet to come.
The first one of those is not available in the beta (only at launch), which is the ability for a Dungeon Master to share all of her unlocked content with up to 12 characters across her campaigns with a Master tier subscription. More details on subscription tiers and pricing will come soon.
Campaign management is a core framework that will power other features, such as stream integration, encounter building, and combat tracking in the months to come.
In the meantime, it will be a handy way for Dungeon Masters to connect to players, view and edit all the characters in their campaigns, and share their content where players don't have to also make those purchases.
This dev team has been beating heads on the desk bringing the community this content as comprehensively and quickly as they could. You wouldn't believe some of the behind the scenes conversations they've had with us - I can only imagine the ones we DON'T get to hear.
Super props to these guys - I can only imagine what a pressure release this is. Thank you.
Will you guys be adding the races from Volo's to the character builder?
For all the beta Phases, it will only be the SRD and Basic Rules content - once Beta is over, there will be the option to purchase additional supplements (like Volo's!) and then be able to access that content when building a character.
One thing: I tried to delete a monster I made (I just wanted to see what the stat block would look like), and it's not deleting. Here's some code that popped up that I'm supposed to use to report it:
HTTP Code: 403 Status Text: Forbidden Address: https://www.dndbeyond.com/homebrew/collection Date: Thu Jun 29 2017 20:08:06 GMT-0700 (PDT) Request: POST /homebrew/collection/toggle?entityId=17503&entityTypeId=779871897
Super excited to see that phase 2 and 3 were available when I got home today only to have my excitement completely crushed by not being able to access the character builder. All I get is some dickhead Ancient Black Dragon blocking my way. That guy is a real jerk.
You can now create and join campaigns! For launch, we're introducing the first pass of what will become a much larger system in the future. You will be able to create a campaign and share the campaign's invite URL with your players to have them join it. Once players join a Dungeon Master's campaign, the DM can view and edit those characters within the campaign. Players in the campaign can see the other characters' names, race, classes, and level.
Our purpose for campaign management at launch is to allow players to be connected to a Dungeon Master and for parties to form in anticipation of features yet to come.
The first one of those is not available in the beta (only at launch), which is the ability for a Dungeon Master to share all of her unlocked content with up to 12 characters across her campaigns with a Master tier subscription. More details on subscription tiers and pricing will come soon.
Campaign management is a core framework that will power other features, such as stream integration, encounter building, and combat tracking in the months to come.
In the meantime, it will be a handy way for Dungeon Masters to connect to players, view and edit all the characters in their campaigns, and share their content where players don't have to also make those purchases.
So, what you guys are saying is, right now my players get some cool basic/SRD toys, at launch they get all the cool toys I buy, but the humble DM still has to visit several different different websites for a while yet to get our cool toys. Alas, the long suffering DM :D
[Update] to hopefully increase visibility:
Hello everyone!
These release notes are pretty long (wall of text incoming), but that's because there's a ton of new content coming your way. I've collapsed several sections for space. I encourage those interested to expand and check it out.
I am pleased to share that we have unlocked both Phase 2 and Phase 3 for beta testing. This includes the character builder, digital character sheet, homebrew content creation, and the first steps of campaign management.
Your help so far in the beta has been incredible and appreciated. In short, you're all pretty epic. As we've said from the beginning, we favor the same approach that Wizards of the Coast has taken with Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition when it comes to testing. Playtesting has been instrumental in making the game what it is today. We are excited to get these features into players' hands to continue to get the feedback we need to prepare for launch.
On that note, please remember that this is indeed beta testing - not everything you see here is in its final form. We want to get this out to start getting feedback. Some features are not included because they're not quite polished enough yet. Some others are not included because we want to focus initial testing in certain areas. Some features might not be included in the final product if the community provides feedback that they don't accomplish what we set out to do. Still other entirely new features could be added as a result of feedback.
We have worked hard and are proud of what we are sharing with you now, but we absolutely want to hear from you and make it the best it can be.
Mobile and Desktop
Since the beginning, we have made it a priority to make DDB available (and usable) on all types of devices. With everything we do, we take a "mobile first" mentality. It's harder to get things working well on desktop and then condense that all down to the phone than it is to go the other direction.
With the character builder and sheet, we have not spent as much time on desktop views because the UI itself might change over the course of beta testing - it would be less time and effort for us to make those changes in one place first and then expand out to the desktop views to polish it all for launch.
I wanted to share that philosophy so everyone testing will know - the desktop views will certainly see updates towards the end of testing.
Beta Content Reminder
Keep in mind that during the beta, all Basic Rules/ SRD or otherwise freely-available content is included. You will NOT be able to include chromatic orb or a weapon of warning on your characters yet. We are primarily testing the features, not the entirety of the content.
We realize that this restriction is frustrating for some of you. We made a commitment at the start of the beta that we will never "take away" any of the content you have been accessing for free, and we meant it.
Anything you'll see or use in this new update is and will remain completely free.
We are marching with intention to launch, where all the things will be available for use!
Phase 2 Features
The new features added with the Phase 2 are described below.
Character Builder
You can now build characters! Character creation in D&D is typically a lengthy process that includes significant referencing of books and recording every detail described in those books - not to mention the "softer" aspects such as forming your character's identity.
Our purpose with the character builder is to streamline character creation by automatically applying all traits and features that are granted to a character by virtue of her race, class, background, etc. and instead focusing on those traits and features that require player choice. So, using the builder, you can create a character in minutes, because everything you would ordinarily write down on your character sheet that you just "get" is already done for you. You can then make the choices that you need to make and have a completed, play-ready character.
You can access the builder through the "Builder" menu option in the main nav, under the "Characters" menu option in the main nav, or by visiting dndbeyond.com/characters/builder.
Remember that only Basic Rules/ SRD/ EEPC content is usable in the builder as of now - all official content will be available at launch.
As everyone that plays D&D is aware, there are a great deal of rules involved! We have good an honest effort in to integrate, automate, and display as much as we can on a first pass, but we know that things have been missed. This is a great way to get help from the community. If you see attack bonuses, AC, Hit Dice, features, or whatever that aren't appearing as you would expect, please tell us about it and we'll address it!
Things NOT Available Yet
To make sure we don't waste anyone's time, here are a few things that are not currently included that will be later in the beta or for launch:
- Creating more than 6 characters. As mentioned above, we will not give players content in the beta that then is moved behind a paywall. This means that all accounts are treated as free accounts during the beta, with the character slot limit of 6 in place.
You will be able to sign up for one of the two subscription tiers at launch that will allow you to create an unlimited number of characters. More details on pricing will come soon.
For testing purposes, if you want to continue to create characters after you have used all 6 slots, you can delete an existing character to free up the slot. I realize this might be a frustrating restriction to some, especially since the point of the beta is to test, but we have made the decision to honor our commitment to keep free free - we feel this is the best overall solution.
- Exporting a character sheet to print. We absolutely will have this (please don't panic!), but we would like to focus testing at this point on the digital character sheet. We'll add this later in the beta for testing too.
- De-leveling or removing classes. At this point, the process to remove classes and/ or character levels is not available, but it certainly will be before launch. This means that for now, if you level up with a character and make a mistake or change your mind, you can't edit adjust the level down. You can delete the character and start over, or if you can't bring yourself to do that, wait until we add the functionality.
Help Text
Help text is turned on by default - it's helpful for most players starting out with the builder. You can turn it off or back on by clicking/ tapping the (?) icon in the builder header:
Player Choices
Throughout the builder, things that require your attention will be marked with an icon (!) as seen here:
We will be adding to this system through the end of beta, but look for these in order to make the choices that are needed to complete character creation. Never forget to choose a Tool Proficiency for your dwarf again!
Sheet Readiness
In the builder, a blank character is created as soon as you enter the process to better protect your work. Until a character has certain essential parameters defined (Race, Class, Ability Scores), you cannot access either the digital sheet or export your character (available later in the beta).
Once a race, class, and ability scores are determined, the character is now "Sheet Ready." At this stage in the beta, you can now view the character's digital character sheet. You will know that a character is sheet ready when the character sheet icon activates, as seen here:
My Characters Page
Once a character is created, you will be able to access it on your 'My Characters' page.
This page lists all of your created characters and allows you to view, edit, or delete characters.
You can access the page from the Characters section of the main nav, the profile menu, or by visiting dndbeyond.com/profile/[insert your profile name]/characters.
Character Creation Method
You can create characters in three ways:
Standard
This is the method to use if you want to build a character in the typical way.
Quick Build
A way to get a play-ready 1st level character (that's optimized according to the PHB guidelines) fast.
Randomize
This will either make a completely random character (level, race, class, background, spells, etc.), or you can specify a few of those parameters. Keep in mind that these are completely random - this method will not create a necessarily optimized character. It might be fun to play with that kind of randomness though!
Builder Sections
The builder has different sections corresponding to different parts of the creation process.
Home
The home screen allows you to change your character level, set a portrait and name, and set some character preferences. You can skip the character level or name/ portrait at the start (they'll be available in other sections too). Note that the default advancement method is Milestone, but you can change this to XP if that's what your campaign uses. Fixed hit points are also the default, but you can adjust that in preferences as well.
1. Race
Choose your race here. Remember that only races from the Basic Rules/ SRD/ EEPC are available during the beta.
No firbolgs yet!
2. Class
Choose your class here. Remember that only classes and subclasses from the Basic Rules/ SRD/ EEPC are available during the beta.
No swashbucklers yet!
3. Abilities
Determine your ability scores in this section by using the standard array, point buy system, or entering them manually.
4. Description
You can choose your portrait and set your character's name here, as well as select your character's background. Notes of all sorts are available to flesh out more details for your character.
5. Equipment
This section is the starting point for what will eventually become a more feature-rich inventory management system. Our goal for initial release is to allow players to record, equip, and use equipment at least as well as you can with pen and paper. On top of that, any equipment that affects your character's statistics (such as armor), will automatically update the character sheet with those modifiers. You can also track attuned magic items here.
Again, a full-blown inventory management system is definitely on the roadmap for this year - things like party inventory, trading/ selling, and more.
What's Next
This final section provides helpful context and links to go and play your character, including going to the digital sheet, exporting for print (which will be available later in the beta), and creating or joining a campaign.
We're excited to get this out and to hear your feedback! Share it in the [Mega Thread] Focused Feedback - Character Builder & Sheet thread.
Digital Character Sheet
You can also now view an interactive digital character sheet for your character for use between sessions or at the table during play.
Our purpose with the sheet is to provide all the information needed to play your character conveniently on the device you want to use at the table. We also want the sheet to serve as another way to engage with your character between sessions - whether that's looking up your stats during your lunch break or planning meticulously planning your prepared spells while you're supposedly watching Netflix.
The digital character sheet can be accessed after you build a character and that character is "sheet ready" (see above).
You can access the character sheet from the sheet icon in the builder or by clicking 'View' on the character from the My Characters page.
Things NOT Available Yet
To make sure we don't waste anyone's time, here are a few things that are not currently included that will be later in the beta or for launch:
- Companions and Wild Shape sections. We are putting the finishing touches on a Companions section that will handle familiars, ranger companions, other pets, and cohorts/ followers. We'll add this into the beta soon. We will also incorporate a Wild Shape section that will enhance things a good bit for druids later in the beta.
- Unarmed Strike / Martial Arts. We're working on adding these attack types in the next few days.
- Adding custom Attacks, Defenses, Senses, etc. I think everyone's aware at this point that Dungeons & Dragons is a highly-customizable game. Though we are covering many, many bases with the calculations and automation in the sheet, we know that we'll never cover them all.
For instance, if you equip a greataxe, that will automatically appear in the Attacks section with your to hit modifier and the information for the weapon. Later in the beta, we'll add the ability for you to create a custom attack that could show the modifiers if you use the greataxe with the Great Weapon Master feat. Or you could add an attack to account for an off-hand weapon while two-weapon fighting (although we plan to automate that in the future too!).
Your character might visit a shrine that grants her darkvision for a tenday. Later in the beta you'll be able to add darkvision as a custom sense to keep track of it.
Character Header
The top portion of the sheet (darker background) is what we call the character header.
Basic/ core statistics and information are found here. Clicking your portrait or name will reveal a character menu with various actions:
Edit Character takes you to the builder to modify your character. Manage Experience opens a window to manage your character levels (for Milestone advancement) or XP. Short Rest opens a window to track Hit Dice and reset Limited Use abilities, as does Long Rest. Open Preferences to manage your character-specific settings.
The box in the top right is called the status area, detailed below. You can also keep track of Inspiration for your character in the character header.
Status Area
You can manage your hit points and keep track of conditions applied to your character in the status area.
Use the wheel, arrows, or manually type values to apply damage or healing. No need to do the math - enter the points of damage or healing and the totals work on apply. You can also track temporary hit points here.
Sheet Sections
The sheet has different sections under the character header that present information about different aspects of the game.
Abilities
This screen shows your ability scores, modifiers, and saves, as well as any relevant save modifiers.
Skills
This screen displays all of your skill modifiers, including proficiencies, Expertise, Jack of All Trades, etc.
Attacks
You'll see your equipped weapons and any spell attacks in this section. The ability to add custom attacks will be added later in the beta.
Spells
In this section, you can manage your spell slots, use the Manage Spells window to add known spells and to prepare spells, and view your prepared spells for table play. Spells that appear here can expand to display the spell's details and quick-info such as the Save DC and type.
Equipment
You can add, equip, and attune to items in the Manage Equipment window. You can also see encumbrance details, note other personal possessions, and manage your currency in this section.
Limited Use
This section aggregates all your traits, features, or abilities that have a reset condition, such as Short Rest, Long Rest, or Dawn. The intent is to collect special abilities you can't use at will in one place so your options are more visible.
You can track the uses of such abilities in this section by clicking the appropriate buttons.
The Short Rest, Long Rest, and Dawn buttons at the top of the section can be used to reset all the relevant abilities at one time. Hit Dice can also be tracked as part of a Short Rest.
Features
This section is a reference that displays all the various features, traits, proficiencies, or feats your character has. If you're looking for your feats, they're here. If you have a question about a class feature, find it here.
Description
Your character's background and personal characteristics are displayed in this section.
Notes
You can add notes in sections or create freeform notes that come up during play here.
Try it out and share your feedback in the [Mega Thread] Focused Feedback - Character Builder & Sheet thread!
Phase 3 Features
The new features added with the Phase 3 are described below.
Homebrew Content
You can now create your own custom spells, magic items, and monsters! Content you create can be used within the character builder and sheet, as well as other tools that will be introduced in the future (such as the encounter builder).
Our purpose with homebrew content is to accommodate the incredible creativity in the D&D community and the flexibility of the D&D game in the toolset. We want players to be able to make custom content that can then be used with their characters - fully integrated and not tacked on or managed separately.
The process and tools provided here are the same ones we have used to generate the "meta data" for the various listings, filters, and other content used throughout the site.
Our moderators have put together a really handy tutorial post for homebrew content - check it out here!
Homebrew Creation
For launch, you will be able to create spells, magic items, and monsters. You can navigate to the creation forms from the Spells, Items, and Monsters buttons in the main nav, from the profile menu, or by visiting dndbeyond.com/homebrew/creations/create-[spell], [magic-item], [monster].
The basic information for these three content types is all that is required to display a magic item for your character to equip. However, to take advantage of the more advanced features on DDB, you can provide additional information and add various modifiers. This will allow the magic item to be included in automated calculations (such as adding a +3 magic bonus to plate armor - the resulting bonus to AC from the armor would be 21).
The process for supplying the advanced information for spells, magic items, and monsters is, well, advanced. It's not for the faint of heart. Over time, we will listen to feedback and see if there are ways to improve the experience, but at its core, it's not intended for beginning players and will take a few times for a veteran to feel like a master.
A great place to start figuring out how the various modifiers work is to create a spell, magic item, or monster from a template of existing content.
Using this method, you can see how we actually parsed the data for those elements.
To view all of your created content, visit the My Homebrew Creations page at dndbeyond.com/homebrew/creations.
Homebrew Sharing
Once you create a homebrew spell, magic item, or monster, you can also share it publicly with the community! Other players can view the homebrew content and choose to add it to their library of content that will eventually be usable in the builder and sheet at launch.
Publishing
To share homebrew content, view the content's details page and click 'Publish' to submit it for review. Public content has to meet certain standards to pass through moderation - check out the Homebrew Content Rules & Guidelines.
Once your homebrew content is approved, it will appear in the appropriate homebrew listing (Spells, Magic Items, Monsters).
If your content is rejected, you can edit and resubmit if desired.
Homebrew Collection
Your personal Homebrew Collection is tied to your account and is treated as any other source, such as the Basic Rules or Player's Handbook, in the toolset. By adding content to your collection, you are able to use that content with the builder or sheet, plus additional tools that will release in the future.
You can access your Homebrew Collection from the profile menu or by visiting dndbeyond.com/homebrew/collection.
All content that you create yourself is automatically added to your Homebrew Collection, although you can remove it if you don't want to see it there.
Important Note: During the beta, public homebrew content cannot be added to your Homebrew Collection since doing that requires a subscription. Your private homebrew content (what you create yourself) is and will always be free to use with your characters and in other tools.
Things NOT Available Yet
To make sure we don't waste anyone's time, here are a few things that are not currently included that will be later in the beta or for launch:
Using homebrew content in the builder or sheet. As noted above, this will not be available until launch.
Creating backgrounds, feats, races, or subclasses. We want to start testing with a smaller subset of content types. We'll add more opportunities for custom content as we move forward.
We're excited to see what gets created and shared! Have fun and share your feedback in the [Mega Thread] Focused Feedback - Homebrew Content!
Campaign Management
You can now create and join campaigns! For launch, we're introducing the first pass of what will become a much larger system in the future. You will be able to create a campaign and share the campaign's invite URL with your players to have them join it. Once players join a Dungeon Master's campaign, the DM can view and edit those characters within the campaign. Players in the campaign can see the other characters' names, race, classes, and level.
Our purpose for campaign management at launch is to allow players to be connected to a Dungeon Master and for parties to form in anticipation of features yet to come.
The first one of those is not available in the beta (only at launch), which is the ability for a Dungeon Master to share all of her unlocked content with up to 12 characters across her campaigns with a Master tier subscription. More details on subscription tiers and pricing will come soon.
Campaign management is a core framework that will power other features, such as stream integration, encounter building, and combat tracking in the months to come.
In the meantime, it will be a handy way for Dungeon Masters to connect to players, view and edit all the characters in their campaigns, and share their content where players don't have to also make those purchases.
For campaign management, there isn't too much to test during beta, but feedback and ideas are still appreciated. Share your thoughts in the [Mega Thread] Focused Feedback - Campaign Management thread!
Congratulations if you made it this far! I'll reiterate here at the end, you're all epic.
We've got many more things in the pipeline. I'll keep you updated!
WOOOO Badeye, Love all yours and the Dev teams work, can't wait to try it all out!!
Mega Threads - Staff Quotes - Useful Resources - Homebrew FAQ - Pricing FAQ
This dev team has been beating heads on the desk bringing the community this content as comprehensively and quickly as they could. You wouldn't believe some of the behind the scenes conversations they've had with us - I can only imagine the ones we DON'T get to hear.
Super props to these guys - I can only imagine what a pressure release this is. Thank you.
[ Site Rules & Guidelines ] --- [ Homebrew Rules & Guidelines ]
Send me a message with any questions or concerns
I hope there are notes of those conversations. Someday they may be an interesting discussion topic :p
Thanks for the effort! :D
Also, the servers have exploded, haven't they? >.>
Not yet. :)
There's a known issue being worked on in the background that'll cause the character generator to act up until they're done working on it.
Site Rules & Guidelines --- Focused Feedback Mega Threads --- Staff Quotes --- Homebrew Tutorial --- Pricing FAQ
Please feel free to message either Sorce or another moderator if you have any concerns.
Will you guys be adding the races from Volo's to the character builder?
IT'S HERE! YAAAAS!
Site Rules & Guidelines || How to Tooltip || Contact Support || Changelog || Pricing FAQ || Homebrew FAQ
If you have questions/concerns, please Private Message me or another moderator.
Wary the wizard who focuses on homebrew, for he can create nightmares that you wouldn't even dream of
One thing: I tried to delete a monster I made (I just wanted to see what the stat block would look like), and it's not deleting. Here's some code that popped up that I'm supposed to use to report it:
HTTP Code: 403
Status Text: Forbidden
Address: https://www.dndbeyond.com/homebrew/collection
Date: Thu Jun 29 2017 20:08:06 GMT-0700 (PDT)
Request: POST /homebrew/collection/toggle?entityId=17503&entityTypeId=779871897
Super excited to see that phase 2 and 3 were available when I got home today only to have my excitement completely crushed by not being able to access the character builder. All I get is some dickhead Ancient Black Dragon blocking my way. That guy is a real jerk.
Huh. 403 forbidden on builder?
The character generator has been locked until staff finishes sorting out the issue.
Site Rules & Guidelines --- Focused Feedback Mega Threads --- Staff Quotes --- Homebrew Tutorial --- Pricing FAQ
Please feel free to message either Sorce or another moderator if you have any concerns.
Whew. I was afraid I had been locked out of the update for my impatient forum posts.
Very excited to see all your work once the issue is resolved!
Quote from subsistcyber >>
If 75% of the workers go on vacation is it a quarter staff?
Ok cool.. i was worried.. good thing i checked tge fourms before saying anything. Lol
That guy you used to know but can't remember his real name so you just call him Chainsaw.
There's going to be a load of continued development after launch, to add further features and tools to D&D Beyond. :)
Pun-loving nerd | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
If there were a "shake hands with the staff" button, I would click it several times! #DDBishere