I often see something along the lines of "on page XX of the DMG" , but there are no page numbers on the digital form (or are they there and I'm being stupid?) Is there a way to see the page numbers or get them added?
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
There are no page numbers, due to a very different format that doesn't have specific pages.
However, when you look up content on D&D Beyond, such as spells, monsters etc, they will show the source book and page number at the bottom-right of their page.
I understand this makes it difficult when you find a discussion on other forums that says something like, "The rules for this are on page 252 of the DMG" - you could try asking them which chapter & subheading of the book that is.
You can also search D&D Beyond much more easily than a physical book though.
You can also search D&D Beyond much more easily than a physical book though.
For searching spells, monsters, character options, absolutely. For general rules terms, it's usually awful. The DDB search only seems to work when you're searching for a section of a chapter (e.g. "Making An Attack").
Let's say I want to know about spell attack rolls. With a physical Player's Handbook I look at the index and see that "spell attack roll" directs me to page 205, which is the Attack Rolls section of chapter 10 (Spellcasting). Searching DDB for "spell attack roll" yields absolutely nothing useful in the 35 results it shows. The top 3 results are Vicious Mockery, Bane, and Light Crossbow (???); there isn't a single Compendium result.
If it occurs to the user to filter on Compendium results only, the first two results are still completely unhelpful (Dodge, Help) and the 3rd takes you to the Attack Rolls section of chapter 9 (Combat), not chapter 10. The thing I'm actually looking for, the Attack Rolls section of chapter 10, isn't there. It doesn't help that the compendium results include spells, monsters, items, and character features, which defeats the purpose of asking for compendium results only.
Searching for "spell attack rolls" gives better results, but that only seems to be the case because it's matching on sections titled Attack Rolls. I get the same results searching for just "attack rolls". Even here the results kind of suck. There's a DMG result up top, which is generally not what you want if there's also a section in the Player's Handbook. There's duplicate entries for the Basic Rules and Player's Handbook since they're basically the same thing where they overlap, and while both Attack Rolls sections in chapter 9 and chapter 10 are there I can't tell which is which.
All of this, combined, makes for a really sucky experience. This is one of the few areas where DDB really falls flat compared to the physical books even though it should have the upper hand. And I get that fixing all of those things isn't easy. But I'd kill to at least have the index that's supposed to be in the back of the book (except with links instead of page numbers, obviously.)
I agree entirely about the search function needing improvement when looking for rules. This has been discussed with staff this week and they agree - they want to improve the search function.
Yeah. I have to agree about the rules search needing improvement. For monsters, spells, and items it's awesome.
Could I also suggest having a compendium search with filters and advanced filters? That would be cool. It's so useful in the other sections that I find it oddly disconcerting not to have those options for searching for rules.
Oh man I just came here excited about this topic because I couldn't find "the plague" referenced as being on page 257 of the DMG... and see this is a very old thread. Seems things have not improved. :(
This does sound like an important addition (page numbers in margins would be great, plus links)
I came here to post about instances where a topic is covered in two different sources--Particularly when one of them is the Basic Rules. I looked up +1 Weapons, and saw a reference to the Basic Rules page number, but no reference to the Dungeon Master's Guide page number. Maybe the thinking is that the Dungeon Master books are not as commonly owned, so the Basic Rules are favored here, but I don't have a printed copy of the Basic Rules, and there is no reason for me to. I would prefer the DMG reference over the Basic Rules one. But showing both references would be much better for everyone.
Ya, things being in multiple places is awkward and frustrating. I run into that numerous times per week - you search for something and get a million hits for it in sources you don't own.
Here's the usual scenario:
1. Look up some term in the Search, say "Weapons"
2. Click the first entry in the search
3. Get locked out because it's Rick and Morty and I don't own that
4. Scroll through further and find the Basic Rules entry with the exact same title, "Weapons"
5. Realize the Weapons I'm looking for aren't in this list
6. Go to google to find out what page number the weapon I'm looking for is on - discover it is on page xyz of the DMG under "firearms"
7. Go to DMG and realize there's no page numbers or heading in the table of contents for firearms
8. Go back to search for firearms and finally discover the weapons I'm looking for.
I know this sounds like I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill, but the truth is I usually find the information I'm looking for via google/roll20/sites-that-show-up-in-Google-that-shall-not-be-named-because-piracy while I'm trying to find the content in DDB, and that's frustrating.
Still no improvement on this? At the very least, could we get proper search modifiers? I was trying to look up "Degrees of Failure" in the DMG and getting every instance of the word 'of'. Wrapping in quotes does nothing. Search should be the central feature of digital source books not an afterthought.
Oddly enough, the search seems better on the website. If it works there, why is the mobile app so bad?
I often see something along the lines of "on page XX of the DMG" , but there are no page numbers on the digital form (or are they there and I'm being stupid?) Is there a way to see the page numbers or get them added?
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
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D&D Beyond FoundersThere are no page numbers, due to a very different format that doesn't have specific pages.
However, when you look up content on D&D Beyond, such as spells, monsters etc, they will show the source book and page number at the bottom-right of their page.
I understand this makes it difficult when you find a discussion on other forums that says something like, "The rules for this are on page 252 of the DMG" - you could try asking them which chapter & subheading of the book that is.
You can also search D&D Beyond much more easily than a physical book though.
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | 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!"🔊
For searching spells, monsters, character options, absolutely. For general rules terms, it's usually awful. The DDB search only seems to work when you're searching for a section of a chapter (e.g. "Making An Attack").
Let's say I want to know about spell attack rolls. With a physical Player's Handbook I look at the index and see that "spell attack roll" directs me to page 205, which is the Attack Rolls section of chapter 10 (Spellcasting). Searching DDB for "spell attack roll" yields absolutely nothing useful in the 35 results it shows. The top 3 results are Vicious Mockery, Bane, and Light Crossbow (???); there isn't a single Compendium result.
If it occurs to the user to filter on Compendium results only, the first two results are still completely unhelpful (Dodge, Help) and the 3rd takes you to the Attack Rolls section of chapter 9 (Combat), not chapter 10. The thing I'm actually looking for, the Attack Rolls section of chapter 10, isn't there. It doesn't help that the compendium results include spells, monsters, items, and character features, which defeats the purpose of asking for compendium results only.
Searching for "spell attack rolls" gives better results, but that only seems to be the case because it's matching on sections titled Attack Rolls. I get the same results searching for just "attack rolls". Even here the results kind of suck. There's a DMG result up top, which is generally not what you want if there's also a section in the Player's Handbook. There's duplicate entries for the Basic Rules and Player's Handbook since they're basically the same thing where they overlap, and while both Attack Rolls sections in chapter 9 and chapter 10 are there I can't tell which is which.
All of this, combined, makes for a really sucky experience. This is one of the few areas where DDB really falls flat compared to the physical books even though it should have the upper hand. And I get that fixing all of those things isn't easy. But I'd kill to at least have the index that's supposed to be in the back of the book (except with links instead of page numbers, obviously.)
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D&D Beyond FoundersI agree entirely about the search function needing improvement when looking for rules. This has been discussed with staff this week and they agree - they want to improve the search function.
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | 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!"🔊
Yeah. I have to agree about the rules search needing improvement. For monsters, spells, and items it's awesome.
Could I also suggest having a compendium search with filters and advanced filters? That would be cool. It's so useful in the other sections that I find it oddly disconcerting not to have those options for searching for rules.
AD
Just came here to add my +1 & to bump the topic instead of creating yet another post thread asking for this :)
At least put an index in that links to the page.
Oh man I just came here excited about this topic because I couldn't find "the plague" referenced as being on page 257 of the DMG... and see this is a very old thread. Seems things have not improved. :(
This does sound like an important addition (page numbers in margins would be great, plus links)
I came here to post about instances where a topic is covered in two different sources--Particularly when one of them is the Basic Rules. I looked up +1 Weapons, and saw a reference to the Basic Rules page number, but no reference to the Dungeon Master's Guide page number. Maybe the thinking is that the Dungeon Master books are not as commonly owned, so the Basic Rules are favored here, but I don't have a printed copy of the Basic Rules, and there is no reason for me to. I would prefer the DMG reference over the Basic Rules one. But showing both references would be much better for everyone.
Ya, things being in multiple places is awkward and frustrating. I run into that numerous times per week - you search for something and get a million hits for it in sources you don't own.
Here's the usual scenario:
1. Look up some term in the Search, say "Weapons"
2. Click the first entry in the search
3. Get locked out because it's Rick and Morty and I don't own that
4. Scroll through further and find the Basic Rules entry with the exact same title, "Weapons"
5. Realize the Weapons I'm looking for aren't in this list
6. Go to google to find out what page number the weapon I'm looking for is on - discover it is on page xyz of the DMG under "firearms"
7. Go to DMG and realize there's no page numbers or heading in the table of contents for firearms
8. Go back to search for firearms and finally discover the weapons I'm looking for.
I know this sounds like I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill, but the truth is I usually find the information I'm looking for via google/roll20/sites-that-show-up-in-Google-that-shall-not-be-named-because-piracy while I'm trying to find the content in DDB, and that's frustrating.
Still no improvement on this? At the very least, could we get proper search modifiers? I was trying to look up "Degrees of Failure" in the DMG and getting every instance of the word 'of'. Wrapping in quotes does nothing. Search should be the central feature of digital source books not an afterthought.
Oddly enough, the search seems better on the website. If it works there, why is the mobile app so bad?
I don't think we are getting enough representation mobile users unite.