Today I tried to use the coupon code for $5 off any sourcebook. However, when I tried to purchase a $4.99 book, it recognized the discount, and yet my total was marked down to only $1.99. Is the code actually for only a percentage off? This is very misleading and I’m not sure what the problem is. I tried to cancel a $1.99 sapphire dragon purchase earlier, which did the same thing.
So many exclusions that I was not aware of and did not anticipate. I've been trying to find something about a minimum purchase requirement and failing. Do you by chance have a link you can share?
I believe it was mentioned by a moderator on the discord server. I wouldn't take my word as gospel, it could be a minimum transaction amount too. This is the first time DDB has done a code like this.
I'm noticing a few exceptions to the LB discount that I don't remember being informed of when I purchased it just a couple months ago. I guess I need general clarification. I've posted a query on the support forum. Thank you 😊
As far as I know, the only exceptions are that the LB discount only applies to book purchases; bundles, maps and non-book extras like the Sapphire Dragon are exempt. I think they added that clarification after the Tactical Maps Reincarnated pack came out as it was the first non-book product they offered outside of the LB.
Since then we've obviously got a few more; the sourcebook and adventure bundles, the essentials kit bundle and the sapphire dragon
What is a book? Why is Sapphire Dragon not a (source)book? Does it need a certain minimum of pages?
There is a minimum transaction of $1.99 as you stated. I don't recall that information being readily available/included in the description of my LB purchase.
Books are anything that can be listed in the compendium ie it's not just listings content.
The obvious ones are physically printed products, but you also have stuff like the Tortle Package and Locathah Rising which, while not physical products, are formatted as a book (and actually had PDF releases on the DMs Guild in a pseudo-book format).
The Sapphire Dragon was released only as a listings option, ie there's no Compendium listings for it, it's not on a 'page' somewhere. It only appears in monster searches.
It's a bit like how if you just buy a monster from a book, it'll only appear as a listings entry, you won't get access to the part of the book the monster appears in.
I gotta admit I don't understand this. What is 'compendium' and 'listings' content in this context, who decides, and how do we know under which category a piece of content falls? Which categories are included in the LB discount, and are there other categories I should be aware of, relevant to this?
Compedium is anything listed in the Sources menu, for example the Basic Rules. Within that you have compendium entries such as for the spell Message or the Gargoyle at the start of the G section.
Listings are the content broken out of the compendium and listed (hence the name) on its own. For example, Message having its own listing, or the same for Gargoyle.
Say we went to Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes and looked at the purchasing options. If you bought the compendium content only, but not the whole book or individual monsters, you'd get access to the Marut here but not here. You'd be able to read the lore, but not use it in the encounter builder. Conversely, if you purchased just the individual monster listing, you'd get Marut listing in the search results but you wouldn't have access to Tome of Foes.
The fast and dirty way to explain it is the compendium is for reading, the listings are for tools.
Categories included in the legendary bundles are all the 'books' that can included as compendium content, which includes everything physically published as a book, plus everything published as a PDF 'book'. It doesn't include other bundles (including the Essentials Kit Bundle, because that's actually four 'books' bundled together), the map pack (because it's a map pack, not a book) and the Sapphire Dragon (because it's not part of a book)
First of all let me say thank you so much for taking the time to explain all this to me. You're way more helpful than their cs team has been so far.
This clears things up a little, but I am still confused on a couple of points. I am not sure how the compendium content only version of Mordenkainen's, for example, is different from the full version. I mean if you have access to all of the content in the book, like the Marut, at least somewhere, then what is one missing? I see that it says the character builder and digital (character?) sheet are not included, but I wouldn't expect those to be as they are not in the book. Hum...okay looking at the description of the full version, it appears that this means the information will not be available to use in the character builder. Do I have that right? I thought about editing this down, but I figured I'd make more sense leaving my train of thought up there =)
One other question that popped up when looking at the 'compendium content only' purchase option for this book. It is called a 'bundle' there. Would that mean it doesn't qualify for the LB discount?
There are just so many terms and "such as"s and vague language around this product that isn't clear enough, in my opinion.
Where did the Sapphire Dragon come from? Just a random stat block someone created all on its own?
Compendiums are the browsable digital book contents. Basically the same as reading from the book.
Listing data can be quickly searched for in categorical lists. This is also the content you need to own to use it in your character sheet (be a certain race/subclass, equip a magic item, add a monster to extras as a pet), encounter builder, and homebrew tools.
Bundle discounts do not apply to individual compendium or listings, bundles, map packs, or subscriptions.
The minimum transaction amount is 1.99$.
The sapphire Dragon is an individual listing (it does not include a compendium) that is also the minimum price.
If you were to buy the compendium of Mordenkainen's (which is cheaper), you would not get any of the monsters to use in the following places:
Encounter builder
Homebrew (for making copies)
The extras panel of the character sheet
The compendium purchase option is for those that want to just use DDB as an ebook style platform with none of the tools.
And yeah, purchasing the books piecemeal doesn't count for LB discount because listings and compendium only aren't book purchases. I know it's confusing, but basically a book is anything that includes compendium and listings content. If it doesn't have compendium content, it's not a book so doesn't qualify for the LB discount.
There's a hierarchy of products (I agree it's got complicated, DDB has grown a lot).
If something doesn't contain a compendium, it's not a book. If it's not a book, it doesn't qualify for the LB discount. That applies to individual listings and compendiums, as well as bundles.
The Sapphire Dragon stat block was originally part of the D&D Sapphire Anniversary Dice set (a $300 set!!!). DDB put it on the marketplace as a charity item with all profits going to Child's Play, as there wouldn't really be any other way to get it on DDB (it's not in a book, it's just printed on a piece of card that comes with the dice). It's created a fair few wrinkles because it's the first product of its type. Much like how the map pack was the first of its type.
And I expect the CS team is somewhat limited on what they can say and the resources they have to commit to answering queries. I could be completely wrong about things I'm saying, but my rationale seems to hold true for products so far.
Thanks guys this makes a whole lot more sense now =D I am definitely a list and diagram person so those helped a lot.
If I understand the compendium correctly (it has all the content of the hard copy), I wouldn't consider that a piecemeal purchase (though I definitely would the listings by themselves). Just an observation.
And I wish they would craft some version of this explanation of things on the sale page for the LB. It is very confusing for someone just diving in all at once.
The compendium is the biggest piece, but it's still a piecemeal option; it's the printed book minus the individual options for all the tools.
And as for why they don't explain it like this in the store, well two reasons really. Firstly, my explanation wouldn't be for everyone and likely wouldn't meet the requirements by the legal department. Secondly, and more significantly, their copy has had to be adapted as the marketplace has expanded. It's legacy copy issues, they can't overhaul it each time new stuff comes out, they have to make as minimal changes.
You are right, your exact version probably wouldn't work for the reasons you mentioned, that's why I said 'some' version, which would be extremely helpful. I don't see why they can't manage a basic explanation of what is/is not a sourcebook or adventure that wouldn't need to be changed much. And I also don't see why they could not make minor changes to that sometimes, like how they add to the list of items you initially get with the LB, updates to their terms of sale, etc. It seems to me like it would decrease the number of questions and problems for them too.
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Today I tried to use the coupon code for $5 off any sourcebook. However, when I tried to purchase a $4.99 book, it recognized the discount, and yet my total was marked down to only $1.99. Is the code actually for only a percentage off? This is very misleading and I’m not sure what the problem is. I tried to cancel a $1.99 sapphire dragon purchase earlier, which did the same thing.
AFAIK $1.99 is the minimum purchase amount. If you tried to purchase a more expensive book you'd receive the entire $5 off.
Check out my latest homebrew: Mystic Knight (Fighter) v1.31
That’s dumb. So then why not just make it $5 off a purchase of $7 or more? They should be more clear on what it’s really doing.
The discount is 5$ still. If you add a second item, the cost will be the total price -5.
Hum, is this why the LB discount doesn't apply to Sapphire Dragon?
I don't think the Sapphire Dragon is classes as a book or bundle (much like the map pack). This is likely due to it being a charity product
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
So many exclusions that I was not aware of and did not anticipate. I've been trying to find something about a minimum purchase requirement and failing. Do you by chance have a link you can share?
I believe it was mentioned by a moderator on the discord server. I wouldn't take my word as gospel, it could be a minimum transaction amount too. This is the first time DDB has done a code like this.
What is it you're trying to purchase?
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
I'm noticing a few exceptions to the LB discount that I don't remember being informed of when I purchased it just a couple months ago. I guess I need general clarification. I've posted a query on the support forum. Thank you 😊
As far as I know, the only exceptions are that the LB discount only applies to book purchases; bundles, maps and non-book extras like the Sapphire Dragon are exempt. I think they added that clarification after the Tactical Maps Reincarnated pack came out as it was the first non-book product they offered outside of the LB.
Since then we've obviously got a few more; the sourcebook and adventure bundles, the essentials kit bundle and the sapphire dragon
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
What is a book? Why is Sapphire Dragon not a (source)book? Does it need a certain minimum of pages?
There is a minimum transaction of $1.99 as you stated. I don't recall that information being readily available/included in the description of my LB purchase.
Books are anything that can be listed in the compendium ie it's not just listings content.
The obvious ones are physically printed products, but you also have stuff like the Tortle Package and Locathah Rising which, while not physical products, are formatted as a book (and actually had PDF releases on the DMs Guild in a pseudo-book format).
The Sapphire Dragon was released only as a listings option, ie there's no Compendium listings for it, it's not on a 'page' somewhere. It only appears in monster searches.
It's a bit like how if you just buy a monster from a book, it'll only appear as a listings entry, you won't get access to the part of the book the monster appears in.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
I gotta admit I don't understand this. What is 'compendium' and 'listings' content in this context, who decides, and how do we know under which category a piece of content falls? Which categories are included in the LB discount, and are there other categories I should be aware of, relevant to this?
Compedium is anything listed in the Sources menu, for example the Basic Rules. Within that you have compendium entries such as for the spell Message or the Gargoyle at the start of the G section.
Listings are the content broken out of the compendium and listed (hence the name) on its own. For example, Message having its own listing, or the same for Gargoyle.
Say we went to Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes and looked at the purchasing options. If you bought the compendium content only, but not the whole book or individual monsters, you'd get access to the Marut here but not here. You'd be able to read the lore, but not use it in the encounter builder. Conversely, if you purchased just the individual monster listing, you'd get Marut listing in the search results but you wouldn't have access to Tome of Foes.
The fast and dirty way to explain it is the compendium is for reading, the listings are for tools.
Now, with the Sapphire Dragon. When you buy that, there's no 'book' it belongs to, it doesn't have a compendium entry linked to it. It doesn't appear in the Sources menu, it's not a book. It only appears in the monster search results and in the listenings. There's no https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/SomeBookName/bestiary#adult-sapphire-dragon, but you can go to https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/adult-sapphire-dragon and view it as a listing.
Categories included in the legendary bundles are all the 'books' that can included as compendium content, which includes everything physically published as a book, plus everything published as a PDF 'book'. It doesn't include other bundles (including the Essentials Kit Bundle, because that's actually four 'books' bundled together), the map pack (because it's a map pack, not a book) and the Sapphire Dragon (because it's not part of a book)
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
First of all let me say thank you so much for taking the time to explain all this to me. You're way more helpful than their cs team has been so far.
This clears things up a little, but I am still confused on a couple of points. I am not sure how the compendium content only version of Mordenkainen's, for example, is different from the full version. I mean if you have access to all of the content in the book, like the Marut, at least somewhere, then what is one missing? I see that it says the character builder and digital (character?) sheet are not included, but I wouldn't expect those to be as they are not in the book. Hum...okay looking at the description of the full version, it appears that this means the information will not be available to use in the character builder. Do I have that right? I thought about editing this down, but I figured I'd make more sense leaving my train of thought up there =)
One other question that popped up when looking at the 'compendium content only' purchase option for this book. It is called a 'bundle' there. Would that mean it doesn't qualify for the LB discount?
There are just so many terms and "such as"s and vague language around this product that isn't clear enough, in my opinion.
Where did the Sapphire Dragon come from? Just a random stat block someone created all on its own?
Let me take a crack at this:
The sapphire Dragon is an individual listing (it does not include a compendium) that is also the minimum price.
If you were to buy the compendium of Mordenkainen's (which is cheaper), you would not get any of the monsters to use in the following places:
The compendium purchase option is for those that want to just use DDB as an ebook style platform with none of the tools.
And yeah, purchasing the books piecemeal doesn't count for LB discount because listings and compendium only aren't book purchases. I know it's confusing, but basically a book is anything that includes compendium and listings content. If it doesn't have compendium content, it's not a book so doesn't qualify for the LB discount.
There's a hierarchy of products (I agree it's got complicated, DDB has grown a lot).
Bundles >>contain>> Books >>contains>> Listings + Compendium
If something doesn't contain a compendium, it's not a book. If it's not a book, it doesn't qualify for the LB discount. That applies to individual listings and compendiums, as well as bundles.
The Sapphire Dragon stat block was originally part of the D&D Sapphire Anniversary Dice set (a $300 set!!!). DDB put it on the marketplace as a charity item with all profits going to Child's Play, as there wouldn't really be any other way to get it on DDB (it's not in a book, it's just printed on a piece of card that comes with the dice). It's created a fair few wrinkles because it's the first product of its type. Much like how the map pack was the first of its type.
And I expect the CS team is somewhat limited on what they can say and the resources they have to commit to answering queries. I could be completely wrong about things I'm saying, but my rationale seems to hold true for products so far.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Thanks guys this makes a whole lot more sense now =D I am definitely a list and diagram person so those helped a lot.
If I understand the compendium correctly (it has all the content of the hard copy), I wouldn't consider that a piecemeal purchase (though I definitely would the listings by themselves). Just an observation.
And I wish they would craft some version of this explanation of things on the sale page for the LB. It is very confusing for someone just diving in all at once.
I am sorry I missed that Anniversary set!
The compendium is the biggest piece, but it's still a piecemeal option; it's the printed book minus the individual options for all the tools.
And as for why they don't explain it like this in the store, well two reasons really. Firstly, my explanation wouldn't be for everyone and likely wouldn't meet the requirements by the legal department. Secondly, and more significantly, their copy has had to be adapted as the marketplace has expanded. It's legacy copy issues, they can't overhaul it each time new stuff comes out, they have to make as minimal changes.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
You are right, your exact version probably wouldn't work for the reasons you mentioned, that's why I said 'some' version, which would be extremely helpful. I don't see why they can't manage a basic explanation of what is/is not a sourcebook or adventure that wouldn't need to be changed much. And I also don't see why they could not make minor changes to that sometimes, like how they add to the list of items you initially get with the LB, updates to their terms of sale, etc. It seems to me like it would decrease the number of questions and problems for them too.