D&D is above all my favourite game of all time. I was introduced to it through Chris Perkins and the live events of Acquisitions Incorporated as well as other Live Plays you can find online. Shout out to Chris for being an extraordinary DM!
I praise Wizards for the amazing content they deliver. I however dislike the marketing tactics of DnD Beyond. Looking through it seems like it has great potential and can be a useful tool for both new players and old. Unfortunately DnD Beyond favors new players. This is understandable but consider that DnD 5e was already 5 years old when Beyond was released.
Many of us have already purchased the books and expansions for 5e. When it comes to new players I will generally lend my books as I feel the core content of 5e should be FREE on DnD Beyond.
If the core content is free more people will be willing to use this useful tool. With more players actually using DnD Beyond more players will purchase the new content through this medium.
Anytime a company shows generosity to their customers and displays how they value their customers there is a positive long term effect. I believe it would be a wise buisness decision to hold onto the loyalty of Wizard customers and promote DnD Beyond so it is used more mainstream.
This website is not owned by the same company that publishes D&D. This website is more like an online bookstore that only sells digital D&D books. And they made all of these additional tools like the character builder for us to use for free with the materials we purchase.
Think of the paper books as like X-Box copies of video games, and the digital books as like PlayStation versions of the same games. This website is like Amazon, and wherever you bought your books is like GameStop. If you buy an X-Box version of a game from GameStop, would you expect Amazon to give you a free PlayStation copy of the same game?
You don’t need a subscription to play with your friends at all. The subscription just lets you share your unlocked materials with your friends for free. And, if you and your friends each purchase one or two books from this website, and any one of you has a subscription, then you can all share each other’s stuff for free with that subscription.
Not to mention, the company that runs this website has to follow a specific contract with the company that publishes the game, Wizards of the Coast. They have no choice. And they worked like heck to build this website, so they deserve to get paid too.
If you see a movie in the theater, do you expect to get the DVD for free as well? Since I've paid for the legendary bundle on here, am I entitled to stroll in to my local game store and grab a copy of all the books off the shelf at no cost?
The SRD/Basic Rules are free to use on here just are they are free to use in the print version. Start with that, then you can homebrew any spell, monster, item, background, feat, race or subclass to fill out your current character sheet with info from the physical sourcebooks.
First important note, D&D Beyond is not owned by Wizards of the Coast. None of the revenue from physical books that goes to WotC reaches D&D Beyond. That means in order to actually develop these tools and provide the free content, they need a revenue stream of their own.
That leads me on to my next point; D&D Beyond provides a lot of free content. Without paying a penny you can:
Access the basic rules + SRD, any Unearthed Arcana material, plus Matt Mercer's Gunslinger and Blood Hunter classes
Uses the homebrew tools to not only make original content, but import your purchased content from your books (for personal use only) for free. All it costs is your time.
Use the character builder to make characters using all the above free and homebrewed content
Use all the free tools (encounter builder, campaign, eventually encounter tracker and dice roller once they're out of alpha)
D&D Beyond also offers the full books considerably cheaper than physical and that's before you factor in their bundles with on going discounts, as well as promo codes.
If you do decide to purchase content on D&D Beyond, you can do so with a lot more flexibility than physical books. You can purchase content piecemeal so if you only need a certain race + subclass, you can buy only those options. Any money you do spend is credited towards any future purchase of the full book. And if you do buy content, you can use a master tier subscription to share that content simultaneously with up to 36 friends, something you can't do with physical books.
If D&D Beyond doesn't do it for you, that's fair, it's not for everyone. But it's important to bear in mind what DDB is and what it offers compared to, and in addition to, physical books. They cannot provide everything for free because then they would cease to exist as a business. But as it stands, they offer a hell of a lot for free, and the rest in a way that really gives the community the best deal they can.
This website is not owned by the same company that publishes D&D. This website is more like an online bookstore that only sells digital D&D books. And they made all of these additional tools like the character builder for us to use for free with the materials we purchase.
Think of the paper books as like X-Box copies of video games, and the digital books as like PlayStation versions of the same games. This website is like Amazon, and wherever you bought your books is like GameStop. If you buy an X-Box version of a game from GameStop, would you expect Amazon to give you a free PlayStation copy of the same game?
You don’t need a subscription to play with your friends at all. The subscription just lets you share your unlocked materials with your friends for free. And, if you and your friends each purchase one or two books from this website, and any one of you has a subscription, then you can all share each other’s stuff for free with that subscription.
Not to mention, the company that runs this website has to follow a specific contract with the company that publishes the game, Wizards of the Coast. They have no choice. And they worked like heck to build this website, so they deserve to get paid too.
If you see a movie in the theater, do you expect to get the DVD for free as well? Since I've paid for the legendary bundle on here, am I entitled to stroll in to my local game store and grab a copy of all the books off the shelf at no cost?
The SRD/Basic Rules are free to use on here just are they are free to use in the print version. Start with that, then you can homebrew any spell, monster, item, background, feat, race or subclass to fill out your current character sheet with info from the physical sourcebooks.
I’m glad I could help with that message! Also, the content from the Elemental Evil Player’s Companion is free on DDB as well because that was also released as free content by WotC.
I still think myself and many others just simply wont use D&D Beyond because we don't want to repay for our content. Plus I rather pay a bit more to have a hard copy that then can be lent to a friend than an online version.
I can see the appeal however and it would be wonderful for new players but many of the tools you can find online also.
Not out to get anyone here just posting my opinions.
I still think myself and many others just simply wont use D&D Beyond because we don't want to repay for our content. Plus I rather pay a bit more to have a hard copy that then can be lent to a friend than an online version.
I can see the appeal however and it would be wonderful for new players but many of the tools you can find online also.
Not out to get anyone here just posting my opinions.
You don't have to repay for content, see Davedamon's post above.
Anything you homebrew is shared automatically with people in your campaign. If you did buy content you can get a cheap Master's sub for everyone to share paid content with each other.
If it's not for you, it's not for you. Just the reasons you're putting seem to stem from not understanding the product or just preferring physical books. The first is why we're responding to you so you make an informed decision. The second would make it pointless to post here, as it's like complaining to Amazon that they sell e-books when you prefer hardbacks.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
You can homebrew content that comes from Volo's Guide or Xanathar's guide say if you have the hard copies then share it? The mods responses in other posts about this subject seemed to say differently.
I'm not bashing D&D Beyond. I have not found a selling point for me to purchase it yet, that's all. Yes there has been some information I was not aware of.
You can homebrew content that comes from Volo's Guide or Xanathar's guide say if you have the hard copies then share it? The mods responses in other posts about this subject seemed to say differently.
I'm not bashing D&D Beyond. I have not found a selling point for me to purchase it yet, that's all. Yes there has been some information I was not aware of.
You can “homebrew” anything, especially stuff from sourcebooks you have purchased. As long as your homebrews are in your “collection” then anyone in a campaign with you can use your homebrews. There is no need for a subscription for that.
You cannot publish “homebrews” of existing materials as that is plagiarism. They do not need to be published for you and those in your campaigns to use them.
This has given me more to think about. Thank you for your input and I hope others who read this thread can gain some clarity and insight. I will continue to way my options and determine whether or not I wish to make purchases with DnD Beyond.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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D&D is above all my favourite game of all time. I was introduced to it through Chris Perkins and the live events of Acquisitions Incorporated as well as other Live Plays you can find online. Shout out to Chris for being an extraordinary DM!
I praise Wizards for the amazing content they deliver. I however dislike the marketing tactics of DnD Beyond. Looking through it seems like it has great potential and can be a useful tool for both new players and old. Unfortunately DnD Beyond favors new players. This is understandable but consider that DnD 5e was already 5 years old when Beyond was released.
Many of us have already purchased the books and expansions for 5e. When it comes to new players I will generally lend my books as I feel the core content of 5e should be FREE on DnD Beyond.
If the core content is free more people will be willing to use this useful tool. With more players actually using DnD Beyond more players will purchase the new content through this medium.
Anytime a company shows generosity to their customers and displays how they value their customers there is a positive long term effect. I believe it would be a wise buisness decision to hold onto the loyalty of Wizard customers and promote DnD Beyond so it is used more mainstream.
Copying the most common response for the dozens of times this is brought up a week.
If you see a movie in the theater, do you expect to get the DVD for free as well? Since I've paid for the legendary bundle on here, am I entitled to stroll in to my local game store and grab a copy of all the books off the shelf at no cost?
The SRD/Basic Rules are free to use on here just are they are free to use in the print version. Start with that, then you can homebrew any spell, monster, item, background, feat, race or subclass to fill out your current character sheet with info from the physical sourcebooks.
First important note, D&D Beyond is not owned by Wizards of the Coast. None of the revenue from physical books that goes to WotC reaches D&D Beyond. That means in order to actually develop these tools and provide the free content, they need a revenue stream of their own.
That leads me on to my next point; D&D Beyond provides a lot of free content. Without paying a penny you can:
D&D Beyond also offers the full books considerably cheaper than physical and that's before you factor in their bundles with on going discounts, as well as promo codes.
If you do decide to purchase content on D&D Beyond, you can do so with a lot more flexibility than physical books. You can purchase content piecemeal so if you only need a certain race + subclass, you can buy only those options. Any money you do spend is credited towards any future purchase of the full book. And if you do buy content, you can use a master tier subscription to share that content simultaneously with up to 36 friends, something you can't do with physical books.
If D&D Beyond doesn't do it for you, that's fair, it's not for everyone. But it's important to bear in mind what DDB is and what it offers compared to, and in addition to, physical books. They cannot provide everything for free because then they would cease to exist as a business. But as it stands, they offer a hell of a lot for free, and the rest in a way that really gives the community the best deal they can.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
I’m glad I could help with that message! Also, the content from the Elemental Evil Player’s Companion is free on DDB as well because that was also released as free content by WotC.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
This makes more sense.
I still think myself and many others just simply wont use D&D Beyond because we don't want to repay for our content. Plus I rather pay a bit more to have a hard copy that then can be lent to a friend than an online version.
I can see the appeal however and it would be wonderful for new players but many of the tools you can find online also.
Not out to get anyone here just posting my opinions.
You don't have to repay for content, see Davedamon's post above.
Anything you homebrew is shared automatically with people in your campaign. If you did buy content you can get a cheap Master's sub for everyone to share paid content with each other.
If it's not for you, it's not for you. Just the reasons you're putting seem to stem from not understanding the product or just preferring physical books. The first is why we're responding to you so you make an informed decision. The second would make it pointless to post here, as it's like complaining to Amazon that they sell e-books when you prefer hardbacks.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
You can homebrew content that comes from Volo's Guide or Xanathar's guide say if you have the hard copies then share it? The mods responses in other posts about this subject seemed to say differently.
I'm not bashing D&D Beyond. I have not found a selling point for me to purchase it yet, that's all. Yes there has been some information I was not aware of.
You can “homebrew” anything, especially stuff from sourcebooks you have purchased. As long as your homebrews are in your “collection” then anyone in a campaign with you can use your homebrews. There is no need for a subscription for that.
You cannot publish “homebrews” of existing materials as that is plagiarism. They do not need to be published for you and those in your campaigns to use them.
I hope this information has been helpful.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
This has given me more to think about. Thank you for your input and I hope others who read this thread can gain some clarity and insight. I will continue to way my options and determine whether or not I wish to make purchases with DnD Beyond.