I joined DnDBeyond way back in 2017, my DM account has every single purchasable rule book, adventure etc. Love the way most of it works...except the Homebrew. I have several gripes but most of them are centered around the fact that we have had almost 0 improvement of the homebrew portal in years. I have found questions from way back in 2017 (over 5 years ago!) where people have asked how to change the damage die on a homebrew longsword to 2d6 instead of 1d8 and similar (seemingly simple) changes that we simply can't do. Below is are two things that I feel should have been priorities for homebrew content creation that are past their due date.
1) Ability to create items from scratch. Including all properties and adding custom actions. - These two things prevent a DM from making even a simple unique longsword all the way up to preventing the creation of Artificat level armor/weapons. It's a serious buzzkill to have to stop mid game to explain to a player how to add a specific item or to have to create the card from scratch to hand my player because DnDBeyond doesnt have a super simple feature for adding these sorts of things.
2) Ability to create custom classes. - This is extremely limiting to DMs who have entirely homebrew worlds. For the most part I have been able to work around it but some concepts simply do not fit within the existing classes.
Before I get blasted I know that some of this can be done after the item has been made by overriding it in the character inventory etc. My point is this is a super simple thing that should be super simple to implement. The fact that these things were on the roadmap 2 years ago before it disappeared and DnDBeyond started focusing all or most of its efforts into monetizing digital dice and other out of game crap has not escaped my notice either. I honestly find it disrespectful that the largest online platform for a game that heavily leans on the creativity of the player base and DMs has had the entire freedom of creativity section completely ignored for minimum of 2 years.
But at least we can sort our inventory into different bags! That's handy for my player to be able to put his glaive into after I teach him how to mod it to hell and back on his character sheet so its actually a permanent 1d10 longsword with the light property...
I do want better homebrew, but I prefer that they finish working on implementing official content first. Once they finish working on the general features system, temporary effects (bladesong, rage, Bless, poisons, etc.), customizable items (most artifacts, Moonblades, dragon hoard items, company items, piety items, etc.), side kicks, spell points, and alternative rest mechanics, then I would not mind them working on homebrew.
What seems simple to us outsiders might not actually be simple to implement on the developer's side. As far as I know, Beyond is trying to get all the simple stuff and low hanging fruit working first.
I joined DnDBeyond way back in 2017, my DM account has every single purchasable rule book, adventure etc. Love the way most of it works...except the Homebrew. I have several gripes but most of them are centered around the fact that we have had almost 0 improvement of the homebrew portal in years. I have found questions from way back in 2017 (over 5 years ago!) where people have asked how to change the damage die on a homebrew longsword to 2d6 instead of 1d8 and similar (seemingly simple) changes that we simply can't do. Below is are two things that I feel should have been priorities for homebrew content creation that are past their due date.
1) Ability to create items from scratch. Including all properties and adding custom actions. - These two things prevent a DM from making even a simple unique longsword all the way up to preventing the creation of Artificat level armor/weapons. It's a serious buzzkill to have to stop mid game to explain to a player how to add a specific item or to have to create the card from scratch to hand my player because DnDBeyond doesnt have a super simple feature for adding these sorts of things.
2) Ability to create custom classes. - This is extremely limiting to DMs who have entirely homebrew worlds. For the most part I have been able to work around it but some concepts simply do not fit within the existing classes.
Before I get blasted I know that some of this can be done after the item has been made by overriding it in the character inventory etc. My point is this is a super simple thing that should be super simple to implement. The fact that these things were on the roadmap 2 years ago before it disappeared and DnDBeyond started focusing all or most of its efforts into monetizing digital dice and other out of game crap has not escaped my notice either. I honestly find it disrespectful that the largest online platform for a game that heavily leans on the creativity of the player base and DMs has had the entire freedom of creativity section completely ignored for minimum of 2 years.
But at least we can sort our inventory into different bags! That's handy for my player to be able to put his glaive into after I teach him how to mod it to hell and back on his character sheet so its actually a permanent 1d10 longsword with the light property...
I'm a huge critic of D&D Beyond, and what you are asking for just isn't in the cards.
The homebrew system mimics the official system, and what happens in one happens in the other. To the point above me, I'm more concerned about things from the DMG being implemented properly, such as epic boons.
Adam Bradford made D&D Beyond into what it was, and a lot of that original inflexibility is what made this website and it still exists based on the framework of what 5th is. The funny thing is I'm sure that when Pathfinder Nexus goes into the character builder stages, a lot of the things you're asking for will exist over there simply because theres the difference in having designed this system twice versus the guys and gals here who are picking up where people left off not once with the Fandom accquistion, but now twice with the Wizards accquisition. Shit, I wouldn't be shocked at all IF basically the site was in maint mode until 2024 when 5.5 comes out.
This website isn't meant to be a catchall for every single homebrew everything that everyone has made out. It is the official toolset for 5th and its official tools. Not your custom wonky 9d26 dart that does piercing/fire damage.
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I joined DnDBeyond way back in 2017, my DM account has every single purchasable rule book, adventure etc. Love the way most of it works...except the Homebrew. I have several gripes but most of them are centered around the fact that we have had almost 0 improvement of the homebrew portal in years. I have found questions from way back in 2017 (over 5 years ago!) where people have asked how to change the damage die on a homebrew longsword to 2d6 instead of 1d8 and similar (seemingly simple) changes that we simply can't do. Below is are two things that I feel should have been priorities for homebrew content creation that are past their due date.
Before I get blasted I know that some of this can be done after the item has been made by overriding it in the character inventory etc. My point is this is a super simple thing that should be super simple to implement. The fact that these things were on the roadmap 2 years ago before it disappeared and DnDBeyond started focusing all or most of its efforts into monetizing digital dice and other out of game crap has not escaped my notice either. I honestly find it disrespectful that the largest online platform for a game that heavily leans on the creativity of the player base and DMs has had the entire freedom of creativity section completely ignored for minimum of 2 years.
But at least we can sort our inventory into different bags! That's handy for my player to be able to put his glaive into after I teach him how to mod it to hell and back on his character sheet so its actually a permanent 1d10 longsword with the light property...
"Don't you know what a gazebo is?"
I do want better homebrew, but I prefer that they finish working on implementing official content first. Once they finish working on the general features system, temporary effects (bladesong, rage, Bless, poisons, etc.), customizable items (most artifacts, Moonblades, dragon hoard items, company items, piety items, etc.), side kicks, spell points, and alternative rest mechanics, then I would not mind them working on homebrew.
What seems simple to us outsiders might not actually be simple to implement on the developer's side. As far as I know, Beyond is trying to get all the simple stuff and low hanging fruit working first.
Check Licenses and Resync Entitlements: < https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/licenses >
Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
I'm a huge critic of D&D Beyond, and what you are asking for just isn't in the cards.
The homebrew system mimics the official system, and what happens in one happens in the other. To the point above me, I'm more concerned about things from the DMG being implemented properly, such as epic boons.
Adam Bradford made D&D Beyond into what it was, and a lot of that original inflexibility is what made this website and it still exists based on the framework of what 5th is. The funny thing is I'm sure that when Pathfinder Nexus goes into the character builder stages, a lot of the things you're asking for will exist over there simply because theres the difference in having designed this system twice versus the guys and gals here who are picking up where people left off not once with the Fandom accquistion, but now twice with the Wizards accquisition. Shit, I wouldn't be shocked at all IF basically the site was in maint mode until 2024 when 5.5 comes out.
This website isn't meant to be a catchall for every single homebrew everything that everyone has made out. It is the official toolset for 5th and its official tools. Not your custom wonky 9d26 dart that does piercing/fire damage.