Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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They could do it like textbooks do with online content and make each code unique and one-time use.
Good one to use if fight club 5th edition
You don't even need packaging, just make the code only be on the receipt. so you can still look at what exactly you are buying in the stores but get the digital version only when you bought the physical copy
This has been addressed before, but the short version is this requires infrastructure that a lot of smaller gaming stores cannot financially justify. This in turn puts them at a disadvantage compared to big box stores.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
The guy who runs the friendly local TTRPG/Game store in my town still uses one of those old addition calculators the goes "chk nk chk nk chk nk" every time he adds something on there, and prints out this tiny little 1985's looking receipt. There isn't going to be any code on the receipt.
A system like this only punishes small, local stores because people will want that extra code and so will instead shop online or at big box stores.
No thanks.
This isn't a dishonorable business model, in fact it is quite the opposite. I have many physical books, many of those I also have a digital copy of.
However, there are some products that I have no interest in the physical book so I purchase the digital product and save a bit of money.
A completely remote player might have NO interest in the physical books, or younger players who are more comfortable using technology than dusty tomes.
Why make customers pay for products they don't need and won't use? Some groups are strictly printed materials around a table after all.
Unfortunately you don’t, and that’s why Wizards aren’t as good as Chaosium or C7 or people like that who give you a pdf copy when you buy the physical edition from them. WOTC have had the last of my money, bollocks to them! I’m afraid it’s pencil and paper old-style unless you want to carry on paying through the nose for stuff you already paid for.
WOTC, give folk a disc with a character generator like you did with 3.0. - Even if you never actually carry through on your Mastertools promises and give us a finished product. .
I have never met one of these people who have “NO” interest in a physical book. “Dusty tomes”? Presumably they have an easier time of reading two column portrait orientated pdfs on a landscape screen than I do.
Ignoring questions of personal taste and reading devices (tablets work pretty well for it IMO), there's a substantial number of people for whom a physical book has negative value over digital. Books take up space. They have to move when you do. Even if you have a home with space, and you're not moving any time soon, if the game isn't where you are, you have to carry them there. If you have bad eyes, there's not much you can do with a physical book to make it more readable. (And what if you need a screen reader?)
I personally prefer physical books for reference works (which most RPG books are), but, having recently moved, it really reinforced what a pain physical books can be. (And DDB books are way easier to use as a reference work than a PDF is.)
I'll confirm that I have far more digitally than I do physical. Most of my D&D play is online and the Beyond toolset is a part of that, and I like having access on all my devices the way I do. I haven't bought a physical book in a few years, though I have 10 total. These include the legacy Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes and Volo's Guide to Monsters.
I used to have a bunch of 5th Edition books, but I ended up getting quite a few digital for ease (the 'big three'). I have since moved completely to Digital because I find it easier as a player and a DM to reference from the digital tools. The physical books simply didn't get used and were gathering dust, so I sold them all very recently.
I miss reading through them, but I haven't gone back since going full digital.
Should clarify if it wasn't obvious, this isn't a pile-on for digital being better than physical - everyone has their own preferences and there is no 'correct' way to have books.
#Open D&D
Have the Physical Books? Confused as to why you're not allowed to redeem them for free on D&D Beyond? Questions answered here at the Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You FAQ
Looking to add mouse-over triggered tooltips to such things like magic items, monsters or combat actions? Then dash over to the How to Add Tooltips thread.
I absolutely hate that I cannot get the most basic rules from the players handbook that I own as a standard set on this tool. Pathfinder forever.
Great job being vague enough that nobody can actually tell what you're talking about.
You can, they're funnily enough called the Basic Rules.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
For existing book owners, receipts would work, especially if through online retailers that keep track of such stuff, for example my Amazon account has books from the early 2000, Magic the Gathering books, for me it would be easy to get those.
For all new books, why not have 2 versions one with digital content that costs slightly more, and it would have a scratch section in each book, single use redeeming code, easy peasy. The other version, hardcopy physical only, no digital product no codes, and those could be out on the shop floor for people to look through and without fear of having people scratching them off.
I wouldn't even mind if the DnD Beyond website actually shipped to the rest of the world, like the UK in my case, or at least arrange delivery via local re-sellers or Amazon since their logistic network literally does exactly that. But no... US only.
Receipts couldn't prevent resale, and the scratch code part has been addressed either in this thread or similar threads by pointing out that it would require books to be wrapped, which doesn't allow them to be flipped through in stores (which helps drive sales in game stores).
As the glyph of warding goes off again, 3 years after it was perma-cast.... Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You FAQ
#Open D&D
Have the Physical Books? Confused as to why you're not allowed to redeem them for free on D&D Beyond? Questions answered here at the Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You FAQ
Looking to add mouse-over triggered tooltips to such things like magic items, monsters or combat actions? Then dash over to the How to Add Tooltips thread.
I already covered that specific part, since these are both digital and physical, only the physical books that cost less would be available in the store, physical+digital bundle would be provided upon request. Very simple option and what has been done with CDs DVDs etc for decades.
Because we can also get hold of free PDF versions available from various sites, gonna take a wild guess that also drives sales down.
I am a new player to the world of D&D, sure dabbled my feet in it because I did play Boulders Gate 1 when it came out and just spent a whole bunch on miniatures, and I want the bundle package of digital+physical, not sure why the USA should be the only country in the wold that gets that privilege, whilst the rest of us has to pay $100++. Maybe the rest of the world is too much of a target so they don't care?
In my case it is very simple, you have 3 different options for non-USA based players:
I am not going to buy 3 different versions of each book just to unlock content. They need to link all these accounts together and work with partners such as Amazon, to deliver the physical books if purchasing the Digital+Physical on DnD Beyond at least.
The simple alternative is that FLGS can sell a $10 digital upgrade with the purchase of a book, that gets you a code. Tying the upgrade to a dollar value creates legal responsibilities for the FLGS that ensure they're not just selling codes, but selling the books and codes together only. And Amazon can go somewhere else, in favour of gaming stores.
As an Australian, I'd pay for the "Ultimate Bundle" stuff if it were available, but I prefer to get my bundle from my local store.
You won't get anything retroactively though.