First OGL2, and now this. GG, Wizards. At this rate, you'll quickly turn D&D back into the niche hobby it once was.
I'm... actually not entirely opposed to this. Might just cleanse it of all the rot going on. Either way, it seems, they aren't gaining our trust back anytime soon. Again, just glad they have to actively ignore our feedback rather than passively.
hmm. actually, why does the dm need to buy books anymore? players are the ones utilizing purchased bits and bobs to cobble together their complicated 5e characters. and the dm can see their characters. if dm needs a reminder how 5e combat and skill checks work, then the srd / basic rules are online free. the mm is brimming with examples and the dmg has great advice... but i can't think of what's in there that a dm would be entirely lost without if their table is having fun. seems like it's the players hungry for sanctioned options.
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unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
hmm. actually, why does the dm need to buy books anymore? players are the ones utilizing purchased bits and bobs to cobble together their complicated 5e characters. and the dm can see their characters. if dm needs a reminder how 5e combat and skill checks work, then the srd / basic rules are online free. the mm is brimming with examples and the dmg has great advice... but i can't think of what's in there that a dm would be entirely lost without if their table is having fun. seems like it's the players hungry for sanctioned options.
My thoughts would be to check for cheating shenanigans at in-person tables. "No, I know you don't get infinite Psi dice for your Psi Warrior. I've got the book right here..." Though of course this goes out the window as soon as the internet is involved. Just my two cents.
hmm. actually, why does the dm need to buy books anymore? players are the ones utilizing purchased bits and bobs to cobble together their complicated 5e characters. and the dm can see their characters. if dm needs a reminder how 5e combat and skill checks work, then the srd / basic rules are online free. the mm is brimming with examples and the dmg has great advice... but i can't think of what's in there that a dm would be entirely lost without if their table is having fun. seems like it's the players hungry for sanctioned options.
My thoughts would be to check for cheating shenanigans at in-person tables. "No, I know you don't get infinite Psi dice for your Psi Warrior. I've got the book right here..." Though of course this goes out the window as soon as the internet is involved. Just my two cents.
hmm. actually, why does the dm need to buy books anymore?
Convenience? Though I generally won't allow books in a game that I don't have access to.
i'm thinking out loud in context of this thread: no more piece meal / ala carte for new dms and new players. it's easy to say "homebrew!" but the caveat is things homebrewed might not be exactly official and things too close to official might be locked out (oh, they have programmer money for that, huh?). and the established dm's answer is... buy the whole book. why?
if a dm only needs the book only long enough to verify something like number of psi dice for one level of one character, then what's the point in a new dm purchasing a new copy of the full book? if hasbro has data saying we'll happily invent our own reasons, then they were right to change the marketplace. and they're not going to reverse course. and i can stop checking in.
i'm thinking out loud in context of this thread: no more piece meal / ala carte for new dms and new players. it's easy to say "homebrew!" but the caveat is things homebrewed might not be exactly official and things too close to official might be locked out (oh, they have programmer money for that, huh?). and the established dm's answer is... buy the whole book. why?
if a dm only needs the book only long enough to verify something like number of psi dice for one level of one character, then what's the point in a new dm purchasing a new copy of the full book? if hasbro has data saying we'll happily invent our own reasons, then they were right to change the marketplace. and they're not going to reverse course. and i can stop checking in.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I am in complete agreement with you. There are very few reasons to buy a full digital book nowadays, and becoming fewer. If someone wants a book, they best wait to find a physical copy elsewhere at a local store, used or on sale. I also understand it's easier to say "homebrew" than to implement it against the aforementioned caveat, but it is also becoming more tempting to deal with said caveat. If this causes them to crack down on the homebrew system (or remove it entirely) then they are hitting another important foundational pillar of this website.
I think you may have the post reversed. The way I read it is:
@TheGnome5786 is asking why @khaggard may not own books, I may be wrong in my interpretation of the posts so just food for thought. Maybe @TheGnome5786 will clarify?
I think you may have the post reversed. The way I read it is:
@TheGnome5786 is asking why @khaggard may not own books, I may be wrong in my interpretation of the posts so just food for thought. Maybe @TheGnome5786 will clarify?
...and you would be absolutely right.
Correct. I was asking why as a DM he already does not own the core three?
I can understand the supplements, but the core three are needed..They can be found used or just borrowed but they should be in your hands in one way or another while you DM.
I personally do not trust a DM who can not find a way to show me the rule during the game.
And if your using none of the official WOTC copies of the core three books then there is no reason to blame D&DB for not providing you a service.
Pretty green DnD player, came back to DNDBeyond after a long break between games to find I have to spend over 75 dollars and buy two separate books in their entirety to make my one singular player character. This is insanely anti-consumer and has put a very bad taste in my mouth. I came willing to spend $10-$15 for what I needed and am now instead I am going to spend $0 and just play my character with pencil and paper instead of continuing to use this site. Really crazy and I hope they will bring back the option to buy races/subclasses individually.
...And if your using none of the official WOTC copies of the core three books then there is no reason to blame D&DB for not providing you a service.
seems simple enough to assume they have access to print books since they knew what they wanted and where to find it.they just wanted to make a purchase in peace.
if i was trying to purchase just one necromancer mini from an unfamiliar flgs and the hangers-about began quizzing me on whether i was using official sized grids and definitely not lego figs and army guys and old coins on an up-turned whiteboard...
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unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
I think you may have the post reversed. The way I read it is:
@TheGnome5786 is asking why @khaggard may not own books, I may be wrong in my interpretation of the posts so just food for thought. Maybe @TheGnome5786 will clarify?
...and you would be absolutely right.
Correct. I was asking why as a DM he already does not own the core three?
I can understand the supplements, but the core three are needed..They can be found used or just borrowed but they should be in your hands in one way or another while you DM.
I personally do not trust a DM who can not find a way to show me the rule during the game.
And if your using none of the official WOTC copies of the core three books then there is no reason to blame D&DB for not providing you a service.
MJC's question still stands though. Why have you assumed he does not already own the core three books?
He would not have to buy them if he owned them already. If he owned the physical books he could just pencil and paper the NPC he wanted.
He would still have to buy them digitally if he wanted "to quickly build a school of necromancy wizard" as he stated, on D&DBeyond regardless of whether he owned the physical books. They are separate products. Sure he could pencil and paper his characters but that defeats the purpose of the character builder. There are plenty who already own the books that made $2-6 piecemeal purchases here to use the character builder just simply for conveniences sake.
Another bad faith, customer-hating move by the greedy Hasbro/WOTC executives. Depending on your subclass, background, race, and spell choices, you might end up having to spend roughly $400 just to build A SINGLE CHARACTER. Where exactly is all this money going if these are digital books? I know it's not to pay artists...
I would have bought stuff in the summer sale if this feature was still available. I won't be spending £50 on booms when I only want 10% of the content.
Me and my wife played our last few sessions on paper because it was easier to track.
Ive bought individual content before and would again. But I won't be buying full books for 2 or 3 items.
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My wife got me into this many years ago. Monkey king fan. Sneak fan. Storyteller.
I understand all the complaints and in fact agree with a few.
WOTC has pretty much gutted this site.
I personally think their IT guys told them they could execute the new 5.5e rules without effecting all the old purchases and features just by making the old rules legacy. And they have since then found that its not as easy as they thought. I personally think they should have just left this website alone and made a whole new 5.5e sister site.
They had no real reason to drop the purchasing options they already had going. But they did and its pretty obvious they are not bringing it back any time soon. I feel sorry for those who relied on it so much.
I understand all the complaints and in fact agree with a few.
WOTC has pretty much gutted this site.
I personally think their IT guys told them they could execute the new 5.5e rules without effecting all the old purchases and features just by making the old rules legacy. And they have since then found that its not as easy as they thought. I personally think they should have just left this website alone and made a whole new 5.5e sister site.
They had no real reason to drop the purchasing options they already had going. But they did and its pretty obvious they are not bringing it back any time soon. I feel sorry for those who relied on it so much.
Not to mention those that bought big prior to this change that wanted and expected to be able to piecemeal purchase the things that would make the previously purchased content better only to be forced into a binary choice of all or nothing during this fantastic economy (rolling my eyes). I would like to see a list of the business schools the decision makers @WotC went to so I could be sure not to send people to in the future.
school of trickle down economics: 10 send the money to the top; 20 GOTO 10; 30 profit
i came back to d&d after a long hiatus and thought "5e must be the right answer" and "oh, it's digital now?" so now i own a bunch of digital stuff. it's gotten some use, but i really should have looked around to see how those old editions i liked are still doing. some aren't as kaput as i assumed. wizards is camping on the popular answer and bagging easy rabbits as we hop by. and that wouldn't be so bad if only they didn't insist on boiling us alive, daring us to jump out of the pot. "look how many other people are here. where else could you possibly rather be right now??"
I was wondering about this! I originally noticed that they'd removed a la carte when I was trying to quickly build a school of necromancy wizard ($30 for the PHB, for the subclass) with the metamagic adept feat ($30 for Tasha's where that feat is--in other words, $60 for an NPC that my players will probably kill in one session). Can these things be homebrewed? I've only ever homebrewed magic items and spells.
So you are a Dm without any books?
I have hard copies of the PHB and the DMG; nine times out of ten, you can find literally anything else you need online in ten seconds. I use dndbeyond almost exclusively to build NPCs, and I specifically didn't buy digital versions of full books precisely because I already own them. I already gave WOTC my money for those--if I wanted to spend two dollars here or there to build an NPC, that felt really reasonable. Now I'm being asked to repurchase things I own (the PHB) or things I have really limited and specific use for (Tasha's). It's why I'm frustrated with this decision, frankly.
Just a reminder that if you really don't like the decision to remove piecemeal you can homebrew all the missing bits -- it's a lot more work, but it will allow you to bypass paying for any more content. If this causes a loss in revenue, maybe, just maybe, management will listen.
I was wondering about this! I originally noticed that they'd removed a la carte when I was trying to quickly build a school of necromancy wizard ($30 for the PHB, for the subclass) with the metamagic adept feat ($30 for Tasha's where that feat is--in other words, $60 for an NPC that my players will probably kill in one session). Can these things be homebrewed? I've only ever homebrewed magic items and spells.
Yes, you can totally create homebrew feats and subclasses. You Google school of necromancy and metamagic adept and copy/paste your way through it. It'd be easier if you could just spend $4 and be done with it, but that's off the table now.
Just a reminder that if you really don't like the decision to remove piecemeal you can homebrew all the missing bits -- it's a lot more work, but it will allow you to bypass paying for any more content. If this causes a loss in revenue, maybe, just maybe, management will listen.
I was wondering about this! I originally noticed that they'd removed a la carte when I was trying to quickly build a school of necromancy wizard ($30 for the PHB, for the subclass) with the metamagic adept feat ($30 for Tasha's where that feat is--in other words, $60 for an NPC that my players will probably kill in one session). Can these things be homebrewed? I've only ever homebrewed magic items and spells.
Yes, it can totally be homebrew. Most, if not all, the mechanics will auto-apply to the character sheet as long as you set up the right modifiers, conditions, etc. It's mostly a pain because the settings are poorly documented and there are blocks against things that are "too similar" to existing items. It's not super hard, it took me 20 minutes to create a race. Maybe 10 minutes to create a simple feat.
Thanks to both of you for the hb advice! I'm going to do that in the future--annoying, but ultimately costs nothing, I guess!
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I'm... actually not entirely opposed to this. Might just cleanse it of all the rot going on. Either way, it seems, they aren't gaining our trust back anytime soon. Again, just glad they have to actively ignore our feedback rather than passively.
hmm. actually, why does the dm need to buy books anymore? players are the ones utilizing purchased bits and bobs to cobble together their complicated 5e characters. and the dm can see their characters. if dm needs a reminder how 5e combat and skill checks work, then the srd / basic rules are online free. the mm is brimming with examples and the dmg has great advice... but i can't think of what's in there that a dm would be entirely lost without if their table is having fun. seems like it's the players hungry for sanctioned options.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
My thoughts would be to check for cheating shenanigans at in-person tables. "No, I know you don't get infinite Psi dice for your Psi Warrior. I've got the book right here..."
Though of course this goes out the window as soon as the internet is involved. Just my two cents.
Convenience? Though I generally won't allow books in a game that I don't have access to.
i'm thinking out loud in context of this thread: no more piece meal / ala carte for new dms and new players. it's easy to say "homebrew!" but the caveat is things homebrewed might not be exactly official and things too close to official might be locked out (oh, they have programmer money for that, huh?). and the established dm's answer is... buy the whole book. why?
if a dm only needs the book only long enough to verify something like number of psi dice for one level of one character, then what's the point in a new dm purchasing a new copy of the full book? if hasbro has data saying we'll happily invent our own reasons, then they were right to change the marketplace. and they're not going to reverse course. and i can stop checking in.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
Oh, don't get me wrong, I am in complete agreement with you. There are very few reasons to buy a full digital book nowadays, and becoming fewer. If someone wants a book, they best wait to find a physical copy elsewhere at a local store, used or on sale.
I also understand it's easier to say "homebrew" than to implement it against the aforementioned caveat, but it is also becoming more tempting to deal with said caveat. If this causes them to crack down on the homebrew system (or remove it entirely) then they are hitting another important foundational pillar of this website.
...and you would be absolutely right.
Correct. I was asking why as a DM he already does not own the core three?
I can understand the supplements, but the core three are needed..They can be found used or just borrowed but they should be in your hands in one way or another while you DM.
I personally do not trust a DM who can not find a way to show me the rule during the game.
And if your using none of the official WOTC copies of the core three books then there is no reason to blame D&DB for not providing you a service.
Pretty green DnD player, came back to DNDBeyond after a long break between games to find I have to spend over 75 dollars and buy two separate books in their entirety to make my one singular player character. This is insanely anti-consumer and has put a very bad taste in my mouth. I came willing to spend $10-$15 for what I needed and am now instead I am going to spend $0 and just play my character with pencil and paper instead of continuing to use this site. Really crazy and I hope they will bring back the option to buy races/subclasses individually.
seems simple enough to assume they have access to print books since they knew what they wanted and where to find it.they just wanted to make a purchase in peace.
if i was trying to purchase just one necromancer mini from an unfamiliar flgs and the hangers-about began quizzing me on whether i was using official sized grids and definitely not lego figs and army guys and old coins on an up-turned whiteboard...
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
MJC's question still stands though. Why have you assumed he does not already own the core three books?
Free Content: [Basic Rules],
[Phandelver],[Frozen Sick],[Acquisitions Inc.],[Vecna Dossier],[Radiant Citadel], [Spelljammer],[Dragonlance], [Prisoner 13],[Minecraft],[Star Forge], [Baldur’s Gate], [Lightning Keep], [Stormwreck Isle], [Pinebrook], [Caverns of Tsojcanth], [The Lost Horn], [Elemental Evil].Free Dice: [Frostmaiden],
[Flourishing], [Sanguine],[Themberchaud], [Baldur's Gate 3], [Lego].He would not have to buy them if he owned them already. If he owned the physical books he could just pencil and paper the NPC he wanted.
He would still have to buy them digitally if he wanted "to quickly build a school of necromancy wizard" as he stated, on D&DBeyond regardless of whether he owned the physical books. They are separate products. Sure he could pencil and paper his characters but that defeats the purpose of the character builder. There are plenty who already own the books that made $2-6 piecemeal purchases here to use the character builder just simply for conveniences sake.
Free Content: [Basic Rules],
[Phandelver],[Frozen Sick],[Acquisitions Inc.],[Vecna Dossier],[Radiant Citadel], [Spelljammer],[Dragonlance], [Prisoner 13],[Minecraft],[Star Forge], [Baldur’s Gate], [Lightning Keep], [Stormwreck Isle], [Pinebrook], [Caverns of Tsojcanth], [The Lost Horn], [Elemental Evil].Free Dice: [Frostmaiden],
[Flourishing], [Sanguine],[Themberchaud], [Baldur's Gate 3], [Lego].Just wanted to add that the only way they will get more money from me is to bring back the option to buy what you want. I don’t need full books.
Another bad faith, customer-hating move by the greedy Hasbro/WOTC executives. Depending on your subclass, background, race, and spell choices, you might end up having to spend roughly $400 just to build A SINGLE CHARACTER. Where exactly is all this money going if these are digital books? I know it's not to pay artists...
I would have bought stuff in the summer sale if this feature was still available. I won't be spending £50 on booms when I only want 10% of the content.
Me and my wife played our last few sessions on paper because it was easier to track.
Ive bought individual content before and would again. But I won't be buying full books for 2 or 3 items.
My wife got me into this many years ago. Monkey king fan. Sneak fan. Storyteller.
I understand all the complaints and in fact agree with a few.
WOTC has pretty much gutted this site.
I personally think their IT guys told them they could execute the new 5.5e rules without effecting all the old purchases and features just by making the old rules legacy.
And they have since then found that its not as easy as they thought.
I personally think they should have just left this website alone and made a whole new 5.5e sister site.
They had no real reason to drop the purchasing options they already had going. But they did and its pretty obvious they are not bringing it back any time soon. I feel sorry for those who relied on it so much.
school of trickle down economics: 10 send the money to the top; 20 GOTO 10; 30 profit
i came back to d&d after a long hiatus and thought "5e must be the right answer" and "oh, it's digital now?" so now i own a bunch of digital stuff. it's gotten some use, but i really should have looked around to see how those old editions i liked are still doing. some aren't as kaput as i assumed. wizards is camping on the popular answer and bagging easy rabbits as we hop by. and that wouldn't be so bad if only they didn't insist on boiling us alive, daring us to jump out of the pot. "look how many other people are here. where else could you possibly rather be right now??"
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
I have hard copies of the PHB and the DMG; nine times out of ten, you can find literally anything else you need online in ten seconds. I use dndbeyond almost exclusively to build NPCs, and I specifically didn't buy digital versions of full books precisely because I already own them. I already gave WOTC my money for those--if I wanted to spend two dollars here or there to build an NPC, that felt really reasonable. Now I'm being asked to repurchase things I own (the PHB) or things I have really limited and specific use for (Tasha's). It's why I'm frustrated with this decision, frankly.
Thanks to both of you for the hb advice! I'm going to do that in the future--annoying, but ultimately costs nothing, I guess!