Hi folks, trying to export my DNDBeyond character sheet into Roll20 but I cannot find the ability to export my sheet into a .JSON file anywhere? There's only export as PDF and additionally Roll20's newest version doesnt seem to have an 'import character' capability either.
Hi folks, trying to export my DNDBeyond character sheet into Roll20 but I cannot find the ability to export my sheet into a .JSON file anywhere? There's only export as PDF and additionally Roll20's newest version doesnt seem to have an 'import character' capability either.
Help!
Wrong place to ask about this. D&D Beyond does not officially support exporting to roll20, nor exporting to json at all. Just PDF. This section of the forum is for providing feedback on D&D Beyond
Actually this looks like a case of AOL Instant Messenger - back in the day there were third party apps (not AOL or MS) that knew how to parse the chat streams of the big ones, but AOL would attempt to confuse things by changing their format almost monthly. The best third party apps had small teams that could usually update to match the new format in less than a three days.
You know what AOL got for all their extra work to confuse things - nothing. It in all likelihood hastened their demise - taking a remarkable piece of tech and using is a bat over the competitions head. Did not make them look good.
I have to now use Roll20 for its VTT. Dont get me wrong, I love a lot of what the MAPS team has done, but in three years not very much has changed almost as if the product is understaffed. Which would match the complete mismanagment and gutting of the true VTT team.
Lets be honest - at one time, one could get the JSON for their character - why - as a way to support users to export their character. Apparently, since WoTC bpught it that is changed.
The only json export for character streets was a temperamental hack that was never officially supported. It would frequently break wherever new features were added, even before Wizards of the Coast acquired ddb.
Actually this looks like a case of AOL Instant Messenger - back in the day there were third party apps (not AOL or MS) that knew how to parse the chat streams of the big ones, but AOL would attempt to confuse things by changing their format almost monthly. The best third party apps had small teams that could usually update to match the new format in less than a three days.
IIRC, AIM supported some standard that allowed third-party apps to work with it. (There may also have been a period before that where what you're describing occurred. All I know is that Adium never had its support break until a new update happened, and neither did my phones.)
The main reason DDB doesn't have an API, or a JSON character export, is almost certainly not because they want to lock out third party tools, but because once you officially have such things, you have to keep supporting them, and it can restrict how you change things. DDB has little enough development staff as it is.
The main reason DDB doesn't have an API, or a JSON character export, is almost certainly not because they want to lock out third party tools, but because once you officially have such things, you have to keep supporting them, and it can restrict how you change things. DDB has little enough development staff as it is.
I believe that was the exact reason given on a dev update years back, and also something I can confirm from personal experience. Public facing APIs and data-based export formats are a serious pain because you once you release one, you have to secure and maintain it. You need an auth protocol to prevent bad actors accessing data they shouldn't. You need to document any changes for the users. You need to look into rate limiting and session tokens. The last one is a big one because once you point a endpoint at the public, you'll get every script kiddy with zero sense of good data etiquette pinging it with requests 1000 times a minute simply because they don't want to learn how to cache data.
Actually this looks like a case of AOL Instant Messenger - back in the day there were third party apps (not AOL or MS) that knew how to parse the chat streams of the big ones, but AOL would attempt to confuse things by changing their format almost monthly. The best third party apps had small teams that could usually update to match the new format in less than a three days.
IIRC, AIM supported some standard that allowed third-party apps to work with it. (There may also have been a period before that where what you're describing occurred. All I know is that Adium never had its support break until a new update happened, and neither did my phones.)
The main reason DDB doesn't have an API, or a JSON character export, is almost certainly not because they want to lock out third party tools, but because once you officially have such things, you have to keep supporting them, and it can restrict how you change things. DDB has little enough development staff as it is.
The two reasons are not mutually exclusive. The fact that dndbeyond stopped cooperating with the developers of Beyond20 (the browser extension that lets you use dndbeyond sheets in Roll20 games) suggests that there is more to it than just technical challenges.
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Hi folks, trying to export my DNDBeyond character sheet into Roll20 but I cannot find the ability to export my sheet into a .JSON file anywhere? There's only export as PDF and additionally Roll20's newest version doesnt seem to have an 'import character' capability either.
Help!
There is no such functionality here. However, simply rebuilding the sheet on Roll20 yourself does not actually take that much effort.
Wrong place to ask about this. D&D Beyond does not officially support exporting to roll20, nor exporting to json at all. Just PDF. This section of the forum is for providing feedback on D&D Beyond
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Actually this looks like a case of AOL Instant Messenger - back in the day there were third party apps (not AOL or MS) that knew how to parse the chat streams of the big ones, but AOL would attempt to confuse things by changing their format almost monthly. The best third party apps had small teams that could usually update to match the new format in less than a three days.
You know what AOL got for all their extra work to confuse things - nothing. It in all likelihood hastened their demise - taking a remarkable piece of tech and using is a bat over the competitions head. Did not make them look good.
I have to now use Roll20 for its VTT. Dont get me wrong, I love a lot of what the MAPS team has done, but in three years not very much has changed almost as if the product is understaffed. Which would match the complete mismanagment and gutting of the true VTT team.
Lets be honest - at one time, one could get the JSON for their character - why - as a way to support users to export their character. Apparently, since WoTC bpught it that is changed.
Just quickening the demise of D&D Beyond.
The only json export for character streets was a temperamental hack that was never officially supported. It would frequently break wherever new features were added, even before Wizards of the Coast acquired ddb.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
IIRC, AIM supported some standard that allowed third-party apps to work with it. (There may also have been a period before that where what you're describing occurred. All I know is that Adium never had its support break until a new update happened, and neither did my phones.)
The main reason DDB doesn't have an API, or a JSON character export, is almost certainly not because they want to lock out third party tools, but because once you officially have such things, you have to keep supporting them, and it can restrict how you change things. DDB has little enough development staff as it is.
I believe that was the exact reason given on a dev update years back, and also something I can confirm from personal experience. Public facing APIs and data-based export formats are a serious pain because you once you release one, you have to secure and maintain it. You need an auth protocol to prevent bad actors accessing data they shouldn't. You need to document any changes for the users. You need to look into rate limiting and session tokens. The last one is a big one because once you point a endpoint at the public, you'll get every script kiddy with zero sense of good data etiquette pinging it with requests 1000 times a minute simply because they don't want to learn how to cache data.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
The two reasons are not mutually exclusive. The fact that dndbeyond stopped cooperating with the developers of Beyond20 (the browser extension that lets you use dndbeyond sheets in Roll20 games) suggests that there is more to it than just technical challenges.