I see the incremental changes leading up to this, just today the digital dice came on line (kudos btw), and I’ve seen for some time that a VTT has been planned. Are we waiting for something that won’t happen for another 3 years or something that is soon to be a reality?
I’m curious for a lot of reasons but most recently because I’m starting another long-term online campaign soon and want to get away from the stagnant systems that are most popular. This is an area of gaming life that needs some healthy competition and some new innovation.
It looks like you are nearly there with the encounter builder, character sheets, art assets, digital dice, digital content, and more. Can we expect a whiteboard and tie-ins before our next round of self-isolation?
Based on what they have, how long it took to get what we have, and we need to have before a decent VTT can be put in place... Probably about 2 years.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
Until then, I would recommend using the Beyond20 chrome extension to roll directly on D&D Beyond's character sheet and send the roll over to Foundry VTT or Roll20. If you use Foundry (which I strongly recommend over Roll20), then you can also use the vtta-dndbeyond module to import/export characters and monster stat blocks from D&D Beyond into Foundry. It will soon allow full importing of full adventures too, though that update is not released just yet.
Without the ability to sync all my DDB content, nothing will stand out. Beyond20 is a great fan-made stand-in though.
I hear ya, but I'm pretty sure there will be something for that soon after it hits early-access, if not before.
I'm in the TaleSpire beta and I'm sad I don't know anyone else who is, because I would really like to play using that. Even if it doesn't sync with DDB
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Vote here for an interim solution for homebrew classes:
Similarly, I hope Astral Tabletop is able to get access to and integrate with the DnDB API. My only frustration with them at the moment is the lack of importability for character sheets. In terms of functionality, I’m finding it really great, and I do appreciate that they’ve made their subscriber toolset free until the end of May for people who are suddenly playing remotely.
(I’m in a campaign that’s running on Roll20, and we’re moving to a different VTT as soon as the campaign’s over)
I think TaleSpire is focusing too much on battle. While Astral Tabletop is closed up as hell and with a subscription based model. So it only pays of if you have too much money or are playing on a weekly basis. For me FoundryVTT currently is the most versatile. And you don't have to wait since it's out already leaving Beta status this month.
Granted, I’ve only given it a cursory glance, but Foundry doesn’t look like it’ll work for me or my games - some of my players are on mobile, I occasionally DM from iPad, and I CBA to fart around with self-hosting and that kind of set up. Astral’s free version does well enough for us, though since I am playing more than once a week, it’s not an unreasonable cost to subscribe.
Given the pace at which they are doing things, a functional VTT that incorporates everything (the way people want) is probably way farther out than 2 years.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Basically, unless DDB acquires an already functional table, like they did with Avrae bot, it is highly unlikely they will have a working VTT before 6th edition comes out. And if Avrae is anything to go by, if they do acquire a VTT they'll work very hard to remove any fan-made non-SRD material, then sit on it for a year before maybe sort of syncing it to your account.
Basically, unless DDB acquires an already functional table, like they did with Avrae bot, it is highly unlikely they will have a working VTT before 6th edition comes out. And if Avrae is anything to go by, if they do acquire a VTT they'll work very hard to remove any fan-made non-SRD material, then sit on it for a year before maybe sort of syncing it to your account.
Nobody at WotC has talked about a 6th edition happening, and with how popular 5th edition is we may only be in the first half of its lifespan. Do to the amount of books published and setting that at this point untouched IMHO 5th edition can go on for another 7 or 8 years or even longer.
AD&D lasted 12 years and 2nd edition AD&D lasted 11, but...
... since WOTC took over D&D, the editions have had much shorter life spans. 3e lasted 8 years (if you don't distinguish 3e from 3.5) and 4e lasted 6. Following the WOTC timeline, 5e woudl be nearing the latter part of its life cycle. If it went another 8 years, it'd be the longest D&D edition ever, even longer than AD&D by several years.
Although that is certainly possible, currently there is no evidence from the last 20+ years of data that WOTC is going to leave D&D in the same edition for a record duration. The evidence suggests another 2-3 years max of this edition and then they move on to another. Remember, there is a lot more money in putting out new editions than there is in standing pat... With the current edition, current players only need to buy one new book every so often, and many times not even that (there is NO reason to buy Wildemount if you don't want the setting, same with SCAG, Ravnica, etc.). With a new edition, everyone is at minimum going to need to buy PHB, DMG, MM, all over again. That kind of thing is just too tempting for companies to pass up.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
That is the exact reason why when I heard the 4e was going to be coming out I took a hard pass on D&D until a couple years ago. If they push another brand new edition that soon I will most likely never purchase another WotC product again unless it’s a gift for someone. I made the same decision about M:tG specifically about 20 years ago and haven’t once regretted it, so I can honestly say the same about D&D.
Between my DDB compendium app and my physical library I have everything I need to play my choice of D&D editions (2, 3, 3.5, or 5) or AD&D 2e. I don’t to shell out again, and unless the next 5-10 years of D&D are generally backwards comparable with 5e I won’t. I mean, at least use a great many things written for AD&D in your AD&D2e campaigns with only minor conversions, and 3 and 3.5 were pretty compatible too. It has to have at least around the same level of compatibility or I’m tapping out.
My campaign has started on 5e so as a DM, I'd say that until this campaign is over, I'm not switching. And I believe 3 of my 4 players would be OK with that and one or two might even applaud it.
One, however, always likes the Next Big Thing and would want to switch the second 6e comes out. Not sure what will happen then.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
To each their own. I don’t need “the next big thing,” I want a game I cam make memories with for a long while as opposed to having to continuously pay hundreds of dollars every few years for a brand new version of the same stuff I already bought four or five times. Ever notice that the majority of the UA subclasses have been 5e reboots of a lot of the classes from older editions? Go flip through the old 2e and 3e books if you have them and you’ll notice a lot of familiar “faces.”
"since WOTC took over D&D, the editions have had much shorter life span"
Actually, when Hasbro bought WotC they pushed them produce a new edition, since profits came in large part from sourcebooks like the DM's guide, MM and Players Handbook. I was told this by a reliable source.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I see the incremental changes leading up to this, just today the digital dice came on line (kudos btw), and I’ve seen for some time that a VTT has been planned. Are we waiting for something that won’t happen for another 3 years or something that is soon to be a reality?
I’m curious for a lot of reasons but most recently because I’m starting another long-term online campaign soon and want to get away from the stagnant systems that are most popular. This is an area of gaming life that needs some healthy competition and some new innovation.
It looks like you are nearly there with the encounter builder, character sheets, art assets, digital dice, digital content, and more. Can we expect a whiteboard and tie-ins before our next round of self-isolation?
Based on what they have, how long it took to get what we have, and we need to have before a decent VTT can be put in place... Probably about 2 years.
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.
Ooof, that would be tragic.
Until then, I would recommend using the Beyond20 chrome extension to roll directly on D&D Beyond's character sheet and send the roll over to Foundry VTT or Roll20. If you use Foundry (which I strongly recommend over Roll20), then you can also use the vtta-dndbeyond module to import/export characters and monster stat blocks from D&D Beyond into Foundry. It will soon allow full importing of full adventures too, though that update is not released just yet.
I’ll check that out!
TaleSpire will hit steam early access before end of year and is a VTT that is a stand out against other meh VTTs
Without the ability to sync all my DDB content, nothing will stand out. Beyond20 is a great fan-made stand-in though.
They
I hear ya, but I'm pretty sure there will be something for that soon after it hits early-access, if not before.
I'm in the TaleSpire beta and I'm sad I don't know anyone else who is, because I would really like to play using that. Even if it doesn't sync with DDB
Vote here for an interim solution for homebrew classes:
https://dndbeyond.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360036951934-Homebrew-class-interim-solution
My money is on TaleSpire will get API access to allow syncing of characters and unlocked content like monster stats and things.
Similarly, I hope Astral Tabletop is able to get access to and integrate with the DnDB API. My only frustration with them at the moment is the lack of importability for character sheets. In terms of functionality, I’m finding it really great, and I do appreciate that they’ve made their subscriber toolset free until the end of May for people who are suddenly playing remotely.
(I’m in a campaign that’s running on Roll20, and we’re moving to a different VTT as soon as the campaign’s over)
I think TaleSpire is focusing too much on battle. While Astral Tabletop is closed up as hell and with a subscription based model. So it only pays of if you have too much money or are playing on a weekly basis. For me FoundryVTT currently is the most versatile. And you don't have to wait since it's out already leaving Beta status this month.
Granted, I’ve only given it a cursory glance, but Foundry doesn’t look like it’ll work for me or my games - some of my players are on mobile, I occasionally DM from iPad, and I CBA to fart around with self-hosting and that kind of set up.
Astral’s free version does well enough for us, though since I am playing more than once a week, it’s not an unreasonable cost to subscribe.
Given the pace at which they are doing things, a functional VTT that incorporates everything (the way people want) is probably way farther out than 2 years.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Basically, unless DDB acquires an already functional table, like they did with Avrae bot, it is highly unlikely they will have a working VTT before 6th edition comes out. And if Avrae is anything to go by, if they do acquire a VTT they'll work very hard to remove any fan-made non-SRD material, then sit on it for a year before maybe sort of syncing it to your account.
Nobody at WotC has talked about a 6th edition happening, and with how popular 5th edition is we may only be in the first half of its lifespan. Do to the amount of books published and setting that at this point untouched IMHO 5th edition can go on for another 7 or 8 years or even longer.
AD&D lasted 12 years and 2nd edition AD&D lasted 11, but...
... since WOTC took over D&D, the editions have had much shorter life spans. 3e lasted 8 years (if you don't distinguish 3e from 3.5) and 4e lasted 6. Following the WOTC timeline, 5e woudl be nearing the latter part of its life cycle. If it went another 8 years, it'd be the longest D&D edition ever, even longer than AD&D by several years.
Although that is certainly possible, currently there is no evidence from the last 20+ years of data that WOTC is going to leave D&D in the same edition for a record duration. The evidence suggests another 2-3 years max of this edition and then they move on to another. Remember, there is a lot more money in putting out new editions than there is in standing pat... With the current edition, current players only need to buy one new book every so often, and many times not even that (there is NO reason to buy Wildemount if you don't want the setting, same with SCAG, Ravnica, etc.). With a new edition, everyone is at minimum going to need to buy PHB, DMG, MM, all over again. That kind of thing is just too tempting for companies to pass up.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
That is the exact reason why when I heard the 4e was going to be coming out I took a hard pass on D&D until a couple years ago. If they push another brand new edition that soon I will most likely never purchase another WotC product again unless it’s a gift for someone. I made the same decision about M:tG specifically about 20 years ago and haven’t once regretted it, so I can honestly say the same about D&D.
Between my DDB compendium app and my physical library I have everything I need to play my choice of D&D editions (2, 3, 3.5, or 5) or AD&D 2e. I don’t to shell out again, and unless the next 5-10 years of D&D are generally backwards comparable with 5e I won’t. I mean, at least use a great many things written for AD&D in your AD&D2e campaigns with only minor conversions, and 3 and 3.5 were pretty compatible too. It has to have at least around the same level of compatibility or I’m tapping out.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
My campaign has started on 5e so as a DM, I'd say that until this campaign is over, I'm not switching. And I believe 3 of my 4 players would be OK with that and one or two might even applaud it.
One, however, always likes the Next Big Thing and would want to switch the second 6e comes out. Not sure what will happen then.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
To each their own. I don’t need “the next big thing,” I want a game I cam make memories with for a long while as opposed to having to continuously pay hundreds of dollars every few years for a brand new version of the same stuff I already bought four or five times. Ever notice that the majority of the UA subclasses have been 5e reboots of a lot of the classes from older editions? Go flip through the old 2e and 3e books if you have them and you’ll notice a lot of familiar “faces.”
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
"since WOTC took over D&D, the editions have had much shorter life span"
Actually, when Hasbro bought WotC they pushed them produce a new edition, since profits came in large part from sourcebooks like the DM's guide, MM and Players Handbook. I was told this by a reliable source.