I cannot speak to VTT integration, but you can easily run a campaign for free here - though it will be fairly limited in what you initially have access to.
Beyond monetises itself in two ways - selling content and selling subscriptions, neither of which is required. Simply having a free account with no purchases gives you access to some races, some items, and some monsters, providing a decent starting location (you can also claim two books for free right now by following instructions at this link).
If you want more things, you have to buy them. But D&DB also let’s you buy things piecemeal - if a player wants to be a centaur, they could buy just the centaur race for their account, without spending as much as they would on a full rulebook (and if they buy that book later, cost is reduced by how much they spent on the race).
Subscriptions are used to unlock more characters or, for the higher level, share content across all accounts in a campaign. That allows only one person to buy the books, but everyone in the campaign to use the subclasses/races/etc.
All told, it’s easy enough to start for free and the payment options for upgrading either piecemeal or in bulk are relatively flexible and can adjust to your specific group’s needs.
Subscriptions are used to unlock more characters or, for the higher level, share content across all accounts in a campaign. That allows only one person to buy the books, but everyone in the campaign to use the subclasses/races/etc.
Just to be clear, this works for anyone creating a character in that campaign. If person A buys the PHB and person B buys Xanathar's Guide to Everything and the DM buys the DMG and a master subscription and everyone is creating characters in the same campaign with sharing enabled, everyone gets access to what everyone else has bought. Not everything has to be purchased by the person with the master subscription.
Subscriptions are used to unlock more characters or, for the higher level, share content across all accounts in a campaign. That allows only one person to buy the books, but everyone in the campaign to use the subclasses/races/etc.
Just to be clear, this works for anyone creating a character in that campaign. If person A buys the PHB and person B buys Xanathar's Guide to Everything and the DM buys the DMG and a master subscription and everyone is creating characters in the same campaign with sharing enabled, everyone gets access to what everyone else has bought. Not everything has to be purchased by the person with the master subscription.
Thanks very much for the informative reply! Including the link to the 2 books!
Yeah, D&DB just seems to beat R20 across the board... I really love that piecemeal feature too!
I'll speak with my friends after tonight session :)
It doesn't. It just has different strengths. Roll20 is a VTT, DDB doesn't even try. So, on Rolls, you can set up a map, and have characters run around and explore. DDB doesn't have that functionality at all. It might in the future, but it doesn't right now.
DDB is better (in my opinion) if you don't intend to use that functionality. It's much better for games that use physical tabletops, for instance. I find that DDB is much better for the DM in organising the locations of the quests etc.
I've got LMoP on both Roll20 and DDB, but I much prefer DDB. That's in large part because I use battlemats and minis, so I don't get to use the bits that Roll20 is strong on.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I will say, everyone has provided a lot of good information.
You can use both Roll20 AND dndbeyond at the same time, you don't have to pick and choose between them.
There is a browser extension (beyond20) that will allow you to click on numbers/actions on the character sheet, and port them over to Roll20.
R20, imho, great for maps and tokens. Character sheets are...lack luster/a pain from my experience.
And as stated before, if dnd is something your group really enjoys, can split costs (or pool money if you wish) to buy books/Master Tier sub to content share.
There's also the homebrew tool, so if you did own the books in physical, you could take time (a decent amount and some trial and error) to put all the book content you'd use into the homebrew tool, which would be shared for those in your campaign on dndbeyond.
I will say, everyone has provided a lot of good information.
You can use both Roll20 AND dndbeyond at the same time, you don't have to pick and choose between them.
There is a browser extension (beyond20) that will allow you to click on numbers/actions on the character sheet, and port them over to Roll20.
R20, imho, great for maps and tokens. Character sheets are...lack luster/a pain from my experience.
And as stated before, if dnd is something your group really enjoys, can split costs (or pool money if you wish) to buy books/Master Tier sub to content share.
There's also the homebrew tool, so if you did own the books in physical, you could take time (a decent amount and some trial and error) to put all the book content you'd use into the homebrew tool, which would be shared for those in your campaign on dndbeyond.
I do recommend this as it does provide the best of both. The visual VTT is decent and you can use the superior D&D Beyond character sheets and reference material.
I have a video about adding Beyond20 and some basic uses:
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.
It is impossible for you to have a campaign for free... someone has to pay something just to share the books informations. homebrews also requires a subscription to be able to be added to campaign. more on this cause its special...
but as long as one of the players have a subscription, then yes, everything can be done. i'm doing it, my whole campaign is on here and my players love Above VTT.
but really, its impossible entirely for free... books can only be shared if you have DM subs.
homebrews can be added as you do them, but you cannot use publicly shared homebrews without at least a player subs. you can still create your own and share those privately between your players but you cannot use the ones on the site without a player sub.
aside from those two... yes everything else can be done... but if you expect to make your own classes... forget about that, you just can't. that said with the SRD having added all classees into it, you can redo every sub classes and not have to buy any books. but its a lot of time consuming stuff.
so there you go. this should be all you need to know about this.
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DM of two gaming groups. Likes to create stuff. Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games --> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
As Erik_Soong said, you don't need to spend money right away. You can create a campaign with a free account, and you can create characters and have your DM use monsters from the basic rules without spending a dime. Also, grabbing the two free books Caerwyn_Glyndwr mentioned is a great opportunity.
While it is true that someone will need to have a Master Tier subscription if you are going to share book content that one or more of your group has purchased, you can still play without it. If you've only been playing for a month and half, I would highly recommend just running a simple campaign (Lost Mine is a great starter) and see if you like the tools here and see how things go before you spend money. It is great to be able to buy things piecemeal and you get the amount you spent on those pieces discounted from the particular book later should you decide to buy it here. If your group likes the tools offered here and you want to keep going, having a Master Tier account is great, especially because each person can buy a book or two, but everyone benefits from that one Master Tier account. (For what it's worth, I have a Master Tier account, and I'm fairly certain that most or all of the group I DM for are using free accounts. I've also purchased a ton of stuff, so they all benefit from it without spending money.)
As for homebrew, I honestly wouldn't even bother with that for now. If you've only been playing for a couple of months, play a while longer and get the basic rules down and determine what kinds of play/games your party likes. The other stuff can wait. Good luck, and have fun!
It is impossible for you to have a campaign for free... someone has to pay something just to share the books informations. homebrews also requires a subscription to be able to be added to campaign. more on this cause its special...
but as long as one of the players have a subscription, then yes, everything can be done. i'm doing it, my whole campaign is on here and my players love Above VTT.
but really, its impossible entirely for free... books can only be shared if you have DM subs.
homebrews can be added as you do them, but you cannot use publicly shared homebrews without at least a player subs. you can still create your own and share those privately between your players but you cannot use the ones on the site without a player sub.
This is completely wrong.
You can definitely run a game on Dndbeyond for free. The Basic Rules are free to everyone, which gives everyone the ability to make characters. Frozen Sick is a free adventure that everyone has access to on Dndbeyond. Those two, well really just the basic rules and some creativity from the DM, allow for a totally free campaign to be run with Dndbeyond. Will everyone have access to everything that they may want? No. But you can 100% play a full campaign of Dnd for free on Dndbeyond without homebrewing anything.
That is not even including the other free content that others have listed in varying places (Spelljammer Creatures, Acquisitions Incorporated*, Lost Mine of Phandelver*) and the Critical Role Homebrew stuff that is available to everyone (Oath of the Open Sea, Cobalt Soul Monk, Gunslinger Fighter, Bloodhunter class)
*if you made your account before May 27th 2022, click here for more information.
So I decided to make a video about this to go over what you get for free and what resources you have available for playing entirely free. Just in case anyone else is interested.
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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.
It is impossible for you to have a campaign for free... someone has to pay something just to share the books informations. homebrews also requires a subscription to be able to be added to campaign. more on this cause its special...
but as long as one of the players have a subscription, then yes, everything can be done. i'm doing it, my whole campaign is on here and my players love Above VTT.
but really, its impossible entirely for free... books can only be shared if you have DM subs.
homebrews can be added as you do them, but you cannot use publicly shared homebrews without at least a player subs. you can still create your own and share those privately between your players but you cannot use the ones on the site without a player sub.
This is completely wrong.
You can definitely run a game on Dndbeyond for free. The Basic Rules are free to everyone, which gives everyone the ability to make characters. Frozen Sick is a free adventure that everyone has access to on Dndbeyond. Those two, well really just the basic rules and some creativity from the DM, allow for a totally free campaign to be run with Dndbeyond. Will everyone have access to everything that they may want? No. But you can 100% play a full campaign of Dnd for free on Dndbeyond without homebrewing anything.
That is not even including the other free content that others have listed in varying places (Spelljammer Creatures, Acquisitions Incorporated*, Lost Mine of Phandelver*) and the Critical Role Homebrew stuff that is available to everyone (Oath of the Open Sea, Cobalt Soul Monk, Gunslinger Fighter, Bloodhunter class)
*if you made your account before May 27th 2022, click here for more information.
i put you to the challenge of making an entire campaign in here without paying a dime ? you'll be stuck playing the SRD which has next to nothing in it. as in each classes only have 1 archetypes. you'll be stuck with the SRD monsters which is about only half the monster manual. and about 10 monsters from planes in the new compendium. you'll be stuck with next to no magical objects !
i highly suggest you reread what the OP said. he said they had anb entire campaign to transfer here... that cannot be done without paing upfront for the books you need and then paying the masters sub to share. so go ahead, tell me where what i said was wrong ?
because right now... in the current case he's saying it... its impossible !
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DM of two gaming groups. Likes to create stuff. Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games --> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
It is impossible for you to have a campaign for free... someone has to pay something just to share the books informations. homebrews also requires a subscription to be able to be added to campaign. more on this cause its special...
but as long as one of the players have a subscription, then yes, everything can be done. i'm doing it, my whole campaign is on here and my players love Above VTT.
but really, its impossible entirely for free... books can only be shared if you have DM subs.
homebrews can be added as you do them, but you cannot use publicly shared homebrews without at least a player subs. you can still create your own and share those privately between your players but you cannot use the ones on the site without a player sub.
This is completely wrong.
You can definitely run a game on Dndbeyond for free. The Basic Rules are free to everyone, which gives everyone the ability to make characters. Frozen Sick is a free adventure that everyone has access to on Dndbeyond. Those two, well really just the basic rules and some creativity from the DM, allow for a totally free campaign to be run with Dndbeyond. Will everyone have access to everything that they may want? No. But you can 100% play a full campaign of Dnd for free on Dndbeyond without homebrewing anything.
That is not even including the other free content that others have listed in varying places (Spelljammer Creatures, Acquisitions Incorporated*, Lost Mine of Phandelver*) and the Critical Role Homebrew stuff that is available to everyone (Oath of the Open Sea, Cobalt Soul Monk, Gunslinger Fighter, Bloodhunter class)
*if you made your account before May 27th 2022, click here for more information.
i put you to the challenge of making an entire campaign in here without paying a dime ? you'll be stuck playing the SRD which has next to nothing in it. as in each classes only have 1 archetypes. you'll be stuck with the SRD monsters which is about only half the monster manual. and about 10 monsters from planes in the new compendium. you'll be stuck with next to no magical objects !
i highly suggest you reread what the OP said. he said they had anb entire campaign to transfer here... that cannot be done without paing upfront for the books you need and then paying the masters sub to share. so go ahead, tell me where what i said was wrong ?
because right now... in the current case he's saying it... its impossible !
Maybe see my video.
You can homebrew more things and there's more on DMs Guild.
And the SRD stuff has 300 + monsters, 300 + spells and 200 + items.
And I've been in 2 campaigns, one went to level 10, using nothing but the Basic Rules.
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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.
It is impossible for you to have a campaign for free... someone has to pay something just to share the books informations. homebrews also requires a subscription to be able to be added to campaign. more on this cause its special...
but as long as one of the players have a subscription, then yes, everything can be done. i'm doing it, my whole campaign is on here and my players love Above VTT.
but really, its impossible entirely for free... books can only be shared if you have DM subs.
homebrews can be added as you do them, but you cannot use publicly shared homebrews without at least a player subs. you can still create your own and share those privately between your players but you cannot use the ones on the site without a player sub.
This is completely wrong.
You can definitely run a game on Dndbeyond for free. The Basic Rules are free to everyone, which gives everyone the ability to make characters. Frozen Sick is a free adventure that everyone has access to on Dndbeyond. Those two, well really just the basic rules and some creativity from the DM, allow for a totally free campaign to be run with Dndbeyond. Will everyone have access to everything that they may want? No. But you can 100% play a full campaign of Dnd for free on Dndbeyond without homebrewing anything.
That is not even including the other free content that others have listed in varying places (Spelljammer Creatures, Acquisitions Incorporated*, Lost Mine of Phandelver*) and the Critical Role Homebrew stuff that is available to everyone (Oath of the Open Sea, Cobalt Soul Monk, Gunslinger Fighter, Bloodhunter class)
*if you made your account before May 27th 2022, click here for more information.
i put you to the challenge of making an entire campaign in here without paying a dime ? you'll be stuck playing the SRD which has next to nothing in it. as in each classes only have 1 archetypes. you'll be stuck with the SRD monsters which is about only half the monster manual. and about 10 monsters from planes in the new compendium. you'll be stuck with next to no magical objects !
i highly suggest you reread what the OP said. he said they had anb entire campaign to transfer here... that cannot be done without paing upfront for the books you need and then paying the masters sub to share. so go ahead, tell me where what i said was wrong ?
because right now... in the current case he's saying it... its impossible !
Maybe see my video.
You can homebrew more things and there's more on DMs Guild.
And the SRD stuff has 300 + monsters, 300 + spells and 200 + items.
And I've been in 2 campaigns, one went to level 10, using nothing but the Basic Rules.
you're fine if you do only premade adventures... but for me and my players... the SRD is insuficient... mainly because none of them wants to work on homebrew and so i would be doing all the work, and no i dont want to homebrew all classes back just for them to play them. and i suspect not much people want to do that work... gone up to level 10 ? poor you... all my campaigns goes up to level 16-20 depending on how fast they do stuff.
as for SRD having so much stuff... of all the 300 monsters... you need to remove all the creatures from the players handbook which are part of that base. which is about 50 less monsters from that. it also includes the NPC... which really makes only about 150 monsters, which is about half the monster manual. sure it has still a good bunch of monsters... but its definitely insuficient for anybody wanting a good campaign that goes all the way. but of course... if you never go beyond level 10, then yeah it might be enough.
that said, what you are saying is... its possible for you to do a campaign if you decide to pass a few weeks of hours creating monsters and player archetypes out of homebrew. after i created that shadowrun counterpart... i decided it was unnecessary to do that much work. its better to just buy it.
but its your call, if you want to put that much work and then put that much more work on something then be my guess... but again... as the OP as written... i dont think he wants to put that work.
PS: you still need to pay the DM tier sub to share your stuff once its created. thus you cannot do a thing unless your players want to create their own stuff.
DM of two gaming groups. Likes to create stuff. Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games --> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
It is impossible for you to have a campaign for free... someone has to pay something just to share the books informations. homebrews also requires a subscription to be able to be added to campaign. more on this cause its special...
but as long as one of the players have a subscription, then yes, everything can be done. i'm doing it, my whole campaign is on here and my players love Above VTT.
but really, its impossible entirely for free... books can only be shared if you have DM subs.
homebrews can be added as you do them, but you cannot use publicly shared homebrews without at least a player subs. you can still create your own and share those privately between your players but you cannot use the ones on the site without a player sub.
This is completely wrong.
You can definitely run a game on Dndbeyond for free. The Basic Rules are free to everyone, which gives everyone the ability to make characters. Frozen Sick is a free adventure that everyone has access to on Dndbeyond. Those two, well really just the basic rules and some creativity from the DM, allow for a totally free campaign to be run with Dndbeyond. Will everyone have access to everything that they may want? No. But you can 100% play a full campaign of Dnd for free on Dndbeyond without homebrewing anything.
That is not even including the other free content that others have listed in varying places (Spelljammer Creatures, Acquisitions Incorporated*, Lost Mine of Phandelver*) and the Critical Role Homebrew stuff that is available to everyone (Oath of the Open Sea, Cobalt Soul Monk, Gunslinger Fighter, Bloodhunter class)
*if you made your account before May 27th 2022, click here for more information.
i put you to the challenge of making an entire campaign in here without paying a dime ? you'll be stuck playing the SRD which has next to nothing in it. as in each classes only have 1 archetypes. you'll be stuck with the SRD monsters which is about only half the monster manual. and about 10 monsters from planes in the new compendium. you'll be stuck with next to no magical objects !
i highly suggest you reread what the OP said. he said they had anb entire campaign to transfer here... that cannot be done without paing upfront for the books you need and then paying the masters sub to share. so go ahead, tell me where what i said was wrong ?
because right now... in the current case he's saying it... its impossible !
Maybe see my video.
You can homebrew more things and there's more on DMs Guild.
And the SRD stuff has 300 + monsters, 300 + spells and 200 + items.
And I've been in 2 campaigns, one went to level 10, using nothing but the Basic Rules.
you're fine if you do only premade adventures... but for me and my players... the SRD is insuficient... mainly because none of them wants to work on homebrew and so i would be doing all the work, and no i dont want to homebrew all classes back just for them to play them. and i suspect not much people want to do that work... gone up to level 10 ? poor you... all my campaigns goes up to level 16-20 depending on how fast they do stuff.
as for SRD having so much stuff... of all the 300 monsters... you need to remove all the creatures from the players handbook which are part of that base. which is about 50 less monsters from that. it also includes the NPC... which really makes only about 150 monsters, which is about half the monster manual. sure it has still a good bunch of monsters... but its definitely insuficient for anybody wanting a good campaign that goes all the way. but of course... if you never go beyond level 10, then yeah it might be enough.
that said, what you are saying is... its possible for you to do a campaign if you decide to pass a few weeks of hours creating monsters and player archetypes out of homebrew. after i created that shadowrun counterpart... i decided it was unnecessary to do that much work. its better to just buy it.
but its your call, if you want to put that much work and then put that much more work on something then be my guess... but again... as the OP as written... i dont think he wants to put that work.
PS: you still need to pay the DM tier sub to share your stuff once its created. thus you cannot do a thing unless your players want to create their own stuff.
Yeah, you're not paying attention to me.
There's 300+ monsters IN BASIC RULES AVAILABLE FOR FREE
There's 300+ spells IN BASIC RULES AVAILABLE FOR FREE
There's 200+ magic items IN BASIC RULES AVAILABLE FOR FREE
On this site you can bring up the searches and filter specifically to the Basic Rules. Meaning, only stuff in the basic rules, available for free, is listed. There's more for PHB and DMG, MM, but you do get hundreds of each for use for free without paying a single penny.
You can use premade adventures available for free on here or off DMs Guild.
You can create your own homebrew campaign easily, using tools like Inkarnate to easily create your own maps.
You can homebrew races/etc if you want to, and only when you need. You can also get them through DMs Guild. Or stick to the ones in SRD.
It takes very little time to make your own stuff on here. Some HB races with subraces took me 20 mins to make. Some can take less. It depends on what you want. I mean you get a lot of race options with the Basic Rules (which includes EE ones, also free, like the legacy versions of Aaracokra, Genasi, etc).
And this can all work with Above VTT.
So you saying it's IMPOSSIBLE for the OP to play for free is demonstrably false.
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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.
"PS: you still need to pay the DM tier sub to share your stuff once its created. thus you cannot do a thing unless your players want to create their own stuff."
No. You don't. Any homebrew is shared for free. No subs required. I actually prove this in my video.
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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.
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Hi all,
I am going to try convince one of my friends to switch running the campaign we are all in from Roll20 to here.
I am not well-versed in DDB but it certain does look far better. No offence to R20 as it does a job.
A group of us began playing D&D about 1.5 months ago and our DM (new too) just happened on R20 & decided to use that for free.
My question is...
Can good campaigns be run here for free? Using the AboveVTT along side it?
Or are paid features the only way to go?
He's no intention of paying for anything just yet, but of course should DND become a regular for us, we would of course splash out on key things.
I cannot speak to VTT integration, but you can easily run a campaign for free here - though it will be fairly limited in what you initially have access to.
Beyond monetises itself in two ways - selling content and selling subscriptions, neither of which is required. Simply having a free account with no purchases gives you access to some races, some items, and some monsters, providing a decent starting location (you can also claim two books for free right now by following instructions at this link).
If you want more things, you have to buy them. But D&DB also let’s you buy things piecemeal - if a player wants to be a centaur, they could buy just the centaur race for their account, without spending as much as they would on a full rulebook (and if they buy that book later, cost is reduced by how much they spent on the race).
Subscriptions are used to unlock more characters or, for the higher level, share content across all accounts in a campaign. That allows only one person to buy the books, but everyone in the campaign to use the subclasses/races/etc.
All told, it’s easy enough to start for free and the payment options for upgrading either piecemeal or in bulk are relatively flexible and can adjust to your specific group’s needs.
Thanks very much for the informative reply!
Including the link to the 2 books!
Yeah, D&DB just seems to beat R20 across the board...
I really love that piecemeal feature too!
I'll speak with my friends after tonight session :)
Hello,
My sig has some resources that you might find useful. I encourage you to look through them before deciding on spending any money.
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | He/Him/They/Them
EXTENDED SIGNATURE!
Doctor/Published Scholar/Science and Healthcare Advocate/Critter/Trekkie/Gandalf with a Glock
Try DDB free: Free Rules (2024), premade PCs, adventures, one shots, encounters, SC, homebrew, more
Answers: physical books, purchases, and subbing.
Check out my life-changing
Just to be clear, this works for anyone creating a character in that campaign. If person A buys the PHB and person B buys Xanathar's Guide to Everything and the DM buys the DMG and a master subscription and everyone is creating characters in the same campaign with sharing enabled, everyone gets access to what everyone else has bought. Not everything has to be purchased by the person with the master subscription.
Hope this helps.
Oh, nice one, thanks!
Oh, that's cool!
Spreading costs out
It doesn't. It just has different strengths. Roll20 is a VTT, DDB doesn't even try. So, on Rolls, you can set up a map, and have characters run around and explore. DDB doesn't have that functionality at all. It might in the future, but it doesn't right now.
DDB is better (in my opinion) if you don't intend to use that functionality. It's much better for games that use physical tabletops, for instance. I find that DDB is much better for the DM in organising the locations of the quests etc.
I've got LMoP on both Roll20 and DDB, but I much prefer DDB. That's in large part because I use battlemats and minis, so I don't get to use the bits that Roll20 is strong on.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I will say, everyone has provided a lot of good information.
You can use both Roll20 AND dndbeyond at the same time, you don't have to pick and choose between them.
There is a browser extension (beyond20) that will allow you to click on numbers/actions on the character sheet, and port them over to Roll20.
R20, imho, great for maps and tokens. Character sheets are...lack luster/a pain from my experience.
And as stated before, if dnd is something your group really enjoys, can split costs (or pool money if you wish) to buy books/Master Tier sub to content share.
There's also the homebrew tool, so if you did own the books in physical, you could take time (a decent amount and some trial and error) to put all the book content you'd use into the homebrew tool, which would be shared for those in your campaign on dndbeyond.
I do recommend this as it does provide the best of both. The visual VTT is decent and you can use the superior D&D Beyond character sheets and reference material.
I have a video about adding Beyond20 and some basic uses:
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.
It is impossible for you to have a campaign for free... someone has to pay something just to share the books informations.
homebrews also requires a subscription to be able to be added to campaign. more on this cause its special...
but as long as one of the players have a subscription, then yes, everything can be done.
i'm doing it, my whole campaign is on here and my players love Above VTT.
but really, its impossible entirely for free...
books can only be shared if you have DM subs.
homebrews can be added as you do them, but you cannot use publicly shared homebrews without at least a player subs.
you can still create your own and share those privately between your players but you cannot use the ones on the site without a player sub.
aside from those two... yes everything else can be done...
but if you expect to make your own classes... forget about that, you just can't.
that said with the SRD having added all classees into it, you can redo every sub classes and not have to buy any books.
but its a lot of time consuming stuff.
so there you go. this should be all you need to know about this.
DM of two gaming groups.
Likes to create stuff.
Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses
If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games
--> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
As Erik_Soong said, you don't need to spend money right away. You can create a campaign with a free account, and you can create characters and have your DM use monsters from the basic rules without spending a dime. Also, grabbing the two free books Caerwyn_Glyndwr mentioned is a great opportunity.
While it is true that someone will need to have a Master Tier subscription if you are going to share book content that one or more of your group has purchased, you can still play without it. If you've only been playing for a month and half, I would highly recommend just running a simple campaign (Lost Mine is a great starter) and see if you like the tools here and see how things go before you spend money. It is great to be able to buy things piecemeal and you get the amount you spent on those pieces discounted from the particular book later should you decide to buy it here. If your group likes the tools offered here and you want to keep going, having a Master Tier account is great, especially because each person can buy a book or two, but everyone benefits from that one Master Tier account. (For what it's worth, I have a Master Tier account, and I'm fairly certain that most or all of the group I DM for are using free accounts. I've also purchased a ton of stuff, so they all benefit from it without spending money.)
As for homebrew, I honestly wouldn't even bother with that for now. If you've only been playing for a couple of months, play a while longer and get the basic rules down and determine what kinds of play/games your party likes. The other stuff can wait. Good luck, and have fun!
This is completely wrong.
You can definitely run a game on Dndbeyond for free. The Basic Rules are free to everyone, which gives everyone the ability to make characters. Frozen Sick is a free adventure that everyone has access to on Dndbeyond. Those two, well really just the basic rules and some creativity from the DM, allow for a totally free campaign to be run with Dndbeyond. Will everyone have access to everything that they may want? No. But you can 100% play a full campaign of Dnd for free on Dndbeyond without homebrewing anything.
That is not even including the other free content that others have listed in varying places (Spelljammer Creatures, Acquisitions Incorporated*, Lost Mine of Phandelver*) and the Critical Role Homebrew stuff that is available to everyone (Oath of the Open Sea, Cobalt Soul Monk, Gunslinger Fighter, Bloodhunter class)
*if you made your account before May 27th 2022, click here for more information.
Buyers Guide for D&D Beyond - Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You - How/What is Toggled Content?
Everything you need to know about Homebrew - Homebrew FAQ - Digital Book on D&D Beyond Vs Physical Books
Can't find the content you are supposed to have access to? Read this FAQ.
"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
Thanks for all the replies folks!
I have enough information to discuss moving over to D&DB.
R20 having VTT element is easily overcome by using Above VTT.
Thanks again!
So I decided to make a video about this to go over what you get for free and what resources you have available for playing entirely free. Just in case anyone else is interested.
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.
i put you to the challenge of making an entire campaign in here without paying a dime ?
you'll be stuck playing the SRD which has next to nothing in it. as in each classes only have 1 archetypes.
you'll be stuck with the SRD monsters which is about only half the monster manual. and about 10 monsters from planes in the new compendium.
you'll be stuck with next to no magical objects !
i highly suggest you reread what the OP said.
he said they had anb entire campaign to transfer here... that cannot be done without paing upfront for the books you need and then paying the masters sub to share.
so go ahead, tell me where what i said was wrong ?
because right now... in the current case he's saying it... its impossible !
DM of two gaming groups.
Likes to create stuff.
Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses
If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games
--> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
Maybe see my video.
You can homebrew more things and there's more on DMs Guild.
And the SRD stuff has 300 + monsters, 300 + spells and 200 + items.
And I've been in 2 campaigns, one went to level 10, using nothing but the Basic Rules.
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.
you're fine if you do only premade adventures... but for me and my players... the SRD is insuficient... mainly because none of them wants to work on homebrew and so i would be doing all the work, and no i dont want to homebrew all classes back just for them to play them. and i suspect not much people want to do that work... gone up to level 10 ? poor you... all my campaigns goes up to level 16-20 depending on how fast they do stuff.
as for SRD having so much stuff... of all the 300 monsters... you need to remove all the creatures from the players handbook which are part of that base. which is about 50 less monsters from that. it also includes the NPC... which really makes only about 150 monsters, which is about half the monster manual. sure it has still a good bunch of monsters... but its definitely insuficient for anybody wanting a good campaign that goes all the way. but of course... if you never go beyond level 10, then yeah it might be enough.
that said, what you are saying is... its possible for you to do a campaign if you decide to pass a few weeks of hours creating monsters and player archetypes out of homebrew.
after i created that shadowrun counterpart... i decided it was unnecessary to do that much work. its better to just buy it.
but its your call, if you want to put that much work and then put that much more work on something then be my guess...
but again... as the OP as written... i dont think he wants to put that work.
PS: you still need to pay the DM tier sub to share your stuff once its created. thus you cannot do a thing unless your players want to create their own stuff.
DM of two gaming groups.
Likes to create stuff.
Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses
If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games
--> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
Yeah, you're not paying attention to me.
There's 300+ monsters IN BASIC RULES AVAILABLE FOR FREE
There's 300+ spells IN BASIC RULES AVAILABLE FOR FREE
There's 200+ magic items IN BASIC RULES AVAILABLE FOR FREE
On this site you can bring up the searches and filter specifically to the Basic Rules. Meaning, only stuff in the basic rules, available for free, is listed. There's more for PHB and DMG, MM, but you do get hundreds of each for use for free without paying a single penny.
You can use premade adventures available for free on here or off DMs Guild.
You can create your own homebrew campaign easily, using tools like Inkarnate to easily create your own maps.
You can homebrew races/etc if you want to, and only when you need. You can also get them through DMs Guild. Or stick to the ones in SRD.
It takes very little time to make your own stuff on here. Some HB races with subraces took me 20 mins to make. Some can take less. It depends on what you want. I mean you get a lot of race options with the Basic Rules (which includes EE ones, also free, like the legacy versions of Aaracokra, Genasi, etc).
And this can all work with Above VTT.
So you saying it's IMPOSSIBLE for the OP to play for free is demonstrably false.
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.
Oh yeah, I also forgot
"PS: you still need to pay the DM tier sub to share your stuff once its created. thus you cannot do a thing unless your players want to create their own stuff."
No. You don't. Any homebrew is shared for free. No subs required. I actually prove this in my video.
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.