Hello, is there any way at all to get the digital versions of Volo's Guide to Monsters or Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes on DDB? I own hardcopies of both those older 'legacy' books and the newer Monsters of the Multiverse, but am new to DDB, so by default it seems I can only buy MotM on DDB's store.
Both myself and my players place a high degree of value on in-world consistency and PCs/NPCs following the same rules as much as is feasible, so the new stat blocks with the 'non-spell' spell abilities and non-spell slot recharge spells, are just a total no-go. I want to use the old stat blocks from VGtM and MToF, and if I have to manually enter them in DDB... well that kind of defeats the whole point of spending hundreds of dollars to re-buy the digital stuff and run notes/compendium/etc through DDB...
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.
Ah that sucks, thanks though. I experimented earlier with homebrewing to re-create a pre-MotM Duergar for example, and it was not a pleasant experience—can't imagine doing that for each NPC stat block where I want the pre-MotM version. Will have to find another solution instead of using DDB.
If someone that bought the books before they became unavailable, then they still have access to them.
If someone with the content you are looking for is in the same campaign, and content sharing is enabled, you will have access to it as long as they are part of the campaign, and content sharing is on.
The only real caveat other than the player with the content is you have to build the character in the campaign.
There are a few other limitations, but it may be an option if you would like access to those books.
Not sure hoe it works for making NPC's, monsters...
I am pretty sure the DM has to own the maps to use them in the maps tool, so there may be limitations for some of what you want access to and what sharing will allow, though I'm not 100% sure.
The Homebrewers subforum has plenty of folk willing to help you out with a homebrewing project. There's a learning curve, but with some community support you should build proficiency with the system pretty quickly.
Not sure hoe it works for making NPC's, monsters...
If you're in a campaign with shared content turned on and someone owns these books, you can see the stat blocks in the compendium and make a private homebrew version of it, but you'll have to start from scratch. Only the owner of the content can use those stat blocks as a template, letting them quickly make a private homebrew copy of it.
The same goes for backgrounds, feats, magic items, races, spells, and subclasses.
Hello, is there any way at all to get the digital versions of Volo's Guide to Monsters or Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes on DDB? I own hardcopies of both those older 'legacy' books and the newer Monsters of the Multiverse, but am new to DDB, so by default it seems I can only buy MotM on DDB's store.
Both myself and my players place a high degree of value on in-world consistency and PCs/NPCs following the same rules as much as is feasible, so the new stat blocks with the 'non-spell' spell abilities and non-spell slot recharge spells, are just a total no-go. I want to use the old stat blocks from VGtM and MToF, and if I have to manually enter them in DDB... well that kind of defeats the whole point of spending hundreds of dollars to re-buy the digital stuff and run notes/compendium/etc through DDB...
Is there any solution to this?
You are in a bind, as is anyone who purchased the hard copies in good faith. I too own the hard copies of those books, and find the new Mord's to be watered down. The question I have is are you the DM? If so, I do not understand why you need to input the NPC stats into DBB. What is the purpose? As the DM, I typically have either my hard copy open or a printed sheet if I have modified NPC stats.
I am also very curious to see how wotc plans on handling this same issue when 6e comes out and players who are using PC's built on 5e PHB hard copies, or new post 6e release players that join an existing 5e campaign, that is NOT changing to 6e.
I too own the hard copies of those books, and find the new Mord's to be watered down.
I am also very curious to see how wotc plans on handling this same issue when 6e comes out and players who are using PC's built on 5e PHB hard copies, or new post 6e release players that join an existing 5e campaign, that is NOT changing to 6e.
I agree, wonder what happens if the new books don't sell as well as they plan?
Between creating no need to "upgrade" as everything is gonna "just work together" and watered down races that you can paint any way you want coupled with the economy. I think it is gonna be a hard market for the "new" rules.
I hope I am wrong as if it doesn't meet sales expectations they may try more forceful methods to sell the books.
That is just me, and I look forward to see how it plays out.
I too own the hard copies of those books, and find the new Mord's to be watered down.
I am also very curious to see how wotc plans on handling this same issue when 6e comes out and players who are using PC's built on 5e PHB hard copies, or new post 6e release players that join an existing 5e campaign, that is NOT changing to 6e.
I agree, wonder what happens if the new books don't sell as well as they plan?
Between creating no need to "upgrade" as everything is gonna "just work together" and watered down races that you can paint any way you want coupled with the economy. I think it is gonna be a hard market for the "new" rules.
I hope I am wrong as if it doesn't meet sales expectations they may try more forceful methods to sell the books.
That is just me, and I look forward to see how it plays out.
Imagine this scenario:
There is a in-person group running an existing campaign.
It is, I dunno, Nov 2024. (Crawford admitted last week that no way is May 21 happening) Let's say that 6e's PHB has been released, and is available on DBB.
Half the existing group has their 5e chars built via DBB because they bought the 5e PHB (and/or other source book) on DBB. But the other half has used their hard copies and don't even have a DBB account.
Now that 6e is released 5e has been "legacied" as all the other books have been. The half of the group that bought the 5e PHB via DBB should still be OK to access their 5e build. And the other half that have the hard copies of 5e are still good. But now a new player new to D&D (not DnD) is added to the group. That player cannot create a 5e PC that meshes in the existing campaign, unless the in-person players lend the hard copies to the player.
So what I have described is actually a fairly trivial problem. But throw in a few potential wrinkles.
a. The game is over the internet, and the new player cannot borrow hard copies of the 5e books.
b. DBB has decided to jack the sub rates, and the players who have been paying a modest sub fee to access their 5e PC's are balking at paying the higher sub rate just to access their old builds, and instead want to play an OP 6e build in the 5e campaign.
Hello, is there any way at all to get the digital versions of Volo's Guide to Monsters or Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes on DDB? I own hardcopies of both those older 'legacy' books and the newer Monsters of the Multiverse, but am new to DDB, so by default it seems I can only buy MotM on DDB's store.
Both myself and my players place a high degree of value on in-world consistency and PCs/NPCs following the same rules as much as is feasible, so the new stat blocks with the 'non-spell' spell abilities and non-spell slot recharge spells, are just a total no-go. I want to use the old stat blocks from VGtM and MToF, and if I have to manually enter them in DDB... well that kind of defeats the whole point of spending hundreds of dollars to re-buy the digital stuff and run notes/compendium/etc through DDB...
Is there any solution to this?
You are in a bind, as is anyone who purchased the hard copies in good faith. I too own the hard copies of those books, and find the new Mord's to be watered down. The question I have is are you the DM? If so, I do not understand why you need to input the NPC stats into DBB. What is the purpose? As the DM, I typically have either my hard copy open or a printed sheet if I have modified NPC stats.
I am also very curious to see how wotc plans on handling this same issue when 6e comes out and players who are using PC's built on 5e PHB hard copies, or new post 6e release players that join an existing 5e campaign, that is NOT changing to 6e.
Hello, yes I am the DM. The purpose of having the NPC stats in DDB is to make my life easier when prepping—being able to search and compare quickly, compared to flipping through hardcover—and to paste the (potentially modified) stat blocks directly into my notes.
In the past, before many online tools existed, I took photos of the MM stat block, pasted them into my notes in OneNote and annotated them if necessary, and printed those off for the session. Obviously the grayscale didn’t always play so well with colourful backgrounds! For my upcoming campaign I intend to run my notes directly off my laptop display without printing them, but I still intend to either embed/inline stat blocks, or at least hyperlink them with a mouseover popup preview. I’ve tested this to work fine with DDB database entries, but obviously that becomes laborious if I have to manually homebrew too many! I already have enough darn prep to do, and I’d rather spend that time fleshing out the world or making sick maps!
That said, it may only average one or two stat blocks per session in practice, so not that bad to import and modify from MotM on DDB. All the same, I’ve started looking at alternatives to DDB altogether. Losing auto-managed character sheets and easy mode character generation sucks, but $400ish in sources I already own + subscription is a lot for that convenience alone, paired with so many restrictions.
Hello, is there any way at all to get the digital versions of Volo's Guide to Monsters or Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes on DDB? I own hardcopies of both those older 'legacy' books and the newer Monsters of the Multiverse, but am new to DDB, so by default it seems I can only buy MotM on DDB's store.
Both myself and my players place a high degree of value on in-world consistency and PCs/NPCs following the same rules as much as is feasible, so the new stat blocks with the 'non-spell' spell abilities and non-spell slot recharge spells, are just a total no-go. I want to use the old stat blocks from VGtM and MToF, and if I have to manually enter them in DDB... well that kind of defeats the whole point of spending hundreds of dollars to re-buy the digital stuff and run notes/compendium/etc through DDB...
Is there any solution to this?
You are in a bind, as is anyone who purchased the hard copies in good faith. I too own the hard copies of those books, and find the new Mord's to be watered down. The question I have is are you the DM? If so, I do not understand why you need to input the NPC stats into DBB. What is the purpose? As the DM, I typically have either my hard copy open or a printed sheet if I have modified NPC stats.
I am also very curious to see how wotc plans on handling this same issue when 6e comes out and players who are using PC's built on 5e PHB hard copies, or new post 6e release players that join an existing 5e campaign, that is NOT changing to 6e.
Hello, yes I am the DM. The purpose of having the NPC stats in DDB is to make my life easier when prepping—being able to search and compare quickly, compared to flipping through hardcover—and to paste the (potentially modified) stat blocks directly into my notes.
In the past, before many online tools existed, I took photos of the MM stat block, pasted them into my notes in OneNote and annotated them if necessary, and printed those off for the session. Obviously the grayscale didn’t always play so well with colourful backgrounds! For my upcoming campaign I intend to run my notes directly off my laptop display without printing them, but I still intend to either embed/inline stat blocks, or at least hyperlink them with a mouseover popup preview. I’ve tested this to work fine with DDB database entries, but obviously that becomes laborious if I have to manually homebrew too many! I already have enough darn prep to do, and I’d rather spend that time fleshing out the world or making sick maps!
That said, it may only average one or two stat blocks per session in practice, so not that bad to import and modify from MotM on DDB. All the same, I’ve started looking at alternatives to DDB altogether. Losing auto-managed character sheets and easy mode character generation sucks, but $400ish in sources I already own + subscription is a lot for that convenience alone, paired with so many restrictions.
That sounds like an awful lot of work. I would propose simply using notepad or wordpad and then print those off, if you plan on modifying NPC/monster builds. Or physically mark the changes in your hard copies. As the DM, the players don't need any access to the monsters or any of your behind the scenes work. That holds true for both inperson and virtual games. Ultimately, hold on to your original (and vastly superior) hard copies. The other question I have is if you allow your table to use anything from Tasha's and onward.
Ultimately, when 6e comes out, a lot of the books may drop in price as the used book market is flooded with copies of now redundant books. OR...6e may prove to be a dud, and those books increase in value, as they are considered better than the new stuff. I don' know what outcome will happen.
Hello, is there any way at all to get the digital versions of Volo's Guide to Monsters or Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes on DDB? I own hardcopies of both those older 'legacy' books and the newer Monsters of the Multiverse, but am new to DDB, so by default it seems I can only buy MotM on DDB's store.
Both myself and my players place a high degree of value on in-world consistency and PCs/NPCs following the same rules as much as is feasible, so the new stat blocks with the 'non-spell' spell abilities and non-spell slot recharge spells, are just a total no-go. I want to use the old stat blocks from VGtM and MToF, and if I have to manually enter them in DDB... well that kind of defeats the whole point of spending hundreds of dollars to re-buy the digital stuff and run notes/compendium/etc through DDB...
Is there any solution to this?
You are in a bind, as is anyone who purchased the hard copies in good faith. I too own the hard copies of those books, and find the new Mord's to be watered down. The question I have is are you the DM? If so, I do not understand why you need to input the NPC stats into DBB. What is the purpose? As the DM, I typically have either my hard copy open or a printed sheet if I have modified NPC stats.
I am also very curious to see how wotc plans on handling this same issue when 6e comes out and players who are using PC's built on 5e PHB hard copies, or new post 6e release players that join an existing 5e campaign, that is NOT changing to 6e.
Hello, yes I am the DM. The purpose of having the NPC stats in DDB is to make my life easier when prepping—being able to search and compare quickly, compared to flipping through hardcover—and to paste the (potentially modified) stat blocks directly into my notes.
In the past, before many online tools existed, I took photos of the MM stat block, pasted them into my notes in OneNote and annotated them if necessary, and printed those off for the session. Obviously the grayscale didn’t always play so well with colourful backgrounds! For my upcoming campaign I intend to run my notes directly off my laptop display without printing them, but I still intend to either embed/inline stat blocks, or at least hyperlink them with a mouseover popup preview. I’ve tested this to work fine with DDB database entries, but obviously that becomes laborious if I have to manually homebrew too many! I already have enough darn prep to do, and I’d rather spend that time fleshing out the world or making sick maps!
That said, it may only average one or two stat blocks per session in practice, so not that bad to import and modify from MotM on DDB. All the same, I’ve started looking at alternatives to DDB altogether. Losing auto-managed character sheets and easy mode character generation sucks, but $400ish in sources I already own + subscription is a lot for that convenience alone, paired with so many restrictions.
That sounds like an awful lot of work. I would propose simply using notepad or wordpad and then print those off, if you plan on modifying NPC/monster builds. Or physically mark the changes in your hard copies. As the DM, the players don't need any access to the monsters or any of your behind the scenes work. That holds true for both inperson and virtual games. Ultimately, hold on to your original (and vastly superior) hard copies. The other question I have is if you allow your table to use anything from Tasha's and onward.
Ultimately, when 6e comes out, a lot of the books may drop in price as the used book market is flooded with copies of now redundant books. OR...6e may prove to be a dud, and those books increase in value, as they are considered better than the new stuff. I don' know what outcome will happen.
Oh I can’t bring myself to mark up my books. Annotating digital (in whatever app you like) is easy enough if you have the base stat block digitally already. Embedding online stat blocks is actually a simple keystroke if you have the link as you are typing your notes (in say Obsidian or Notion, which I am slowly migrating to since OneNote has kind of fallen behind.)
Oh I can’t bring myself to mark up my books. Annotating digital (in whatever app you like) is easy enough if you have the base stat block digitally already. Embedding online stat blocks is actually a simple keystroke if you have the link as you are typing your notes (in say Obsidian or Notion, which I am slowly migrating to since OneNote has kind of fallen behind.)
Yes I am allowing my players to use Tasha’s.
I can't remember the link, and it was not perfect, but there is a website out there that allows you to input stats and features into a template, and it spits out a NPC/monster in a .png format that looks just like something out of the MM or Volos. Is it worth additional time and effort? Unlikely. But it does look good, and you can certainly create a digital image from it.
I tried copying/embedding a .png I created for a brand new monster using the tool, but I don't think the system allows it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hello, is there any way at all to get the digital versions of Volo's Guide to Monsters or Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes on DDB? I own hardcopies of both those older 'legacy' books and the newer Monsters of the Multiverse, but am new to DDB, so by default it seems I can only buy MotM on DDB's store.
Both myself and my players place a high degree of value on in-world consistency and PCs/NPCs following the same rules as much as is feasible, so the new stat blocks with the 'non-spell' spell abilities and non-spell slot recharge spells, are just a total no-go. I want to use the old stat blocks from VGtM and MToF, and if I have to manually enter them in DDB... well that kind of defeats the whole point of spending hundreds of dollars to re-buy the digital stuff and run notes/compendium/etc through DDB...
Is there any solution to this?
Not any more. They're no longer purchasable on here.
You can use homebrew tools to recreate character options and just use your hardcopy for the lore/etc.
Will add that a lot of the content was reprinted in Mordenkainen's Multiverse of Monsters, with slight changes.
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.
Ah that sucks, thanks though. I experimented earlier with homebrewing to re-create a pre-MotM Duergar for example, and it was not a pleasant experience—can't imagine doing that for each NPC stat block where I want the pre-MotM version. Will have to find another solution instead of using DDB.
There is content sharing as a potential solution.
If someone that bought the books before they became unavailable, then they still have access to them.
If someone with the content you are looking for is in the same campaign, and content sharing is enabled, you will have access to it as long as they are part of the campaign, and content sharing is on.
The only real caveat other than the player with the content is you have to build the character in the campaign.
There are a few other limitations, but it may be an option if you would like access to those books.
Not sure hoe it works for making NPC's, monsters...
I am pretty sure the DM has to own the maps to use them in the maps tool, so there may be limitations for some of what you want access to and what sharing will allow, though I'm not 100% sure.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
The Homebrewers subforum has plenty of folk willing to help you out with a homebrewing project. There's a learning curve, but with some community support you should build proficiency with the system pretty quickly.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
If you're in a campaign with shared content turned on and someone owns these books, you can see the stat blocks in the compendium and make a private homebrew version of it, but you'll have to start from scratch. Only the owner of the content can use those stat blocks as a template, letting them quickly make a private homebrew copy of it.
The same goes for backgrounds, feats, magic items, races, spells, and subclasses.
How to: Replace DEX in AC | Jump & Suffocation stats | Spell & class effect buff system | Wild Shape effect system | Tool Proficiencies as Custom Skills | Spells at higher levels explained | Superior Fighting/Martial Adept Fix | Snippet Codes Explored - Subclasses | Snippet Math Theory | Homebrew Weapons Explained
My: FEATS | MAGIC ITEMS | MONSTERS | SUBCLASSES Artificer Specialist: Weaveblade
Dndbeyond images not loading WORKAROUND FIXED!!! (TY Jay_Lane for original instructions)
You are in a bind, as is anyone who purchased the hard copies in good faith. I too own the hard copies of those books, and find the new Mord's to be watered down. The question I have is are you the DM? If so, I do not understand why you need to input the NPC stats into DBB. What is the purpose? As the DM, I typically have either my hard copy open or a printed sheet if I have modified NPC stats.
I am also very curious to see how wotc plans on handling this same issue when 6e comes out and players who are using PC's built on 5e PHB hard copies, or new post 6e release players that join an existing 5e campaign, that is NOT changing to 6e.
I agree, wonder what happens if the new books don't sell as well as they plan?
Between creating no need to "upgrade" as everything is gonna "just work together" and watered down races that you can paint any way you want coupled with the economy. I think it is gonna be a hard market for the "new" rules.
I hope I am wrong as if it doesn't meet sales expectations they may try more forceful methods to sell the books.
That is just me, and I look forward to see how it plays out.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
Imagine this scenario:
There is a in-person group running an existing campaign.
It is, I dunno, Nov 2024. (Crawford admitted last week that no way is May 21 happening) Let's say that 6e's PHB has been released, and is available on DBB.
Half the existing group has their 5e chars built via DBB because they bought the 5e PHB (and/or other source book) on DBB. But the other half has used their hard copies and don't even have a DBB account.
Now that 6e is released 5e has been "legacied" as all the other books have been. The half of the group that bought the 5e PHB via DBB should still be OK to access their 5e build. And the other half that have the hard copies of 5e are still good. But now a new player new to D&D (not DnD) is added to the group. That player cannot create a 5e PC that meshes in the existing campaign, unless the in-person players lend the hard copies to the player.
So what I have described is actually a fairly trivial problem. But throw in a few potential wrinkles.
a. The game is over the internet, and the new player cannot borrow hard copies of the 5e books.
b. DBB has decided to jack the sub rates, and the players who have been paying a modest sub fee to access their 5e PC's are balking at paying the higher sub rate just to access their old builds, and instead want to play an OP 6e build in the 5e campaign.
Hello, yes I am the DM. The purpose of having the NPC stats in DDB is to make my life easier when prepping—being able to search and compare quickly, compared to flipping through hardcover—and to paste the (potentially modified) stat blocks directly into my notes.
In the past, before many online tools existed, I took photos of the MM stat block, pasted them into my notes in OneNote and annotated them if necessary, and printed those off for the session. Obviously the grayscale didn’t always play so well with colourful backgrounds! For my upcoming campaign I intend to run my notes directly off my laptop display without printing them, but I still intend to either embed/inline stat blocks, or at least hyperlink them with a mouseover popup preview. I’ve tested this to work fine with DDB database entries, but obviously that becomes laborious if I have to manually homebrew too many! I already have enough darn prep to do, and I’d rather spend that time fleshing out the world or making sick maps!
That said, it may only average one or two stat blocks per session in practice, so not that bad to import and modify from MotM on DDB. All the same, I’ve started looking at alternatives to DDB altogether. Losing auto-managed character sheets and easy mode character generation sucks, but $400ish in sources I already own + subscription is a lot for that convenience alone, paired with so many restrictions.
That sounds like an awful lot of work. I would propose simply using notepad or wordpad and then print those off, if you plan on modifying NPC/monster builds. Or physically mark the changes in your hard copies. As the DM, the players don't need any access to the monsters or any of your behind the scenes work. That holds true for both inperson and virtual games. Ultimately, hold on to your original (and vastly superior) hard copies. The other question I have is if you allow your table to use anything from Tasha's and onward.
Ultimately, when 6e comes out, a lot of the books may drop in price as the used book market is flooded with copies of now redundant books. OR...6e may prove to be a dud, and those books increase in value, as they are considered better than the new stuff. I don' know what outcome will happen.
Oh I can’t bring myself to mark up my books. Annotating digital (in whatever app you like) is easy enough if you have the base stat block digitally already. Embedding online stat blocks is actually a simple keystroke if you have the link as you are typing your notes (in say Obsidian or Notion, which I am slowly migrating to since OneNote has kind of fallen behind.)
Yes I am allowing my players to use Tasha’s.
I can't remember the link, and it was not perfect, but there is a website out there that allows you to input stats and features into a template, and it spits out a NPC/monster in a .png format that looks just like something out of the MM or Volos. Is it worth additional time and effort? Unlikely. But it does look good, and you can certainly create a digital image from it.
I tried copying/embedding a .png I created for a brand new monster using the tool, but I don't think the system allows it.