DnD Beyond Reddit AMA - 2026-May-08

Another recap of what I found interesting in the recent AMA.

Full AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/dndbeyond/comments/1t6f0pe/comment/oko3266/?context=1

Make content drops shareable via master tier!

WOTC_BrianPerry: We need to pay the great designers, artists, and developers working on D&D Beyond Drops. We also really think it's important to make the entire subscriber content library accessible to Hero Tier subscribers (as well as Master Tier). Not making Drops content eligible for content sharing was a necessary tradeoff to hit these goals.

With that said, I hear and really appreciate the feedback on being able to share Drops content with players in your group that don't have the disposable income for a Hero Tier subscription. The team is taking another look at the tradeoffs and considering other solutions.

The player options honestly should be sharable via the master tier sub.

WOTC_BrianPerry: Good distinction on player options vs DM options. Something we will think about!

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndbeyond/comments/1t6f0pe/comment/oknv5bi/

Can we please have a "sort by release date" and "not owned" Categories in the Library?

WOTC_BrianPerry: 

Thanks for the feedback! On the library with do have Owned, Owned+Shared, Favorited, and All categories. To be clear as you saying you also want a Not Owned category?

Heard on the desire to content share your subscriber benefits. I'll post what I posted to someone else who asked this question: We need to pay the great designers, artists, and developers working on D&D Beyond Drops. We also really think it's important to make the entire subscriber content library accessible to Hero Tier subscribers (as well as Master Tier). Not making Drops content eligible for content sharing was a necessary tradeoff to hit these goals.

With that said, we hear and really appreciate the feedback on being able to share Drops content with players in your group that don't have the disposable income for a Hero Tier subscription. The team is taking another look at the tradeoffs and considering other solutions.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndbeyond/comments/1t6f0pe/comment/oknxozm/

The Game Engine Rebuild was mentioned a lot in the last AMA. There was a post about what are pain points. What I'm wondering is how well those pain points will be addressed, for things like conditions, features and spells actually affecting the character sheet.

WOTC_BrianPerry: Over time the new game platform should address those pain points. Conditions are an early consideration. The team is starting to see good progress here, but game platform rebuilds do take a while.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndbeyond/comments/1t6f0pe/comment/oko3266/

Are there any plans to improve the Encounter Builder, not the one in Maps?

WOTC_BrianPerry: u/WOTC_Zac and team have some things planned!

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndbeyond/comments/1t6f0pe/comment/oko91hv/

What character options can we expect from this drops system? Subclasses or species that wouldn’t fit a mainline book and/or are commonly requested, or more simple things like spells, magic items, feats, backgrounds etc

GrandPyromania: It'll be a combination of everything you described. We're definitely paying attention to what folks want (and don't want) to see, but generally, we're looking at providing a variety of player options each month (though not as much as we launched yesterday).

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndbeyond/comments/1t6f0pe/comment/oknxrgn/

Will we ever get the ability to make custom classes on DDB, I ask as over the last year we have had several third party content that added new classes, It would awesome if we as consumers could make our own, even if they can't be shared with the community.

WOTC_BrianPerry: We plan to revamp homebrew tools once we have made good progress on our game platform rebuild. When we get to that point, we will talk a lot more with homebrewers about what they want to see. It's a bit too early to commit to if we will or won't ever tackle custom class making tools.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndbeyond/comments/1t6f0pe/comment/oknzp6f/

How physical players without DDB subscription who prefer books and pen & paper can enjoy the drops?
Is there a one time purchase option? What about a bundle once enough of them are released?

WOTC_BrianPerry: Play around the physical table is very important to us! Definitely something we are considering in the future. The physical TTRPG print process (which I was working on before D&D Beyond) is a tricky one to work with for getting things quickly in player's hands. So, for now we're sticking with Drops content releasing digitally on D&D Beyond.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndbeyond/comments/1t6f0pe/comment/oko284z/

Will the content drops be themed to the main book release seasons (Season of Magic, Season of Champions, etc.)?

GrandPyromania Our current plan isn't to be completely beholden to the existing seasons. It's really important for us to provide evergreen content to folks regardless of the current season. As an example - we're currently in the Season of Horror, but not all groups run Horror games, so we also want to ensure we're providing content to the folks that may not be as interested in the current season. That said - you'll definitely see some thematic tie-ins as time goes on!

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndbeyond/comments/1t6f0pe/comment/okoclh3/

I am a dm and like to create my own homebrew monsters. I use my iPad and phone to look at statblocks, and would love for them to all be in the same place

WOTC_BrianPerry: We'll think about that and if there's anything we can do there before we rebuild our homebrew tools with the game platform rebuild.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndbeyond/comments/1t6f0pe/comment/okpcu4g/

Will we get more detailed encounters than just "Here's a map with tokens on it"?

GrandPyromania: Yes! One of the things we're excited about later this year is Storied Encounters - which are more about giving details, story, and troubleshooting steps to the weekly encounters. It'll take us a bit of time to get there, but it's top of mind for me. One of our (many) goals is to make this an easy on-ramp for players to try DMing (hence why the DM options are also available to Hero-tier subscriptions). It'll take us a little bit of time to get there though.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndbeyond/comments/1t6f0pe/comment/oko30gh/

Note: These are the ones I found interesting and though worth posting.  This is NOT the entire AMA.

Some interesting answers here - agree the ones above are probably the most interesting based on a quick skim of the rest of the content.

Surprised I did not see anyone asking about an overall of the search system (though I only looked briefly - if I’m wrong, someone please met me know!).  Truly, truly the worst part of the site, lacking basic, common sense functionality like excluding terms or the ability to search within the text of content when in a specific database (like the spells one), rather than just searching name.  This is the feature I am most interested in seeing changed and would love to get more information on what is planned.

As usual Perringaiden thank you for delving into the website where mere mortals like me fear to tread. 

I agree there’s some interesting answers there. The fact home brew classes isn’t a guarantee will upset a lot of people but they’re not ruled it out entirely which is promising. It also sounds like the roll out of Drops is still very much a moving target and they’ll be responding to how people react to fine tune it. Who knows, maybe we will end up in a situation where the player facing stuff can be shared even if the DM stuff isn’t but at the same time from various interviews I’ve seen on YouTube it sounds like the Drops team is separate from the regular design team so they’ll be pointing to subscription numbers to justify their existence. 

On a related note it’s nice to see the new powers that be continuing to reach out to the community and try to get better at communication. This is the second AMA in two months and we’ve had another flurry of interviews with various Dungeon tubers about Drops and the future of that. It’s a big improvement over years of blank stone walls 

Quote from Caerwyn_Glyndwr >>

Some interesting answers here - agree the ones above are probably the most interesting based on a quick skim of the rest of the content.

Surprised I did not see anyone asking about an overall of the search system (though I only looked briefly - if I’m wrong, someone please met me know!).  Truly, truly the worst part of the site, lacking basic, common sense functionality like excluding terms or the ability to search within the text of content when in a specific database (like the spells one), rather than just searching name.  This is the feature I am most interested in seeing changed and would love to get more information on what is planned.

They said it's being looked in to as part of the redesign, but nothing more was said than that.

Quote from CunningSmile >>

I agree there’s some interesting answers there. The fact home brew classes isn’t a guarantee will upset a lot of people but they’re not ruled it out entirely which is promising. It also sounds like the roll out of Drops is still very much a moving target and they’ll be responding to how people react to fine tune it. Who knows, maybe we will end up in a situation where the player facing stuff can be shared even if the DM stuff isn’t but at the same time from various interviews I’ve seen on YouTube it sounds like the Drops team is separate from the regular design team so they’ll be pointing to subscription numbers to justify their existence. 

 I think that's more of a "We can't commit right now, because we don't know how flexible we can make what we expose to users."  Classes generally have some "special mechanic" that requires a separate chunk of code.  If they make it flexible enough, we may be able to build that using tools, but I guess they don't want to say "Yes, definitely" before they know they can.

Quote from CunningSmile >>

 

On a related note it’s nice to see the new powers that be continuing to reach out to the community and try to get better at communication. This is the second AMA in two months and we’ve had another flurry of interviews with various Dungeon tubers about Drops and the future of that. It’s a big improvement over years of blank stone walls 

 It really feels like the D&D Beyond team have become more excited with new people moving into positions of leadership, both within the D&D Beyond team, and the greater D&D Franchise.  

Yikes, drops are a nightmare for people who prefer to actually own products.

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

Yikes, drops are a nightmare for people who prefer to actually own products.

 "I don't want to have a thing that they're giving to people for no extra charge" is the hot take of the day.

If you want to own content, buy physical books and use paper sheets.  Nothing about this announcement changes that, yet you have to find negatives.

If you could tell me where I can purchase a physical copy of Astarion's Book of Hunger or Cthulhu by Torchlight and maybe you'd have a point. There's a reason they are not available.

It's not a conspiracy to note that Hasbro is trying to hook folks on D&D Beyond so they can treat D&D as a digital service. That strategy makes business sense, but it is lousy for consumers who want to own products outright—and specifically, those who prefer physical media over digital.

Dismiss me if you want, but this is a legitimate concern.

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

If you could tell me where I can purchase a physical copy of Astarion's Book of Hunger or Cthulhu by Torchlight and maybe you'd have a point. There's a reason they are not available.

It's not a conspiracy to note that Hasbro is trying to hook folks on D&D Beyond so they can treat D&D as a digital service. That strategy makes business sense, but it is lousy for consumers who want to own products outright—and specifically, those who prefer physical media over digital.

Dismiss me if you want, but this is a legitimate concern.

 Astarion's stuff is coming in the upcoming Ravenloft book, & WotC doesn't make Cthulhu by Torchlight.

A better set of examples would have been Nethteril's Fall, Lorwyn-Shadowmoor & the Eldraine Monster Compendium, which are not only owned by Hasbro owning WotC, but do not have ANY physical release.

Quote from MaedraDawnkeeper >>

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

If you could tell me where I can purchase a physical copy of Astarion's Book of Hunger or Cthulhu by Torchlight and maybe you'd have a point. There's a reason they are not available.

It's not a conspiracy to note that Hasbro is trying to hook folks on D&D Beyond so they can treat D&D as a digital service. That strategy makes business sense, but it is lousy for consumers who want to own products outright—and specifically, those who prefer physical media over digital.

Dismiss me if you want, but this is a legitimate concern.

 Astarion's stuff is coming in the upcoming Ravenloft book, & WotC doesn't make Cthulhu by Torchlight.

A better set of examples would have been Nethteril's Fall, Lorwyn-Shadowmoor & the Eldraine Monster Compendium, which are not only owned by Hasbro owning WotC, but do not have ANY physical release.

 
Oh I had no clue about the Asterion x Ravenloft thing. That's good to know. 

At the end of the day I don't even care if there are digital-only products so long as there is a pdf copy I can print out.

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

If you could tell me where I can purchase a physical copy of Astarion's Book of Hunger or Cthulhu by Torchlight and maybe you'd have a point. There's a reason they are not available.

It's not a conspiracy to note that Hasbro is trying to hook folks on D&D Beyond so they can treat D&D as a digital service. That strategy makes business sense, but it is lousy for consumers who want to own products outright—and specifically, those who prefer physical media over digital.

Dismiss me if you want, but this is a legitimate concern.

If Chaosium chose not to publish Cthulu by Torchlight on their own store, you should take that up with them.

And you do not have to have every book.  If you don't like the format, don't buy it.  You're exhibiting extreme levels of FOMO in your arguments, in a game where there is so much homebrew content no-one could ever use even a fraction of it.

Reminder, you're on D&D Beyond.  Physical books are sold separately by the parent company.  This is a pure digital platform that happens to have an attached marketplace where you can also put in orders with the parent company.  It's literally the online-digital-website part of the ecosphere.

Fair point on the examples, as Maedra noted. I didn't realize Chaosium was the primary publisher. That said, it doesn't change the core issue.

You're right that I don't need every book. But my concern isn't about FOMO or collecting. It's about ownership and access. Moving toward digital-only distribution isn't a conspiracy; it's a business strategy that creates platform dependence. If Beyond were to shut down, change licensing terms, or restrict access, there'd be no fallback.

Two simple measures could ease this concern: (1) guaranteed pdf availability independent of the platform, or (2) a commitment to indefinite physical publication. Until those exist, each step toward digital exclusivity remains a legitimate consumer concern. Not paranoia, just risk assessment.

It's worth noting that labeling these concerns as "extreme" misses the broader context. Digital media degradation isn't hypothetical. It's already happening across industries. The term "enshittification" trending isn't coincidence. It reflects a documented pattern of platforms prioritizing profit over user ownership and access.

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

The term "enshittification" trending isn't coincidence. It reflects a documented pattern of platforms prioritizing profit over user ownership and access.

 
This last sentence is almost insultingly out of place.  The product being sold - D&D Beyond subscriptions - got more features for the same price.  The staff involved explained why they added those features, and how those features being added were based on their own experiences as users, not as Wizards staff.  Finally, as is literally the reason the reason this topic came up on this thread, in AMAs Wizards staff said they are reevaluating this content to better improve the user experience.

Given the utter inapplicability of the term “enshitification” to the factual reality at play here, it looks a lot like you are throwing out buzzwords for the sake of using the buzzword. 

If you want Wizards to make a better user experience, then maybe, as a user, you should not tell them “listen, even when you do something that benefits me, I will complain, throw out inapplicable viral words, and try to spin this into some ‘you are the bad guys for giving us more content at no additional price’ conspiracy.”  Posts like this do not get meaningful change - they just show Wizards that they will lose no matter what they do, so why should they bother trying to make players happy?

We have a brand new team at Wizards - a team that is actively reaching out for feedback in ways the old team did not. Maybe, as a community, we shouldn’t try to discourage that with conspiratorial ramblings?

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

You're right that I don't need every book. But my concern isn't about FOMO or collecting. It's about ownership and access. Moving toward digital-only distribution isn't a conspiracy; it's a business strategy that creates platform dependence.

 

Except Wizards of the Coast is and likely always will be, a publishing house.  Their core sales are in physical books and they have a commitment to support FLGS.  So buy the physical books, and ignore the digital, and they'll realise they can't gate the core content digitally.

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

If Beyond were to shut down, change licensing terms, or restrict access, there'd be no fallback.

Sure, so don't buy digital products.  Buy physical, and never be gated.