I bought the gift set a few weeks ago, as well as the starter set. I discovered DND Beyond today and was wondering if I'll need to purchase the same content again to have digital access to everything I already own ?
D&D Beyond is not owned or operated by Wizards of the Coast. There are costs associated with among other things: the preparation in adding a book to D&D Beyond for use, server bandwidth and maintenance, and the feature updates like the encounter builder and campaign management. While these costs are less than what it takes to manufacture a paper book, they are still present, which is why the pricing is much lower than the physical copy (plus there are often discount counts that can reduce this by up to 25%).
Giving away digital access to the books for free would be akin to iTunes giving people free MP3 versions of physical CDs they bought on Amazon.
Edit: and in addition to just having a digital version of the book, there is a lot of other value like
Character creation tools, which drastically cuts down the time needed to make a character
Sortable spell, magic item, monster, etc listings, speeding up the time spend looking for things
The upcoming encounter builder to make it easier to design fights
Reasonably comprehensive homebrew system that is also tied into the creation and listing tools.
It's easier to view it all as a freemium service and it's the price you have to pay for the high-end content on that service. The DRM acts more like an online only video game than some sort of online version of your local game store, which is the category issue a lot of hard cover folks struggle with.
Depending on what you are looking for in online tools and support, you may not need to purchase the entirety of the books. The buyer's guide in my signature lays out several use case scenarios and makes suggestions about what purchases are facilitate that. You also have the possibility of homebrewing almost everything.
Pretty much the title.
I bought the gift set a few weeks ago, as well as the starter set. I discovered DND Beyond today and was wondering if I'll need to purchase the same content again to have digital access to everything I already own ?
Thank you.
The short answer is; yes, everything you would like to access on D&D Beyond that is not already free will require a digital purchase.
What is the long answer ? :D
Is there a way to quickly find out what stuff from the PHB is missing ?
The long answer is a thread somewhere on this forum that is probably a few hundred pages long at this point.
You'll want to see everything listed here for PHB content: https://www.dndbeyond.com/marketplace/source/players-handbook
D&D Beyond is not owned or operated by Wizards of the Coast. There are costs associated with among other things: the preparation in adding a book to D&D Beyond for use, server bandwidth and maintenance, and the feature updates like the encounter builder and campaign management. While these costs are less than what it takes to manufacture a paper book, they are still present, which is why the pricing is much lower than the physical copy (plus there are often discount counts that can reduce this by up to 25%).
Giving away digital access to the books for free would be akin to iTunes giving people free MP3 versions of physical CDs they bought on Amazon.
Edit: and in addition to just having a digital version of the book, there is a lot of other value like
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Long answer: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/general-discussion/6230-d-d-beyond-vs-physical-books-an-explanation
Have a great night!
It's easier to view it all as a freemium service and it's the price you have to pay for the high-end content on that service. The DRM acts more like an online only video game than some sort of online version of your local game store, which is the category issue a lot of hard cover folks struggle with.
Grotesquely disfigured and underappreciated assistant of the Overlord at:
Depending on what you are looking for in online tools and support, you may not need to purchase the entirety of the books. The buyer's guide in my signature lays out several use case scenarios and makes suggestions about what purchases are facilitate that. You also have the possibility of homebrewing almost everything.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
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