Analog DM here who understands the DDB business model - i.e. this is *not* a "why do I have to buy the books again" question. I have all the books I need and that's cool. *BUT* I have some new players who have only ever used DDB. My campaign uses homebrew setting-specific backgrounds. I've got no issue with entering those into DDB. Ditto for homebrew magic items, or my homebrew subclass should any of these new folks want to try it. I'm just trying to get my arms around what it's going to cost my crusty analog self to accommodate new players' digital preference. So here are my questions:
If a player wants to play an Artificer and I send them the link to join the campaign, do I need to buy Artificer so they can create a character with one of my homebrew backgrounds? Or if they have their own account and have already paid for Artificer, can they access my backgrounds in their account? Same scenario for characters that use spells from Xanathar's or a race from Volo's or.acquire one of my homebrew magic items...
In other words, for them to make the characters they want and for me to have access to them, can they do it in their accounts with my homebrew content and print out the character sheets for me? Or do I need to buy the non-SRD features they want, so they can create the characters in my campaign on my account? Or is there some other slick solution I've missed entirely?
As with most things, you have a choice to put in effort or money.
If you are an analog DM, who just wants to accommodate your players, you can also have them front the costs/effort.
In any campaign on DnDbeyond, you share all homebrew content each of the participants has. So if you create a homebrew background, each player in the campaign can access it. You can also recreate any content from the books as homebrew on DnDbeyond, which would then be automatically shared within the campaign.
You can also share the digitally owned content any player has unlocked. However, *one* of the campaign members must have a Master Tier subscription and enable Content Sharing. It is worth repeating that *any* of the members can do this, not just the DM.
If your players are digital natives, it is possible that they already own DnDbeyond content, or even have a subscription.
If they want to use options from another book, and they have them unlocked on their account, they can do that! So if they want to play an Artificer, and they have purchased either that class or the whole Eberron book, they can make an artificer, no problem. To use your homebrew, you’ll have to create a campaign in DDB and have them add their characters to that campaign. That will give them access to all of your homebrew creations, including magic items, backgrounds, etc. I don’t believe this requires the Master Subscription, though maybe someone can confirm that. The only thing you need a Master Sub for is sharing content from the books. So as long as your players are in a campaign that you’ve created for them, and they have the options they want unlocked on their own personal accounts, you should be good to go!
As with most things, you have a choice to put in effort or money.
If you are an analog DM, who just wants to accommodate your players, you can also have them front the costs/effort.
In any campaign on DnDbeyond, you share all homebrew content each of the participants has. So if you create a homebrew background, each player in the campaign can access it. You can also recreate any content from the books as homebrew on DnDbeyond, which would then be automatically shared within the campaign.
You can also share the digitally owned content any player has unlocked. However, *one* of the campaign members must have a Master Tier subscription and enable Content Sharing. It is worth repeating that *any* of the members can do this, not just the DM.
If your players are digital natives, it is possible that they already own DnDbeyond content, or even have a subscription.
You also don't need the Master Tier, nor to share content, if you want printed character sheets.
Each player can use the content they own for their own characters. They will be visible and accessible in the campaign.
So if one player owns the Artificer content, they can create an Artificer, use your homebrew backgrounds, and you can see it in the campaign, and they can print it for you. If another player wanted to also create an Artificer, they either also need to own that content, *or* you recreate it as homebrew, *or* you activate sharing content via Master Tier subscription.
As DnDbeyond offers to purchase individual classes, backgrounds, races, and so on, your players can also just get the option they play, mix and match with homebrew, and print & play.
To reiterate, and to offer a simple reply to your core question, given your use case, DDB won’t cost you anything at all, aside from the time to enter the homebrew items you want the players to be able to access.
Furthermore, even if the players want to share (purchased/official) content, you don’t have to be the one with a Master Tier subscription. One of them could purchase it and share content with the campaign.
For you to see the character sheets, you do need to be the one to create the campaign, but this is something you can do for free.
Analog DM here who understands the DDB business model - i.e. this is *not* a "why do I have to buy the books again" question. I have all the books I need and that's cool. *BUT* I have some new players who have only ever used DDB. My campaign uses homebrew setting-specific backgrounds. I've got no issue with entering those into DDB. Ditto for homebrew magic items, or my homebrew subclass should any of these new folks want to try it. I'm just trying to get my arms around what it's going to cost my crusty analog self to accommodate new players' digital preference. So here are my questions:
If a player wants to play an Artificer and I send them the link to join the campaign, do I need to buy Artificer so they can create a character with one of my homebrew backgrounds? Or if they have their own account and have already paid for Artificer, can they access my backgrounds in their account? Same scenario for characters that use spells from Xanathar's or a race from Volo's or.acquire one of my homebrew magic items...
In other words, for them to make the characters they want and for me to have access to them, can they do it in their accounts with my homebrew content and print out the character sheets for me? Or do I need to buy the non-SRD features they want, so they can create the characters in my campaign on my account? Or is there some other slick solution I've missed entirely?
As with most things, you have a choice to put in effort or money.
If you are an analog DM, who just wants to accommodate your players, you can also have them front the costs/effort.
In any campaign on DnDbeyond, you share all homebrew content each of the participants has. So if you create a homebrew background, each player in the campaign can access it. You can also recreate any content from the books as homebrew on DnDbeyond, which would then be automatically shared within the campaign.
You can also share the digitally owned content any player has unlocked. However, *one* of the campaign members must have a Master Tier subscription and enable Content Sharing. It is worth repeating that *any* of the members can do this, not just the DM.
If your players are digital natives, it is possible that they already own DnDbeyond content, or even have a subscription.
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
If they want to use options from another book, and they have them unlocked on their account, they can do that! So if they want to play an Artificer, and they have purchased either that class or the whole Eberron book, they can make an artificer, no problem.
To use your homebrew, you’ll have to create a campaign in DDB and have them add their characters to that campaign. That will give them access to all of your homebrew creations, including magic items, backgrounds, etc. I don’t believe this requires the Master Subscription, though maybe someone can confirm that. The only thing you need a Master Sub for is sharing content from the books.
So as long as your players are in a campaign that you’ve created for them, and they have the options they want unlocked on their own personal accounts, you should be good to go!
You also don't need the Master Tier, nor to share content, if you want printed character sheets.
Each player can use the content they own for their own characters. They will be visible and accessible in the campaign.
So if one player owns the Artificer content, they can create an Artificer, use your homebrew backgrounds, and you can see it in the campaign, and they can print it for you. If another player wanted to also create an Artificer, they either also need to own that content, *or* you recreate it as homebrew, *or* you activate sharing content via Master Tier subscription.
As DnDbeyond offers to purchase individual classes, backgrounds, races, and so on, your players can also just get the option they play, mix and match with homebrew, and print & play.
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
To reiterate, and to offer a simple reply to your core question, given your use case, DDB won’t cost you anything at all, aside from the time to enter the homebrew items you want the players to be able to access.
Furthermore, even if the players want to share (purchased/official) content, you don’t have to be the one with a Master Tier subscription. One of them could purchase it and share content with the campaign.
For you to see the character sheets, you do need to be the one to create the campaign, but this is something you can do for free.
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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Awesome! Thanks everyone.