For me it depends. I am getting both the digital and physical books for Tomb of Annihilation because of the limitations of the digital adventure when it comes to running the adventure. Xanathar's guide to everything I will just get digitally.
For me I need a physical book for any adventure I run because I add and tweak things, so I make notes and bookmarks to make the adventure run smoothly for me. I am using DDB on an iPad while DMing and I don't feel it is fast enough moving from place to place in the adventure and I can't make notes on the page. If I was not planning to run the adventure then I would just get the digital book.
I've kinda changed my stance for ToA. My original plan was to get the physical first and then get the DDB when I planned on actually running it.
But now I am playing in the campaign first, so I'm going to go ahead and get the digital so my DM doesn't have to buy it since she just bought the book (FLGS prices too). No big deal since I'm getting it eventually anyway. Plus it will be less tempting for me to sneak a peak than if it was sitting in my hands right in front of me.
I'm not sure they will, they aren't my friend's possessions, so I don't think the insurance will cover them.
Not to get too deep in the weeds, but you don't typically have to have an actual list of all your stuff, especially if it was physically present and identifiable during the accident. It's easy to rack up $500-1,000 in random possessions damage during a claim. They shouldn't bat an eye at a couple of specific books -- unless they're the sort of insurance carrier that your friend probably wants to move away from, anyway. There's also a certain element of "you broke it, you bought it" to lending those books to your friend. Finally, if he had an umbrella policy in place, it really doesn't matter because that's the point of an umbrella policy.
I'm not trying to tell you to give your friend a hard time or to screw the insurance company. There was stuff in my claim (we had an upstairs water pipe burst while on a ten day vacation) that we just didn't worry about because the clean-up crew really just saved us a trip to the dump or it was otherwise not worth bothering with. I just don't want you to miss out because of lack of info. This sort of thing is exactly why you get insurance.
I'm not sure they will, they aren't my friend's possessions, so I don't think the insurance will cover them.
Not to get too deep in the weeds, but you don't typically have to have an actual list of all your stuff, especially if it was physically present and identifiable during the accident. It's easy to rack up $500-1,000 in random possessions damage during a claim. They shouldn't bat an eye at a couple of specific books -- unless they're the sort of insurance carrier that your friend probably wants to move away from, anyway. There's also a certain element of "you broke it, you bought it" to lending those books to your friend. Finally, if he had an umbrella policy in place, it really doesn't matter because that's the point of an umbrella policy.
I'm not trying to tell you to give your friend a hard time or to screw the insurance company. There was stuff in my claim (we had an upstairs water pipe burst while on a ten day vacation) that we just didn't worry about because the clean-up crew really just saved us a trip to the dump or it was otherwise not worth bothering with. I just don't want you to miss out because of lack of info. This sort of thing is exactly why you get insurance.
I appreciate the response! :) I'll get with him and get it figured out.
To answer my own question it appears I still want physical books (for now). I picked up the ToA hard copy since I wanted the map and I still like having a phiscal book at the table. The DDB info is still being very useful for prepping and as a supplement at the table.
Still not sure about XGtE. That might be fine as digital only.
To answer my own question it appears I still want physical books (for now). I picked up the ToA hard copy since I wanted the mapand I still like having a phiscal book at the table. The DDB info is still being very useful for prepping and as a supplement at the table.
The poster maps will probably be the only draw, for me. That's the only part of my physical Curse of Strahd I've used since getting the DDB copy. I kinda had it in the back of my head that I'd buy the file from Mike Schley and just have Kinko's print it out for me, but I'm not totally sure what the licensing is. Or the cost, for that matter; it might cost $30 to get the print.
I signed up for the full content (all the rule books and modules, whatever that's called) plus the hero subscription (for infinite character sheets) about a month ago. So far, it's been like my own Mobile feat. Since I travel a fair amount and like to go to AL games and gaming conventions in other cities, I can't just carry around a complete set of the books to every game. So with DDB I can show up with my iPad and have a bunch of tabs open, one for my character, one for spells, one for equipment, one for conditions, one for beast stats (if I'm playing my druid) etc. I still carry my PHB around because that's the core of the core and it's just one book, but I could manage without it. All in all, it works great and lets me bring everything to the table without having to carry everything to the table.
On buying physical books well no more adventures DDB only from now on for them, but I am still debating getting DDB and dead tree on rulebooks. The mobile app will be a big influence i am thinking. As I live in Canada going to a FLGS is making that old butt-hurt. I had a stroke and am going on permanent disability makes my financial future on the poor side.
Since first replying to this topic, I had the chance to run a wizards campaign from a book, and then the same one from dnd beyond. I do believe, Ill only be buying the adventures from dnd beyond henceforth. It is just miles superior to thumbing through a book to find such dynamic references. An offline app (hopefully also coming to the Windows app store) will just seal the deal. If the app supports more than just ios/android, Ill be a legendary bundle owner immediately.
I'm going to buy the books. It's a way to support my local game store. Plus, I like having the online content for reference and for building between sessions, but I like to go all paper during the actual games — I get enough computers the rest of the time!
No. While DDB is a nice time-saver, I'm old school and prefer owning content versus renting it. I still own 1e, 2e, 3e and 4e books and still reference them without worry of internet connection, battery level or licensing. Books to me are the requirement, DDB is something optional still.
Totally, although I like having books. Having said that, they are very expensive where I live due to large shipping cost and tax. Beyond is way cheaper.
I didn't have a huge 5e library before - starter set, printed Basic (and some beta Next materials), and one friend from the group I played in had the core books we used. When I started playing regularly, I decided to wait for Beyond before buying books.
During beta I used DDB as a reference and I liked it, it replaced my Basic PDFs and printouts.
Got the core books and LMoP first once DDB went live. That's when I decided to fully switch to Beyond. Running a LMoP campaign now, which will transfer into SKT - I still use the printed version of LMoP, and lots of tabs on Beyond (on my PC / iPad / phone) when I'm running the game. I find Beyond version to be more usable to me in general. Actually, it was the main driving force for me to get an iPad.
So I got the Legendary bundle and built my two characters from the campaigns I play in. My table decided they liked Beyond, and paid for the Master sub so they could access the content.
I just preordered Xanathar's as well. However, additional adventures will have to wait. I still have years of content to go through from Legendary. Can't wait for the app, and I don't think I'll buy the physical 5e book ever again.
I love the concept of DDB, but I already have all the core books. I'm not willing to spend another chunk of cash to get the same information just to b in a little more convenient format. I'll still use the forums and if the time comes I win the lottery and can afford it I might jump on the band wagon.
One year later...
All content unlocked, top tier subscription. I love having some of the books physically, but other than the core books.. I love DNDBeyond. I'll never go back to pure pen and paper. DnDBeyond is sooo well put together and a huge ingame time saver.
DDB made my physical books have value. There was too much going back and forth and I always got mixed up. DDB helped me make sense of what applies when and how. DDB isn't always available to me, but without it, even 5e would have been beyond my understanding. (I'm a simple person.) When I can't use DDB for whatever reason, I can use the books now because of DDB.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
I love DDB, and it is my primary place to go for gaming. I like carrying my laptop to the games instead of tons of books. And nothing compares to the character sheet on DDB. But I started playing RPGs when I was really young, and I gave away all my books and games when I hit my 20s. Biggest mistake ever. I miss my BattleTech, James Bond, Car Wars, Robotech, all the games. So I'm buying all the books as well so I can have them. I still like to read through the physical book, and view the artwork. I'm fortunate enough that I can do both, and I plan to get all the books...in both digital and physical. The great thing is that they will be in good shape forever because I'm not schlepping them everywhere.
So yeah, after two years, I was very wrong about how I planned to use DDB. The last physical book I bought was MToF. I do want to complete the set eventually, but DDB is the primary place I get books just for the increased functionality.
That being said, one downside to using DDB as opposed to physical books is that I feel like letting this site do all the work for new players does kind of stunt their greater understanding of the game mechanics. I think having a player sit down with a real book and a notepad and a pencil to build their character helps them know why their stats work the way they do, whereas letting them set and forget a digital sheet makes it more like a magic they don't have to understand.
That being said, I'm not getting rid of DDB. It's just way too sweet. But I do think there's some value in a more "purist" approach as well. When I start my next campaign, I may force my players to use paper sheets for the first few levels, and then migrate into DDB once there's more to manage.
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For me it depends. I am getting both the digital and physical books for Tomb of Annihilation because of the limitations of the digital adventure when it comes to running the adventure. Xanathar's guide to everything I will just get digitally.
For me I need a physical book for any adventure I run because I add and tweak things, so I make notes and bookmarks to make the adventure run smoothly for me. I am using DDB on an iPad while DMing and I don't feel it is fast enough moving from place to place in the adventure and I can't make notes on the page. If I was not planning to run the adventure then I would just get the digital book.
I've kinda changed my stance for ToA. My original plan was to get the physical first and then get the DDB when I planned on actually running it.
But now I am playing in the campaign first, so I'm going to go ahead and get the digital so my DM doesn't have to buy it since she just bought the book (FLGS prices too). No big deal since I'm getting it eventually anyway. Plus it will be less tempting for me to sneak a peak than if it was sitting in my hands right in front of me.
To answer my own question it appears I still want physical books (for now). I picked up the ToA hard copy since I wanted the map and I still like having a phiscal book at the table. The DDB info is still being very useful for prepping and as a supplement at the table.
Still not sure about XGtE. That might be fine as digital only.
Can't you just use the digital map as the file to print?
I signed up for the full content (all the rule books and modules, whatever that's called) plus the hero subscription (for infinite character sheets) about a month ago. So far, it's been like my own Mobile feat. Since I travel a fair amount and like to go to AL games and gaming conventions in other cities, I can't just carry around a complete set of the books to every game. So with DDB I can show up with my iPad and have a bunch of tabs open, one for my character, one for spells, one for equipment, one for conditions, one for beast stats (if I'm playing my druid) etc. I still carry my PHB around because that's the core of the core and it's just one book, but I could manage without it. All in all, it works great and lets me bring everything to the table without having to carry everything to the table.
On buying physical books well no more adventures DDB only from now on for them, but I am still debating getting DDB and dead tree on rulebooks. The mobile app will be a big influence i am thinking. As I live in Canada going to a FLGS is making that old butt-hurt. I had a stroke and am going on permanent disability makes my financial future on the poor side.
Since first replying to this topic, I had the chance to run a wizards campaign from a book, and then the same one from dnd beyond. I do believe, Ill only be buying the adventures from dnd beyond henceforth. It is just miles superior to thumbing through a book to find such dynamic references. An offline app (hopefully also coming to the Windows app store) will just seal the deal. If the app supports more than just ios/android, Ill be a legendary bundle owner immediately.
I'm going to buy the books. It's a way to support my local game store. Plus, I like having the online content for reference and for building between sessions, but I like to go all paper during the actual games — I get enough computers the rest of the time!
No. While DDB is a nice time-saver, I'm old school and prefer owning content versus renting it. I still own 1e, 2e, 3e and 4e books and still reference them without worry of internet connection, battery level or licensing. Books to me are the requirement, DDB is something optional still.
Totally, although I like having books. Having said that, they are very expensive where I live due to large shipping cost and tax. Beyond is way cheaper.
I didn't have a huge 5e library before - starter set, printed Basic (and some beta Next materials), and one friend from the group I played in had the core books we used. When I started playing regularly, I decided to wait for Beyond before buying books.
During beta I used DDB as a reference and I liked it, it replaced my Basic PDFs and printouts.
Got the core books and LMoP first once DDB went live. That's when I decided to fully switch to Beyond. Running a LMoP campaign now, which will transfer into SKT - I still use the printed version of LMoP, and lots of tabs on Beyond (on my PC / iPad / phone) when I'm running the game. I find Beyond version to be more usable to me in general. Actually, it was the main driving force for me to get an iPad.
So I got the Legendary bundle and built my two characters from the campaigns I play in. My table decided they liked Beyond, and paid for the Master sub so they could access the content.
I just preordered Xanathar's as well. However, additional adventures will have to wait. I still have years of content to go through from Legendary. Can't wait for the app, and I don't think I'll buy the physical 5e book ever again.
One year later...
All content unlocked, top tier subscription. I love having some of the books physically, but other than the core books.. I love DNDBeyond. I'll never go back to pure pen and paper. DnDBeyond is sooo well put together and a huge ingame time saver.
Thank you DNDBeyond!
Koix! The Kobold was here!
Just wait for what we have planned for the next year or two! 😎
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If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
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DDB made my physical books have value. There was too much going back and forth and I always got mixed up. DDB helped me make sense of what applies when and how. DDB isn't always available to me, but without it, even 5e would have been beyond my understanding. (I'm a simple person.) When I can't use DDB for whatever reason, I can use the books now because of DDB.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Can't wait to see what is planned. This is a fantastic site.
I love DDB, and it is my primary place to go for gaming. I like carrying my laptop to the games instead of tons of books. And nothing compares to the character sheet on DDB. But I started playing RPGs when I was really young, and I gave away all my books and games when I hit my 20s. Biggest mistake ever. I miss my BattleTech, James Bond, Car Wars, Robotech, all the games. So I'm buying all the books as well so I can have them. I still like to read through the physical book, and view the artwork. I'm fortunate enough that I can do both, and I plan to get all the books...in both digital and physical. The great thing is that they will be in good shape forever because I'm not schlepping them everywhere.
So yeah, after two years, I was very wrong about how I planned to use DDB. The last physical book I bought was MToF. I do want to complete the set eventually, but DDB is the primary place I get books just for the increased functionality.
That being said, one downside to using DDB as opposed to physical books is that I feel like letting this site do all the work for new players does kind of stunt their greater understanding of the game mechanics. I think having a player sit down with a real book and a notepad and a pencil to build their character helps them know why their stats work the way they do, whereas letting them set and forget a digital sheet makes it more like a magic they don't have to understand.
That being said, I'm not getting rid of DDB. It's just way too sweet. But I do think there's some value in a more "purist" approach as well. When I start my next campaign, I may force my players to use paper sheets for the first few levels, and then migrate into DDB once there's more to manage.