Just use dicecloud.com if you want to play anything other than a straight vanilla, by the book character.
It won't always be that way.
Beyond lets you add spells and magic items that aren't in the books.
DiceCloud is a hassle to use.
There's not evidence that this is true. We'll see what the character sheet re-design brings. Hopefully it's just as flexible as DC.
Spells are by the least interesting homebrew and seldom impact how a character's stats are affected. Magic items customization is extremely limited.
DC has a learning curve, but once you get past that, it's really good. All of my players went from not using it, to understanding it quite well in our last campaign. We started a new one, and they had absolutely no issues with it. Could it be better, sure, but the flexibility is second-to-none.
I still use DDB, but just as a book reference. I tried making our characters here... need to see what that sheet re-design brings to the table. Hoping for good things!
Spells are by the least interesting homebrew and seldom impact how a character's stats are affected. Magic items customization is extremely limited.
I will agree that spells are what they are, and if you don't use any custom or extra spells being able to homebrew them is useless to you. However, to say magic item customization is limited is entirely incorrect and I'd recommend you spend more time learning how the system works. You can build items from scratch that should be able to do virtually anything you want them to. Give characters variant movement types, spellcasting abilities, skills, feats and proficiencies - whatever you need. I and many others have used custom magic items to essentially add new races, subraces, subclasses or custom skill sets by giving the PC using the item the desired abilities. You can use charges to mock-up limited uses by short or long rest. It just takes some creativity and asking questions if you can't figure something out.
It's not completely unlimited, no, and I'm sure there are things that you still won't be able to create a reasonable workaround for, but I've found them to be quite flexible and useful so far.
@Koren, I have spent a bunch of time trying to customize items to simulate different homebrew class abilities. Some things work, some don't. As soon as one doesn't work, it's game over. The character sheet cannot be used anymore at that point.
Try and create an item that increases your spell slots, you can't. You can create items that can cast a specific spell a number of times per day. It also looks like you should be able to add spell slots, but the subtype is not populated.
Try and create an item that modifies your spell casting ability, you can't.
Try and create an item that increases the number of spells you can prepare, you can't.
Create base weapon types... the reasoning (in one of the live streams) that was given for not allowing this speaks to a philosophical worry I have about the direction of this toolset and it's future flexibility. I really hope that changes.
Basically, anything to do with spell casting that isn't tied to a specific spell is not supported. I was able to customize a lot of the other more mundane stuff, but this one kept being problematic. Another example, granting access to a set of divine spells from arcane casters requires duplicating the spell and marking it available for that class. Possible, but really annoying.
You can customize a lot of things, so I'll agree that "extremely" may be too strong. However, item customization, with all the drop-down options, is still fairly limited. And really, this is just a hack to try and get certain types of homebrew customizations to be available.
Again, I'm really hoping that the character sheet re-design properly addresses all of these issues. I'd rather use DDB for the character sheet over dicecloud.
Thanks for the follow-up @owensd. As I said, I've been successful creating things that met my needs so far, but certainly haven't tried to do everything and it sounds like you've run into some things that simply can't be done within the current system. I accept that the system is growing and developing and BadEye and his team are doing things as fast as they can with the resources they have. I have faith we'll get everything they've promised in time. I have yet to see them promise to do something specific and then not carry through. I've seen other posts by you that would indicate that you don't have that same degree of faith - fair enough. It may very well be that in the end, DDB simply won't serve your needs and won't have the level of complete customization that you need for your games. I do expect we'll have our homebrew races, subraces and subclasses in due time, even if we aren't happy with how quickly they are coming. Full classes - maybe, maybe not. It sounds to me as if they are unlikely for the foreseeable future and for some that is a deal breaker. <shrugs>
I see them continue to improve DDB week after week and am more than happy with what I can accomplish here, and I know that it will only get better over time, more than exceeding my needs. Hopefully they get to a point where you can do everything you need to also.
DDB is definitely getting better, and I enjoy using it for most things. I'm super hopeful about the character sheet re-design mock ups. If that allows me to tweak every aspect of the character model, I'll be golden. I've already got most of a Chrome extension ready to go for a dice-roller to Discord integration hook, I just need that sheet to be more flexible! :)
The customizations I'm looking for fall out of the area that has been promised. I think the folks at DDB just didn't (or maybe still don't?) realize how much of the D&D community homebrews even basic rules to suit their campaigns.
@Koren, I have spent a bunch of time trying to customize items to simulate different homebrew class abilities. Some things work, some don't. As soon as one doesn't work, it's game over. The character sheet cannot be used anymore at that point.
Try and create an item that increases your spell slots, you can't. You can create items that can cast a specific spell a number of times per day. It also looks like you should be able to add spell slots, but the subtype is not populated.
Try and create an item that modifies your spell casting ability, you can't.
Try and create an item that increases the number of spells you can prepare, you can't.
Create base weapon types... the reasoning (in one of the live streams) that was given for not allowing this speaks to a philosophical worry I have about the direction of this toolset and it's future flexibility. I really hope that changes.
Other than the spellcasting ability one, these seem like really niche or odd requests.
Nothing in the game published thus far changes your spell slots; class features or magic items create new ones on demand. Likewise, nothing thus far changes the number of spells you can prepare. Scrolls, wands, rods, staves and similar magic items already augment your spell selection directly by providing spells you can cast from them. Are you really surprised there's no support for something that's completely unlike typical magic items?
An item that modifies your spellcasting ability would be handled the same way feats like Magic Initiate are currently handled: you'd create a variant of the item for each group of classes that uses a different spellcasting ability.
It sounds like you're trying to make really generic magic items when most of them have a theme or are associated with specific classes.
Creating new weapon types runs counter to 5e's design of streamlining weapon selection. I could see adding 1 or 2 more weapons for a specific setting, but the default equipment list already covers most of the bases. As far as feature priorities go, this would be super low on my list.
@InquisitiveCoder, you seem to not be following the thread. The entire purpose of creating these specific magic items is due to the lack of support for custom classes or subclasses or races, thus to attempt to workaround that, some of us have been creating magic items to simulate it.
Regardless, yes, I am surprised by the lack of customization for characters and classes because every single person I've ever played D&D with over the past 20+ years has never run a completely vanilla game. So yeah, it's weird to me that a tool that's a hub for D&D content is so rigid on the character aspect. So again, I'm really hopeful by the mock-up that was shown for the character sheet re-design because it *looked* like it was addressing a lot of these core customization issues.
Base weapons... some people don't like see "Dagger" or "Light Crossbow" as the weapon type when their setting is not fantasy. But really, why does it matter? My ability to create thematic appropriate base weapons doesn't impact you.
@InquisitiveCoder, you seem to not be following the thread. The entire purpose of creating these specific magic items is due to the lack of support for custom classes or subclasses or races, thus to attempt to workaround that, some of us have been creating magic items to simulate it.
Regardless, yes, I am surprised by the lack of customization for characters and classes because every single person I've ever played D&D with over the past 20+ years has never run a completely vanilla game. So yeah, it's weird to me that a tool that's a hub for D&D content is so rigid on the character aspect. So again, I'm really hopeful by the mock-up that was shown for the character sheet re-design because it *looked* like it was addressing a lot of these core customization issues.
Base weapons... some people don't like see "Dagger" or "Light Crossbow" as the weapon type when their setting is not fantasy. But really, why does it matter? My ability to create thematic appropriate base weapons doesn't impact you.
Be nice or the moderators will get you.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
@InquisitiveCoder, you seem to not be following the thread. The entire purpose of creating these specific magic items is due to the lack of support for custom classes or subclasses or races, thus to attempt to workaround that, some of us have been creating magic items to simulate it.
Regardless, yes, I am surprised by the lack of customization for characters and classes because every single person I've ever played D&D with over the past 20+ years has never run a completely vanilla game. So yeah, it's weird to me that a tool that's a hub for D&D content is so rigid on the character aspect. So again, I'm really hopeful by the mock-up that was shown for the character sheet re-design because it *looked* like it was addressing a lot of these core customization issues.
Base weapons... some people don't like see "Dagger" or "Light Crossbow" as the weapon type when their setting is not fantasy. But really, why does it matter? My ability to create thematic appropriate base weapons doesn't impact you.
Do you think they will realease a playable mystic class on ddb soon?
No. It's been stated that we will not see the current UA Mystic here. If a revised version is ever released as a new UA article, we'll see it at that point. Same goes for the revised ranger and artificer classes.
"Okay, you figure out everything people could possibly do with a full class. I'm sure the Beyond team will be grateful. "
Sounds good to me... I was actually already considering that, being a gamer and a software engineer. There are several features I'd like to see implemented in Beyond D&D, maybe if other gamers/programmers would contribute, we could donate the code for use in Beyond D&D...
Just use dicecloud.com if you want to play anything other than a straight vanilla, by the book character.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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I still use DDB, but just as a book reference. I tried making our characters here... need to see what that sheet re-design brings to the table. Hoping for good things!
@Koren, I have spent a bunch of time trying to customize items to simulate different homebrew class abilities. Some things work, some don't. As soon as one doesn't work, it's game over. The character sheet cannot be used anymore at that point.
Basically, anything to do with spell casting that isn't tied to a specific spell is not supported. I was able to customize a lot of the other more mundane stuff, but this one kept being problematic. Another example, granting access to a set of divine spells from arcane casters requires duplicating the spell and marking it available for that class. Possible, but really annoying.
You can customize a lot of things, so I'll agree that "extremely" may be too strong. However, item customization, with all the drop-down options, is still fairly limited. And really, this is just a hack to try and get certain types of homebrew customizations to be available.
Again, I'm really hoping that the character sheet re-design properly addresses all of these issues. I'd rather use DDB for the character sheet over dicecloud.
Thanks for the follow-up @owensd. As I said, I've been successful creating things that met my needs so far, but certainly haven't tried to do everything and it sounds like you've run into some things that simply can't be done within the current system. I accept that the system is growing and developing and BadEye and his team are doing things as fast as they can with the resources they have. I have faith we'll get everything they've promised in time. I have yet to see them promise to do something specific and then not carry through. I've seen other posts by you that would indicate that you don't have that same degree of faith - fair enough. It may very well be that in the end, DDB simply won't serve your needs and won't have the level of complete customization that you need for your games. I do expect we'll have our homebrew races, subraces and subclasses in due time, even if we aren't happy with how quickly they are coming. Full classes - maybe, maybe not. It sounds to me as if they are unlikely for the foreseeable future and for some that is a deal breaker. <shrugs>
I see them continue to improve DDB week after week and am more than happy with what I can accomplish here, and I know that it will only get better over time, more than exceeding my needs. Hopefully they get to a point where you can do everything you need to also.
DDB is definitely getting better, and I enjoy using it for most things. I'm super hopeful about the character sheet re-design mock ups. If that allows me to tweak every aspect of the character model, I'll be golden. I've already got most of a Chrome extension ready to go for a dice-roller to Discord integration hook, I just need that sheet to be more flexible! :)
The customizations I'm looking for fall out of the area that has been promised. I think the folks at DDB just didn't (or maybe still don't?) realize how much of the D&D community homebrews even basic rules to suit their campaigns.
@InquisitiveCoder, you seem to not be following the thread. The entire purpose of creating these specific magic items is due to the lack of support for custom classes or subclasses or races, thus to attempt to workaround that, some of us have been creating magic items to simulate it.
Regardless, yes, I am surprised by the lack of customization for characters and classes because every single person I've ever played D&D with over the past 20+ years has never run a completely vanilla game. So yeah, it's weird to me that a tool that's a hub for D&D content is so rigid on the character aspect. So again, I'm really hopeful by the mock-up that was shown for the character sheet re-design because it *looked* like it was addressing a lot of these core customization issues.
Base weapons... some people don't like see "Dagger" or "Light Crossbow" as the weapon type when their setting is not fantasy. But really, why does it matter? My ability to create thematic appropriate base weapons doesn't impact you.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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No lol just pointing out that tools exist to do the things people are asking about.
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Do you think they will realease a playable mystic class on ddb soon?
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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Dang ok just hoping it does because I wanna play it so badly
"Okay, you figure out everything people could possibly do with a full class. I'm sure the Beyond team will be grateful. "
Sounds good to me... I was actually already considering that, being a gamer and a software engineer. There are several features I'd like to see implemented in Beyond D&D, maybe if other gamers/programmers would contribute, we could donate the code for use in Beyond D&D...