On September 25th 2019 Adam Bradford did an Ask Me Anything on our Discord ( https://ddb.ac/discord ), and I'm pleased to present the transcript here for everyone to enjoy. It's been edited to pair questions with answers and remove emotes for easier reading, and is broken into a few parts. This is Part 1, other parts are in the comments!
BadEye: Hey, hey, hey. Let's get this party started. Apologies I'm late, but the sweet tea run took a little longer than anticipated.
Timer: Just to get it out of the way.. Dark mode? BadEye: @Timer -_-
Offspring: AL Validation, Did I miss it? BadEye: @Offspring RE: AL validation - nope, didn't miss it - we're not there yet. It's in the "can almost touch it with our fingertips" of starting phase, but not started yet.
Sabre Runner: Campaign Management section with place to write notes, factions, fronts and adventures using D&D Beyond functionality? BadEye: @Sabre Runner RE: Campaign management additions - we want to do it, haven't been able to focus on it. Would be great if we could integrate some wiki tech into that given our huge wiki footprint. We'll see how it goes.
TheGuest: Could we add unspecified monster (like just selecting a CR and a name) to build an encounter in the encounter builder? It would really help when using 3rd party monsters or NPC (from dmsguild or other). BadEye: @TheGuest I love that actually. An "empty" monster. The ideal solution is integrating third-party monsters eventually, but until I can win that battle, I like your stopgap. We'll see what we can do.
Sabre Runner: Can we have a page collating all the random tables from everything we own? BadEye: @Sabre Runner RE: Random tables compilation - love the idea, something I could see us doing in the future (same with maps).
Krill: Could all the adventures for the Essentials Kit be grouped in the app like the Yawning Portal ones are? Or any plans for custom groupings? BadEye: @Krill RE: Grouping the Essentials extra adventures - how do you mean that specifically? Like they show up on a single page?
(⧖): QUESTION: Is the Abyssal Chicken the Best Familiar? BadEye: @(⧖) RE: Abyssal chicken - that thing freaks me out pretty bad.
Leoincendia: Can there be a way to have tables rolled on? For like random encounters or random treasure from a monster or hoard? BadEye: @Leoincendia Yes, definitely coming. Many things with dice are coming.
Offspring: Do you feel Crocs with Socks is an acceptable form of footwear to be in public with? BadEye: @Offspring RE: Crocs with socks - you do you. If you like it and it doesn't infringe upon the basic human rights of others or is unkind, do it.
DragonbornDoug: QUESTION: With the new Ebberon book containing the official artificer, is DDB planning to support homebrew subclass creation? BadEye: @DragonbornDoug RE: homebrew artificer subclasses - yes, this will be supported at some point following official release.
TheGuest: What is the status for the translations? I saw the survey (and answered it) but can we expect different languages soon on DDB? And also it's not the best move to have a survey in english asking for people if they understand english. BadEye: @TheGuest RE: foreign language translations - thanks for the feedback, and it is a challenge to gather information in the myriad languages that we don't have company resources for...thanks for your understanding, we're trying to make it better. Regarding a timeline, I won't give that out, but I can say we target to offer the first translated book this year. Plans don't always go right, however, so take that as you will.
Davyd with a Why? (He/Him): The Encounter Builder has recently gone into beta; are there any feature additions coming up soon that you can share with us (party importing, embedded encounters in adventures etc)? BadEye: @Davyd with a Why? (He/Him) RE: EB Beta - the additional features you specifically call out are definitely on the short list. The encounter builder is in pretty solid shape as we start beta, so we don't expect too much more to be added to it before we move on to encounter tracking.
Offspring: If you could... would you? BadEye: @Offspring Yes, I have a strong bias towards action.
Krill: Are there plans for account level content management? I would love to disable basic rules content for listings. BadEye: @Krill RE: account level content management - this is something we have our eye on and will monitor the demand to see if it gets prioritized.
Offspring: If there was a zombie apocalypse, what 3 people are you bringing with you? BadEye: @Offspring I would Kirk in the Kobayashi Maru that thing and bring more than three.
UncannyPally: What are the top 3 skills you look for when hiring for DDB (any position)? BadEye: @UncannyPally I don't actually look for particular skills, but attitudes and passion. We always seek to hire missionaries instead of mercenaries - true believers in what we're doing and the dreams that we will achieve. That's the bedrock of what has made DDB a special place to work and a special thing in the community.
Offspring: In flavor with Avernus. What is your greatest exploitable fear. BadEye: @Offspring Knowing the right thing and being unable to do it.
Battler: Question: I see that there is dice rolling capability coming for the character sheet on Dnd beyond? Will there be integration for the player to be able to roll from the sheet and it feeds into Discord? Additionally will things like hit points and conditions applied to a player be updated from combat in Discord to the character sheet in D&D Beyond? This would ultimately be the ideal way for players and GMs to interact rather then having to remember all of the Avrae bot commands. BadEye: @Battler RE: Dice and Avrae - we'll see how that progresses. We've seen some feedback saying folks like the way Avrae handles it now. We'll do our best to hit as much of the bell curve as possible.
DragonbornDoug: QUESTION: Adam, do you or anyone at DDB often use DMSGuild stuff in your games? If so, I'd love to send you some! BadEye: @DragonbornDoug I have certainly used DMs Guild or other community content in my games, and I'm sure the rest of the staff does as well. Feel free to share whatever you're willing to share!
Offspring: How big of a convention do we need to have to have D&D beyond staff come sponsor a bit of it? or at least come to it? BadEye: @Offspring There are no small conventions - only small venues. I go all over. Criteria for travel: 1) does the location have good food and 2) does the location have sweet tea, and 3) if "no" to 2, is 1 strong enough to overrule.
Lark: Are there plans for improvements for content management in campaigns? I own our master subscription and legendary bundle but one of the other players sometimes DMs for me with adventures I own; I'd like to share adventure books with him so he can get the maps but not share it with the other players in the campaign! I can set up separate campaigns but it's sort of fiddly. BadEye: @Lark RE: more granular content management options - would like to do this and it's on the list, but it's not something we will get to in the immediate future.
Fohswe: Question: A while back you talked about a book revamp, particularly navigation. Do you have any more news regarding your thoughts on this? Page numbers in core rules perhaps? BadEye: @fohswe RE: improved compendium navigation - we want to do it and know it's needed. We haven't been able to prioritize it yet, but we're looking for an opening in the roadmap.
Lark: Also, are there plans for a Source filter on search results? I always get adventure spoilers from the Compendium in my searches when I just want to look up a rule. The app works brilliantly for searching since you can't see the details without clicking through but the website prioritizes things so that adventure content and magic items often come above rules. A filter there would be beautiful. BadEye: @Lark RE: search and spoilers - great feedback, and we'll see what we can do!
(⧖): QUESTION: Will there be a translation of DDB to Australian? BadEye: @(⧖) RE: Australian translation - Ripper, you little! Seems a right good oil mate. I'm not gonna yabber on like an ocker, but that'd be corker, no?
Autocrat: Question: Now that you have merged teams with Fandom, are there any plans to integrate with or somehow leverage their wiki content? The Forgotten Realms Wiki, for example? BadEye: @Autocrat RE: Wiki-integration (like FR) - Yes, would love to do this and just need to get around to it.
Lincarious: Question: some items, Blade of Avernus for example, say roll two minor and one major benefit and one major detriment. Can we have some way to incorporate that into the item, like a drop down, so we don’t have to homebrew the item each time we hand one out? BadEye: @Lincarious RE: artifact "add ons" - definitely on the list and we hope to do it soon. In the meantime, the Customize menu should allow for a workaround.
UncannyPally: What does the world of RPG tools need most that DDB is not the appropriate site to provide? BadEye: @UncannyPally There's nothing we can't (eventually) do. Not intending that to be trite, but simply saying that anything I would say in response here would be something that is on our big list. i.e. If it's important for the community, we're going to cover it, at least some day.
Gksmithlcw: QUESTION: Why do Dev Updates keep getting canceled? BadEye: @gksmithlcw RE: dev update cancellations - wow, feels bad. I'm not sure I'm aware of many weekly dev updates out there, so it's already a mighty load. Sometimes I have conflicts, like an all-company meeting tomorrow or NYCC the week after. I could try to stream from some of the places I travel, but that's a big lift. I'm sorry if my occasional absence disappoints...I appreciate that you want to hear me answers hundreds of questions week after week. I tried to make up for it this week with this Discord AMA thing.
Lincarious: Question: When will Locathah Rising be released on the site? BadEye: @Lincarious RE: Locathah Rising - as soon as it's ready. We got blindsided by that one.
Hal-9000: Question: Would you rather have an Alchemy Jug that only produced Sweet Tea or a Modron that could write perfect code for 1 hour each day? BadEye: @Hal-9000 I would Kirk in the Kobayashi Maru that thing and get them both.
Offspring: If you could be any Disney princess, who would you be? BadEye: @Offspring Moana
Fohswe: Question: Can you say something about the future of the discount codes? Also, how's VAT coming along? BadEye: @fohswe RE: discount codes and taxes - discount codes will emerge at some point I'm sure. Those have never been a certainty, and we have had periods where none were active, just like now. We are going to have to start collecting sales tax before we get into trouble, and that will happen before the end of the year. We'll provide an update there ASAP.
Lincarious: Question: Are you concerned about the lack of legendary ranged weapons compared to the number of legendary melee weapons? OR Do you believe its by design since you could potentially have a ranged magical weapon and magical ammunition? BadEye: @Lincarious RE: Legendary ranged weapons - I believe that's an interesting theory regarding balance, but I (personally) feel it's more likely that fewer base ranged weapon options exist than melee. So it's easier to have a legendary mace, sword, pike, halberd, flail, dagger, warhammer, etc. than a legendary bow or crossbow. I take the dearth of official items of that sort as license to create all the cool things I would want to have in my own campaigns.
Zellora: What setting would you like to see added to 5e next? BadEye: @Zellora RE: I would personally (with no indication whatsoever of what is actually coming) love to see Dragonlance.
Zellora: If you could spend a day with any D&D live play group, who would it be and why? BadEye: @Zellora How is your group? I would probably like to spend the day there, especially if we get a gallon of sweet tea and like deli meats and cheeses to make our own sandwiches. I could also choose a various mix of DDB team members that I love to play with. Truth is, I know most all the "celebrity" groups out there and while they're great, they don't really enamor me. I love D&D and roleplaying, and I love playing or hanging with anyone that shares that passion.
On September 25th 2019 Adam Bradford did an Ask Me Anything on our Discord ( https://ddb.ac/discord ), and I'm pleased to present the transcript here for everyone to enjoy. It's been edited to pair questions with answers and remove emotes for easier reading, and is broken into a few parts. This is Part 2!
Gksmithlcw: QUESTION: Is there any plan to release One Grung Above on DDB now that Locathah Rising is coming? BadEye: @gksmithlcw RE: One Grung Above - we should make that happen, yes. I'll talk to Mr. Lindsay about it.
Zellora: Any idea on a planar sourcebook for other planes and such? BadEye: @Zellora RE: Plane sourcebook - they've added vehicles in the last several supplements. I doubt they'll have a book solely focused on aeronautics, but once homebrew vehicles are available, you should be able to have all the planar adventures you would like in your own campaign.
Offspring: Out of all the Modules and Hardcovers. Which one is your favorite or most memorable and why? BadEye: @Offspring RE: Favorite adventure = Tyranny of Dragons (unpopular I imagine, but I used adventures as backdrops and not something to be ran word for word, and I know it's two books, but I treat it as one). Favorite sourcebook = Volo's Guide to Monsters
Fohswe: Tales from Yawning Portal is under one source in the mobile app (although it's missing the intro), like a folder. Would be nice to have that for Essentials Kit too, I agree. BadEye: @fohswe RE: Essentials adventures - got it, thanks
Luke: Question: any chance the Rick and Morty set will include a code like the new essentials set did? BadEye: Luke RE: Rick and Morty and a code - no, the Essentials Kit was a special thing that I pushed for a long time to make happen. Rick and Morty was a product that was not part of the core line that kind of came in late for us - there was no time to coordinate anything additional for it.
Zellora: Will wayfinders guide to eb still be a thing once last war comes out? And if it doesn't, what happens to those who bought it BadEye: @Zellora RE: WGtE - the source will definitely still be a thing. There is content in there that will not be in ERftLW.
Zellora: Follow up to WGtE, will the overlapping content between it and ERftLW (need a better abbrev for that) be removed from the WG? BadEye: @Zellora RE: Eberron followup - no, nothing at all will be removed from WGtE - in fact, anything that is in that book that gets updated (such as racial traits or a feat changing) will be updated in WGtE. DDB is committed to always having the most up-to-date game content in all its sources.
Zellora: Any plans to increase slots for content sharing? Perhaps a higher tier or a la carte additions? BadEye: @Zellora RE: additional content sharing - nothing currently planned, but I'm no soothsayer.
AvraeBOT: Where's the server room cookie jar? BadEye: @Avrae I don't think we have cookies, but definitely candies. You're a robot, not sure how you'll eat them...
Kiroth: How far ahead of time does DDB get content from Wizards to start implementing it? BadEye: @Kiroth RE: Lead time from WotC to DDB - depends on the type of content. For a normal hardcover, typically 4-8 weeks in advance. For other types of content, sometimes after it goes live.
Dragonsneeze: Adam, what's your favorite way to relax after a long day of work? BadEye: @Dragonsneeze RE: relaxation after a long day - recline in my easy-chair and read the latest comic pull or watch the latest show that I care about. I don't get to do that as long as I'd like, but as boring as that sounds, that's my jam.
Battler: Question: What is the end game for rolling on the character sheet in DDB?. Is this meant for in person table play replacing physical dice or online play? In either case could this be visible to a dm in some way? My players love the character sheet in Ddb and just curious what’s next for it. Thanks. BadEye: @Battler RE: dice - I can't share too much more on digital dice yet, other than to say I'm using it for my characters and love it. It's still very early, but I believe what we'll end up with will be epic. More to come!
UncannyPally: Question: What will happen to the Archivist subclass for the Artificer when ERftLW goes live? Will it be removed or left as UA? BadEye: @UncannyPally RE: Archived UA/Playtest content - any content that is not open for playtesting will be removed from DDB. This is our commitment to WotC to ensure "orphaned" game content isn't stuck out in the official toolset potentially confusing folks. I'm not sure what has been officially revealed or not revealed about which artificer subclasses are present in RftLW, but any that are possibly not there would be removed from DDB.
Halfwing (Purloque): Would it be possible to give any sort of subtitle (even optionally) to the covers and listings of the post-DoIP supplements? E.g.: In the app: Storm Lord's Wrath – A D&D adventure for 7th-level characters; or on web, under Sources > Adventures > Storm Lord's Wrath (7th-9th level). Without immediate context I have difficulty remembering the order of the adventures, unless visiting the "Continuing the Adventure" page or opening each source to read the blurb. BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: Essentials adventure subtitles in app - I see the issue, thanks for the feedback. We'll see if we can make that better.
Lincarious: Question: With dice on the horizon will there be unique colorations offered for preorders? Similar to the Avernus dice set the released to compliment Descent. BTWs thanks for hosting the AMA and Dev Ups a lot of companies would do well to follow DNDBeyond's example BadEye: @Lincarious RE: Dice colors - Oh the wonders we will see when the wonders are ready to be unveiled to the public.
Zellora: How sweet do you like your sweet tea for that open invite to games? BadEye: @Zellora RE: tea preferences - not too bland, not too sweet, and I want to taste the tea itself, nothing bland or weak.
JR (she/they): Which ability do you think is stronger: the ability to be so charismatic that people miss hitting you, or the ability to be so charismatic that they never draw the weapon to begin with? BadEye: @JR (she/they) RE: Charisma and its best flavor - never draw the weapon to begin with for sure. Maybe not in a game like D&D, but we could certainly use that mindset in the real world today.
Carelle: How is the mobile character sheets doing? BadEye: @Carelle RE: mobile character sheet - I believe it's doing fantastic in a web browser, but I imagine you mean in the app, and it's not ready yet. We'll provide an update as soon as we are able to do so. We've got some new mobile development resources onboarding that will set us up for much greater success there in the future.
Offspring: Follow up to the convention question. Who do we talk to then to get a ddb presence to our next convention in Minnesota. And I can make some killer sweet tea if needed. BadEye: @Offspring RE: Minnesota convention - I've always wanted to visit there, but I'm skeptical that anyone in the state knows how to make sweet tea. Feel free to DM me here or on Twitter with information about any convention you would like to see us attend and we can go from there.
CyberPathogen: Question: Will the upcoming monster builder have public json like character sheets do? BadEye: @CyberPathogen RE: Monster Builder and JSON - too early to tell at this point. Whether that ends up being the case or not, we intend to have public APIs in the future.
Stephen: @BadEye Is Mike Mearls still alive? BadEye: @Stephen RE: Mike Mearls - unless I missed some kind of news today, yes he definitely is. His role has evolved and he's probably drinking water from a fire hose (I know that feeling), but he's very much alive.
Zellora: Who do you think would win in a fight, Vecna or Orcus? BadEye: @Zellora RE: Vecna vs Orcus - Briv Steelmarrow would win.
Zellora: Are there anymore plans to run community games? Or mayhaps a DDB west marches? BadEye: @Zellora I believe @OboeCrazy has some secret planning going on right now regarding other community games here, and I swear I've heard the word "West Marches" come up in our conversations. OboeCrazy: Can confirm those super secret things! :D
Stephen: Content management - Do you still plan to allow DMs to set restrictions on what races/classes players can play? BadEye: @Stephen RE: Content management - yes, eventually - it's on the list.
Ammja: @BadEye, will you be playing in our Product D&D game next Wednesday? BadEye: @ammja No, I will be in New York for NYCC.
UncannyPally: Question: What's your take on psionics? What direction would you like to see them take if officially added to 5e? BadEye: @UncannyPally RE: Psionics - I adore them. My favorite superpower is telekinesis, and telepathy is a close second. I have been good with the direction I've seen them going in recently with giving psionic subclasses to each class, and then there should be one or two base psionic classes. It's okay to allow spells to be powers because in reality they operate more or less identically in their effects on the world.
Zellora: Any plans for a line of DDB Staff inspired dice sets? BadEye: @Zellora RE: physical dice - we'll see.
SANS𝕕𝟚𝟘 (He/Him/DM): Picture ten years down the road. What would you like DNDBEYOND to look like? BadEye: @SANS𝕕𝟚𝟘 (He/Him/DM) RE: DDB in 10 years - the Oasis.
UncannyPally: Question: Any breakthroughs on getting agreements in place for D&D Beyond Merch? BadEye: @UncannyPally RE: DDB merch - nothing more to report I'm afraid.
Storm (they/them): Is there a plan to make homebrew classes possible on ddb? If so, how long will we have to wait for it? BadEye: @Storm (they/them) RE: homebrew base classes - yes, we want to provide a path for those, but they're simply harder with the flexibility needed to make them possible. No ETA, but we would look at that when we get to a full-blown homebrew revamp pass (I hope next year).
Earliodookie: Plans on an LFG (looking for group) section to be implemented on DDB? BadEye: @earliodookie RE: LFG - was just talking about that with a team this week...we'll see.
SillvvaSensei: If you or Briv made a deal with a devil, what would it be? BadEye: @SillvvaSensei RE: Devil deal - to remove all the hatred in the world. I'd be willing to pay most any price.
Dragonsneeze: If you were a Beholder in a DnD Setting, what features would set you apart (and make you the most majestic) of all the other beholders? BadEye: @Dragonsneeze RE: Me as Beholder - I would have a central bad eye, but all others would work at double their normal output.
Earliodookie: I noticed that some source pages are friendly to screen readers and some source pages are not (even within the same source material, like dragon of ice spire peak), is accessibility a continuous issue or is it part of the road map? BadEye: @earliodookie RE: Accessibility and screen readers - we are continuously improving in this area. If you find pages that are not friendly to the screen reader, it is a bug that we would love to know about so we can address it. Unfortunately the process of translating WotC content to HTML for the web is not as clean as we would like for it to be, so sometimes "junk" messes with the reader. Please let us know specific pages and we'll fix them!
Lincarious: Question: Can we have the ability to include vehicles in the encounter builder? Would be nice to know the boat's ac / hp while running the "River of the Damned" encounter of the week for example. Players may decide to sink the boats as potential outcome of the encounter. BadEye: @Lincarious RE: Vehicles in encounters - I believe that would be the target, to definitely include them in the "encounter tracking" part of this. We haven't included them in the encounter builder math because WotC hasn't formally said anything to that effect (at least yet).
Zellora: Also vehicle homebrew? BadEye: @Zellora RE: Vehicle homebrew - definitely on the list.
GreyTigerFox: Question: With the AMAZING Encounter Builder, is there going to be a way to track initiative and/or manage monster HP? BadEye: @GreyTigerFox RE: Init tracking/HP mgmt - for sure, logical next steps.
KingWut117: Do you think there will be any chance of Dark Sun returning to 5th Edition? BadEye: @KingWut117 RE: Dark Sun - I hope it does, but no news yet.
JR (she/they): Just confirming something for myself; will we be limited to only using monsters from the content we've purchased in the Encounter Builder? BadEye: @JR (she/they) RE: Monster availability in the EB - you can build with any monster, but can't see the stat block/details for those you haven't unlocked.
Zellora: How are you always so good looking? BadEye: @Zellora :blush: It has to be my sparkling personality.
Zed: QUESTION: Is there an ETA for existing books to be tied into the encounter builder? BadEye: @Zed RE: ETA for encounters from books - we don't give timelines, but it's on the short list. We know that it is valuable.
Zellora: If you were in a devil warband, what vehicle would you drive and what is your warband's name? BadEye: @Zellora RE: Warband - definitely a crew riding tormentors, called the Unnaturals.
On September 25th 2019 Adam Bradford did an Ask Me Anything on our Discord ( https://ddb.ac/discord ), and I'm pleased to present the transcript here for everyone to enjoy. It's been edited to pair questions with answers and remove emotes for easier reading, and is broken into a few parts. This is Part 3, the final part!
Halfwing (Purloque): Any merit to being allowed to search all homebrew by a particular author? Suppose you stumble on a really well-designed feat, and wonder whether the author has designed anything else, but don't want to search in every independent homebrew category BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: homebrew by author - think that's a solid idea. We'll see what we can do at some point.
Halfwing (Purloque): What's the one question you've never been asked during these sessions that you wish somebody would ask? BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: Unasked question - tough one. Maybe - why did former attempts to build a digital toolset for D&D ultimately fail and why has DDB been able to succeed?
Zellora: How are you today? BadEye: @Zellora RE: How I am - I'm spectacular. I have life, love, and happiness - hard to not be good.
Autocrat: D&D Next modules: ever? BadEye: @Autocrat RE: D&D Next modules - we really should. Let's looks into that.
GPyromania: When/if you run games, do you typically play a homebrew campaign or one of the pre-written adventure modules? BadEye: @GPyromania RE: homebrew vs published campaign - Of late I've ran more published (typically to multi-task), but my preference is my own worldbuilding.
V2Blast: Uh... What's your favorite flavor of pie? BadEye: @V2Blast RE: pie - pizza
Offspring: Most underrated cantrip in your opinion BadEye: @Offspring RE: underrated cantrip - minor illusion
Zellora: Pineapple on pizza, yay or nay? BadEye: @Zellora : RE: Something on pizza, but I can't compute the question...makes no sense to me.
Etherdark: Is a hotdog a sandwich? If yes, does that make cereal soup? BadEye: @etherdark RE: hot dog/ cereal - Hot dogs are Not sandwiches. Sandwich only applies when there's a top and a bottom piece of bread. If you hold a hot dog sideways, possibly sandwich. Cereal is absolutely bread soup.
V2Blast: I know you wouldn't really want to conceive of DDB ceasing to exist anytime soon... But for those who avoid DDB because they're worried about the continued existence/accessibility of digital goods, what might you say to reassure them? Do you have a "backup plan" on whether/how people would be able to access the content they own if D&D Beyond ever ceased to be? BadEye: @V2Blast RE: Longevity of DDB - as I mentioned earlier, I'm no soothsayer, but I would first say that this shift in distribution really is the way of the world today. i.e. It's become commonplace and whether that's good or bad, it's the way distribution is happening, and the trust for the model will evolve over time as long-term examples play out. I can also say that there are no signs that fifth edition is going away any time soon, and our agreement allows us to continue operating in fifth edition at a very low dollar threshold, so we would want any eventual sunsetting to be long and slow, with plenty of time to figure out the best route to provide the most happiness we possibly can for the community.
Halfwing (Purloque): Why did former attempts to build a digital toolset for D&D ultimately fail and why has DDB been able to succeed? BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: the question I essentially asked myself - a variety of factors went into the previous failures, but I could easily call out a lack of resources or the right personnel, the fact that they catered to one end of bell curve between beginners/veterans too much, or they weren't close enough to the pulse of the community, either from a communication or feedback perspective. I believe we've seen success on D&D Beyond because we have the right people and passion behind it, in addition to us going the long way round to do our best to empower beginners and provide convenience for veterans. And of course, transparency and authenticity with the community is vital to us - I don't think the impact of our approach there can be overstated.
Offspring: N'sync vs Backstreet Boys who wins? BadEye: @Offspring RE: Boy bands - N'SYNC sings out a resounding BYE, BYE, BYE to the Backstreet Boys.
Zellora: Is ska dead? BadEye: @Zellora RE: Who is ska - do I know them?
V2Blast: What tabletop RPGs do you play (or have you played) besides D&D 5e? BadEye: @V2Blast RE: other games - many that I love. Started roleplaying in WEG Star Wars, have played all superhero games, Star Wars games, Deadlands, WoD, and Cortex...I'm a big fan of Cortex if that wasn't clear.
Dragonsneeze: What is the most influential piece of music/album to you? BadEye: @Dragonsneeze RE: I'm going to count influential as different than favorite based on impact on my life, but easily John Williams's Star Wars theme. I watched all three of those movies for the first time on VHS when I was five and I've never been the same.
Shinobi233: Can you print the encounters made with the encounter builder? BadEye: @Shinobi233 RE: printing encounters - I'm sure it works, but probably not well. We'll make adjustments and optimize over time there as we did with monsters a while back.
Zellora: What is your favorite magic item and why? BadEye: @Zellora RE: favorite magic item - I love immovable rods for the creative uses they have, and I have to admit I always want all of my characters to have some type of item that gives them the equivalent of freedom of movement - can't stand for my character to be controlled.
Dragonsneeze: In relation to Zellora's question: Would you ever draw a card from the Deck of Many Things, if you had the opportunity? BadEye: @Dragonsneeze RE: DoMT draw - If I'm in a serious campaign, no never would I introduce it as a DM or draw from it as a player.
Zellora: A follow up to Dragonsneeze's follow up to my own, How many would you draw if you decided yes? BadEye: @Zellora RE: DoMT followup - if it was a one-shot or short campaign, I'd draw them all.
V2Blast: What lessons have you learned from making D&D Beyond that will help you as you make a digital toolset for Cortex? BadEye: @V2Blast RE: DDB > Cortex - many, many lessons to draw from - how big roleplaying is, what makes communities happy, how distribution works best, and how there's a lot of room for D&D to keep ruling the grounds of medieval fantasy and something else to be available for genres outside of that.
Etherdark: Addendum to V2Blast: Also other systems, i.e, Pathfinder/Starfinder BadEye: @etherdark RE: Pathfinder/Starfinder - not sure I understand the full question there! Etherdark: It's more of a question trying to get an answer for whether or not there is something in the works for a DDB type digital toolset for other systems. coughStarfindercough BadEye: @etherdark RE: Got it - in that regard, no, we're not planning on doing anything with PF/SF.
Thestarsarehigh: Did you read the Star Wars Adventure Journals for the WEG SW game? Those are amazing. BadEye: @thestarsarehigh RE: I sure did read ALL the WEG SW products. I loved how the roleplaying supplements were able to create (now defunct) canon.
Halfwing (Purloque): Have you ever tried the SW5e rules? BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: SW5e - I believe that's a fan-made supplement? I haven't if that's the one you mean. I definitely played Saga SW and loved it. I believe Vitality/Wounds and Defense are great.
Cedrych Skye: Are randomly generated encounters going to be added to the encounter builder? BadEye: @Cedrych Skye RE: Random encounters - yes, it's on the list. Not sure when yet, but on the list.
PizzaJosh: What's your favorite monster from a recent adventure book? BadEye: @PizzaJosh RE: favorite newer monster - definitely this little fella: https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/almiraj
SANS𝕕𝟚𝟘 (He/Him/DM): Will there be, or has it been talked about, to be able to store custom notes or changes to the campaign? BadEye: @SANS𝕕𝟚𝟘 (He/Him/DM) RE: Campaign notes - definitely something we've discussed, but no concrete plans to share yet.
Halfwing (Purloque): What's your least favorite class and race? Would you ever create a character using either option as a way to try enjoying them more? ("Just try your vegetables, you might like them!") BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: least favorite character type - I'm not much for an artificer. I like them when other people are playing them, but I don't enjoy that type of character. Of the original 12 classes, I would say druids are my least favorite, but that's probably because I feel like to be viable with them you have to NOT be your character (you're an animal). But even then, I would eat my druid vegetables if needed.
PizzaJosh: Will there ever be a way for us to manage our hit dice outside of short rests? BadEye: @PizzaJosh RE: Hit Dice - per the rules, they're supposed to be only used during a short rest...that's why we placed them there. If there are compelling reasons that shouldn't be the case, we'll certainly listen to that and make adjustments.
V2Blast: Among the upcoming features you're working on (that isn't out yet), what feature are you most excited about? BadEye: @V2Blast RE: Unreleased features - I'm excited quite a bit for dice and encounter/session management/tracking.
Thestarsarehigh: When a character sheet is printed and there's overflow in a particular box, there's no indication on the printed sheet that content is missing. Will a printable character sheet ever be configurable, so we can choose what sections show up? Or expand the size of those sections? BadEye: @thestarsarehigh RE: Printable sheets - We have not spent a ton of time on printable sheets to this point (as evidenced by some of the issues). We want to prioritize that at some point, but the time hasn't come yet. We'll see what happens, but it's on the list.
OboeCrazy: Question: Have you had a chance to eat anything before you go save the world in an hour? BadEye: @OboeCrazy RE: food - yes, I ate before we started. That's why I was a few minutes late!
PizzaJosh: There's a feat in Xanathar's that lets you spend hit dice outside of short rests. BadEye: @PizzaJosh RE: Forgot about that little feat. Since you know that Hit Dice are in the Short Rest area at the click of a button, it sounds like the problem is solved for you, right? *wink face* PizzaJosh: It would be but if you click that section the only way to change the number is to complete the rest which affects other features on your sheet as well. BadEyeLast: @PizzaJosh RE: Good point RE: Hit Dice - that definitely changes things then. We'll look into that. You're the first person that I've seen bring that up ever.
SANS𝕕𝟚𝟘 (He/Him/DM): Follow up Campaign note, I must want to grow this out there, add the ability to export and import those notes. BadEye: @SANS𝕕𝟚𝟘 (He/Him/DM) RE: Campaign notes - okay, we'll take it into consideration.
Halfwing (Purloque): What's the worst in-character decision you've ever made, that you knew 100% going into it was a bad idea? BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: Worst character decision - probably taking on and kidnapping the general of a gigantic githyanki army while he was surrounded by his army.
Zed: Question: Do you plan to do any AMAs via discord voice (with users submitting questions via text) or is that too hard to moderate? BadEye: @Zed RE: Discord voice - wait, there was a way I could have just talked to answer these questions instead of typing all day long? * walks away from keyboard shaking his head and his hands *
V2Blast: A question on behalf of someone else: why can’t skills be sorted by their stat instead of alphabetical? Another: Why is there no way in the UI to search creatures/spells/etc by content. Currently the search interfaces only allow users to search by specific criteria. Basically, searching things by body text. BadEye: @V2Blast Something we can look into RE: Skills, I like the idea. And we'll check into that on search. Yep, that's all folks - thanks everyone. I appreciate everyone spending time with me - time to stream!
On September 25th 2019 Adam Bradford did an Ask Me Anything on our Discord ( https://ddb.ac/discord ), and I'm pleased to present the transcript here for everyone to enjoy. It's been edited to pair questions with answers and remove emotes for easier reading, and is broken into a few parts. This is Part 1, other parts are in the comments!
BadEye: Hey, hey, hey. Let's get this party started. Apologies I'm late, but the sweet tea run took a little longer than anticipated.
Timer: Just to get it out of the way.. Dark mode?
BadEye: @Timer -_-
Offspring: AL Validation, Did I miss it?
BadEye: @Offspring RE: AL validation - nope, didn't miss it - we're not there yet. It's in the "can almost touch it with our fingertips" of starting phase, but not started yet.
Sabre Runner: Campaign Management section with place to write notes, factions, fronts and adventures using D&D Beyond functionality?
BadEye: @Sabre Runner RE: Campaign management additions - we want to do it, haven't been able to focus on it. Would be great if we could integrate some wiki tech into that given our huge wiki footprint. We'll see how it goes.
TheGuest: Could we add unspecified monster (like just selecting a CR and a name) to build an encounter in the encounter builder? It would really help when using 3rd party monsters or NPC (from dmsguild or other).
BadEye: @TheGuest I love that actually. An "empty" monster. The ideal solution is integrating third-party monsters eventually, but until I can win that battle, I like your stopgap. We'll see what we can do.
Sabre Runner: Can we have a page collating all the random tables from everything we own?
BadEye: @Sabre Runner RE: Random tables compilation - love the idea, something I could see us doing in the future (same with maps).
Krill: Could all the adventures for the Essentials Kit be grouped in the app like the Yawning Portal ones are? Or any plans for custom groupings?
BadEye: @Krill RE: Grouping the Essentials extra adventures - how do you mean that specifically? Like they show up on a single page?
(⧖): QUESTION: Is the Abyssal Chicken the Best Familiar?
BadEye: @(⧖) RE: Abyssal chicken - that thing freaks me out pretty bad.
Leoincendia: Can there be a way to have tables rolled on? For like random encounters or random treasure from a monster or hoard?
BadEye: @Leoincendia Yes, definitely coming. Many things with dice are coming.
Offspring: Do you feel Crocs with Socks is an acceptable form of footwear to be in public with?
BadEye: @Offspring RE: Crocs with socks - you do you. If you like it and it doesn't infringe upon the basic human rights of others or is unkind, do it.
DragonbornDoug: QUESTION: With the new Ebberon book containing the official artificer, is DDB planning to support homebrew subclass creation?
BadEye: @DragonbornDoug RE: homebrew artificer subclasses - yes, this will be supported at some point following official release.
TheGuest: What is the status for the translations? I saw the survey (and answered it) but can we expect different languages soon on DDB? And also it's not the best move to have a survey in english asking for people if they understand english.
BadEye: @TheGuest RE: foreign language translations - thanks for the feedback, and it is a challenge to gather information in the myriad languages that we don't have company resources for...thanks for your understanding, we're trying to make it better. Regarding a timeline, I won't give that out, but I can say we target to offer the first translated book this year. Plans don't always go right, however, so take that as you will.
Davyd with a Why? (He/Him): The Encounter Builder has recently gone into beta; are there any feature additions coming up soon that you can share with us (party importing, embedded encounters in adventures etc)?
BadEye: @Davyd with a Why? (He/Him) RE: EB Beta - the additional features you specifically call out are definitely on the short list. The encounter builder is in pretty solid shape as we start beta, so we don't expect too much more to be added to it before we move on to encounter tracking.
Offspring: If you could... would you?
BadEye: @Offspring Yes, I have a strong bias towards action.
Krill: Are there plans for account level content management? I would love to disable basic rules content for listings.
BadEye: @Krill RE: account level content management - this is something we have our eye on and will monitor the demand to see if it gets prioritized.
Offspring: If there was a zombie apocalypse, what 3 people are you bringing with you?
BadEye: @Offspring I would Kirk in the Kobayashi Maru that thing and bring more than three.
UncannyPally: What are the top 3 skills you look for when hiring for DDB (any position)?
BadEye: @UncannyPally I don't actually look for particular skills, but attitudes and passion. We always seek to hire missionaries instead of mercenaries - true believers in what we're doing and the dreams that we will achieve. That's the bedrock of what has made DDB a special place to work and a special thing in the community.
Offspring: In flavor with Avernus. What is your greatest exploitable fear.
BadEye: @Offspring Knowing the right thing and being unable to do it.
Battler: Question: I see that there is dice rolling capability coming for the character sheet on Dnd beyond? Will there be integration for the player to be able to roll from the sheet and it feeds into Discord? Additionally will things like hit points and conditions applied to a player be updated from combat in Discord to the character sheet in D&D Beyond? This would ultimately be the ideal way for players and GMs to interact rather then having to remember all of the Avrae bot commands.
BadEye: @Battler RE: Dice and Avrae - we'll see how that progresses. We've seen some feedback saying folks like the way Avrae handles it now. We'll do our best to hit as much of the bell curve as possible.
DragonbornDoug: QUESTION: Adam, do you or anyone at DDB often use DMSGuild stuff in your games? If so, I'd love to send you some!
BadEye: @DragonbornDoug I have certainly used DMs Guild or other community content in my games, and I'm sure the rest of the staff does as well. Feel free to share whatever you're willing to share!
Offspring: How big of a convention do we need to have to have D&D beyond staff come sponsor a bit of it? or at least come to it?
BadEye: @Offspring There are no small conventions - only small venues. I go all over. Criteria for travel: 1) does the location have good food and 2) does the location have sweet tea, and 3) if "no" to 2, is 1 strong enough to overrule.
Lark: Are there plans for improvements for content management in campaigns? I own our master subscription and legendary bundle but one of the other players sometimes DMs for me with adventures I own; I'd like to share adventure books with him so he can get the maps but not share it with the other players in the campaign! I can set up separate campaigns but it's sort of fiddly.
BadEye: @Lark RE: more granular content management options - would like to do this and it's on the list, but it's not something we will get to in the immediate future.
Fohswe: Question: A while back you talked about a book revamp, particularly navigation. Do you have any more news regarding your thoughts on this? Page numbers in core rules perhaps?
BadEye: @fohswe RE: improved compendium navigation - we want to do it and know it's needed. We haven't been able to prioritize it yet, but we're looking for an opening in the roadmap.
Lark: Also, are there plans for a Source filter on search results? I always get adventure spoilers from the Compendium in my searches when I just want to look up a rule. The app works brilliantly for searching since you can't see the details without clicking through but the website prioritizes things so that adventure content and magic items often come above rules. A filter there would be beautiful.
BadEye: @Lark RE: search and spoilers - great feedback, and we'll see what we can do!
(⧖): QUESTION: Will there be a translation of DDB to Australian?
BadEye: @(⧖) RE: Australian translation - Ripper, you little! Seems a right good oil mate. I'm not gonna yabber on like an ocker, but that'd be corker, no?
Autocrat: Question: Now that you have merged teams with Fandom, are there any plans to integrate with or somehow leverage their wiki content? The Forgotten Realms Wiki, for example?
BadEye: @Autocrat RE: Wiki-integration (like FR) - Yes, would love to do this and just need to get around to it.
Lincarious: Question: some items, Blade of Avernus for example, say roll two minor and one major benefit and one major detriment. Can we have some way to incorporate that into the item, like a drop down, so we don’t have to homebrew the item each time we hand one out?
BadEye: @Lincarious RE: artifact "add ons" - definitely on the list and we hope to do it soon. In the meantime, the Customize menu should allow for a workaround.
UncannyPally: What does the world of RPG tools need most that DDB is not the appropriate site to provide?
BadEye: @UncannyPally There's nothing we can't (eventually) do. Not intending that to be trite, but simply saying that anything I would say in response here would be something that is on our big list. i.e. If it's important for the community, we're going to cover it, at least some day.
Gksmithlcw: QUESTION: Why do Dev Updates keep getting canceled?
BadEye: @gksmithlcw RE: dev update cancellations - wow, feels bad. I'm not sure I'm aware of many weekly dev updates out there, so it's already a mighty load. Sometimes I have conflicts, like an all-company meeting tomorrow or NYCC the week after. I could try to stream from some of the places I travel, but that's a big lift. I'm sorry if my occasional absence disappoints...I appreciate that you want to hear me answers hundreds of questions week after week. I tried to make up for it this week with this Discord AMA thing.
Lincarious: Question: When will Locathah Rising be released on the site?
BadEye: @Lincarious RE: Locathah Rising - as soon as it's ready. We got blindsided by that one.
Hal-9000: Question: Would you rather have an Alchemy Jug that only produced Sweet Tea or a Modron that could write perfect code for 1 hour each day?
BadEye: @Hal-9000 I would Kirk in the Kobayashi Maru that thing and get them both.
Offspring: If you could be any Disney princess, who would you be?
BadEye: @Offspring Moana
Fohswe: Question: Can you say something about the future of the discount codes? Also, how's VAT coming along?
BadEye: @fohswe RE: discount codes and taxes - discount codes will emerge at some point I'm sure. Those have never been a certainty, and we have had periods where none were active, just like now. We are going to have to start collecting sales tax before we get into trouble, and that will happen before the end of the year. We'll provide an update there ASAP.
Lincarious: Question: Are you concerned about the lack of legendary ranged weapons compared to the number of legendary melee weapons? OR Do you believe its by design since you could potentially have a ranged magical weapon and magical ammunition?
BadEye: @Lincarious RE: Legendary ranged weapons - I believe that's an interesting theory regarding balance, but I (personally) feel it's more likely that fewer base ranged weapon options exist than melee. So it's easier to have a legendary mace, sword, pike, halberd, flail, dagger, warhammer, etc. than a legendary bow or crossbow. I take the dearth of official items of that sort as license to create all the cool things I would want to have in my own campaigns.
Zellora: What setting would you like to see added to 5e next?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: I would personally (with no indication whatsoever of what is actually coming) love to see Dragonlance.
Zellora: If you could spend a day with any D&D live play group, who would it be and why?
BadEye: @Zellora How is your group? I would probably like to spend the day there, especially if we get a gallon of sweet tea and like deli meats and cheeses to make our own sandwiches. I could also choose a various mix of DDB team members that I love to play with. Truth is, I know most all the "celebrity" groups out there and while they're great, they don't really enamor me. I love D&D and roleplaying, and I love playing or hanging with anyone that shares that passion.
Find me on Twitter: @OboeLauren
On September 25th 2019 Adam Bradford did an Ask Me Anything on our Discord ( https://ddb.ac/discord ), and I'm pleased to present the transcript here for everyone to enjoy. It's been edited to pair questions with answers and remove emotes for easier reading, and is broken into a few parts. This is Part 2!
Gksmithlcw: QUESTION: Is there any plan to release One Grung Above on DDB now that Locathah Rising is coming?
BadEye: @gksmithlcw RE: One Grung Above - we should make that happen, yes. I'll talk to Mr. Lindsay about it.
Zellora: Any idea on a planar sourcebook for other planes and such?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: Plane sourcebook - they've added vehicles in the last several supplements. I doubt they'll have a book solely focused on aeronautics, but once homebrew vehicles are available, you should be able to have all the planar adventures you would like in your own campaign.
Offspring: Out of all the Modules and Hardcovers. Which one is your favorite or most memorable and why?
BadEye: @Offspring RE: Favorite adventure = Tyranny of Dragons (unpopular I imagine, but I used adventures as backdrops and not something to be ran word for word, and I know it's two books, but I treat it as one). Favorite sourcebook = Volo's Guide to Monsters
Fohswe: Tales from Yawning Portal is under one source in the mobile app (although it's missing the intro), like a folder. Would be nice to have that for Essentials Kit too, I agree.
BadEye: @fohswe RE: Essentials adventures - got it, thanks
Luke: Question: any chance the Rick and Morty set will include a code like the new essentials set did?
BadEye: Luke RE: Rick and Morty and a code - no, the Essentials Kit was a special thing that I pushed for a long time to make happen. Rick and Morty was a product that was not part of the core line that kind of came in late for us - there was no time to coordinate anything additional for it.
Zellora: Will wayfinders guide to eb still be a thing once last war comes out? And if it doesn't, what happens to those who bought it
BadEye: @Zellora RE: WGtE - the source will definitely still be a thing. There is content in there that will not be in ERftLW.
Zellora: Follow up to WGtE, will the overlapping content between it and ERftLW (need a better abbrev for that) be removed from the WG?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: Eberron followup - no, nothing at all will be removed from WGtE - in fact, anything that is in that book that gets updated (such as racial traits or a feat changing) will be updated in WGtE. DDB is committed to always having the most up-to-date game content in all its sources.
Zellora: Any plans to increase slots for content sharing? Perhaps a higher tier or a la carte additions?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: additional content sharing - nothing currently planned, but I'm no soothsayer.
AvraeBOT: Where's the server room cookie jar?
BadEye: @Avrae I don't think we have cookies, but definitely candies. You're a robot, not sure how you'll eat them...
Kiroth: How far ahead of time does DDB get content from Wizards to start implementing it?
BadEye: @Kiroth RE: Lead time from WotC to DDB - depends on the type of content. For a normal hardcover, typically 4-8 weeks in advance. For other types of content, sometimes after it goes live.
Dragonsneeze: Adam, what's your favorite way to relax after a long day of work?
BadEye: @Dragonsneeze RE: relaxation after a long day - recline in my easy-chair and read the latest comic pull or watch the latest show that I care about. I don't get to do that as long as I'd like, but as boring as that sounds, that's my jam.
Battler: Question: What is the end game for rolling on the character sheet in DDB?. Is this meant for in person table play replacing physical dice or online play? In either case could this be visible to a dm in some way? My players love the character sheet in Ddb and just curious what’s next for it. Thanks.
BadEye: @Battler RE: dice - I can't share too much more on digital dice yet, other than to say I'm using it for my characters and love it. It's still very early, but I believe what we'll end up with will be epic. More to come!
UncannyPally: Question: What will happen to the Archivist subclass for the Artificer when ERftLW goes live? Will it be removed or left as UA?
BadEye: @UncannyPally RE: Archived UA/Playtest content - any content that is not open for playtesting will be removed from DDB. This is our commitment to WotC to ensure "orphaned" game content isn't stuck out in the official toolset potentially confusing folks. I'm not sure what has been officially revealed or not revealed about which artificer subclasses are present in RftLW, but any that are possibly not there would be removed from DDB.
Halfwing (Purloque): Would it be possible to give any sort of subtitle (even optionally) to the covers and listings of the post-DoIP supplements? E.g.: In the app: Storm Lord's Wrath – A D&D adventure for 7th-level characters; or on web, under Sources > Adventures > Storm Lord's Wrath (7th-9th level). Without immediate context I have difficulty remembering the order of the adventures, unless visiting the "Continuing the Adventure" page or opening each source to read the blurb.
BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: Essentials adventure subtitles in app - I see the issue, thanks for the feedback. We'll see if we can make that better.
Lincarious: Question: With dice on the horizon will there be unique colorations offered for preorders? Similar to the Avernus dice set the released to compliment Descent. BTWs thanks for hosting the AMA and Dev Ups a lot of companies would do well to follow DNDBeyond's example
BadEye: @Lincarious RE: Dice colors - Oh the wonders we will see when the wonders are ready to be unveiled to the public.
Zellora: How sweet do you like your sweet tea for that open invite to games?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: tea preferences - not too bland, not too sweet, and I want to taste the tea itself, nothing bland or weak.
JR (she/they): Which ability do you think is stronger: the ability to be so charismatic that people miss hitting you, or the ability to be so charismatic that they never draw the weapon to begin with?
BadEye: @JR (she/they) RE: Charisma and its best flavor - never draw the weapon to begin with for sure. Maybe not in a game like D&D, but we could certainly use that mindset in the real world today.
Carelle: How is the mobile character sheets doing?
BadEye: @Carelle RE: mobile character sheet - I believe it's doing fantastic in a web browser, but I imagine you mean in the app, and it's not ready yet. We'll provide an update as soon as we are able to do so. We've got some new mobile development resources onboarding that will set us up for much greater success there in the future.
Offspring: Follow up to the convention question. Who do we talk to then to get a ddb presence to our next convention in Minnesota. And I can make some killer sweet tea if needed.
BadEye: @Offspring RE: Minnesota convention - I've always wanted to visit there, but I'm skeptical that anyone in the state knows how to make sweet tea. Feel free to DM me here or on Twitter with information about any convention you would like to see us attend and we can go from there.
CyberPathogen: Question: Will the upcoming monster builder have public json like character sheets do?
BadEye: @CyberPathogen RE: Monster Builder and JSON - too early to tell at this point. Whether that ends up being the case or not, we intend to have public APIs in the future.
Stephen: @BadEye Is Mike Mearls still alive?
BadEye: @Stephen RE: Mike Mearls - unless I missed some kind of news today, yes he definitely is. His role has evolved and he's probably drinking water from a fire hose (I know that feeling), but he's very much alive.
Zellora: Who do you think would win in a fight, Vecna or Orcus?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: Vecna vs Orcus - Briv Steelmarrow would win.
Zellora: Are there anymore plans to run community games? Or mayhaps a DDB west marches?
BadEye: @Zellora I believe @OboeCrazy has some secret planning going on right now regarding other community games here, and I swear I've heard the word "West Marches" come up in our conversations.
OboeCrazy: Can confirm those super secret things! :D
Stephen: Content management - Do you still plan to allow DMs to set restrictions on what races/classes players can play?
BadEye: @Stephen RE: Content management - yes, eventually - it's on the list.
Ammja: @BadEye, will you be playing in our Product D&D game next Wednesday?
BadEye: @ammja No, I will be in New York for NYCC.
UncannyPally: Question: What's your take on psionics? What direction would you like to see them take if officially added to 5e?
BadEye: @UncannyPally RE: Psionics - I adore them. My favorite superpower is telekinesis, and telepathy is a close second. I have been good with the direction I've seen them going in recently with giving psionic subclasses to each class, and then there should be one or two base psionic classes. It's okay to allow spells to be powers because in reality they operate more or less identically in their effects on the world.
Zellora: Any plans for a line of DDB Staff inspired dice sets?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: physical dice - we'll see.
SANS𝕕𝟚𝟘 (He/Him/DM): Picture ten years down the road. What would you like DNDBEYOND to look like?
BadEye: @SANS𝕕𝟚𝟘 (He/Him/DM) RE: DDB in 10 years - the Oasis.
UncannyPally: Question: Any breakthroughs on getting agreements in place for D&D Beyond Merch?
BadEye: @UncannyPally RE: DDB merch - nothing more to report I'm afraid.
Storm (they/them): Is there a plan to make homebrew classes possible on ddb? If so, how long will we have to wait for it?
BadEye: @Storm (they/them) RE: homebrew base classes - yes, we want to provide a path for those, but they're simply harder with the flexibility needed to make them possible. No ETA, but we would look at that when we get to a full-blown homebrew revamp pass (I hope next year).
Earliodookie: Plans on an LFG (looking for group) section to be implemented on DDB?
BadEye: @earliodookie RE: LFG - was just talking about that with a team this week...we'll see.
SillvvaSensei: If you or Briv made a deal with a devil, what would it be?
BadEye: @SillvvaSensei RE: Devil deal - to remove all the hatred in the world. I'd be willing to pay most any price.
Dragonsneeze: If you were a Beholder in a DnD Setting, what features would set you apart (and make you the most majestic) of all the other beholders?
BadEye: @Dragonsneeze RE: Me as Beholder - I would have a central bad eye, but all others would work at double their normal output.
Earliodookie: I noticed that some source pages are friendly to screen readers and some source pages are not (even within the same source material, like dragon of ice spire peak), is accessibility a continuous issue or is it part of the road map?
BadEye: @earliodookie RE: Accessibility and screen readers - we are continuously improving in this area. If you find pages that are not friendly to the screen reader, it is a bug that we would love to know about so we can address it. Unfortunately the process of translating WotC content to HTML for the web is not as clean as we would like for it to be, so sometimes "junk" messes with the reader. Please let us know specific pages and we'll fix them!
Lincarious: Question: Can we have the ability to include vehicles in the encounter builder? Would be nice to know the boat's ac / hp while running the "River of the Damned" encounter of the week for example. Players may decide to sink the boats as potential outcome of the encounter.
BadEye: @Lincarious RE: Vehicles in encounters - I believe that would be the target, to definitely include them in the "encounter tracking" part of this. We haven't included them in the encounter builder math because WotC hasn't formally said anything to that effect (at least yet).
Zellora: Also vehicle homebrew?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: Vehicle homebrew - definitely on the list.
GreyTigerFox: Question: With the AMAZING Encounter Builder, is there going to be a way to track initiative and/or manage monster HP?
BadEye: @GreyTigerFox RE: Init tracking/HP mgmt - for sure, logical next steps.
KingWut117: Do you think there will be any chance of Dark Sun returning to 5th Edition?
BadEye: @KingWut117 RE: Dark Sun - I hope it does, but no news yet.
JR (she/they): Just confirming something for myself; will we be limited to only using monsters from the content we've purchased in the Encounter Builder?
BadEye: @JR (she/they) RE: Monster availability in the EB - you can build with any monster, but can't see the stat block/details for those you haven't unlocked.
Zellora: How are you always so good looking?
BadEye: @Zellora :blush: It has to be my sparkling personality.
Zed: QUESTION: Is there an ETA for existing books to be tied into the encounter builder?
BadEye: @Zed RE: ETA for encounters from books - we don't give timelines, but it's on the short list. We know that it is valuable.
Zellora: If you were in a devil warband, what vehicle would you drive and what is your warband's name?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: Warband - definitely a crew riding tormentors, called the Unnaturals.
Find me on Twitter: @OboeLauren
On September 25th 2019 Adam Bradford did an Ask Me Anything on our Discord ( https://ddb.ac/discord ), and I'm pleased to present the transcript here for everyone to enjoy. It's been edited to pair questions with answers and remove emotes for easier reading, and is broken into a few parts. This is Part 3, the final part!
Halfwing (Purloque): Any merit to being allowed to search all homebrew by a particular author? Suppose you stumble on a really well-designed feat, and wonder whether the author has designed anything else, but don't want to search in every independent homebrew category
BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: homebrew by author - think that's a solid idea. We'll see what we can do at some point.
Halfwing (Purloque): What's the one question you've never been asked during these sessions that you wish somebody would ask?
BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: Unasked question - tough one. Maybe - why did former attempts to build a digital toolset for D&D ultimately fail and why has DDB been able to succeed?
Zellora: How are you today?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: How I am - I'm spectacular. I have life, love, and happiness - hard to not be good.
Autocrat: D&D Next modules: ever?
BadEye: @Autocrat RE: D&D Next modules - we really should. Let's looks into that.
GPyromania: When/if you run games, do you typically play a homebrew campaign or one of the pre-written adventure modules?
BadEye: @GPyromania RE: homebrew vs published campaign - Of late I've ran more published (typically to multi-task), but my preference is my own worldbuilding.
V2Blast: Uh... What's your favorite flavor of pie?
BadEye: @V2Blast RE: pie - pizza
Offspring: Most underrated cantrip in your opinion
BadEye: @Offspring RE: underrated cantrip - minor illusion
Zellora: Pineapple on pizza, yay or nay?
BadEye: @Zellora : RE: Something on pizza, but I can't compute the question...makes no sense to me.
Etherdark: Is a hotdog a sandwich? If yes, does that make cereal soup?
BadEye: @etherdark RE: hot dog/ cereal - Hot dogs are Not sandwiches. Sandwich only applies when there's a top and a bottom piece of bread. If you hold a hot dog sideways, possibly sandwich. Cereal is absolutely bread soup.
V2Blast: I know you wouldn't really want to conceive of DDB ceasing to exist anytime soon... But for those who avoid DDB because they're worried about the continued existence/accessibility of digital goods, what might you say to reassure them? Do you have a "backup plan" on whether/how people would be able to access the content they own if D&D Beyond ever ceased to be?
BadEye: @V2Blast RE: Longevity of DDB - as I mentioned earlier, I'm no soothsayer, but I would first say that this shift in distribution really is the way of the world today. i.e. It's become commonplace and whether that's good or bad, it's the way distribution is happening, and the trust for the model will evolve over time as long-term examples play out. I can also say that there are no signs that fifth edition is going away any time soon, and our agreement allows us to continue operating in fifth edition at a very low dollar threshold, so we would want any eventual sunsetting to be long and slow, with plenty of time to figure out the best route to provide the most happiness we possibly can for the community.
Halfwing (Purloque): Why did former attempts to build a digital toolset for D&D ultimately fail and why has DDB been able to succeed?
BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: the question I essentially asked myself - a variety of factors went into the previous failures, but I could easily call out a lack of resources or the right personnel, the fact that they catered to one end of bell curve between beginners/veterans too much, or they weren't close enough to the pulse of the community, either from a communication or feedback perspective. I believe we've seen success on D&D Beyond because we have the right people and passion behind it, in addition to us going the long way round to do our best to empower beginners and provide convenience for veterans. And of course, transparency and authenticity with the community is vital to us - I don't think the impact of our approach there can be overstated.
Offspring: N'sync vs Backstreet Boys who wins?
BadEye: @Offspring RE: Boy bands - N'SYNC sings out a resounding BYE, BYE, BYE to the Backstreet Boys.
Zellora: Is ska dead?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: Who is ska - do I know them?
V2Blast: What tabletop RPGs do you play (or have you played) besides D&D 5e?
BadEye: @V2Blast RE: other games - many that I love. Started roleplaying in WEG Star Wars, have played all superhero games, Star Wars games, Deadlands, WoD, and Cortex...I'm a big fan of Cortex if that wasn't clear.
Dragonsneeze: What is the most influential piece of music/album to you?
BadEye: @Dragonsneeze RE: I'm going to count influential as different than favorite based on impact on my life, but easily John Williams's Star Wars theme. I watched all three of those movies for the first time on VHS when I was five and I've never been the same.
Shinobi233: Can you print the encounters made with the encounter builder?
BadEye: @Shinobi233 RE: printing encounters - I'm sure it works, but probably not well. We'll make adjustments and optimize over time there as we did with monsters a while back.
Zellora: What is your favorite magic item and why?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: favorite magic item - I love immovable rods for the creative uses they have, and I have to admit I always want all of my characters to have some type of item that gives them the equivalent of freedom of movement - can't stand for my character to be controlled.
Dragonsneeze: In relation to Zellora's question: Would you ever draw a card from the Deck of Many Things, if you had the opportunity?
BadEye: @Dragonsneeze RE: DoMT draw - If I'm in a serious campaign, no never would I introduce it as a DM or draw from it as a player.
Zellora: A follow up to Dragonsneeze's follow up to my own, How many would you draw if you decided yes?
BadEye: @Zellora RE: DoMT followup - if it was a one-shot or short campaign, I'd draw them all.
V2Blast: What lessons have you learned from making D&D Beyond that will help you as you make a digital toolset for Cortex?
BadEye: @V2Blast RE: DDB > Cortex - many, many lessons to draw from - how big roleplaying is, what makes communities happy, how distribution works best, and how there's a lot of room for D&D to keep ruling the grounds of medieval fantasy and something else to be available for genres outside of that.
Etherdark: Addendum to V2Blast: Also other systems, i.e, Pathfinder/Starfinder
BadEye: @etherdark RE: Pathfinder/Starfinder - not sure I understand the full question there!
Etherdark: It's more of a question trying to get an answer for whether or not there is something in the works for a DDB type digital toolset for other systems. coughStarfindercough
BadEye: @etherdark RE: Got it - in that regard, no, we're not planning on doing anything with PF/SF.
Thestarsarehigh: Did you read the Star Wars Adventure Journals for the WEG SW game? Those are amazing.
BadEye: @thestarsarehigh RE: I sure did read ALL the WEG SW products. I loved how the roleplaying supplements were able to create (now defunct) canon.
Halfwing (Purloque): Have you ever tried the SW5e rules?
BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: SW5e - I believe that's a fan-made supplement? I haven't if that's the one you mean. I definitely played Saga SW and loved it. I believe Vitality/Wounds and Defense are great.
Cedrych Skye: Are randomly generated encounters going to be added to the encounter builder?
BadEye: @Cedrych Skye RE: Random encounters - yes, it's on the list. Not sure when yet, but on the list.
PizzaJosh: What's your favorite monster from a recent adventure book?
BadEye: @PizzaJosh RE: favorite newer monster - definitely this little fella: https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/almiraj
SANS𝕕𝟚𝟘 (He/Him/DM): Will there be, or has it been talked about, to be able to store custom notes or changes to the campaign?
BadEye: @SANS𝕕𝟚𝟘 (He/Him/DM) RE: Campaign notes - definitely something we've discussed, but no concrete plans to share yet.
Halfwing (Purloque): What's your least favorite class and race? Would you ever create a character using either option as a way to try enjoying them more? ("Just try your vegetables, you might like them!")
BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: least favorite character type - I'm not much for an artificer. I like them when other people are playing them, but I don't enjoy that type of character. Of the original 12 classes, I would say druids are my least favorite, but that's probably because I feel like to be viable with them you have to NOT be your character (you're an animal). But even then, I would eat my druid vegetables if needed.
PizzaJosh: Will there ever be a way for us to manage our hit dice outside of short rests?
BadEye: @PizzaJosh RE: Hit Dice - per the rules, they're supposed to be only used during a short rest...that's why we placed them there. If there are compelling reasons that shouldn't be the case, we'll certainly listen to that and make adjustments.
V2Blast: Among the upcoming features you're working on (that isn't out yet), what feature are you most excited about?
BadEye: @V2Blast RE: Unreleased features - I'm excited quite a bit for dice and encounter/session management/tracking.
Thestarsarehigh: When a character sheet is printed and there's overflow in a particular box, there's no indication on the printed sheet that content is missing. Will a printable character sheet ever be configurable, so we can choose what sections show up? Or expand the size of those sections?
BadEye: @thestarsarehigh RE: Printable sheets - We have not spent a ton of time on printable sheets to this point (as evidenced by some of the issues). We want to prioritize that at some point, but the time hasn't come yet. We'll see what happens, but it's on the list.
OboeCrazy: Question: Have you had a chance to eat anything before you go save the world in an hour?
BadEye: @OboeCrazy RE: food - yes, I ate before we started. That's why I was a few minutes late!
PizzaJosh: There's a feat in Xanathar's that lets you spend hit dice outside of short rests.
BadEye: @PizzaJosh RE: Forgot about that little feat. Since you know that Hit Dice are in the Short Rest area at the click of a button, it sounds like the problem is solved for you, right? *wink face*
PizzaJosh: It would be but if you click that section the only way to change the number is to complete the rest which affects other features on your sheet as well.
BadEyeLast: @PizzaJosh RE: Good point RE: Hit Dice - that definitely changes things then. We'll look into that. You're the first person that I've seen bring that up ever.
SANS𝕕𝟚𝟘 (He/Him/DM): Follow up Campaign note, I must want to grow this out there, add the ability to export and import those notes.
BadEye: @SANS𝕕𝟚𝟘 (He/Him/DM) RE: Campaign notes - okay, we'll take it into consideration.
Halfwing (Purloque): What's the worst in-character decision you've ever made, that you knew 100% going into it was a bad idea?
BadEye: @Halfwing (Purloque) RE: Worst character decision - probably taking on and kidnapping the general of a gigantic githyanki army while he was surrounded by his army.
Zed: Question: Do you plan to do any AMAs via discord voice (with users submitting questions via text) or is that too hard to moderate?
BadEye: @Zed RE: Discord voice - wait, there was a way I could have just talked to answer these questions instead of typing all day long? * walks away from keyboard shaking his head and his hands *
V2Blast: A question on behalf of someone else: why can’t skills be sorted by their stat instead of alphabetical?
Another: Why is there no way in the UI to search creatures/spells/etc by content. Currently the search interfaces only allow users to search by specific criteria. Basically, searching things by body text.
BadEye: @V2Blast Something we can look into RE: Skills, I like the idea. And we'll check into that on search.
Yep, that's all folks - thanks everyone.
I appreciate everyone spending time with me - time to stream!
Find me on Twitter: @OboeLauren