To start I will be buying the 3 'core books' and Curse of Strahd. As long as I have the master tier subscription, all players that join in my campaign will have access to the content from all 4 books. Does that include the ‘campaign/reference book’? Or is it just the items, monsters, spells, etc?
Basically I'm wondering, is all the story/campaign stuff going to be fully accessible to all the players? I don't care if one of them does a search and comes across the Blood Spear, but I do care if they 'stumble' across what is going to happen in Vallaki.
That is a good point. And I think they talked about allowing the DM to choose which sources the players in the campaign cannot access, presumably the source book itself and not the items, monsters, etc that come in it.
But if you think somebody is metagaming, remember you have authority as the DM to ask them to stop and also to do whatever you feel is necessary to make them stop (kill their character, boot them from the campaign, etc.) As a player, you can inform the DM.
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Ok so say I have a hero subscription, and create 7 characters. What happens if I let my sub lapse and go back to a free account with only 6 character slots?
As I understand it (and BadEye might have a better explanation) you select a character to lock and it becomes unavailable.
You definitely don't lose any characters though - they don't get deleted.
So, how does unlocked content interact with free subscriptions?
If I unlock content, and am in a campaign with other free subscribers (and nobody has a Master tier subscription), can I use my content in that campaign?
Can anyone else? I'm inferring that, without a master tier subscription, nobody else can, but a tiny bit uncertain because the earlier information was that unlocked content could be shared in a campaign, regardless of subscription level.
If that's not the case, again, with just freeloaders playing in the campaign, can only I see my unlocked content? Can nobody else see the monsters or items I've unlocked? Even if they're unlocked content is on my character sheet? If this is true, what's the point of unlocking monsters?
The point of unlocking monsters is mostly for DMs to develop encounters, just in the same way that most players don't own the monster manual.
Spellcasters need monsters to know what they are summoning, for starters, and, in higher level games, players often end up controlling allied creatures in a game. But the main point I'm making isn't whether players should unlock content or not. The point I'm trying to figure out here is the utility of purchasing content without a master tier subscription, and the answer I'm hearing is very little.
This is an unfortunate change that the Beyond team has made. If' I must purchase a Master subscription tier account, using this the way I used to use D&D Insider (which is to say, extensively) has gone from cheaper to more expensive, and more annoying to manage. And while the price of the content isn't on the Beyond team at all (and I continue to applaud you for the deal you've made on that), the subscription features and prices are, and the change they've made to accessing and sharing the content is disappointing. I've gone from a "definite" buyer to a "maybe" buyer of the content.
So, how does unlocked content interact with free subscriptions?
If I unlock content, and am in a campaign with other free subscribers (and nobody has a Master tier subscription), can I use my content in that campaign?
Can anyone else? I'm inferring that, without a master tier subscription, nobody else can, but a tiny bit uncertain because the earlier information was that unlocked content could be shared in a campaign, regardless of subscription level.
If that's not the case, again, with just freeloaders playing in the campaign, can only I see my unlocked content? Can nobody else see the monsters or items I've unlocked? Even if they're unlocked content is on my character sheet? If this is true, what's the point of unlocking monsters?
You wouldn't need to have the subscription but somebody in the campaign would have to have it. Then you can share your content if that person has enabled it.
So, without a master subscribtion in the campaign, Can free subscribers even see each other's unlocked content? Can a free subscriber make any use of the content they unlocked other than view it privately?
Without any kind of subscription, the only point is for character building for yourself, and any quick and cross-reference information. D&D Beyond makes it easier to drill down through the info you need without flipping back and forth through all the books, but that's about it. Worth it for some (myself included), not for others. A tool that's going to benefit DMs the most.
Whilst I agree that, in your example, the DM has greater access to the tools, I think that all Players in a campaign with a single DDB Master Tier account actually BENEFIT the most. That is, all those free-tier players who have no game resources suddenly have access to a plethora of content they would otherwise not have. Which is the way it has always been with tabletop RPG's: the keenest player with the books steps up to GM and shares those books with the playgroup. Only DDB means they can all use those resources concurrently, 24/7, with the power of a universal search and cross-referencing.
You're right that everyone can benefit from the books, and maybe in some cases the person who tends to DM isn't the one who has the money to buy the books, so they rely on the players at their table to help them with that. However, the point is that for those that are generally only going to be a player only, and in the circumstance where you're not sharing your content, having access to things that are not player creation and rules content isn't going to benefit you nearly as much as it will for a DM, who needs access to a lot more in order to build and track encounters, quests, and adventures.
In a broader sense, D&D Beyond definitely benefits everyone, since you can share your information more effectively, and on a more consistent basis, not to mention that you don't need to have multiple copies of books floating around the table. As an example, I bought my party, who couldn't afford the books, each a copy of the PHB, so there wasn't a lot of wasted time shuffling the books back and forth, which allowed us to get through encounters more effectively. D&D makes it so I don't have to do that in the future. Not everyone is going to do that, is going to even have that many PHBs around, or maybe doesn't even need that many floating, but some will. The same thing can be said for the other books. WIth things like access to the hi-res maps in the adventure books, each player can have access to a better personal look at the battlefield, which benefits all greatly, and not just the DM. It's just that DMs will find more constistant use for most of the material, and will likely use it a heck of a lot more often.
So, without a master subscribtion in the campaign, Can free subscribers even see each other's unlocked content? Can a free subscriber make any use of the content they unlocked other than view it privately?
Not at this time. In this scenario, it would be of use for the free subscriber to use privately with their own character(s).
Even with respect to their own character, can the other freeloaders in the campaign see the Battlemaster features, for example? Or a magic item that's not in the public rules? Or a spell from VGtM? Because, if I'm correct, even on the printed character sheet, it only gives the title of the features and spells.
In other words, other than being a personal reference, the utility of unlocking content for free users or Hero-level subscribers is none. Am I mistaken?
In a broader sense, D&D Beyond definitely benefits everyone, since you can share your information more effectively, and on a more consistent basis, not to mention that you don't need to have multiple copies of books floating around the table.
It's worth noting that this is true ONLY if someone in the group has a Master tier subscription. Otherwise, there appears to be NO sharing of unlocked content at all.
So, how does unlocked content interact with free subscriptions?
If I unlock content, and am in a campaign with other free subscribers (and nobody has a Master tier subscription), can I use my content in that campaign?
Can anyone else? I'm inferring that, without a master tier subscription, nobody else can, but a tiny bit uncertain because the earlier information was that unlocked content could be shared in a campaign, regardless of subscription level.
If that's not the case, again, with just freeloaders playing in the campaign, can only I see my unlocked content? Can nobody else see the monsters or items I've unlocked? Even if they're unlocked content is on my character sheet? If this is true, what's the point of unlocking monsters?
The point of unlocking monsters is mostly for DMs to develop encounters, just in the same way that most players don't own the monster manual.
Spellcasters need monsters to know what they are summoning, for starters, and, in higher level games, players often end up controlling allied creatures in a game. But the main point I'm making isn't whether players should unlock content or not. The point I'm trying to figure out here is the utility of purchasing content without a master tier subscription, and the answer I'm hearing is very little.
This is an unfortunate change that the Beyond team has made. If' I must purchase a Master subscription tier account, using this the way I used to use D&D Insider (which is to say, extensively) has gone from cheaper to more expensive, and more annoying to manage. And while the price of the content isn't on the Beyond team at all (and I continue to applaud you for the deal you've made on that), the subscription features and prices are, and the change they've made to accessing and sharing the content is disappointing. I've gone from a "definite" buyer to a "maybe" buyer of the content.
The point is that some players will find use for more information, and some players will find that they don't need much at all. A Druid, for an example, will probably want to have the Monster Manual, so they can have quick reference to the monsters they can change into, but a Fighter probably won't. That's kinda the beauty of the system that Curse is setting up for purchases. You can choose your level of involvement. If we take that Druid, as an example, maybe they'll buy the PHB and the Monster Manual, which will cost them $40-$60 (depending on when they buy them). That's a lot of useful information for them to have, and they won't need to buy into anything else if they don't want to. However, the Monster Manual contains very little useful information for the Fighter, who will end up buying just the PHB for $20-$30. Or maybe they'll want character options from the other books, which they can buy a piece at a time, or as a whole, which is up to them. This basically works exactly as it does right now with the physical books, except it's wildly more convenient. I'm not sure how they're handling familiars, beast companions, and shape changes, since I don't have one created currently, but I'm sure that they'll have some form of very useful tool to automatically integrate into your character, if you so choose.
So, without a master subscribtion in the campaign, Can free subscribers even see each other's unlocked content? Can a free subscriber make any use of the content they unlocked other than view it privately?
Not at this time. In this scenario, it would be of use for the free subscriber to use privately with their own character(s).
Even with respect to their own character, can the other freeloaders in the campaign see the Battlemaster features, for example? Or a magic item that's not in the public rules? Or a spell from VGtM? Because, if I'm correct, even on the printed character sheet, it only gives the title of the features and spells.
In other words, other than being a personal reference, the utility of unlocking content for free users or Hero-level subscribers is none. Am I mistaken?
If the owner of the Master Tier shares the content, the other non-master players can see everything of the content, from the compendium to the character builder.
In a broader sense, D&D Beyond definitely benefits everyone, since you can share your information more effectively, and on a more consistent basis, not to mention that you don't need to have multiple copies of books floating around the table.
It's worth noting that this is true ONLY if someone in the group has a Master tier subscription. Otherwise, there appears to be NO sharing of unlocked content at all.
Yes. It's fair to say that. It's pretty much how it works. These features work well for some, and not as well for others. They're great tools, in my opinion, but they're not necessarily going to hold the same value up for every single person. Granted, that's why Curse has developed a metric ton of options for people, to find their right level of involvement, but it's not for everyone.
So, without a master subscribtion in the campaign, Can free subscribers even see each other's unlocked content? Can a free subscriber make any use of the content they unlocked other than view it privately?
Not at this time. In this scenario, it would be of use for the free subscriber to use privately with their own character(s).
Even with respect to their own character, can the other freeloaders in the campaign see the Battlemaster features, for example? Or a magic item that's not in the public rules? Or a spell from VGtM? Because, if I'm correct, even on the printed character sheet, it only gives the title of the features and spells.
In other words, other than being a personal reference, the utility of unlocking content for free users or Hero-level subscribers is none. Am I mistaken?
If the owner of the Master Tier shares the content, the other non-master players can see everything of the content, from the compendium to the character builder.
Right. If there is no Master Tier subscriber in the group, no content is visible to anyone but the owner.
This means that, if I unlock content, and want to do more than just reference it privately, either I must get a Master tier subscription, or depend on someone else in the group getting a Master tier subscription. Since it's unlikely that someone else would get a Master tier subscription just to be able to share the content that I unlocked, this amounts to an obligation to for anyone who unlocks content to get a Master tier subscription.
For those who agree with the above logic, it will feel that the Master tier subscription is basically a hidden fee to be able to get real utility out of their unlocked content. That's where I'm at right now.
In a broader sense, D&D Beyond definitely benefits everyone, since you can share your information more effectively, and on a more consistent basis, not to mention that you don't need to have multiple copies of books floating around the table.
It's worth noting that this is true ONLY if someone in the group has a Master tier subscription. Otherwise, there appears to be NO sharing of unlocked content at all.
Yes. It's fair to say that. It's pretty much how it works. These features work well for some, and not as well for others. They're great tools, in my opinion, but they're not necessarily going to hold the same value up for every single person. Granted, that's why Curse has developed a metric ton of options for people, to find their right level of involvement, but it's not for everyone.
Except the only option, if you unlock content that you want to use as more than a private reference, is to get a Master tier subscription. And, let's face it, a lot of the options involve unlocking content. Your metric ton is quickly reduced to one option, in that case.
In a broader sense, D&D Beyond definitely benefits everyone, since you can share your information more effectively, and on a more consistent basis, not to mention that you don't need to have multiple copies of books floating around the table.
It's worth noting that this is true ONLY if someone in the group has a Master tier subscription. Otherwise, there appears to be NO sharing of unlocked content at all.
Yes. It's fair to say that. It's pretty much how it works. These features work well for some, and not as well for others. They're great tools, in my opinion, but they're not necessarily going to hold the same value up for every single person. Granted, that's why Curse has developed a metric ton of options for people, to find their right level of involvement, but it's not for everyone.
Except the only option, if you unlock content that you want to use as more than a private reference, is to get a Master tier subscription. And, let's face it, a lot of the options involve unlocking content. Your metric ton is quickly reduced to one option, in that case.
Except that you will eventually be able to enter it all as private homebrew and share it with your campaign that way. so it isn't the only option, just the most convenient option.
In a broader sense, D&D Beyond definitely benefits everyone, since you can share your information more effectively, and on a more consistent basis, not to mention that you don't need to have multiple copies of books floating around the table.
It's worth noting that this is true ONLY if someone in the group has a Master tier subscription. Otherwise, there appears to be NO sharing of unlocked content at all.
Yes. It's fair to say that. It's pretty much how it works. These features work well for some, and not as well for others. They're great tools, in my opinion, but they're not necessarily going to hold the same value up for every single person. Granted, that's why Curse has developed a metric ton of options for people, to find their right level of involvement, but it's not for everyone.
Except the only option, if you unlock content that you want to use as more than a private reference, is to get a Master tier subscription. And, let's face it, a lot of the options involve unlocking content. Your metric ton is quickly reduced to one option, in that case.
Except that you will eventually be able to enter it all as private homebrew and share it with your campaign that way. so it isn't the only option, just the most convenient option.
Forgive me if I'm being obtuse, but isn't the whole point of this convenience? Are you saying that I can turn the unlocked content into homebrew content with a single click of a button, or are you highlighting simply the option to copy and paste the content over, one piece at a time? If that's an option, I could also write that content in my own hand, obviating the need for unlocked content completely. Shouldn't we also consider the option of not using Beyond at all? Or not playing D&D at all? Or not playing games at all? Or just giving up on happiness completely?
So, yes, there are other options. But now the only reasonable option for someone purchasing and unlocking content is to get a Master tier subscription, and that change feels a bit like a gotcha. Unless I'm missing something, which I'd love to be.
So, without a master subscribtion in the campaign, Can free subscribers even see each other's unlocked content? Can a free subscriber make any use of the content they unlocked other than view it privately?
Not at this time. In this scenario, it would be of use for the free subscriber to use privately with their own character(s).
Even with respect to their own character, can the other freeloaders in the campaign see the Battlemaster features, for example? Or a magic item that's not in the public rules? Or a spell from VGtM? Because, if I'm correct, even on the printed character sheet, it only gives the title of the features and spells.
In other words, other than being a personal reference, the utility of unlocking content for free users or Hero-level subscribers is none. Am I mistaken?
If the owner of the Master Tier shares the content, the other non-master players can see everything of the content, from the compendium to the character builder.
Right. If there is no Master Tier subscriber in the group, no content is visible to anyone but the owner.
This means that, if I unlock content, and want to do more than just reference it privately, either I must get a Master tier subscription, or depend on someone else in the group getting a Master tier subscription. Since it's unlikely that someone else would get a Master tier subscription just to be able to share the content that I unlocked, this amounts to an obligation to for anyone who unlocks content to get a Master tier subscription.
For those who agree with the above logic, it will feel that the Master tier subscription is basically a hidden fee to be able to get real utility out of their unlocked content. That's where I'm at right now.
Personally, I don't agree with your view. Those who unlock the content (any book they want) are not obliged to buy the Master Tier subscription. The first and foremost use of the unlock content is at your table, with searchable compendium and listing of monsters and spells. Not to mention the character builder. All this in one place.
The Master Tier will be used mainly to split up the cost of the unlock content among the players (DM included).
In a broader sense, D&D Beyond definitely benefits everyone, since you can share your information more effectively, and on a more consistent basis, not to mention that you don't need to have multiple copies of books floating around the table.
It's worth noting that this is true ONLY if someone in the group has a Master tier subscription. Otherwise, there appears to be NO sharing of unlocked content at all.
Yes. It's fair to say that. It's pretty much how it works. These features work well for some, and not as well for others. They're great tools, in my opinion, but they're not necessarily going to hold the same value up for every single person. Granted, that's why Curse has developed a metric ton of options for people, to find their right level of involvement, but it's not for everyone.
Except the only option, if you unlock content that you want to use as more than a private reference, is to get a Master tier subscription. And, let's face it, a lot of the options involve unlocking content. Your metric ton is quickly reduced to one option, in that case.
Except that you will eventually be able to enter it all as private homebrew and share it with your campaign that way. so it isn't the only option, just the most convenient option.
Forgive me if I'm being obtuse, but isn't the whole point of this convenience? Are you saying that I can turn the unlocked content into homebrew content with a single click of a button, or are you highlighting simply the option to copy and paste the content over, one piece at a time? If that's an option, I could also write that content in my own hand, obviating the need for unlocked content completely. Shouldn't we also consider the option of not using Beyond at all? Or not playing D&D at all? Or not playing games at all? Or just giving up on happiness completely?
So, yes, there are other options. But now the only reasonable option for someone purchasing and unlocking content is to get a Master tier subscription, and that change feels a bit like a gotcha. Unless I'm missing something, which I'd love to be.
I'm not exactly sure what the point of all this nitpicking for you is. This service is useful for some people, and not for others. If you feel like there's no value in it for you, that's fine. D&D Beyond doesn't fit absolutely everyone's needs. It fits a wide variety of people's needs, but it's not for everyone.
If you're here to get us to sell you on the product, that's not really our job. There are plenty of us who are more than willing to help answer questions that you may have, but I, for one, will not sell anyone on it, especially someone who seems determined not to get it.
If, on the other hand, your intent is to devalue the product in other people's eyes, I'd request you stop. D&D Beyond works for some, and not for others. Trying to devalue it because it doesn't fit your needs isn't very productive. It's just antagonistic, and I, for one, am not really up for combating a troll.
In a broader sense, D&D Beyond definitely benefits everyone, since you can share your information more effectively, and on a more consistent basis, not to mention that you don't need to have multiple copies of books floating around the table.
It's worth noting that this is true ONLY if someone in the group has a Master tier subscription. Otherwise, there appears to be NO sharing of unlocked content at all.
Yes. It's fair to say that. It's pretty much how it works. These features work well for some, and not as well for others. They're great tools, in my opinion, but they're not necessarily going to hold the same value up for every single person. Granted, that's why Curse has developed a metric ton of options for people, to find their right level of involvement, but it's not for everyone.
Except the only option, if you unlock content that you want to use as more than a private reference, is to get a Master tier subscription. And, let's face it, a lot of the options involve unlocking content. Your metric ton is quickly reduced to one option, in that case.
Except that you will eventually be able to enter it all as private homebrew and share it with your campaign that way. so it isn't the only option, just the most convenient option.
Forgive me if I'm being obtuse, but isn't the whole point of this convenience? Are you saying that I can turn the unlocked content into homebrew content with a single click of a button, or are you highlighting simply the option to copy and paste the content over, one piece at a time? If that's an option, I could also write that content in my own hand, obviating the need for unlocked content completely. Shouldn't we also consider the option of not using Beyond at all? Or not playing D&D at all? Or not playing games at all? Or just giving up on happiness completely?
So, yes, there are other options. But now the only reasonable option for someone purchasing and unlocking content is to get a Master tier subscription, and that change feels a bit like a gotcha. Unless I'm missing something, which I'd love to be.
Except that you stated it was the only option, which is false, which is what I was pointing out.
The first and foremost use of the unlock content is at your table, with searchable compendium and listing of monsters and spells. Not to mention the character builder. All this in one place.
I agree that the character builder is useful, assuming you have access to all the options you're interested in. Again, one of the means of doing so is via a Master tier subscription, but it's true that this can also be done by just unlocking content, and Beyond has taken great effort to parse this out to a very granular level of detail.
As far as looking up content at the table, my experience is that the time it takes to get an internet-connected device going (turned on, unlocked and browsing to the right page), searching for the detail you're trying to look up, and finding it is pretty similar to doing so with the books. I'm not dismissing this option, but it's really not a huge convenience. I think it's much more convenient to be able to access all the content wherever I am, without having to carry my books with me. That's the real advantage, I think.
The answer is simple. If I unlock additional content, I can use such on MY character sheet. Other free players may not be able to create certain races, or use certain feats. If I unlock it, I can. This alone answers your challenge of a single way unshared, unlocked content benefits a player without a subscription - the desire to manifest character customization not included in Basic Rules/SRD.
As Rubahak mentioned - no one is here to convince you that this product is right for you. If you do not see value in it, you do not have to commit to it. Easy peasy.
The first and foremost use of the unlock content is at your table, with searchable compendium and listing of monsters and spells. Not to mention the character builder. All this in one place.
I agree that the character builder is useful, assuming you have access to all the options you're interested in. Again, one of the means of doing so is via a Master tier subscription, but it's true that this can also be done by just unlocking content, and Beyond has taken great effort to parse this out to a very granular level of detail.
As far as looking up content at the table, my experience is that the time it takes to get an internet-connected device going (turned on, unlocked and browsing to the right page), searching for the detail you're trying to look up, and finding it is pretty similar to doing so with the books. I'm not dismissing this option, but it's really not a huge convenience. I think it's much more convenient to be able to access all the content wherever I am, without having to carry my books with me. That's the real advantage, I think.
Yes, I agree totally with your last statement. I mean, I love books, but the convenience of having just a laptop or even the smartphone,...having character sheets in one place...this is fantastic, in my humble opinion.
I think it's much more convenient to be able to access all the content wherever I am, without having to carry my books with me. That's the real advantage, I think.
I imagine many tables will soon be reduced to a tablet and dice for each player. Reduce clutter and reduce time wastage hunting rules and I imagine a lot more gaming will happen.
Having my entire library, DnDB, other PDFs and my character all on a single iPad is very cool indeed.
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D&D Beyond FoundersPun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
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Spellcasters need monsters to know what they are summoning, for starters, and, in higher level games, players often end up controlling allied creatures in a game. But the main point I'm making isn't whether players should unlock content or not. The point I'm trying to figure out here is the utility of purchasing content without a master tier subscription, and the answer I'm hearing is very little.
This is an unfortunate change that the Beyond team has made. If' I must purchase a Master subscription tier account, using this the way I used to use D&D Insider (which is to say, extensively) has gone from cheaper to more expensive, and more annoying to manage. And while the price of the content isn't on the Beyond team at all (and I continue to applaud you for the deal you've made on that), the subscription features and prices are, and the change they've made to accessing and sharing the content is disappointing. I've gone from a "definite" buyer to a "maybe" buyer of the content.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
The answer is simple. If I unlock additional content, I can use such on MY character sheet. Other free players may not be able to create certain races, or use certain feats. If I unlock it, I can. This alone answers your challenge of a single way unshared, unlocked content benefits a player without a subscription - the desire to manifest character customization not included in Basic Rules/SRD.
As Rubahak mentioned - no one is here to convince you that this product is right for you. If you do not see value in it, you do not have to commit to it. Easy peasy.
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