Let me first get this out of the way, I already read up and researched on what Master Tier subscription does, but I have a question which I can't find the answer to whilst searching.
My group and I have been playing 5e with actual books as reference, and we have since decided to continue online since we're getting less and less chances to gather around a table physically. But only me, the forever DM, actually owns any books, and I just lend them my books for their reference.
I am planning to buy a bunch of sourcebooks during the sale (the core books and expansions like Tasha's and Xanathar's) since it seems like the best time do so. This is so I can better use dndbeyond for our online sessions. Now, my players can't really afford the books, so I'm buying for the rest of us.
I would like to know how strict dndbeyond is when it comes to viewing content you don't own. If I make (and manage) their characters for them using my account that has all the books, will they be able to see that content (subclasses and spells, for example)? I will just be putting them in a campaign as unassigned characters, and assign them to my players. Would I need a Master Tier sub still just so they can see these characters, or will they see it normally but just won't be able to edit them?
That is actually a good question, I never thought about that.
My initial thought would be, that they can use the character and anything added, but they wont be able to add ANYTHING themself that is not in the SRD, you would have to add it for them every time.
But that is just a guess.
The alternativ is a you said, Master Tier subscription with sharing enabled, then they can manage everything themself.
When you put character sheets into a campaign and unassign them from yourself, anyone in the campaign can see that the character sheets are there and can assign any of them to themselves (I forget if a DM can assign a sheet to a player, my instinct says no, but don't quote me). Then once a player has assigned the sheet to themselves, they can view anything on the sheet and can add anything they have access to, and can edit the sheet as normal. They would only run into issues of access when 1. updating to a level with subclass features, which they don't have access to if they need to make choices or when 2. changing out spells (so it's more difficult for prepared caster classes like druid, cleric, and paladin, and wizard a bit).
That said, all homebrew is shared within a campaign, so if you made homebrew copies of the subclass or the spells in question (just make sure you add 'homebrew' or something to the label so no one is confused) then they can do all the updating themselves. It's a question of how messy you mind your homebrew creations section to be.
So basically it's just matter of not being able to modify anything by themselves since they don't own any of the books? As long as they can see the characters I made for them, I'm happy.
I like the homebrew suggestion though, do I just basically make copies of the things (subclasses, spells, etc.) and label them as homebrew?
My initial thought would be, that they can use the character and anything added, but they wont be able to add ANYTHING themself that is not in the SRD, you would have to add it for them every time.
That's my assumption as well, that my players just won't be able to modify sheets themselves. I will see the actual interactions once I actually test them out. Master Tier sub would be ultimately my last resort. Hopefully it does work like we assumed.
So basically it's just matter of not being able to modify anything by themselves since they don't own any of the books? As long as they can see the characters I made for them, I'm happy.
I like the homebrew suggestion though, do I just basically make copies of the things (subclasses, spells, etc.) and label them as homebrew?
Yeah, they'll be able to modify things like HP or spells/items in the SRD, but for anything they can't do, they'll need to unassign the sheet from themselves, you pick it back up to make the changes, then unassign it from yourself so they can pick it up again.
For homebrew, you can use anything you've bought as a template, so you just create a spell, use X spell as a template, change the name to X (Homebrew) or something instead of Copy_of_X, and it'll function like the real thing. Only thing I'm not sure about is if it's something like a cleric domain spell, if you have to specify that the spell is available for the homebrew version of the domain. But that should be easy to test.
Yeah, they'll be able to modify things like HP or spells/items in the SRD, but for anything they can't do, they'll need to unassign the sheet from themselves, you pick it back up to make the changes, then unassign it from yourself so they can pick it up again.
If OP is the GM, or the one making the campaign, they don't ahve to unassign the characters. The DM of a campaign can edit all characters directly.
Ok so, I'll report results for everyone's reference. They can see the characters I make for them, but they can only change stuff that's in the SRD. Like the people above said (thanks for your responses).
I won't need to unassign the sheets either, since the DM of the campaign can freely edit the players' sheets. I don't mind managing the sheets for them since dndbeyond kinda makes it easy anyway.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Let me first get this out of the way, I already read up and researched on what Master Tier subscription does, but I have a question which I can't find the answer to whilst searching.
My group and I have been playing 5e with actual books as reference, and we have since decided to continue online since we're getting less and less chances to gather around a table physically. But only me, the forever DM, actually owns any books, and I just lend them my books for their reference.
I am planning to buy a bunch of sourcebooks during the sale (the core books and expansions like Tasha's and Xanathar's) since it seems like the best time do so. This is so I can better use dndbeyond for our online sessions. Now, my players can't really afford the books, so I'm buying for the rest of us.
I would like to know how strict dndbeyond is when it comes to viewing content you don't own. If I make (and manage) their characters for them using my account that has all the books, will they be able to see that content (subclasses and spells, for example)? I will just be putting them in a campaign as unassigned characters, and assign them to my players. Would I need a Master Tier sub still just so they can see these characters, or will they see it normally but just won't be able to edit them?
That is actually a good question, I never thought about that.
My initial thought would be, that they can use the character and anything added, but they wont be able to add ANYTHING themself that is not in the SRD, you would have to add it for them every time.
But that is just a guess.
The alternativ is a you said, Master Tier subscription with sharing enabled, then they can manage everything themself.
When you put character sheets into a campaign and unassign them from yourself, anyone in the campaign can see that the character sheets are there and can assign any of them to themselves (I forget if a DM can assign a sheet to a player, my instinct says no, but don't quote me). Then once a player has assigned the sheet to themselves, they can view anything on the sheet and can add anything they have access to, and can edit the sheet as normal. They would only run into issues of access when 1. updating to a level with subclass features, which they don't have access to if they need to make choices or when 2. changing out spells (so it's more difficult for prepared caster classes like druid, cleric, and paladin, and wizard a bit).
That said, all homebrew is shared within a campaign, so if you made homebrew copies of the subclass or the spells in question (just make sure you add 'homebrew' or something to the label so no one is confused) then they can do all the updating themselves. It's a question of how messy you mind your homebrew creations section to be.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
So basically it's just matter of not being able to modify anything by themselves since they don't own any of the books? As long as they can see the characters I made for them, I'm happy.
I like the homebrew suggestion though, do I just basically make copies of the things (subclasses, spells, etc.) and label them as homebrew?
That's my assumption as well, that my players just won't be able to modify sheets themselves. I will see the actual interactions once I actually test them out. Master Tier sub would be ultimately my last resort. Hopefully it does work like we assumed.
Yeah, they'll be able to modify things like HP or spells/items in the SRD, but for anything they can't do, they'll need to unassign the sheet from themselves, you pick it back up to make the changes, then unassign it from yourself so they can pick it up again.
For homebrew, you can use anything you've bought as a template, so you just create a spell, use X spell as a template, change the name to X (Homebrew) or something instead of Copy_of_X, and it'll function like the real thing. Only thing I'm not sure about is if it's something like a cleric domain spell, if you have to specify that the spell is available for the homebrew version of the domain. But that should be easy to test.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
If OP is the GM, or the one making the campaign, they don't ahve to unassign the characters.
The DM of a campaign can edit all characters directly.
Ok so, I'll report results for everyone's reference. They can see the characters I make for them, but they can only change stuff that's in the SRD. Like the people above said (thanks for your responses).
I won't need to unassign the sheets either, since the DM of the campaign can freely edit the players' sheets. I don't mind managing the sheets for them since dndbeyond kinda makes it easy anyway.