You don't need a DDB subscription unless you want to use published homebrews, and/or share your owned content on DDB with others in a campaign. (It also gets you monthly-ish perks like character sheet backgrounds and such.) A subscription does not give you access to non-free (Basics Rules/SRD) content, you still need to purchase the sources for that, or have them shared with you via a campaign. So it can be worth it for 1 person in a campaign to have a Master Tier sub, so that everyone can share their owned official material. But you don't even need a sub to share private homebrew with a campaign.
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Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
It really depends what you want to do with it. If you're going to keep more than 6 characters active on here, then almost certainly it's worth the Hero tier. The additional perks are aesthetic so that really depends on your tastes, but they are a thing for subscribers.
I've got the Master level tier which lets me share my content with others, invite them to campaigns, etc. I'll probably be letting that go, however, because I'm not DMing and the campaign I'm playing in doesn't even use it. That said, the difference is $3 month which is a cup of coffee.
In what way do you want to get more into the world of D&D? The subscription doesn't really do anything to help with that, save for content sharing and the increase to the number of content you can create (homebrew and characters). I'd recommend you save your money, especially if you've not got much content to share with the group to begin with. I have the Sourcebook bundle, which is incredibly useful for my groups to borrow from; it cost me no small amount of money but the ability to subscribe and share that content with my groups and save each member that much cash is priceless.
Focus on the sourcebooks and adventures you know you'll use first, or just buy the individual items for the character creator, and then think about a subscription afterwards. Alternatively, once you've played with your group you can talk about chipping in to a group fund for the books and subscription to make it cheaper for all of you to use (however, only one player will have ownership of that content, so this idea is based on the honour system really).
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
Create unlimited characters - you get six already. To be honest, unless you're doing simultaneous campaigns or multiple characters in each, I wouldn't bother. Six are plenty unless you want to store old ones - but you can print off the sheet and keep that as a memory.
Add publicly shared homebrew content - Maybe this is worth it to you? I don't see the attraction, and putting the ability to help contribute to DDB behind a paywall seems a bit...odd to me. Again, this isn't something I'd pay for.
Early access to new tools - someone fill me in here, is there actually anything in early access? My understanding is that not much is happening on this front?
Unlimited encounters - this could be useful if you're running a campaign on DDB. Just spend a day or two creating all the encounters in one go, and then you can focus on running the campaign. That might be worth the $3/month.
Subscriber perks - to be honest, they're always purely aesthetic upgrades and they are only accessible to active subscriptions (so if you stop subscribing, you don't get access to them anymore), I wouldn't be willing to spend actual money on them, but they are a nice addition.
Master
Everything as above, but anyone in a campaign with you can share any books and related content that they've bought with everyone else on the table. So of you buy the Legendary Bundle which is ~$860, you could split the cost between 6 of you, so it would cost only ~$140 each. Obviously, yous also have to pay the subscription fee, but that is only $6 per month, so $1 each. That's still 720 months before it breaks even, or 60 years. That's not really a concern, I don't think. Still not remotely worth it for someone like me who only plays with his wife and brother in law and probably wouldn't use all that content, but it might be for others. Just check what content you want to buy and how much it is, compare it to the subscription and how many are paying in to see if it's worth it or not.
Personally, I wouldn't bother with Hero level. Master would depend on the economics, really. Bear in mind that you still have to pay for the actual content, which can get expensive. Also, I have to point out that when paying for content on DDB, you don't actually own anything, you just get a semipermament access to the service. That cones with consequences that you may or may not be happy with.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I've had a lot of great use out of the Master-tier subscription, but I do own all of the books and DM frequently. I don't know if it's a factor, but for the last year or so, the subscription customization options for character sheets have just SUCKED.
I keep a subscription because its like $5 a month (less if you do it yearly).
A) My daughter and I play in a lot of one shots. I keep a version of each character at level 5, level 10, and level 20. I tend to keep a handful of characters ready to go
B) In theory it allows me to share resources across campaigns. Not necessarily yet but I think that perk is probably worth it if utilized.
Master tier also gets access to maps, it is still in beta but I find it a very useful tool, though WotC's taking away the bundle discount stacking has led me to cancel my subscription until they bring it to the "new and worse" store(there is a path to use it through CS, but it is unacceptable and time consuming).
Not worth it. Go to Amazon pick up a copy of the players hand book for $26 and play at your local hobby shop. You can also go here for LFG and pick up a free discord game as well. You don't need a subscription to play the game.
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Hey Y'all...
I'm an average semi casual player, I've been wanting to get MORE into the D&D world, Is the subscription worth it in your opinion?
Thanks!
You don't need a DDB subscription unless you want to use published homebrews, and/or share your owned content on DDB with others in a campaign. (It also gets you monthly-ish perks like character sheet backgrounds and such.) A subscription does not give you access to non-free (Basics Rules/SRD) content, you still need to purchase the sources for that, or have them shared with you via a campaign. So it can be worth it for 1 person in a campaign to have a Master Tier sub, so that everyone can share their owned official material. But you don't even need a sub to share private homebrew with a campaign.
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
It really depends what you want to do with it. If you're going to keep more than 6 characters active on here, then almost certainly it's worth the Hero tier. The additional perks are aesthetic so that really depends on your tastes, but they are a thing for subscribers.
I've got the Master level tier which lets me share my content with others, invite them to campaigns, etc. I'll probably be letting that go, however, because I'm not DMing and the campaign I'm playing in doesn't even use it. That said, the difference is $3 month which is a cup of coffee.
In what way do you want to get more into the world of D&D? The subscription doesn't really do anything to help with that, save for content sharing and the increase to the number of content you can create (homebrew and characters). I'd recommend you save your money, especially if you've not got much content to share with the group to begin with. I have the Sourcebook bundle, which is incredibly useful for my groups to borrow from; it cost me no small amount of money but the ability to subscribe and share that content with my groups and save each member that much cash is priceless.
Focus on the sourcebooks and adventures you know you'll use first, or just buy the individual items for the character creator, and then think about a subscription afterwards. Alternatively, once you've played with your group you can talk about chipping in to a group fund for the books and subscription to make it cheaper for all of you to use (however, only one player will have ownership of that content, so this idea is based on the honour system really).
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
Let's have a look:
Hero
Create unlimited characters - you get six already. To be honest, unless you're doing simultaneous campaigns or multiple characters in each, I wouldn't bother. Six are plenty unless you want to store old ones - but you can print off the sheet and keep that as a memory.
Add publicly shared homebrew content - Maybe this is worth it to you? I don't see the attraction, and putting the ability to help contribute to DDB behind a paywall seems a bit...odd to me. Again, this isn't something I'd pay for.
Early access to new tools - someone fill me in here, is there actually anything in early access? My understanding is that not much is happening on this front?
Unlimited encounters - this could be useful if you're running a campaign on DDB. Just spend a day or two creating all the encounters in one go, and then you can focus on running the campaign. That might be worth the $3/month.
Subscriber perks - to be honest, they're always purely aesthetic upgrades and they are only accessible to active subscriptions (so if you stop subscribing, you don't get access to them anymore), I wouldn't be willing to spend actual money on them, but they are a nice addition.
Master
Everything as above, but anyone in a campaign with you can share any books and related content that they've bought with everyone else on the table. So of you buy the Legendary Bundle which is ~$860, you could split the cost between 6 of you, so it would cost only ~$140 each. Obviously, yous also have to pay the subscription fee, but that is only $6 per month, so $1 each. That's still 720 months before it breaks even, or 60 years. That's not really a concern, I don't think. Still not remotely worth it for someone like me who only plays with his wife and brother in law and probably wouldn't use all that content, but it might be for others. Just check what content you want to buy and how much it is, compare it to the subscription and how many are paying in to see if it's worth it or not.
Personally, I wouldn't bother with Hero level. Master would depend on the economics, really. Bear in mind that you still have to pay for the actual content, which can get expensive. Also, I have to point out that when paying for content on DDB, you don't actually own anything, you just get a semipermament access to the service. That cones with consequences that you may or may not be happy with.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
If you make/play lots of characters, or ever have the urge to dive into DM-ing then; maybe dependant upon your budget.
If it's "worth it" for the "exclusive stuff"; almost certainly not.
I've had a lot of great use out of the Master-tier subscription, but I do own all of the books and DM frequently. I don't know if it's a factor, but for the last year or so, the subscription customization options for character sheets have just SUCKED.
I keep a subscription because its like $5 a month (less if you do it yearly).
A) My daughter and I play in a lot of one shots. I keep a version of each character at level 5, level 10, and level 20. I tend to keep a handful of characters ready to go
B) In theory it allows me to share resources across campaigns. Not necessarily yet but I think that perk is probably worth it if utilized.
Master tier also gets access to maps, it is still in beta but I find it a very useful tool, though WotC's taking away the bundle discount stacking has led me to cancel my subscription until they bring it to the "new and worse" store(there is a path to use it through CS, but it is unacceptable and time consuming).
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
Not worth it. Go to Amazon pick up a copy of the players hand book for $26 and play at your local hobby shop. You can also go here for LFG and pick up a free discord game as well. You don't need a subscription to play the game.