Is there a way to get access to the resources on this website WITHOUT having to purchase them? I have several of the books in hardcopy that I paid full price for and find it frustrating to have to spend more money just so I can use them here. Is there a code somewhere in the books to also allow access here?
If you do a search (i recommend google and specifying the ddb domain as the internal search is next to useless for forum threads), you will see a lot of very long threads on this subject. The very short version is no, there is no way to do so. A short recap of why:
-Wizards of the Coast and DDB are separate companies. DDB pays licensing fees to WOTC for content, and thus has to charge us (plus, they need to pay the employees who build the tools and "translate" the content for the site, and pay server costs, etc.)
-There is currently no system in place to uniquely identified copies of the book to redeem here; WOTC would have to decide to do so, and it would undoubtedly increase the cost of the physical books, plus it wouldn't grandparent in previous purchases.
As someone who has the physical books already, if you want to use DDB, you have three options, listed in order of cheapest to most expensive:
-homebrew the character options you need using the homebrew tools. Just don't try to publish them. There are a few things that cannot be homebrewed: whole classes (thus the artificer; all the other base classes are free); warlock invocations, fighting styles, artificer infusions, and maybe a few other things along those lines. But races, subclasses, feats, backgrounds, spells and monsters can all be homebrewed. (Anything in the SRD or Basic Rules is already available for free). NOTE: if you want to homebrew artificer subclasses, you would need to purchase ONE artificer subclass, to also get the base class. Then you can homebrew the rest.
-purchase just the character options you need. So, for example, you could purchase just the tabaxi race for $1.99. The amount you spend this way will be credited toward the price of the source ("book") in which the option first appeared. So buying the tabaxi race reduces the cost of Volo's by $1.99. I did this for a lot of things, slowly whittling away at the price of the entire book.
As ArwensDaughter pointed out, this website is not owned by the same company that publishes D&D. The company that makes the game is Wizards of the Coast (WotC), a subsidiary of Hasbro. This website is owned by a company called Fandom Inc., that’s the same company that does all of those free video game wikis.
This website is basically an independent online bookstore that only sells digital versions of D&D 5e books. They built all of these really cool free tools for people to use with the books we purchase here. So basically, if they don’t sell us the books in exchange for money, then there will be no DDB.
Is there a way to get access to the resources on this website WITHOUT having to purchase them? I have several of the books in hardcopy that I paid full price for and find it frustrating to have to spend more money just so I can use them here. Is there a code somewhere in the books to also allow access here?
Example, I have Volo's but can not cerate characters with Tabaxi race
If you do a search (i recommend google and specifying the ddb domain as the internal search is next to useless for forum threads), you will see a lot of very long threads on this subject. The very short version is no, there is no way to do so. A short recap of why:
-Wizards of the Coast and DDB are separate companies. DDB pays licensing fees to WOTC for content, and thus has to charge us (plus, they need to pay the employees who build the tools and "translate" the content for the site, and pay server costs, etc.)
-There is currently no system in place to uniquely identified copies of the book to redeem here; WOTC would have to decide to do so, and it would undoubtedly increase the cost of the physical books, plus it wouldn't grandparent in previous purchases.
As someone who has the physical books already, if you want to use DDB, you have three options, listed in order of cheapest to most expensive:
-homebrew the character options you need using the homebrew tools. Just don't try to publish them. There are a few things that cannot be homebrewed: whole classes (thus the artificer; all the other base classes are free); warlock invocations, fighting styles, artificer infusions, and maybe a few other things along those lines. But races, subclasses, feats, backgrounds, spells and monsters can all be homebrewed. (Anything in the SRD or Basic Rules is already available for free). NOTE: if you want to homebrew artificer subclasses, you would need to purchase ONE artificer subclass, to also get the base class. Then you can homebrew the rest.
-purchase just the character options you need. So, for example, you could purchase just the tabaxi race for $1.99. The amount you spend this way will be credited toward the price of the source ("book") in which the option first appeared. So buying the tabaxi race reduces the cost of Volo's by $1.99. I did this for a lot of things, slowly whittling away at the price of the entire book.
-purchase the entire source ("book") here
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
Check your entitlements here. | Support Ticket LInk
As ArwensDaughter pointed out, this website is not owned by the same company that publishes D&D. The company that makes the game is Wizards of the Coast (WotC), a subsidiary of Hasbro. This website is owned by a company called Fandom Inc., that’s the same company that does all of those free video game wikis.
This website is basically an independent online bookstore that only sells digital versions of D&D 5e books. They built all of these really cool free tools for people to use with the books we purchase here. So basically, if they don’t sell us the books in exchange for money, then there will be no DDB.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
You can create a homebrew Tabaxi, using the stats from the book.
The tools to create homebrew content are the same tools the dev team use.
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
Thank you for the input - very helpful!
I did not realize that WOTC did not own D&D Beyond. Totally makes sense on the need to charge