2023 Unrolled: A Look Back at a Year of Adventure

Tags D&D Beyond

Welcome to the 2023 Unrolled! Here, we’ll highlight the achievements you’ve managed to roll up as a community over the last year.

From countless battles with monsters to the legions of new adventurers set forth on their quests, each roll of the dice has told a story. The stats you’ll see here are a collective tapestry of the intricate tales you’ve woven of companionship and adventure. 

So, without further ado, let's take a journey through the stats and stories that have defined a year of imagination in Dungeons & Dragons!

Maps

Grey slate background. Title of image reads, "Maps." Text under an icon of a gnome and horned beast reads, "88 million monsters were fought. 180 million characters or NPCs were played."

2023 was an exciting year because our latest tool, Maps, was released in Alpha in September.

Even though this tool is still in development, it’s been encouraging to see all of the battles, exploration, and adventuring taking place.

While it started with a relatively small library, Maps now has fully integrated the content of 17 books. As we move into 2024 and see more tool updates, book integrations, and stable versions of Maps, we hope the core philosophy surrounding this tool, "Prep less, play more," enables players and DMs alike to spend more time adventuring with their friends!

Charity

Grey slate background. Title of image reads, "Charity." Text beside a druid surrounded by woodland creatures reads, "37,000 players contributed to charity through D&D Beyond."

In an epic display of kindness, over 37,000 adventurers channeled their inner heroes, supporting a cause that impacts our real world by purchasing Extra Life products on D&D Beyond.

Whether you purchase Extra Life products released on D&D Beyond in 2023, like Misplaced Monsters: Volume One and Domains of Delight: A Feywild Accessory or older Extra Life products, all proceeds go to helping sick and injured kids through the power of play. And if that’s not being a hero, we’re not sure what is!

Claimables

Grey slate background. Title of image reads, "Claimables." Text beside a headshot of a handsome, brown-haired wizard in purple robes reads, "Gale was the most popular Baldur's Gate 3 character. (It must be the whole blighted-by-forbidden-magic vibe.)"

Well, it looks like the “Gale train” continues to chug along. Having already topped the charts as the most popular Origin character in Baldur’s Gate 3’s opening weekend update, Gale secures another accolade in being the most popular option from our collection of downloadable Baldur’s Gate 3 character sheets.

We think it’s probably a combination of his roguish charm, capricious arcane power, and, of course, those luscious brown locks.

In other news, the most popular claimable of 2023 was the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves collection, which includes 7 stat blocks from the movie’s main characters, 5 legendary magic items featured in the movie, and a dice set featuring everybody’s favorite chonky dragon. The best part? It’s still available for free! No need to plan a heist to secure these treasures.

Characters

Grey slate background. Title of image reads, "Characters." Text imposed over two female adventures reads, "28, average age of characters created. 4.77, average current level of characters created."

If living through a second (and less eccentric) D&D movie last year didn’t make you feel old, this will:

The average age of adventurers rolled up on D&D Beyond was 28. These adventurers are just old enough to go out on their own and be responsible about it, but young enough that they don’t have bad knees or back pain. Plus, if they miss a night without a long rest, they’re not cranky for the next 3 days.

While this makes sense for the all-popular human adventurer (which we cover later on), what people aren’t talking about are the juvenile dwarves and elves running around on adventures! According to the Player’s Handbook, dwarves reach adulthood at 50 and elves at 100, so if you have a 28-year-old elf in your party, you should make sure whatever they’re imbibing at the tavern is non-alcoholic.

We also found that the average level of player characters on D&D Beyond is 4.77. But, while all you poor "local hero" adventurers are wondering when you’ll get that promotion to "heroes of the realm," worry not! Todd Kenreck gave everybody a free level-up for Christmas, so go ahead and swing twice at that goblin you’re facing off against with your shiny new extra attack.

Here’s wishing you plenty more level-ups for your adventures in the new year!

Names

Grey slate background. Title of image reads, "Names." Text is split into three columns with characters underneath and reads, "Most popular: It's still Bob. Most Growth Link (+23%) Seraphina (+18%) Lyra (+6%). Most decline: Bruno ( -56%) Eddie (-45%) Rando (-39%)."

Maintaining his place atop the podium, Bob is the most popular name for characters on D&D Beyond for the second year running. Firmly cementing the fact that this three-letter, one-syllable name is the “John Smith” of the Forgotten Realms.

Meanwhile, “Link” has risen in popularity, a clear nod to our collective affection for heroes who are more about action than words, silent yet expressive, and probably has nothing to do with a notable sequel that hit shelves this year.

On the flip side, poor Eddie's fame has waned dramatically. Lacking the limelight that Stranger Things season 4 once provided, his popularity has turned Upside Down. Have we all forgotten about our fearless leader of the Hellfire Club so quickly? Rock on, Eddy. Rock on.

Species

Grey slate background. Title of image reads, "Species." Picture shows a bar graph of popular D&D species in order: Human, elf, dragonborn, tiefling, half-elf, dwarf, halfling, half-orc, genasi, gnome, goliath, aasimar, aarakocra, lineages, custom lineages."

Taking a look at the most popular species for characters on D&D Beyond, humans are firmly the most popular pick and, unsurprisingly, followed by the rest of the Basic Rules species except the gnome (sorry, gnomes).

The genasi are punching above their weight class by snagging a spot in the top 10. And yes, we see you, the roughly 80,000 aarakocra players. Couldn’t resist that 1st-level flight, eh?

Strangely, compared to their gold-medal showing in Baldur’s Gate 3’s opening weekend stats, half-elves finished a disappointing fifth in our 2023 round-up. Those armor and weapon proficiencies for BG3 half-elves must really make a difference!

Unfortunately for the smallfolk, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes are apparently among the least popular standard races based on our data and the opening weekend stats from Baldur’s Gate 3. I guess what they say is true: Movement speed does matter.

Classes

Grey slate background. Title of image reads, "Classes." Picture shows a bar graph of popular D&D classes in order: Fighter, rogue, barbarian, wizard, paladin, warlock, cleric, ranger, bard, druid, sorcerer, monk, artificer.

Looking at the most popular classes of D&D Beyond characters, it seems like the majority of players like to solve their problems with “I stab them.” Whether they’re using the tactical skill of a fighter, the precise art of a backstabbing rogue, or the pure muscle and rage of a barbarian, the simple ways are often the best.

As for popular casters, players are apparently gravitating to classes that can be prepared for anything. Wizards, who have more spells than they can shake a book at, and paladins, who get weapons, armor, shields, and healing on top of their spellcasting, were the most popular choices. It just goes to show that misty step or a high Armor Class can make you a lot more confident when your Dungeon Master asks, “Are you sure?”

Lastly, there’s the notably close race between warlocks and clerics. It looks like the majority of you listened to the devil on your shoulder instead of the angel, opting to sell your soul rather than enlist with the good guys. But we appreciate that you made the race close, at least.

Mobile App

Grey slate background. Title of image reads, "Mobile App." Text beside a nature spirit made out of water reads, "13 million searches. Top words searched: 'druid' and 'dragon'."

Grey slate background. Title of image reads, "Mobile App." Text beside a cleric casting a spell reads, "7 million spells were cast."

Grey slate background. Title of image reads, "Mobile App." Text beside a spiked dice made of lava reads, "1.9 million players rolled dice 141 million times. 6 million new character were created and character sheets open 80 million times."

Among mobile app users, ‘druid’ and ‘dragon’ were the most popular searches, but nobody tell ‘dungeon,’ it might hurt their feelings.

We also witnessed a staggering 7 million spells cast, and yes, it seems the age-old joke "I fireball the room" might have been more than just a meme. Who knew?

Meanwhile, 1.9 million players embraced the heart of RNG and rolled dice from the app a colossal 141 million times. That's a lot of tempting fate! We hope that number was pumped up by advantage, more than it was disadvantage.

Finally, 6 million new characters were brought to life from the app—whether by creating a custom character or rolling up a premade character, a fun new feature we added in 2023.

Top 5 Articles

Grey slate background. Title of image reads, "Top 5 Articles." Text beside an owlbear reads, "1. Druid 101: Wild Shape Guide 2. How to Create Your First Dungeons & Dragons Character With D&D Beyond 3. D&D Virtual Tabletop: A Closer Look 4. What Is Dungeons & Dragons? 5. Embracing Your Wild Side: Playing As a Lycanthrope in D&D"

From shapeshifting guides to new player tutorials, you’ve been doing your research this past year! It’s a bit troubling that one of our top 5 articles is about turning into a werewolf, but we’ll let it slide because it obviously just academic research…we hope.

Click below to check out our top 5 most popular articles from 2023:

Looking Ahead to 2024

With 2023 wrapped up, we can’t wait to see what 2024 will bring. This next year is a very exciting one for D&D, not only is it the 50th anniversary of our beloved game, but we’ve got the 2024 core rulebooks rolling out!

Thanks for adventuring with us last year, and we’re thrilled to have you in our party for this year to come. We wish you all the inspiration, advantage on your rolls, and critical hits for 2024!

D&D Beyond Maps: How to Start Playing Today
by Davyd Barker
Jump Into Adventures With Premade Characters and Campaigns
by Mike Bernier
Traverse the Tundra With January's Frosty Subscriber Perks!
by D&D Beyond Staff

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