DnD Beyond X Wizards of the Coast

I deal with Wizards of the Coast as both a customer and as a merchant and the last few years has seen me have to graciously accept that WotC has bigger fish to fry than two game stores in KY. I get it, I really do, but I seriously doubt Target, Walmart, or Amazon will host Magic: the Gathering tournaments.

As a customer I've been nervous about their plans for 5.5/6E, especially where DnD Beyond is concerned. Our RPG group owns everything on there and that was a hefty investment. I assumed, at some point, they'd move away from DnD Beyond and expect us to buy all of those books again.

I'm glad to see I was wrong about that. Our group was delighted to see WotC buy DnD Beyond and I feel like our investment is much safer and far more future proof.

DnD Beyond has never been perfect, why DID it take 3 years to get a dice roller and how do you not have enough manpower to add in Unearthed Arcana any longer? However, it has always been worth the investment when it comes to character generation and storage and the character sheet on my iPhone is pretty darn slick. In short, I like it and have grown so accustomed to it that I miss having that type of app for other RPGs.

I hope WotC's ownership proves to be a positive move and I'm looking forward to Spelljammer and Dragonlance. In fact, I'd really like to see the Magic: the Gathering settings Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty and New Capenna as DnD settings in the next year but who knows?

I'm just going to take win of DnD Beyond and mind my own business for a few days.

2024

 I'm back. I didn't intend to be gone so long but work was killing me. Also, I turned 49. Yeah, next year, God willing, I'll have lived on this rock adrift upon infinity for half a century. I know less than I ever have about things. I think, as we move out of the zeitgeist, things just get fuzzy. Or we are in the Darkest Timeline. Or both.

I figured I'd start with the 800 lb. gorilla in the room, the Evolution if Dungeons and Dragons due out in 2024. 

I think the timing is right, especially with the 50th Anniversary of DnD and I think 5E's lifespan has been pretty darn good. I don't think 2024, what I'm calling the Anniversary edition, will be 5.5. That new gift bundle due in January (the only way to get the new Mordenkainen's book at that point) is 5.5. And I think the bundle is a good idea. I can say to my new players you need this slipcase eventually and then you'll need this slipcase when you need or want more.

My main concern is Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro, their corporate masters. I've watched WotC use digital products to compete with their tabletop Magic: the Gathering line over the last few years. I've also experienced the crunch when to prioritize Amazon, Walmart, and Target over the direct market. I get it, but those three companies don't sustain the community. Basically, I'm worried that WotC will go back to monthly DnD products and push their audience to their own digital tools for the 2024 edition. Hopefully, all the money I've invested in DnD Beyond won't be for nought but its happened with other digital assets before.

I hope the 2024 edition channels the best parts of 5E and blazes new trails but we'll see.

I also wonder about the 5E audience that chooses not to "evolve" to the 2024 edition. That market was big enough to sustain Paizo for a good run when 4E came out and Pathfinder 1E still has a larger presence on Roll20 over Pathfinder 2E.

Every version of a new edition has a lot of question marks so that is nothin new. I hope they consider having another open playtest but that is harder to do when your current edition is still selling products.

I will say that 5E is my favorite modern version of DnD. The OSR still calls to me most days, but 5E did a lot of things right, hopefully 7 years into the 2024 edition I'll be able to write the same thing.

D&D Beyond is Selling Dice

DnD Beyond is a tool that I use and enjoy. My whole group works with it and during the Quarantine, it worked great with Roll20, especially if you are using Beyond20 for Chrome and Firefox.

I will admit that I'm disappointed that the App won't allow you to display your character sheet and roll dice, BUT you can do those things with your phone/tablet's web browser.

Since I have a Master Level account I'm able to use the Beta Dice Rolling feature. It is s a little slow to roll in my opinion, but it works just fine (I also hope there will be the option to hear the dice roll).

This week DnD Beyond began selling a digital set of dice to go with the release of Mythic Odysseys of Theros going live there. The dice are cool looking and I'm contemplating buying them.

My main issue is that these digital dice are $14.99 which as a Game Retailer is more than most of Chessex and Q-Workshop's physical dice set. I will add though, that through June 9th half the proceeds will go to Black Lives Matters, which I applaud.

I understand that DnD Beyond needs to make money but I'm not too keen on this price point. I'd be much happier with 5.99 to 9.99 as these are virtual dice. If you want to simply provide options besides black or white that costs you the $7.96

I realize that in 2020 this is a pretty tiny concern but it bothers me and I thought it should be addressed.

I will probably end up buying them, especially with the donation to BLM, but I'm going to be grumpy if that price point continues.

Roll20

For the last several weeks, like many, I've been running games on Roll20. Each week I discover some new feature and my fondness for the platform grows.

I'm running a 12th Level game on Fridays and a 3rd Level game on Mondays.

The 12th Level game should get interesting this week, the group will be faced with an important decision.

The 3rd Level game has been interesting. I was originally expecting five players, but two of those players might not be able to make it and I'm really enjoying having three players. Its a nice change of pace.

When we get back to face to face gaming it is going to be hard because two former players were able to join us on Roll20 and they most likely won't be able to when we switch back.

The new Roll20 feature that was revealed to me is an extension for the Chrome browser that allows your DnDBeyond character sheet or monster stat block to become interactive and even allows dice rolls. It was an awesome tool and has just made my job as DM much, much easier.

It's called Beyond 20 and I can't recommend it enough.

A Couple of Quick Things

Today, Paizo releases Pathfinder 2, I went ahead and picked up the PDF, even though I don't know that I will do anything with them. I will at least make a character or three and maybe do a one-shot sometime in the futureoo. I will say the book is gorgeous, I think it even outclasses WotC's DnD 5e books.

Also today, James Haeck talks about using the new Warriors and Weapons and Monsters and Creatures young reader books for DnD to introduce younger fans to DnD. He even creates a very streamlined RPG system that uses both books. It's a pretty sweet idea.

DnD Beyond: Two Weeks In

I've reached a point with DnD Beyond where I'm not using my print books any longer and hypothetically, if I had access to PDFs, I'm not using them either.

As a DM, I find the campaign feature works very well. It has Private and Public Notes which are easy to use and have simplified my workload.

The chat interface is great for Play by Post, scheduling, questions or simple discussions. For me it has replaced our Facebook group.

I really can't stress how glad I am I early adopted. The product, as it stands right now, is worth the investment to me and any further features will simply be icing on the cake.

I'm planning on slowly buying the additional monster and magic item sections of the various campaigns, about 1 each week, as they range from $3 to $6.

For me DnD Beyond is a 10 out of 10.

D&D Beyond: An Unexpected Upside

I spend quite a bit of time with my 3 Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Core books, while making posts here. I love PDFs, actually prefering them to print books these days, but I've had to confine myself to the print products for 5th Edition.

A surprising upside of my DnD Beyond subscription and purchase of the 3 Core books was how well they are replacing my print books. Finding topics is very quick and intuitive and the areas I'm looking at often have call-outs that reference additional information.

I bought into DnD Beyond, primarily, as a Dungeon Master and thus far they are proving very, very useful to me.

D&D Beyond: The Beginning

Last night I bought in. I paid for a year's worth of the DM tier, all 3 core books, Volo's Guide, and the SCAG Guide.

I want someway to centralize characters for my campaign and my son's campaign. 

It's not exactly what I want yet. I'm anxious for iOS support and I'd like a cleaner way to export or print out stat blocks for monsters.

But I like where it's started and I want to see it succeed. It's a shame that Wizards of the Coast has taken this long for an official solution.

If you are on there and want to chat, I'm Sunsword.

I'll keep you updated.