D&D Beyond users

[Ken L]

Are there any here that actively use this web service? More out of curiosity.

[dberkompas]

I use it daily, and have the legendary package. I also own hard-covers, as well as the complete package for Fantasy Grounds.

D&D Beyond is fantastic, allowing you to search every D&D 5E book that WotC publishes.


Dave

[Ken L]

That's a bunch of capital burned. I bought all the source books on DnD Beyond rather than FG, mainly as I use an importer and can use it for multiple platforms.

[rob2e]

I too have all WotC 5E Books, all FG WotC 5E content, and the legendary package at DnD Beyond. I find that for "lookup" purposes, the fastest way is DnD Beyond (also on my iPhone). Very useful.

[leozelig]

I purchased Princes of the Apocalypse on D&D Beyond, but that's it. I haven't decided whether to run it, but I will get the FG module if I do.

[gwhitneyy2k]

I use dnd beyond- have the Player/DM content but not the monsters or adventures.

[notrealdan]

I use dnd beyond- have the Player/DM content but not the monsters or adventures.

Ditto for me. I use it mostly for managing characters and use FG for managing campaign/adventure info (I play mostly in person).

I bought the PHB, SCAG, and XGE on D&D Beyond, made a campaign, turned on sharing, and invited my players. They made their characters there using those content sources, so I know the characters are correct rules-wise, and I can manage the PCs myself as needed. Anything I want to give them that’s not in those sources, I create homebrew versions of. No more trying to decipher their chicken-scratch on their paper character sheets and arguing about their (sometimes wrong) math!

I recoup the extra cost through snack donations. :)

[Myrdin Potter]

I have all the books on D&D Beyond and I bought the subscription that lets my players access it.

The web access is decent and getting better. The app is still so-so.

When we are all on FG, it is good enough to look everything up. My players like the access to the service when we are not playing as no need to ask me to bring the server up.

[leozelig]

Myrdin, when running games on FG, do you prefer to reference the DMG through D&D Beyond or the FG module?

[Myrdin Potter]

Normally I have the paper books right next to me. If I am on the road I look it up via FG when I am running the game if I need to. Normally I have little need to read up during a game and FG has everything if needed.

[midas]

I'm like dberkompas above. I have legendary package and DM subscription at D&D Beyond, and also own all the content in FG as well as the books. I don't consider it to be burned capital for me as I use them for different things (I also have had the FG content since well before D&D Beyond was around).

When playing in FG I do any lookups from the FG content, since it's right there. The only time I will go to D&D Beyond or a physical book (which usually aren't next to my computer anyway) is if I don't know where in the book I need to look for my answer.

[Dracones]

I have the legendary package and use it as a replacement for hard copy books. At this point though I mostly seem to be more of a rpg book collector than actual DM/player. I have a couple rpg systems I just like to have the books for, 5E is one of them.

[midas]

Agreed. I own way more books than I have any interest in using, heh.

[whiteTiki]

Yea... I remember I was complaining two years ago about this; "how is it possible that in 2016 we still have no option to own the entire D&D Collection in a digital form within the legal boundaries".

So of course I had an option, and that option for me was FantasyGrounds back then. That's why I bought the entire collection in the FantasyGrounds store in the first place. So I went on and posted some stuff in the FG Forums; "Can you guys make the users access their purchase content from a smartphone/tablet so we can "legally" enjoy an old-school session with some technological advantages?"... Of course I got my response which I entirely understand, it wasn't a priority for the devs (and it still isn't). The good thing now is that we have an option, and that option is D&D Beyond. It's the only way to free yourself from using a laptop (or windows capable tablet) to "legally" access digital purchased D&D Content (there are other not so convenient ways too really).

So yea, I fear D&D Beyond and I've posted my concerns before here in the forum. What if D&D Beyond makes its own VTT one day? What if it becomes very popular.. so popular that it becomes a serious competition to other VTTs (like FG)? What will happen to your purchases? In which store should I purchase my content then? What's my best option?

I personally believe FG IS the best VTT out right now. The problem is, I fear it has the capacity to stay that way or at least, stay up for the competition. The good thing is that a new version of FG is coming (sometime between now and the time when our sun cools entirely), and if it comes out soon and with all the promised features, it will definitely be way ahead of its competition for the time being and I think it could even compete well enough with newer and fancier VTTs (maybe one from D&D Beyond) with no problem at all.

So, my recommendations are:
1.- If you play in a store, physically interacting with your players, or in some friends house or in any other similar way. You should definitely purchase content from D&D Beyond, since you can manage characters, easily search for content, follow an adventure, etc. (which is what I would've done if I had had this option back in 2016).
2.- If you want to play using a VTT for some reason, maybe you're physically in the same place with your players (oldschool style) and still want to use a VTT, or maybe you're streaming, or any other similar configuration, then you should definitely consider purchasing FantasyGrounds content. In my opinion, I would buy just the things I definitely need and wait to see what happens in the near future with the company and its competition.
3.- If you are an enthusiast supporter or collector, like a lot of people in this community, then I guess its OK for you to purchase all the books, all the content in D&D Beyond and all the content in FG too.

[rob2e]

“...between now and when our sun cools entirely.” Funny.

[Dracones]

The death of print will continue to be a slow and messy process. WoTC is sort of stuck with struggling to deal with that transition. They tried PDF in the past, got burned(in their eyes), and are now just dipping their toes in the waters again with newer formats. I personally think D&D Beyond style digital will be the future of RPGs. PDF is an absolute mess and has been for decades. If PDF was a good digital format it would be trivial to convert that content into the open formats of Hero Lab, Fantasy Grounds, Maptool, etc. But it's not. I'll do a big dance for joy when PDF finally dies(will probably take decades).

D&D Beyond allows for WoTC to protect their IP(good from their perspective) and can also be continually updated. They've gone back and added high rez player maps to modules that have already been released before. Errata or rule changes can be done piecemeal. And with a proper API(which is coming for D&D Beyond), third party tools can just link into the core digital platform for rules content. Also when you go to view your digital rules they can throw marketing at you.

But right now WoTC appears to be taking a "throw at the wall, see what sticks" approach which is messy for us but will probably result in the best products down the road. Personally I see 10-15 years from now being the world of tablets and I have to wonder what a RPG could look like when everyone at the table has a tablet that can talk to everyone else's tablet.

[whiteTiki]

They've gone back and added high rez player maps to modules that have already been released before. Errata or rule changes can be done piecemeal. And with a proper API(which is coming for D&D Beyond), third party tools can just link into the core digital platform for rules content. Also when you go to view your digital rules they can throw marketing at you.

But right now WoTC appears to be taking a "throw at the wall, see what sticks" approach which is messy for us but will probably result in the best products down the road. Personally I see 10-15 years from now being the world of tablets and I have to wonder what a RPG could look like when everyone at the table has a tablet that can talk to everyone else's tablet.

Definitely a lot of advantages out there for the future of D&D Content and VTTs. I personally don't believe D&D Beyond will make its way to the VTT world soon enough, as you just said, right now their in a "throw at the wall, see what sticks" process which basically puts them years away from even trying a VTT, cause I don't think they have the resources to try everything at once.

Pretty interesting what you're talking about the API for D&D Beyond, haven't really thought about that, but it sounds pretty logical for a business model. In that way, D&D Beyond gets basically the exclusive to sell content for the time being, update it, and maintain official content flowing without the developers of third party apps really messing around or even worrying about the content at all. This will let developers use a 100% of their time to focus just in their app or software and not in the integration of the never-ending D&D Content with their apps. Sounds like great times are coming for the next generation of D&D Players. I definitely see a 3D VTT someway in the future... Almost like a videogame... but having all the possible choices of action like a D&D Game.

[jojogladco]

I use DDB for quick rule look up during FG play. It's normally the fastest way for me to get answers and keep the game moving. I find little use for adventure modules on DDB as it's much easier to use FG for running the game.