Return of D&D "Starter packs"

[Nylanfs]

This was SUPER confusing for customers when they first had it. I don't know why they thought it would work better now?


D&D Beyond is returning to piecemeal purchases in the form of new Starter Packs that allow for access to class rules, as well as a limited number of subclasses and species rules. The new Starter Packs, available for all 12 core classes, and now available for sale on D&D Beyond. Each Starter Pack comes with character rules for a specific core class, three subclasses (the three from the Player's Handbook that are not available via the Basic Rules), and two species from Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse. Also included are seven feats, including several general feats.

D&D Beyond originally had a la carte purchases in which users could individually purchase subclasses, spells, or even monsters for a modest fee. Wizards of the Coast removed this site feature in 2024, meaning that a user needed to purchase an entire rulebook if they wanted to access to any single bit of content from that rulebook. While these Starter Packs aren't quite the same as true a la carte purchases, this does mark the first time in years where individual chunks of content have been available at a lower price point for users.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/d-d-beyond-brings-back-a-la-carte-purchases-in-the-form-of-starter-packs.718958/

Is FG going to have to follow suit due to their license with WotC?

[Zacchaeus]

This sounds like a D&D Beyond thing. FGVTT follows what WotC publish in paper form so unless WotC start publishing books as described I doubt FGVTT would follow a similar pattern.

[Nyarly Dude]

It's also more for DDB's model where players might buy such starter packs in order to create a character outside the context of any campaign, without needing to buy the complete versions of the relevant sources themselves and without needing to beg GMs for temporary access (or, if they did join a campaign, the GM doesn't actually own the material they want to use and therefore isn't sharing it, and either the GM is fine with such characters being used or the player doesn't care enough to ask for approval).

For FG, the general expectation is that players will connect to a GM's campaign and construct and manage characters using whatever material the GM owns and shares within the context of that campaign, without needing to own any of the sources themselves.

[Griogre]

I'm not entirely convinced this is just for DDB. When 5E first released, Wizards also released class only reference materials for FG - and as Nylanfs says it created a ton of confusion.

[Zacchaeus]

I'm not entirely convinced this is just for DDB. When 5E first released, Wizards also released class only reference materials for FG - and as Nylanfs says it created a ton of confusion.

I'm not sure this was WotC's idea but more Smiteworks idea. But I can't remember precisely the reasoning for those packs but it certainly had something to do with cost. At that time the PHB was $50 rather than the $30 it became later..