WotC WotC Adds 'Partnered Content' to DnDBeyond--Starting With Critical Role's Tal’dorei Campaign Setting

One of the promises Wizards of the Coast made in the aftermath of the Open Gaming License 'crisis' back in January was that D&D Beyond would eventually have some kind of third party marketplace. Up until now, only official D&D books from WotC have been available there.

Now, however, there is a section of 'partnered content' -- six titles, including three Critical Role sourcebooks, as well as some older licensed items like the Rick & Morty boxed set and the Minecraft monster tie-in. The latter were already on DDB, but the 'Partnered Content' home for them is new, as is the Tal-'dorei Campaign Setting.

As of now you can pick up Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, Call of the Netherdeep, and the Tal'dorei Campaign Setting Reborn.

Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn

The definitive sourcebook for bringing the locations, people, creatures, and character options of Critical Role’s Tal’Dorei continent to ...

www.dndbeyond.com

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While this 'partnered content' is a long way yet from the third-party marketplace mentioned earlier this year (which is likely a a couple of years away), it is notable that third party content is now appearing on the site.

 

[Knightfall]

My pie in the sky hope is that they will issue big discount codes or even full vouchers to people who bought the physical book from Darrington, but much more likely is like a 10% off code for all ddb users or soemthing.

Which is still cool.

That's be cool. I just bought it.

 

[darjr]

Ope! I was wrong the book is in drive thru not dmaguild

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Heh... since the acquisition by WotC, it seems that all development on new features has stopped, at least visibly. Also, I think that most, if not all, of the technical people who were in charge have left.

I imagine because work on the VTT is happening and plans to integrate Beyond.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Darrington press itself has said nothing. Probably just timing.

Took a bit, but they've tweeted about it now.

 

[timbannock]

Well, now this is interesting. Let's see if Kobold Press can get in there. Let's see the Goodman Games' Original Adventures Reincarnated books made available this way (they're produced under license anyway). Let's see the DMs Guild stuff in here.

They'd be foolish not to add Goodman's OAR releases. Several of them leverage monsters from Mord's and other books, so the workload is actually that much less. (Meaning, only slightly, but still.)

 

[Morrus]

I mean, there absolutely is if they only do this for "select partners" - rather than say a steadily increasing array of 3PPs. If they only add stuff for "selected partners" it will over the longer term give them a significant market advantage over anyone WotC does not deign to make a selected partner. So celebration seems premature. Being pleased, sure, but let's see how this goes before we get out the party balloons!

Well it’ll be the Seattle crowd.

 

[darjr]

Took a bit, but they've tweeted about it now.

Posting an image too. Cause twitter.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Well it’ll be the Seattle crowd.

Yeah that's my concern. Instead of looking at all the talented people putting out 3PP material, very much including your company, they'll look solely at people they're buddies with IRL, and then give those people a massive market advantage whilst simultaneously claiming that they're "supporting 3PP content", which would be deeply disingenous if "technically true".

 

[Clint_L]

Heh... since the acquisition by WotC, it seems that all development on new features has stopped, at least visibly. Also, I think that most, if not all, of the technical people who were in charge have left.

I have no information on who has or has not left DDB. I use it all the time, though; it works really, really well, and after some initial testing I can confirm that the new TR content seems to be seamlessly integrated, so whoever was working on that did a good job.

I imagine that there is a lot of focus on figuring out how it will be integrated with the VTT. I am now wondering if the VTT will also be able to integrate 3PP. I imagine that would be a huge task.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Less PR and more future proofing, I would think: I imagine they want take Beyond more and more of a marketplace.

I mean, I hope so, I'm just very skeptical that they'll ever actually do that, given how deeply corporate and paranoid we know WotC's and especially Hasbro's management layer to be.