D&D Reader App Coming This Fall? [UPDATED]

Many people have been asking for official D&D PDFs, and WotC has been addressing the need for electronic reference materials at the table in various ways. According to Mashable, WotC is releasing a D&D Reader App this fall. It's not a PDF, but it's basically a D&D-specific Kindle-esque app for iOS and Android. Mashable reports that "Each book is broken up into different sections. So with, say, the Player's Handbook, you can tap on little thumbnails in your library to check out the introduction, a step-by-step guide to character creation, a rundown of races, individual sections for each character class, equipment, and all the other pieces that, together, form the D&D Player's Handbook."

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It's possible they are just referring to D&D Beyond (some of the details below correspond very closely with that), but it may be that a separate D&D Reader is in the pipeline.

UPDATE -- EN World member TDarien asked Adam Rosenburg (the author of the article) whether this was different to D&D Beyond, who replied "Yup. Beyond is more activity-oriented, so it can handle stuff like dice rolls. Reader is basically Kindle, with good, clear chapter divides."

UPDATE 2 -- EN World member kenmarable has spotted that Polygon also has an article about this. It is a separate app called D&D Reader - not D&D Beyond - being made by Dialect, the company which does Dragon+ for WotC. They tried a beta version, although it wasn't complete at the time.

Other items from the report include:

• You can favourite specific pages.
• Some of it is free, and the rparts of books are paywalled. "If, for example, you'll only ever care about rolling a bard, you can just buy that. Prices for individual sections are $3 or $5 (depending on what you buy) and the three full rulebooks — Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master's Guide — are $30 apiece for everything."
• If you buy parts of a book then buy the full thing, the cost is pro-rated.The free sections include "character creation, basic classes, gear, ability scores, combat, spellcasting, and all the other sort of ground-level features that everyone needs to understand in order to play."

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[TDarien]

So I just tweeted the author asking if this was different from the Beyond apps. He said it was. If that's the case I really don't understand it, because it then just sounds like a less useful version of the D&D Beyond Compendium.

 

[doctheweasel]

Yeah, I wondered about that. But it's an extraordinarily poorly written article it that's the case. Or, the author didn't know the apps were connected part of the DDB project? If that's true, it doesn't speak well for the reliability or authenticity of the information.

I'm more willing to believe that it is a clueless author than WotC financing development of two concurrent-yet-separate services that launch within months of and compete with each other.

 

[Superchunk77]

The funny thing is that almost every other RPG game company sells PDF's of their books. Are they all frothing at the mouth about PDF piracy? No, they are not. Paizo is doing just fine selling PDF's. Sure, they lose a small percentage to piracy, but their bottom line is just fine, and they are pumping out material faster than anyone really needs.

Likewise, I'm not a fan of Green Ronin's games, but I will admit that their pre-order model for their books is pretty sweet. You get the physical book for a slightly discounted price when pre-ordering, and the option to get the PDF of that book for an extra $5.

Portable shareable digital media is only getting more popular. PDF is a fantastic format that's cross-platform compatible, shareable, printable, searchable, quickly accessible, and extremely robust.

WotC is shooting themselves in the foot yet again with this decision.

 

[Vampyr3]

This is the worst article I have ever read..wow.. pointless.. tells you nothing....

no one knows what this is..... so why bother...

 

[Morrus]

So I just tweeted the author asking if this was different from the Beyond apps. He said it was. If that's the case I really don't understand it, because it then just sounds like a less useful version of the D&D Beyond Compendium.

Interesting!

 

[Vampyr3]

Learn some manners. Don't post in this thread again.

Wow, so sorry I shared my opinion of this Mashable article... I thought this was a place to talk about things.. Guess I know you have to tow the line and drink the kool-aid...

Wow...... Just Wow......

 

[Morrus]

Guess I know you have to tow the line and drink the kool-aid...

Wow...... Just Wow......

You know, I was actually mistaken, and was just coming back here to apologise (I am happy to admit when I've made a mistake), but before I could you went all Captain Escalation.

Don't argue in-thread with moderation, please. And don't refer to moderation policy as "drinking kool-aid".

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

So I just tweeted the author asking if this was different from the Beyond apps. He said it was. If that's the case I really don't understand it, because it then just sounds like a less useful version of the D&D Beyond Compendium.

So Hasbro is putting out a product to compete with...a different officially licensed product. Good to see they have a good handle on the digital marketplace.

 

[Vampyr3]

So I just tweeted the author asking if this was different from the Beyond apps. He said it was. If that's the case I really don't understand it because it then just sounds like a less useful version of the D&D Beyond Compendium.

Wow, then I don't understand what WOTC is thinking at all then..that's just crazy... I wish he MASHABLE ARTICLE would have been clearer on this, it was pretty confusing. AGIAN. I'm TALKING ABOUT THE MASHABLE ARTICLE! AND NOT THE POST-HERE. MASHABLE. NOT THIS THREAD. MASHABLE

 

[Tormyr]

Meh.

I'm glad for those that prefer this.

Personally, I prefer reading books. And then referring to the books during the game. And then, when someone else is wrong (because they are always wrong, and I am always right), hurling the book at them. That's how you book learn 'em.

Books kind of explode open when you throw them. Tablets are more aerodynamic and have sharp corners.