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.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Well remember they had a vtt that got scrapped. They were working in third party inclusion that seemed to have been interrupted. And they did have some institutional knowledge leave the company during several transitions.

And then they are probably working hard in integrating with wotcs internal vtt now.

I mean, absolutely none of that is an excuse for any of this, is it? It's a cause, perhaps, but not an excuse. The VTT they were working on was pushed back on a lot by players because people wanted the basics working before that, but Beyond swore blind they had a separate VTT team before much later admitting that wasn't true. The third party stuff seems to have been stopped by WotC - I mean, it's not clear, but they were starting on that and had the League of Legends stuff up (exactly the kind of thing WotC seemed to be afraid of re: the OGL 1.1 later!) and then suddenly that was only going to be up for few weeks because of mysterious circumstances changing (pretty sure WotC threatening them very directly), and given WotC now own them, we can 100% blame WotC and Beyond for that. Losing people on transitions like that is to be expected and you mitigate against it by ensuring institutional information retention (something that has actually been my job btw). To lose vital information in such a transition indicates serious mismanagement of the transition and extremely bad knowledge retention practices on a day-to-day basis.

And WotC has 250 people working on the VTT, so if they're pulling staff off the much smaller number who work at Beyond to integrate that, rather than supplying Beyond with whatever they need, then that's severe mismanagement and probably dumb and short sighted instituitional territoriality leading to bad results for actual users.

 

[doctorhook]

I chuckled when I saw this. I feel slightly validated in my belief that WotC is genuinely somewhat worried about losing the CR fandom from the D&and community after CR has been such a huge driver for them over the past decade. I fully believe WotC is concerned about CR’s plans to launch their own games too. This is a specific step to signal their hope of retaining that stream of potential fans.

 

[OB1]

I chuckled when I saw this. I feel slightly validated in my belief that WotC is genuinely somewhat worried about losing the CR fandom from the D&and community after CR has been such a huge driver for them over the past decade. I fully believe WotC is concerned about CR’s plans to launch their own games too. This is a specific step to signal their hope of retaining that stream of potential fans.

I mean sure, but it's just good business all around. CR is popular, DDB is popular. They have numbers on how many people have purchased Wildemount and how many actively use it. CR just gained front page sourcebook advertising for their book, and WotC get's a cut. CR fans who want to use TR via DDB will be happy (like me) and millions of other DDB subscribers who aren't CR fans now get access to a fun setting with lots of player options. All that had to be worked out was how to do it with CR maintaining full publishing rights to their material under Darrington Press.

This kind of win-win for the business partners and consumers should be absolutely celebrated. There is no downside for anyone here.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This is awesome. I'd like to see some of the top-rated DMs Guild stuff. @Nixlord's Monster books would make my day! (Even if I had to buy them again).

The Monster Manuals Expanded being integrated this way would be a huge win for everyone.

 

[Clint_L]

The Monster Manuals Expanded being integrated this way would be a huge win for everyone.

I think that's what a lot of us have our eye on.

And is there a possible future in which Pathfinder's 5e compatible sourcebooks find their way onto DDB?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I mean sure, but it's just good business all around. CR is popular, DDB is popular. They have numbers on how many people have purchased Wildemount and how many actively use it. CR just gained front page sourcebook advertising for their book, and WotC get's a cut. CR fans who want to use TR via DDB will be happy (like me) and millions of other DDB subscribers who aren't CR fans now get access to a fun setting with lots of player options. All that had to be worked out was how to do it with CR maintaining full publishing rights to their material under Darrington Press.

This kind of win-win for the business partners and consumers should be absolutely celebrated. There is no downside for anyone here.

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!

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I think that's what a lot of us have our eye on.

And is there a possible future in which Pathfinder's 5e compatible sourcebooks find their way onto DDB?

I admire the reaching for the stars here, but c'mon. What world do you think we live in?

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Really hope this opens the door to eberron content. Especially artificer subclasses.

 

[Clint_L]

I admire the reaching for the stars here, but c'mon. What world do you think we live in?

I'm hoping for a world in which WotC and Paizo see the advantage in working together again. 'Cause Paizo makes great sourcebooks and I want to be able to use them. It's wishful thinking, but then again, so was Paizo releasing 5e versions of some of its sourcebooks, until last year.

 

[Parmandur]

Bit misleading for them to characterize those all as "partnered content", when all but one of the products are official WotC releases. Smacks of PR exercise to make D&D look more open than it actually is.

Taldorei is definitely a very safe place to start adding actual 3PP content, and it's fascinating that the Beyond team found the time to add a full sourcebook of 3PP content but still haven't made good on actual promises they made re: official WotC products released in 2020 and 2021. Maybe they gave access to people working for CR? They're probably a lot faster and more motivated than Beyond's own people.

A good start, let's not hope it's one of Beyond's very many promising one-offs.

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