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."

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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AriochQ

Adventurer
On a quasi related note...after swearing I would not spend money on D&D Beyond, my son informed me he wanted his own copies of DMG and MM so he could run a group at college. Rather than buy a second set of physical books, I took the plunge and got D&D Beyond.

I must admit, I am becoming quite attached. With my subscription level I can allow access to 36 total players and I have gotten quite adept at looking up stuff quickly. I especially like the search options for magic items and spells. For example, you can search for spells that have 'bonus action' casting times.

There is a slight learning curve, but it is not that onerous. At this point I only bring my PHB for other players when I travel to my FLGS for AL games.
 

Mercule

Adventurer
I felt harassed. It's not up to a vote.
He's been blocked.
This is why we can't have nice things!

Also, having gone back and read DEFCON 1's original quote of you, I have to wonder whether you're actually ready for the internet. Even in a pretty darn welcoming place like EN World, you don't get to talk trash about pirating PDFs without being called out. Maybe I should just block folks who have a casual attitude about felonies. It makes me feel all threatened and whatnot.

Do you check under your mattress for peas before bed, Buttercup?
 

Emirikol Prime

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

This is why we can't have nice things!

Also, having gone back and read DEFCON 1's original quote of you, I have to wonder whether you're actually ready for the internet. Even in a pretty darn welcoming place like EN World, you don't get to talk trash about pirating PDFs without being called out. Maybe I should just block folks who have a casual attitude about felonies. It makes me feel all threatened and whatnot.

Do you check under your mattress for peas before bed, Buttercup?

I don't have the PDFs pirated or not. That's why I'm still asking WotC for them to be sold. And now you're calling me names.


Sent from my iPhone using EN World mobile app
 


Xaelvaen

Stuck in the 90s
On a quasi related note...after swearing I would not spend money on D&D Beyond, my son informed me he wanted his own copies of DMG and MM so he could run a group at college. Rather than buy a second set of physical books, I took the plunge and got D&D Beyond.

I must admit, I am becoming quite attached. With my subscription level I can allow access to 36 total players and I have gotten quite adept at looking up stuff quickly. I especially like the search options for magic items and spells. For example, you can search for spells that have 'bonus action' casting times.

There is a slight learning curve, but it is not that onerous. At this point I only bring my PHB for other players when I travel to my FLGS for AL games.

I use a projector at my tables to cast digital maps onto the table, and that's how we play D&D. When I found out D&D Beyond has hi-res digital maps for the adventures, I pretty much buy the 'core' books in physical form, and all the campaign books on Beyond, for the simple reason I no longer have to hand-make the maps for table-top play.

As far as a separate reader app, as huge of a fan as WoTC as I am, I just can't really see the logic in that sort of competition on D&D Beyond, especially once the off-line functioning apps launch.
 

Mercule

Adventurer
By this time everyone who wants a PDF has one. The market who was more than willing to give them money passed them by. :(

I don't have the PDFs pirated or not. That's why I'm still asking WotC for them to be sold.
It's as much being flip about it as DEFCON 1's post was snarky.

Really, though, this isn't worth much of a conversation. Your sense of entitlement amuses me, though.
 

Emirikol Prime

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

It's as much being flip about it as DEFCON 1's post was snarky.

Really, though, this isn't worth much of a conversation. Your sense of entitlement amuses me, though.

I would have thought the sad face would have shown my tone. It's a damn shame. And I'm not entitled to anything so please don't attribute that to me.


Asking a company for a product isn't entitled.

Sent from my iPhone using EN World mobile app
 

Mercule

Adventurer
Downloading a pdf of a 50 dollar book is a felony?
IANAL, but I believe it is. US IP laws are pretty draconian.

Which really sucks, since the original intent of copyright and patent was to give a window of incentive to putting ideas into the common domain. But... that's probably an open door to politics, which would be bad. I'll just say that I'm not a fan of our current IP laws.
 


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