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D&D 5E Is there any way to still get the latest playtest packet for D&D Next?

Dragonxtc

First Post
I already have the Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle book from when I went to GenCon, but I would like to get the last copy of the playtest rules so I can give my players more options and let them create characters themselves as opposed to being stuck with the pregens in the book. Is there a way to still the playtest packet from September (I believe that was the last one). I know you cant get it from Wizards website anymore as I went to look for it today and it is no longer available. I assume it is still legal to distribute even though they have taken it down? Any help would be appreciated thanks.

Phil
 

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I already have the Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle book from when I went to GenCon, but I would like to get the last copy of the playtest rules so I can give my players more options and let them create characters themselves as opposed to being stuck with the pregens in the book. Is there a way to still the playtest packet from September (I believe that was the last one). I know you cant get it from Wizards website anymore as I went to look for it today and it is no longer available. I assume it is still legal to distribute even though they have taken it down? Any help would be appreciated thanks.

Phil

Unfortunately, the playtest agreement comes with a "no distribution" clause.
 

No it is not legal to share, each was given to an individual who registered to get it. The licence specifically prohibits sharing, sadly - even, at one point IIRC, every one at the game table had to be signed into the playtest to use it, but they fixed that ridiculousness!
 


Ah. thats a bummer. Oh well, guess I will have to wait till this summer for the most updated rules! Thanks for the quick reply guys.
I think that Scourge of the Sword Coast which goes on sale as a PDF in mid-February will include more recent D&D Next rules, so you could probably pick that up as a way of getting updated rules.
 

Doesn't the "Murder in Bladur's Gate" PDF include the latest rules, or was that something else? I'm almost sure I remember talk of at least one currently available adventure including them, though I might of course be wrong.

Edit: Having actually checked, I was indeed wrong. The adventure that has the rules was "Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle", which you have, and which doesn't include the latest version. So, I'm afraid it is a case of waiting for the next adventure to be published.
 
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Here's what the FAQ at www.dndnext.com says:

"Am I allowed to make copies of the playtest materials or publish parts of them on my blog?


As part of your participation in the D&D Next playtest, you must agree to our playtesting terms and the Online Playtest Agreement, which prohibits copying, excerpting, redistributing and the misuse of playtest materials. (This does not limit participants from making copies of playtest documents for the sole purpose of sharing them with their gaming group provided they have all signed up to playtest D&D Next.) For more information, see the Online Playtest Agreement."


Note the parenthetical. If your entire group is signed up, and you simply missed the latest download, you can get it from someone else in your group who knows you are signed up.

Since you can't sign up anymore, if you aren't signed up you are out of luck. This also unfortunately seems to apply to bringing new people into your group.

I will note one fuzzy area. If you watch any of the livestream games (which you can still legitimately access online) they will say that by watching them you are agreeing to the online playtest agreement. So it is still possible to agree to the online playtesting agreement. It isn't, however, still possible to sign up for the playtest. A strict reading would disallow sharing materials with someone who has agreed to the playtest agreement but not signed up. I think it's absolutely absurd, and my Lawful side would be at war with my Chaotic side as to whether I felt justified letting a friend who had legitimately agreed to the playtest agreement, but was unable to sign up due to the option being removed, join my group, but there you have the official details.
 
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Here's what the FAQ at dndnext says:

"Am I allowed to make copies of the playtest materials or publish parts of them on my blog?


As part of your participation in the D&D Next playtest, you must agree to our playtesting terms and the Online Playtest Agreement, which prohibits copying, excerpting, redistributing and the misuse of playtest materials. (This does not limit participants from making copies of playtest documents for the sole purpose of sharing them with their gaming group provided they have all signed up to playtest D&D Next.) For more information, see the Online Playtest Agreement."


Note the parenthetical. If your entire group is signed up, and you simply missed the latest download, you can get it from someone else in your group who knows you are signed up.

Since you can't sign up anymore, if you aren't signed up you are out of luck. This also unfortunately seems to apply to bringing new people into your group.

I will note one fuzzy area. If you watch any of the livestream games (which you can still legitimately access online) they will say that by watching them you are agreeing to the online playtest agreement. So it is still possible to agree to the online playtesting agreement. It isn't, however, still possible to sign up for the playtest. A strict reading would disallow sharing materials with someone who has agreed to the playtest agreement but not signed up. I think it's absolutely absurd, and my Lawful side would be at war with my Chaotic side as to whether I felt justified letting a friend who had legitimately agreed to the playtest agreement, but was unable to sign up due to the option being removed, join my group, but there you have the official details.

Technically speaking I am signed up, I was one of the first people accepted in actually. I got the early releases of the playtest documents, i just never downloaded the latest playtest.

But that is neither here nor there as I dont know anyone else personally who played.
 

Just as a follow-up (Ignore the horrible formatting; I'm not sure how to get tweets quotable):

@Sword _of_Spirit: @MikeM earls Any chance of letting players still sign-up for the playtest, or do we have to forbid new players from joining our groups?
@MikeM earls: @Sword _of_Spirit We've released the rules as a product, so you can share them with people you're playing with.
 
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