D&D 5E So what's the scoop on D&D in PDF Format?

[mamba]

I'd be ok accessing it in some other format digitally, as long as I could print pages as needed and pull up in a browser

you can download the html pages (1 per chapter) from DDB and store that offline

 

[Alzrius]

Interesting -- here it says "D&D Beyond digital copy of the fifth edition Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual "

D&D Core Rulebook Gift Set (plus digital codes for all three books on D&D Beyond) | D&D

dndstore.wizards.com

I'd be ok accessing it in some other format digitally, as long as I could print pages as needed and pull up in a browser.

You'd probably be okay in that area, since printing (and saving) whatever webpage you're looking at is universal (albeit often not pretty). As for pulling it up in a browser...you'd be able to, but remember that you're essentially renting the content, rather than owning it. If you leave the platform, or if they ever decide to pull/alter it, there'd be nothing you can do.

 

[Wolfpack48]

you can download the html pages (1 per chapter) from DDB and store that offline

Do the html pages match exactly the printed book or is it laid out differently? So you can only print one page per chapter? Mainly I'd want to be able to print maps and maybe monster statblocks.

 

[Reynard]

Do the html pages match exactly the printed book or is it laid out differently? So you can only print one page per chapter? Mainly I'd want to be able to print maps and maybe monster statblocks.

In my experience, and this is only with free adventures they have provided on Beyond, it is a mess and not intended to make printed materials out of Beyond easy or practical.

 

[Alzrius]

Do the html pages match exactly the printed book or is it laid out differently? So you can only print one page per chapter? Mainly I'd want to be able to print maps and maybe monster statblocks.

I don't have anything from D&D Beyond, but in my experience online formatting and layout are virtually always different from printed copies (unless it's something like a scanned book, which I don't think DDB copies of books are).

 

[Wolfpack48]

Yeah, now I am really curious what "D&D Beyond digital copy of Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk" means practically. Going to check with a friend of mine who might have a D&D Beyond account.

Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk Digital + Physical Bundle | D&D

dndstore.wizards.com

 

[Reynard]

Yeah, now I am really curious what "D&D Beyond digital copy of Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk" means practically. Going to check with a friend of mine who might have a D&D Beyond account.

Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk Digital + Physical Bundle | D&D

dndstore.wizards.com

If I understand it correctly (and I don't use Beyond, so I could be wrong) it also gives you access to that material in Maps, which is WotC's light weight VTT inside Beyond. So if you are going to run online, you could do so without buying it again for, say, Roll20.

 

[mamba]

Do the html pages match exactly the printed book or is it laid out differently? So you can only print one page per chapter? Mainly I'd want to be able to print maps and maybe monster statblocks.

I assume the pages are laid out slightly differently, never compared them. At a minimum the background is white

As to maps, they are single images, so you can always fall back on those. Also, the DM map is shown in the book while the player map is a link / button, you would want to print that, so you will have to use the image for that directly, not the page

 

[Nikosandros]

If I understand it correctly (and I don't use Beyond, so I could be wrong) it also gives you access to that material in Maps, which is WotC's light weight VTT inside Beyond. So if you are going to run online, you could do so without buying it again for, say, Roll20.

Each book you have access to also has the maps as separate image files, normally also with an unlabeled player version, which can be quite useful for VTTs. Maps itself (the DDB application) is restricted to those who have a master tier subscription. Also, sharing doesn't work for Maps. The DM needs to have the master subscription and also they need to own the book they want to use the assets (maps and tokens) from.

 

[DarkCrisis]

PDFs get made despite WoTC. They just still don’t seem to think it’s worth it to them to make and distribute them themselves.

Though to be fair those homemade PDFs can be a tad hard to find.