D&D Beyond Adds Illrigger Class from MCDM

D&D Beyond has added the Illrigger class from MCDM, marking only the second time that the service has added a third party class made for D&D 5th edition. This week, D&D Beyond launched support for the Illrigger, an elite servant of hell with a versatile number of combat options. MCDM originally released the Illrigger class back in 2021 and revised the class in 2023. Both were made for 5th Edition rules and do not incorporate rules from the 2024 Core Rulebook updates.

The illrigger is a primarily martial class that can place seals on their enemy and burn them to deal additional damage. As agents of hell, illriggers are generally evil-aligned characters, but players aren't limited to a specific alignment. The illrigger ruleset on D&D Beyond comes with 5 different subclasses, as well as 8 new spells, and 2 new magic items.

Other than the illrigger, D&D Beyond also supports the Blood Hunter, a 5E class originally designed by Matt Mercer and used in Critical Role. While the Blood Hunter was released for free, the illrigger costs $14.99 on D&D Beyond.

 

[Parmandur]

According to Morrus' story (linked above from last year) WotC pays about double the average. So if MCDM was 2x that they would be paying 4x the average?! I guess I find that a bit hard to believe, but I don't have any insider info except trying to commission an artist the WotC uses and a writer EnWorld uses.

I have every reason to believe that Coleville strives to pay his people top dollar...but yeah, I am skeptical of any specifics in comparison.

 

[Weiley31]

Woot! Love this class so much.

 

[Distracted DM]

Time is strange, it feels recent, but it could have been 5+/- years. However, definitely since 5e and PF2. IIRC, there was an article on here about writing rates and at the time WotC was about 3x the industry average.

EDIT: The article was from last year: What are Current Freelance Rates in TTRPG

And I was wrong, it was 2x the industry average.

Appreciate the added link! I can see where the MCDM-pays-double thing comes from, if MCDM paid .25c and there was some pay by WotC at .12c .

 

[Parmandur]

Appreciate the added link! I can see where the MCDM-pays-double thing comes from, if MCDM paid .25c and there was some pay by WotC at .12c .

It is complex, certainly: the Patron and crowdfunding aspect pribavly allows for a small company to laser-focus their budget by getting their customer base to pay ahead of production instead of planning freelancer work for an estimated sales target.

 

[Distracted DM]

It is complex, certainly: the Patron and crowdfunding aspect pribavly allows for a small company to laser-focus their budget by getting their customer base to pay ahead of production instead of planning freelancer work for an estimated sales target.

Yeah, I'm not pretending that they didn't have unusual resources to pay what Colville considered "what professionals should be paid in this industry" rates.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The big companies and companies who see themselves as big who can afford it pay the most. But the small guys can't afford to pay a lot without having a tiny staff or crowdfunding. Hence the AI temptation.

The small guys also don't have the "but what about the shareholders" messages being lobbed at them constantly which allows them to, for instance, produce vastly higher quality physical books quite often.

 

[Distracted DM]

The small guys also don't have the "but what about the shareholders" messages being lobbed at them constantly which allows them to, for instance, produce vastly higher quality physical books quite often.

I loooove how nice indie book quality is. BUT to be fair, small-but-not-indies can do nice quality books as well. EN's A5E books are stitch-bound with bookmarks! I was floored by the book quality on a PF1e-sized book!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I loooove how nice indie book quality is. BUT to be fair, small-but-not-indies can do nice quality books as well. EN's A5E books are stitch-bound with bookmarks! I was floored by the book quality on a PF1e-sized book!

Yeah, it's not an indie thing, just a "it's worth putting some of our revenue towards making this book wonderful" thing.

And it doesn't even have to break the bank to happen: Andrew Kolb's Neverland, Oz and Wonderland books are insanely good values while also being gorgeous and having arguably the industry's best layout and design (which makes sense, given Kolb's day job).

 

[Morrus]

Yeah, I'm not pretending that they didn't have unusual resources to pay what Colville considered "what professionals should be paid in this industry" rates.

Sure. They’ve raised, what, $8M or so in crowdfunding? And sold maybe that again in distribution, direct sales, etc.? (I don’t know the latter but we tend to sell the same again of a product through other channels; they might do more or less). They’re not lacking in resources.

 

[mamba]

They’re not lacking in resources.

neither is WotC, they just prioritize them differently