D&D Beyond brings back a la carte purchases in the form of Starter Packs

D&D Beyond is returning to piecemeal purchases in the form of new Starter Packs that allow for access to class rules, as well as a limited number of subclasses and species rules. The new Starter Packs, available for all 12 core classes, and now available for sale on D&D Beyond. Each Starter Pack comes with character rules for a specific core class, three subclasses (the three from the Player's Handbook that are not available via the Basic Rules), and two species from Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse. Also included are seven feats, including several general feats.

D&D Beyond originally had a la carte purchases in which users could individually purchase subclasses, spells, or even monsters for a modest fee. Wizards of the Coast removed this site feature in 2024, meaning that a user needed to purchase an entire rulebook if they wanted to access to any single bit of content from that rulebook. While these Starter Packs aren't quite the same as true a la carte purchases, this does mark the first time in years where individual chunks of content have been available at a lower price point for users.

 

[Sulicius]

So for a lark, I went through the feat options of the starter packs, expecting stupidity. And oh boy did I find it.

• The most popular feat within the Starter Packs? War Caster. Every single pure-caster class gets War Caster.
• The Barbarian and Druid packs come with the Thrown Weapon Fighting feat—since they're now considered feats, not all the Fighting Styles come as part of the core classes in the SRD and thus there's only four picks without the PHB. The two problems here are:
  • Thrown Weapon Fighting is the only Fighting Style feat included in the Starter Packs, so no Blind Fighting, no Dueling, no Interception or Protection or Unarmed Fighting;
  • since taking a Fighting Style feat has the Fighting Style feature as a prerequisite, Barbarians and Druids can't even take Thrown Weapon Fighting by default.
• Incidentally, Barbarians don't get Great Weapon Master as an option. (The Starter Pack cover shows a dual-wielding Barbarian, despite Barbarians being one of the worst classes for two-weapon fighting.)
• Clerics get Durable even though Clerics are unlikely to have the ASIs to invest in Constitution.
• Fighters and Rangers inexplicably get Tavern Brawler as a feat. (Remember, Fighters and Rangers without the PHB have no access to Unarmed Fighting!)
• The Monk gets Healer as an origin feat even though it's largely useless for a character without healing spells.
  • And on the subject of Monks, one of their feats included is Weapon Master, i.e. the feat that's a worse version of what every other martial gets at level 1. 2024 Monk Tax is somehow a thing even in microtransactions.
• The Paladin gets Heavily Armored as a feat...even though Paladins have heavy armor by default.
• Highlighting how shield access was taken from Moderately Armored to Lightly Armored purely for the benefit of Sorcerers and Wizards, those two classes get that feat in their starter packs. (Bards and Warlocks get Moderately Armored, even though if you're playing a martial Bard, they probably get medium armor from their subclass.)
• Aside from all the missing Fighting Styles, three non-SRD feats are unavailable in any of the Starter Packs: Martial Weapon Training, Polearm Master, and Tough.

What’s the issue? No-one is expecting these to align with your optimal choices. It’s just something to start off with. Sure there might be some less optimal choices, but it’s a good way to start off on DDB at the cost of less than a set of dice.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Established players who know all the options available in the PHB aren't the people who would/should be picking up the Starter Packs... they'll be just buying the entire PHB on DDB as a standard consumer.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Starter pack. The clue is in the name!

 

[aiouh]

I think it's very fair and reasonable to give feedback that the Starter pack is severely limited in fulfilling its own class fantasy. You're already buying a class piecemeal, at least you would think that if you bought a Paladin starter set that you're not getting a feat that is ENTIRELY REDUNDANT with your base class.

 

[Sulicius]

It’s one feat.

But yeah, if it actually bothers you, stop complaining here and contact the people who actually can change things.

You know, like I did for the subclass specific spells that weren’t available. They changed it within a week.

Showing off your superior knowledge of character options by complaining about it on a forum doesn’t really help.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

 

[rabirin]

It’s one feat.

But yeah, if it actually bothers you, stop complaining here and contact the people who actually can change things.

You know, like I did for the subclass specific spells that weren’t available. They changed it within a week.

Showing off your superior knowledge of character options by complaining about it on a forum doesn’t really help.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Eschewing all subtlety: creating "starter packs" and giving some classes feats that the classes in question can't actually take is a mistake that should have never happened in the first place. It's a clear lack of quality control.

 

[Sulicius]

Eschewing all subtlety: creating "starter packs" and giving some classes feats that the classes in question can't actually take is a mistake that should have never happened in the first place. It's a clear lack of quality control.

And yet…

I don’t even want my players to use DDB, but I am doing more for the new players who use it than you.

What is your plan? Convince people you are right in this thread? You win the prize. You are smarter than the product team on DDB. Now what?

 

[DEFCON 1]

I think it's very fair and reasonable to give feedback that the Starter pack is severely limited in fulfilling its own class fantasy. You're already buying a class piecemeal, at least you would think that if you bought a Paladin starter set that you're not getting a feat that is ENTIRELY REDUNDANT with your base class.

We aren't the people who need to hear that feedback. We aren't the ones who designed it or who can change it

 

[rabirin]

It’s one feat.

But yeah, if it actually bothers you, stop complaining here and contact the people who actually can change things.

You know, like I did for the subclass specific spells that weren’t available. They changed it within a week.

Showing off your superior knowledge of character options by complaining about it on a forum doesn’t really help.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

We have reached the point where 2024 fans genuinely believe players (and/or observers) have greater responsibility for quality control than the creators of the game themselves.

We aren't the people who need to hear that feedback. We aren't the ones who designed it or who can change it

"Feedback"?

People are allowed to express their opinions on a product. They're not obligated to bring up every issue with it to the creators of the product, and they're certainly not obliged to only share their opinions on the product in such a way. You have every right to say it's a good product and why they think so here, other people have every right to say it's a bad product and why they think so here.

And expressing opinions isn't just about the creators of the product, it's about potential customers. Imagine you're a new player, looking at these starter packs. You have no idea what anything in each pack does. You have no idea what Heavily Armored does, and that a Paladin wouldn't have any use for the feat themselves. You don't know that Thrown Weapon Fighting is a fighting style feat, and you thus wouldn't know that it's a feat a Barbarian or Druid can't even take despite being included in these packs. Or do such players not matter?

 

[Morrus]

It’s one feat.

But yeah, if it actually bothers you, stop complaining here and contact the people who actually can change things.

You know, like I did for the subclass specific spells that weren’t available. They changed it within a week.

Showing off your superior knowledge of character options by complaining about it on a forum doesn’t really help.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

This is a discussion forum. People are welcome to talk about their hobbies with each other here. Please do not tell people what they can and cannot post.