WotC D&D Beyond current development

[J-H]

DDB is how many years old, and still can't properly implement Barbarian Rage, a core feature since 2014?
So...yeah, not optimistic about major improvements.

I still use it a lot for convenience, though.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Because community mods make it relatively easy to convert your paid-for DDB content into VTT assets in Foundry. If it were not for DDB, I would have to manually create every non-SRD monster, item, spell, actor feature, etc.

It works so well most of the time that I will create TPP monsters and magic items in DDB and import them into Foundry rather than creating them directly in Foundry.

That doesn't contradict anything you've said in your posts, however. I'm just not as affected by DDB's slow development because it is mostly a data store to suck into Foundry, an e-reader, and a quick reference. Of those three things I could get by with PDFs for the last two of them, if they were available (though DDB is still a better experience than PDFs IMHO). But for importing non-SRD official content into Foundy, DDB is the only legal option.

You can import the entire adventure with DDB Importer/Adventure Muncher, too. It's not as slick as the old PDF2Foundry importer for PF2 adventures, but it's still pretty great. It's a HUGE time saver. Click a few buttons - and VOOM - the entire adventure book has been imported into Foundry, maps, stat blocks, icons, the whole enchilada. Takes about 3-4 minutes. POOF. Done. Roll 20 and Fantasy Grounds would force you to buy that all over again. With DDB and Foundry? Nope.

DDB's PC Character importation for Foundry, however, is MUCH better than the HLO importer for PF2. Not even close, really. It's ass-kickingly good.

 

[MNblockhead]

What the Pathfinder community has done with their Foundry mods is just amazing. Makes me jealous. Not enough to buy a whole new set of books for a new fantasy TTRPG, but I've thought about it. I've not used the adventure muncher because I've been running third-party adventures. I should test it out though. I always figured that if I were to run a WotC adventure, I would switch to Roll20, even if I have to re-buy the materials. Just having all the VTT prep work done for me would make it worth it. Foundry is my preferred VTT, however, when it comes to content I have to set up myself. Prepping maps is just so much easier than every other VTT I've tried and I've tried and tested MANY of them. It makes up for Foundry's lack of manual FOW reveal, which is what kept me from going with Foundry originally (and keeps me paying attention to other VTTs).

As for Hero Lab, I'm a bit sad to hear that it is lacking for PF2. I've not really paid any attention to Lone Wolf Development since they stopped supporting RealmWorks. The lack of an official license for 5e made Hero Lab too much work to use with 5e after awhile, even with the great community volunteer content. I like to root for small developers, but if they are going to put all their eggs in the Pathfinder basket, they really need to provide the best tools for Pathfinder. Even if they did though, the move to VTTs is going to cut deeply into their user base. A lot of people don't want to manage character sheets outside of their VTT.

 

[Steel_Wind]

What the Pathfinder community has done with their Foundry mods is just amazing. Makes me jealous. Not enough to buy a whole new set of books for a new fantasy TTRPG, but I've thought about it. I've not used the adventure muncher because I've been running third-party adventures. I should test it out though. I always figured that if I were to run a WotC adventure, I would switch to Roll20, even if I have to re-buy the materials. Just having all the VTT prep work done for me would make it worth it. Foundry is my preferred VTT, however, when it comes to content I have to set up myself. Prepping maps is just so much easier than every other VTT I've tried and I've tried and tested MANY of them. It makes up for Foundry's lack of manual FOW reveal, which is what kept me from going with Foundry originally (and keeps me paying attention to other VTTs).

As for Hero Lab, I'm a bit sad to hear that it is lacking for PF2. I've not really paid any attention to Lone Wolf Development since they stopped supporting RealmWorks. The lack of an official license for 5e made Hero Lab too much work to use with 5e after awhile, even with the great community volunteer content. I like to root for small developers, but if they are going to put all their eggs in the Pathfinder basket, they really need to provide the best tools for Pathfinder. Even if they did though, the move to VTTs is going to cut deeply into their user base. A lot of people don't want to manage character sheets outside of their VTT.

FWIW, I have done all of my gaming via VTT since 2011. Initially, it was on D20 Pro. I did flirt with Fantasy Grounds 1 and 2 as well. I have played via Roll20, but won't use it to GM (it's too limited for my tastes). Combine technical limitations with higher cost? Not for me.

In terms of Foundry VTT, I've used it for both PF1, PF2, Starfinder as well as 5e. The PF2 core rules system (being based on the OGL) means Foundry VTT is better for PF2 than it is for 5e, but with Mr. Primate's plug-in for DDB importer, together with Automated Animations + Jules and Ben's Patreon animations - my own sound effects - and Midi-QOL turned up to max? (not to mention a couple of dozen other modules) It's really quite impressive what Foundry can do. With some sharp overhead tokens and using a high quality map (I prefer Heroic Maps whenever possible) the visual fidelity and ease of use for 5e in Foundry VTT is exceptional. It's my main hobby and I have no difficulty in paying for stuff that works and is fun to use.

I would never go back to face-to-face gaming for a number of reasons that are peculiar to my own circumstances (travel time is a killer for me), but even if that was not true, the benefits that DDB provides to Foundry VTT are excellent and well worth it to me and my group. I appreciate that others prefer face-to-face gaming for social reasons - and others just want a book in hand and to roll some bones at the table among friends. That's fine; I get it.

From my perspective, Foundry VTT let's me do all of that without the huge downside of travel to and from the game. For me? It's been great.

 

[Azzy]

It makes up for Foundry's lack of manual FOW reveal, which is what kept me from going with Foundry originally (and keeps me paying attention to other VTTs).

I believe that there's a module for having manual FOW.

 

[MNblockhead]

I believe that there's a module for having manual FOW.

There was, then the creator stopped supporting it. The League of Extraordinary FoundryVTT Developers took it over and it worked for a while until it didn't. I have not even checked on its status over the last couple of Foundry versions. I learned to live without it. But I do miss the days of RealmWorks and Map Tool. Especially map tool. It just made it so easy to throw up a map on the fly. Was great for low prep, sandbox games. I continue to be surprised to find myself in such a small minority in the Foundry community. I support Foundry in Patreon, which allows me to vote on features they will prioritize for their next upgrade and manual fog of war is almost always at or near the bottom of features voted for.