D&D 5E D&D Next and the Character Builder

[SteveC]

As much as I've been following Next, I haven't seen much discussion about an electronic character builder (like the current DDI Character Builder) for Next. Has there been anything official? What do people know about it?

For my own opinion: I have the expectation for that kind of a product with Next, since even though it's pretty easy to put a character together at the moment, it's unlikely to stay that way. When my group has been putting together their characters for the playtests, the thing they've said most about that process is that they hope to be able to use an electronic tool to do so, since it will track their options and make sure they do everything according to the rules.

So ... anybody know anything?

 

[dd.stevenson]

I'm sure there will eventually be a character builder in some form or another, if only a pathfinder-like support ecosystem. But. They're not telling us about DDI or the 3PP licensing agreement yet, and so much is obviously contingent on these.

 

[Kobold Stew]

To my knowledge, they've said nothing.

A subscription-based character builder (like DDI) is likely to prove too attractive for the accountants, in my opinion. That would be a great shame: it's a big barrier to new players, and 4e (I feel) demonstrated that. I'd prefer third-party builders only, frankly, but that way may have gone with the OGL and 3.5.

 

[MortalPlague]

I would love to see a character builder. However, there are a few key things I want to see:

• Houserule support. It's easy, just allow the option to "create a feat" or "create a class" or "create an item". Or even just allow someone to manually adjust the numbers on the final sheet.
• No multi-page character sheets (at least by default). 4th Edition's power cards were incredibly poor uses of space, and it made using that sheet an exercise in shuffling through page after page.
• Source options. Give me the option to sort options by which source they're from. Give me the option to include or exclude sources. It seems like something so simple, yet it was completely missing from the 4th Edition one.
• Mobile support. Tablets and smartphones would be a great place to keep a character sheet. No more "I forgot my sheet", and it would allow you to easily track HP at the table without the constant 'scribble - erase' ritual.

 

[SteveC]

Interesting. It's funny when I start a thread asking "does anyone know anything" about a topic, because I usually end up with half a dozen people posting links that I could have found with a google search in about five minutes, but somehow ... didn't.

I agree with MortalPlague's wish list, and I'd really like to see strong support for tablets.

One of the reasons I think you haven't seen more about this is because of the effects the old character builder had on book sales. I'm a book person, but my group might have had 1-2 copies of 4E books because you could get what you needed as a part of the character builder for free. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't read splats for much of anything but the crunch content (unless the writing is really good!) That has to be a factor, methinks.

It is nice to see that this wasn't a simple case of "didn't you get the memo?" and the info really isn't out in the public yet.

So now ... come on! Someone on ENWorld has to know what the plans are, spill the beans. If you do this and go to Gen Con, I'll pick you up a growler, or a whole lot of soda... Bribery!

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

There will be one. There just might not be an official one. I suspect (would say fear, if I planned to play) that an official 5e character builder will require a DDI account, and so lots of people will use a free one (HeroLabs?) instead.

 

[Umbran]

So now ... come on! Someone on ENWorld has to know what the plans are, spill the beans.

I suspect nobody here actually knows. This is business plan stuff that companies are usually very reluctant to make public too early. Those who do know the plan are probably employees of WotC, or have signed NDAs.

 

[Raunalyn]

In my opinion, it would be a bad idea NOT to create some type of digital character builder. Having a tool to track and create characters makes it easier for online games to take place (all of my gaming friends live all over the country...the only way I can game is online).

I suspect that a subscription based model like DDI would be most attractive for WotC.

 

[Mistwell]

I wish WOTC would just buy Roll20, keep it as a separate division and not incorporate it, give them more money and staff to work with, and have them come up with the needed digital support.

 

[Jester David]

We don't even know what the edition is called yet. They're not going to reveal plans for a character builder before that.

I'm hoping the just licence to Hero Labs. They have the software already so implementing the ruleset should be easy, and there's already an app that serves as a character viewer. It'll be much easier than trying to kludge the old character builder into supporting 5e.