D&D Reader App Coming This Fall? [UPDATED]

Many people have been asking for official D&D PDFs, and WotC has been addressing the need for electronic reference materials at the table in various ways. According to Mashable, WotC is releasing a D&D Reader App this fall. It's not a PDF, but it's basically a D&D-specific Kindle-esque app for iOS and Android. Mashable reports that "Each book is broken up into different sections. So with, say, the Player's Handbook, you can tap on little thumbnails in your library to check out the introduction, a step-by-step guide to character creation, a rundown of races, individual sections for each character class, equipment, and all the other pieces that, together, form the D&D Player's Handbook."

​

It's possible they are just referring to D&D Beyond (some of the details below correspond very closely with that), but it may be that a separate D&D Reader is in the pipeline.

UPDATE -- EN World member TDarien asked Adam Rosenburg (the author of the article) whether this was different to D&D Beyond, who replied "Yup. Beyond is more activity-oriented, so it can handle stuff like dice rolls. Reader is basically Kindle, with good, clear chapter divides."

UPDATE 2 -- EN World member kenmarable has spotted that Polygon also has an article about this. It is a separate app called D&D Reader - not D&D Beyond - being made by Dialect, the company which does Dragon+ for WotC. They tried a beta version, although it wasn't complete at the time.

Other items from the report include:

• You can favourite specific pages.
• Some of it is free, and the rparts of books are paywalled. "If, for example, you'll only ever care about rolling a bard, you can just buy that. Prices for individual sections are $3 or $5 (depending on what you buy) and the three full rulebooks — Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master's Guide — are $30 apiece for everything."
• If you buy parts of a book then buy the full thing, the cost is pro-rated.The free sections include "character creation, basic classes, gear, ability scores, combat, spellcasting, and all the other sort of ground-level features that everyone needs to understand in order to play."

[FONT=&amp]Save[/FONT][FONT=&amp]Save[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Save[/FONT][FONT=&amp]Save[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Save[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Save[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Save[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Save[/FONT]​

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

Now, they are developing a new digital too set.

WotC isn't developing anything.

 

[CapnZapp]

Wow, I'm impressed. At a cost of multiple years of delays and tens of thousands of dollars, they've made a thing that doesn't remotely address any of my reasons for wanting PDFs. That's brilliant!

I'm curious - what do you want out of PDFs?

Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

 

[CapnZapp]

I'm a bit confused by the Kindle part. It seems that it is an proprietary app for iOS and Android. Is it somehow related to Amazon? Or is the article using "Kindle" as a synonym of electronic book with text re-flow on a proprietary app?

I'm assuming the latter: "like a PDF but locked"

Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

 

[CapnZapp]

Right. And they don't care, they didn't want your money. Why does that upset you?

I mean, if you have a PDF of the D&D books at this point (however you acquired them) and yet still have this undying need to give WotC money for it... then why not just go to the store and buy another set of books, then donate them to your local library or something? Then you get to feel good TWICE! Once for "paying" WotC for your PDF, then again for helping out other people who might not have the possibility of buying the books themselves.

Why did you feel the need to post this?

Could you not live with the thought that had WotC issued electronic rulebooks earlier, they would have had at least one happy customer?

Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

 

[rknop]

That's not really something you can "do" though. What is it you want to DO with it that cannot be done using this app?

OK, then answer this question.

Suppose a hardcover physical book only came in a version chained to a specific chair with a specific desk lamp. You were only allowed to read the book while sitting in THAT chair and using THAT lamp.

What would you want to DO with a hardcover that didn't come so encumbered that you couldn't do with the one that came with its own required chair and lamp?

(Also, cutting the chain requires not only specialized equipment and skills, but is explicitly illegal. Hiring somebody else to cut the chain is even more illegal.)

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Exactly, which is why they haven't released PDF's.

Because they're smarter than all the other RPG companies out there? Because they've hit on to some amazing way to make money that creating pdfs would hamper?

Well, it'd sure be nice to hear from them exactly what that is. Maybe they are afraid of giving away their great idea to competitors.

As I said, it's baffling. I haven't read this entire thread, but unless someone suggested something truly innovative after the first few pages, I still can't come up with any reason other than Hasbro overlords being anti-pdf.

 

[Remathilis]

Different topic. That would be PRD vs SRD. Not PDF vs this app.

I can do the same from a PDF with ocr text as well. All I'm saying is the app should allow the same. If you can't copy text from it, it is useless.

Fwiw, you can copy the text from any Pathfinder PDF, and any D&D classics PDF as well.

 

[Remathilis]

I’m sure they appreciate your goodwill over a product that they haven’t even announced yet.

So interviews and pictures in Polygon and Mashable don't count as an announcement? Are they using a crystal ball or NSA wiretapping to know about this project?

Personally I think I’ll wait to see what their actual product is, with their actual pricing including promotions and discounts, and decide whether it’s worth purchasing then.

"If, for example, you'll only ever care about rolling a bard, you can just buy that. Prices for individual sections are $3 or $5 (depending on what you buy) and the three full rulebooks — Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master's Guide — are $30 apiece for everything."

Sounds pretty announced.

I like D&D Beyond and have played around with it a bit, but so far I have yet to see a product that is a must have for me. So I haven’t purchased any content yet. None of the products released so far provide the sort of interface and features I would like. I did purchase some content for Fantasy Grounds when it was on special on Steam over a year ago and have yet to log in and actually use it.

Different Strokes for Different folks. I'm not saying Rd20/FG/D&DB are for everyone, but my point is they offer a LOT more VALUE for the same cost as this e-reader. And even if you don't want that value, D&DB can offer you similar content for $10 less. If all you bought were the major rulebooks (PHB, DMG, MM, SCAG, VGtM, XGtE) you're saving $60 dollars getting compendium only versions on D&DB. We're talking $180 for D&D Reader vs. $120 for D&D Beyond for the SAME CONTENT.

I sure hope that page-flip transition and bookmarking is worth it!

So I’m excited to see what they come up with, and I’m hopeful I can incorporate my own content too. D&D Beyond allows some of that, but not where I really need it.

So far, its looking like its own a reference tool for looking at the hardback books online. They may surprise, but at this stage the articles seem to paint this as a kindle with a very specific set of books.

But if I can’t add my own content, then I don’t want a product designed around a lot of bells and whistles I can’t use. And D&D Beyond is not well designed as just a reference, it’s designed as a game aid centered around a character creation and maintenance system I can’t use yet.

My point isn't that D&D Beyond should be the be-all, end-all of D&D online tools. My point is that this product is bringing nothing new to the table and charging too much for its limits compared to the same content as Rd20 or D&DB.

My suggestions (which you have utterly ignored) are to make this product unique compared to D&D Beyond. Make it the budget alternative to D&D Beyond for people who just want a copy of the PHB on their phone but don't want extra bells and whistles. $20 for the PHB is on the edge of impulse buy. Or, if WotC won't let them sell it for less than $30, add something more than "the PHB in an e-reader" to make it stand out; a subscription service to "stream" the books like Spotify or Hulu, or the ability to add purchases from DM's Guild in so I can have my AL adventures or fan stuff accessible next to my PHB. Or make some cross compatible promotion pricing so that If I DO buy it for $30 here, I might get it on R20 for only $20 dollars when I share my login or get a unique access code on purchase. If they can't stick codes in the back of the physical PHB, they easily could make randomized unique codes in tied to a specific email address in the digital version.

I get the feeling none of that will happen. This will be the text of the books, formatted like D+ articles, for the same price as products with additional value. And if it is, it will fail and they will be handing out codes for people who purchased books on this platform to buy them on D&D Beyond when it goes belly up.

I'm sorry, but if I was in the market for an online D&D solution, this would be several steps below dead last as written.

 

[Mistwell]

OK, then answer this question.

Suppose a hardcover physical book only came in a version chained to a specific chair with a specific desk lamp. You were only allowed to read the book while sitting in THAT chair and using THAT lamp.

What would you want to DO with a hardcover that didn't come so encumbered that you couldn't do with the one that came with its own required chair and lamp?

(Also, cutting the chain requires not only specialized equipment and skills, but is explicitly illegal. Hiring somebody else to cut the chain is even more illegal.)

If you can show me how "releasing digital content for an new app usable on literally millions of devices across the world" is the same as "chained to a specific chair with a specific desk lamp"? Because they're nothing alike. One is an extreme exaggeration for effect in typical Internet attention-seeking over the top hysteria, and the other is just a new friggin app you can either buy or not like the thousands of other apps on the market. If you don't like this product, don't buy it. But stop pretending someone is forcing you to buy this and it's the only way for you to access this content. I think this is what, the fifth or sixth means of accessing this content? Nobody is chaining YOU to a desk and lamp. And no, you're not entitled to a PDF just because that's your preference.

Some people will like it, others will not, but I think you're not going to get legal PDFs of this content. And while you're free to complain about that for the next decade if you choose, as far as I can tell you can do much of what you want with this product as you could do on a PDF. This product serves 98% of the purposes of a PDF and then some. You're acting like that remaining 2% is what makes PDFs useful, but it's not. This is the same content, usable on many many platforms, to be able to read it and search it and do all sorts of things with it during your game and during game prep. Those are the same primary goals of a PDF.

 

[Over the Hill Gamer]

Was massively confused. I just bought Tomb of Annihilation and had to make a decision about whether to get the hardcopy or buy it via dndbeyond, where it is searchable and the monsters, spells, magic items are conveniently accessible. Now it looks like I will have a 3rd option, the WotC app. Actually, if you include roll20, where I frequently play, and Fantasy Grounds, where I sometimes play, that's actually 5 options. All of them have their advantages, depending on how you game. However, each of these options requires repurchasing the same product in a different format. So one needs to make a difficult decision. I really like the dndbeyond interface but it has minimal usefulness for roll20 or fantasy grounds play. At this point, it's a digital supplement to live play. The other factor to consider is the longevity of these applications. Will dndbeyond, roll20, and fantasy grounds be around in 5 years and will I be still able to access Tomb of Annihilation? Maybe. They could disappear in a year or in 5 years and there goes all of my content. It's ironic in the current digital age that a hardcopy may in fact be the most universally useful version of Tomb of Annihilation. I can use it live or online. It will be sitting on my bookshelf for as long as I want it to stay there. So I bought the hardcopy version. It looks great and has a nice map.