D&D General Does D&D (and RPGs in general) Need Edition Resets?

[Velderan]

This is a really good point. Im not sure the D&D VTT will allow this feature. Though, I could see them having optional tiers like 2014 5E and 2024 5E.

It will be interesting to see exactly how WotC handles the legacy rulebooks. There's a toggle switch for legacy content like Volo's orcs and such for the encounter builder tool so they might just allow you to toggle 2014 or 2024 for ruleset when making your character.

If RedRazors can figure it out as a one man project for Pathbuilder, I don't see why the DDB team couldn't do it.

 

[Thomas Shey]

As long as i can download the content to my device, Fine. But no to being locked into an online tool that won't run offline.

Well, for a fair number of people these days that's mostly moot, as they need to be online to run their game anyway. But I'd rather keep the question of what's connectable with to me and my players, thanks.

 

[nevin]

I'm in no way hostile to people using their computers or other electronics during games, but I have to admit my desire to be dependent on a third-party website to run my game is absolutely nonexistent.

I never said desire to be dependent of third-party website. I said ability to have content offline when said website inevitably doesn't work. D&D paper just works. it better be the same online or no dollars get spent.

 

[Minigiant]

what they need is the ability to add customized abilities so that DM can create custom abilities and make them available to the characters.

The kind of crazy house rules you see sometimes and hear about sometimes make that impossible with the technology level that wizards of the coast currently has.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I never said desire to be dependent of third-party website. I said ability to have content offline when said website inevitably doesn't work. D&D paper just works. it better be the same online or no dollars get spent.

I said what I said. You have your own issues here, but I can't run a game these days without being online anyway, so that part has become a nonissue. But even for someone who's online throughout the game, having an additional connection you need, and need even when not running but preparing the game, is not attractive.

 

[nevin]

No arguments there. I find VTT to add very little to the game and takes a lot more time to prep.

 

[Thomas Shey]

No arguments there. I find VTT to add very little to the game and takes a lot more time to prep.

Whereas I find it saves me time by allowing me to do a lot of prep in advance, rather than during the limited game time.

(If you're a TotM type, most of this would be irrelevant, but since I'm not...)

 

[nevin]

For dungeon crawls and similar games I imagine they kick ass.

 

[Remathilis]

Nope.

EDIT: to clarify, I've picked up a few .pdf adventures along the way but only just to read; I wouldn't want to print them out (printer ink is damn expensive stuff!) and can't run them unless they're on paper as I don't have a computer anywhere near my DM seat - as in, not even in the same room - and trying to read stuff like that on my phone just makes me want to throw the phone against something hard.

Credit where credit is due: it is a consistent anti-technology stance and not a "I don't use X platform, but other similar things are just fine" one.

I've had to move to more technology oriented solutions (mainly a cheap Chromebook) because I don't DM in my own space and carrying my library on my back isn't as appealing as it was when I was 20.

 

[MNblockhead]

DDB products come as part of the web site, not as PDFs. You can of course print the page out, but it's designed to be viewed live. Personally, I find this to be much better than PDF, because as a reasonably well-designed web site it adapts to whatever screen I am using, whether that is my big desktop screen, my iPad screen, or my phone screen. It also means it can be used as a proper web site with hyperlinks that can open up in new tabs, which makes it a lot easier to keep tracks of various monsters and spells and things like that. But tastes vary.
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This is also one of my favorite things about DDB (and also the Cortex Prime digital version). It is the only TTRPG material I find enjoyable to read on a phone (using the DDB app or the Cortex Prime rules website). Having dynamically rendered rules that format appropriately for different displays, fully searchable, and hyperlinked is so much better than PDFs or VTTs in my opinion. I still buy physical books of my favorite books because nothing beats paging through a physical book for looking at art and skimming and getting the creative juices flowing. But when prepping, travelling, and at the game table, I find DDB much more convenient and pleasant than any other media.