D&D 5E Question for folks who use D&D Beyond: How well does it work with the new rules?

[Clint_L]

If you're just using the new rules, it's as convenient as it ever was, especially now that the DMG is out so that the character builder incorporates custom backgrounds. If you're using a mix of 2014/2024 rules, as my upcoming campaign will be, it means players have to go in and toggle off the versions of spells that they don't want, which is a bit tedious but it's good to have options.

I've been continually using DDB before, during, and after the introduction of the 2024 rules, and it's been no problem. And yeah, Maps is fairly basic, but definitely the easiest, most integrated VTT I've tried. By a country mile.

 

[Clint_L]

Encounters has been a super useful tool for my IRL game.

It was a game-changer for me - I started using it years ago, whenever it first became available, and it saves me heaps of time both planning and executing encounters.

 

[Echohawk]

An issue we had in a recent game is that Exhaustion penalties do not seem to have been implemented. If a character has levels of Exhaustion, D&D Beyond doesn't seem to apply any sort of penalty to any of the die rolls.

 

[Distracted DM]

They recently changed the rules sources options on the first page of character creation, so there's more control over what items a character can choose from. This really helps, and means you can do PHB 2024-only if you want.

Are you saying that the GM can finally decide what books are or aren't allowed to be used in a campaign? That was one of my bigger gripes with DDB back in the day- the GM could decide to not share X or Y, but if the player had it they could use it regardless. (Obviously you could go over what was/wasn't allowed for the game but this was a bit of a PITA)

 

[pukunui]

If you're just using the new rules, it's as convenient as it ever was, especially now that the DMG is out so that the character builder incorporates custom backgrounds.

I was really hoping this would be the case, but as far as I can tell, the custom background feature is still based on the 2014 version. Yeah, sure, you can use it for a custom 2024 background, but then you have to manually add the ASIs and origin feat later. It doesn’t let you choose them like it would if you pick a pre-made 2024 background.

@Charlaquin: Have a look at the Bugs and Support DDB forum. You’ll be able to see what all 2024 rules still aren’t properly implemented there.

 

[pedr]

Are you saying that the GM can finally decide what books are or aren't allowed to be used in a campaign? That was one of my bigger gripes with DDB back in the day- the GM could decide to not share X or Y, but if the player had it they could use it regardless. (Obviously you could go over what was/wasn't allowed for the game but this was a bit of a PITA)

Not at all campaign or sharing level. Each player can select what is available to their character. But those selections are more granular than they’ve been before. You can turn off third party content,
for instance. It’s not as helpful as it could be as you can’t select individual books to include or exclude. I think both Theros and Xanathar’s are controlled by the same “expanded rules” box so you can’t enable one without the other. But you can exclude Free League so the rules items from the Lord of the Rings game don’t show up, and you can exclude the material from replaced books like Volo’s and the 2014 PHB.

I think content sharing still ignores the sources selection in the campaign so players can’t read things they don’t own in the Sources section but those rules items are still in the Character Builder for them unless they’re excluded for the specific character on that character’s first options page.

 

[pukunui]

Not at all campaign or sharing level. Each player can select what is available to their character. But those selections are more granular than they’ve been before. You can turn off third party content,
for instance. It’s not as helpful as it could be as you can’t select individual books to include or exclude. I think both Theros and Xanathar’s are controlled by the same “expanded rules” box so you can’t enable one without the other. But you can exclude Free League so the rules items from the Lord of the Rings game don’t show up, and you can exclude the material from replaced books like Volo’s and the 2014 PHB.

I think content sharing still ignores the sources selection in the campaign so players can’t read things they don’t own in the Sources section but those rules items are still in the Character Builder for them unless they’re excluded for the specific character on that character’s first options page.

Yes, this is one of my biggest gripes with DDB. The toggles for sharing content via campaigns lets you select specific books, but this only turns on/off compendium access to those books for your players. You have to toggle things on/off in their character sheets, and there you can only toggle broad categories or specific third-party publishers.

I own the Acquisitions Incorporated book on DDB. While I like a lot of the content, I don't want to use it in every campaign I run. But there's no way to block the player content (e.g. spells) without blocking other stuff too. DDB also doesn't make the source of some content particularly obvious (it's usually only stated in italics at the bottom of a piece of content's full description).

Instead I just have to go through their character sheets individually and say, "Nope, sorry, you can't use that specific spell or that particular piece of equipment. Pick something else." Sigh ...

 

[AlViking]

Yes, this is one of my biggest gripes with DDB. The toggles for sharing content via campaigns lets you select specific books, but this only turns on/off compendium access to those books for your players. You have to toggle things on/off in their character sheets, and there you can only toggle broad categories or specific third-party publishers.

I own the Acquisitions Incorporated book on DDB. While I like a lot of the content, I don't want to use it in every campaign I run. But there's no way to block the player content (e.g. spells) without blocking other stuff too. DDB also doesn't make the source of some content particularly obvious (it's usually only stated in italics at the bottom of a piece of content's full description).

Instead I just have to go through their character sheets individually and say, "Nope, sorry, you can't use that specific spell or that particular piece of equipment. Pick something else." Sigh ...

But that's not much different than if you were just using the books, is it? I know it's a little different of course because everything is all there but you still could never control what books people had at home.

 

[Distracted DM]

But that's not much different than if you were just using the books, is it? I know it's a little different of course because everything is all there but you still could never control what books people had at home.

This isn't controlling what books they own. It's a quality of life feature that would allow you to select what content can be used in your campaign, and it has been frequently requested over the years.

 

[FrogReaver]

I’m considering using D&D Beyond for my next campaign, which is going to use the post-2024 rules. But I remember hearing talk of the character creator not always playing nicely with the new rules. If anybody has tried using it for a 2024 game, I’d be interested to hear your experience with it so far. What works, what doesn’t, what jury-rigged solutions have you come up with for things that don’t? Do you like the digital character sheet? Why, or why not? Also, how difficult is it to do skills with different ability scores in D&D Beyond?

Thanks in advance for sharing your insights!

Not sure personally about Beyond’s.

I can attest that Roll 20’s has had some issues. Multiple players in our group have had to recreate our character sheet due to leveling up issues. My initiative button randomly stopped working. Etc.