| Basic Requirements | Good Aspects (Higher is Better) | Bad Aspects (Lower is Better) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform: | ‣ ‣ ‣ | Game Support: | ‣ | Complexity: | 🔴🔴🔴⚪⚪ |
| Up Front Cost: | Free | Community: | 🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢 | Tedium: | 🔴🔴⚪⚪⚪ |
| Ongoing Cost: | Free to 💰 | Features: | 🟢🟢⚪⚪⚪ | ||
| Cost of Books: | Free to 💰💰💰 | User Interface: | 🟢🟢⚪⚪⚪ | ‣ for this chart |
DnDBeyond started out as a separate service to Dungeons & Dragons. You could buy the books separately from them which were converted into their own style. Then, you could use the items, classes, spells, etc. to build out your character sheet. Over time they added dice rolling and chat. Recently, they were purchased by Wizards of the Coast and is now an integrated part of the D&D brand.
DnDBeyond has been so successful that even though it redesigned the character sheet into a multitude of tabs, it has taken over offline gaming and is used as a source for character creation that other platforms can import. Using browser extensions, you can even roll dice in DnDBeyond and have it show up in a few top-tier VTTs automatically, in some cases replacing their character sheets entirely!
The only real tedium to the platform is creating homebrew. It is obnoxiously complex and difficult to manage. Especially if you’re under any kind of time constraint and don’t have their homebrew system fully memorized.
There are some sneaky ways to integrate it with other programs though, such as:
Other Resources
| Hero 💰 | Master |
|---|---|
| Create unlimited characters | Create unlimited characters |
| Create unlimited encounters | Create unlimited encounters |
| Add publicly shared homebrew content | Add publicly shared homebrew content |
| Early access to new tools | Early access to new tools |
| Monthly subscriber perks | Monthly subscriber perks |
| Share unlocked content with other players | |
| 💰 $2.99/mo or $25.99/year | 💰 $5.99/mo or $54.99/year |
Sometimes physical books come with a DnDBeyond copy. This can be considered “free” if you want in the Basic Requirements section. Otherwise, books generally cost full price or even higher than amazon or your local bookstore.
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