How to Keep Up with D&D Beyond, as a Dungeons and Dragons DM.

As I flip through the pages of Welcome to Hellfire Club, my newest D&D Beyond purchase, I can’t help but notice it's been a while since I’ve bought a D&D Beyond product. Due to the nature of my work, I bought Welcome to Hellfire Club as a company expense, with the idea being that I will eventually be able to make that money back using the product, but for most that is not the case. 

It’s Halloween time, so I also bought the digital version of Curse of Strahd, on sale for ~$20 CAD, to which I already have the physical special edition of it, a gift from my wife that would have cost well over $100. So far in this article I’ve mentioned three products with a total value of around $200 CAD, and one of those was on sale. 

As I look at the receipts, and the huge list of products I don't have in my library, I start to feel like I am on a boat that’s sinking, and the only way to bail it out is by throwing money at the hole. 

So how is one supposed to keep up with D&D Beyond’s releases? The answer is simple, unless you have a lot of expendable income, you can’t. If you have a bunch of extra money that you want to spend, you can simply buy all the stuff (must be nice). For the grand majority of us, that isn’t going to be the most practical solution. 

What a disappointing answer! What a TERRIBLE BLOG. I know, it’s not what you were hoping for. Instead of giving you a magic ‘fix-all’ solution, I am going to give you some tips on how to keep up with what you NEED, rather than everything available. Let’s do it. 

First we need to identify what we need. Since we established we can’t have everything, consider the following; 

What type of Dungeons and Dragons games do you typically run? 

If you mostly run homebrew adventures like myself, you will need a completely different set of books from someone who runs prewritten adventures. I would personally get no use from one of D&D Beyond’s new supplements “Dragon Delves: An Adventure Anthology”, but if you like running official adventures then the price of $29.22 CAD (digitally) is probably a good deal since it comes with 10 complete adventures for characters of different levels. 

In the same thought, I would likely be better off spending my money on “Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse” since it is packed full of new monsters and species origins, which are all things I need as a DM. 

What is the tone of your D&D games? 

If you are looking to step outside of traditional high fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons official products may not be what you are looking for. Consider the following partner content on D&D Beyond for the following tones: 

Mystery and Horror: Cthulhu By Torchlight by Chaosium Inc. 

There is something very fun about describing something as “too horrible to describe”, which is a genius and awesome Lovecraft copout. The mythos of Cthulhu is unmatched in the world of cosmic horror, and if you don’t feel like learning the Call of Cthulhu system, there is an option right here for you using 5E rules.

Grimdark: Grim Hollow: 2024 Bundle by Ghostfire Gaming 

If you feel like sometimes things are a little too whimsical in D&D, this is going to rock your world. The bleak tones of Grim Hollow will be a steep departure from the typical Faerûn shenanigans. If you are considering something darker like this, please speak with your players first to make sure they are also ready to get serious. A content warning can be found in the item description with some good information to discuss. Personally, this is a little too scary for me, but to each their own. 

Beautiful and Cozy: Obojima: Tales from the Tall Grass by 1985 Games

If you have ever wanted to live in a Miyazaki inspired dreamworld, the closest you may get is in Obojima. I have followed this project since its beginning, and was thrilled to see it on D&D Beyond. For me, buying it was a no brainer. This world allows your players to move at their own pace, explore new themes and even make potions with a new crafting system. To me, this world is PERFECT for a group of players that wants to dress up and eat themed food with their games. I personally can’t say enough good things about this world. 

How much work are you willing to do to circumvent paying for a product? 

I wouldn’t be speaking honestly if I said I have paid for everything I’ve used in my games. It was devastating when D&D Beyond removed the ability to purchase parts of books, instead of just the whole thing. I would kill to go back and buy all the magic items and monsters from Mythic Odysseys of Theros, but alas, those days are gone. 

The truth is, no one is going to fault you for finding a stat block online once in a while, rather than paying for a whole book to see it. This hobby can and WILL suck the money out of you, so every now and then you are entitled to a freebie. Is this the most ethical advice? Maybe not, but it is realistic.

The golden rule for me is, if I can pay to support creators, I will. This is also a system that works well when you pay it forward. Let’s say today you don’t have the money to buy, so you google it instead. In the future, if you enjoy the content and can pay for it, do it. 

Now that we have touched on piracy, let’s talk about a way to not pay for something ethically. Make it yourself! If you are playing this game, you have the imagination to create your own monsters, magic items and stories. If you’re not sure how then DO pay for the Dungeon Masters Guide and follow along in the chapters that lay out the process for making your own things. You can also make new and exciting things by changing the stat blocks of the monsters and items that you do have. 

One of the most memorable monsters I “created” was by simply taking the stats of a Gargantua, changing a few values slightly, flipping it on its side and telling the players it was a giant intelligent “wolf like” beast with hands instead of paws. They loved it, and it only took a few minutes to do. Homebrew is remarkably satisfying when you put the time into it.

Above: One of my home brew spells, Mystra's Unraveling

If you are looking to make your own storyline and don’t know where to start, take an evening off and make a list of your favorite movies and books. Think about what makes them awesome, and apply the same principles to your own writing. It doesn’t need to be Shakespeare to begin with, and you will get better with every word written. 

Free IS an option, it just requires a little more investment from you. 

A few final notes; 

Make sure to set a budget for your hobbies, one book purchase every few months will keep you mostly up to date, and should be enough new content to keep your players happy. 

Listen to what your players like and dislike, there is no need to spend money on a dungeon crawl if they don't like dungeon crawls. 

You don’t need all the new books to be a great DM. If you are reading this, you care enough to study and grow your craft, and that tells me you already are a great DM, and your players are lucky to have you. 

Cheers, 

-Seth