The OneD&D VTT is FINALLY here (and it's really bad) 

Player: "I open the chest" DM: "You find that you can't" Player: "Do I need to roll a strength check?" DM: "No, a credit card check"

This genuinly seems like a nightmare for any homebrew campaign, and for personal choices in the game outside of very specific encounters

Wizards is about to create the very anti-consumer version of BG3 so we can see all the things larian went against

Me: "Let's play DnD! It's a fun and engaging game." My friends: "We don't have any money!" Me: "No worries, in this game, only the DM needs to the spending. You guys can just play." My friends: "Oh, okay! We can do that." Hasbro: " *Not so fast!* "

Irony: when our wizard overlords don't realize that 99% of the success of baldurs gate 3 is the lack of microtransactions...

When a company, large or small, starts nickel and diming (spelling?) its customers it is time to find elsewhere to spend your nickels and dimes.

I would rather play Baldur's Gate 3. At least the game devs of that game have promised "no microtransactions", which instantly makes Baldur's Gate 3 the superior experience.

Dice skins... tea-bagging emotes for your half orc barbarian... kick them in the jimmies animations for your Monk's critical hits... custom dances for your Bard... the "I meant to do that" animation for your Tabaxi rogue... you say these things are optional, but the internet disagrees. They'll get us 5.99$US at a time.

I think I'll keep using the books like I have since the 80's.

For the ones questioning "What is so bad about it", "Nobody is being forced to use it", "How could it hurt my game", etc... Well... FOMO, sales, marketing, celebrity endorsements, and a bunch of other techniques exist to make consumers, especially young ones and new to the genre, try it out and learn that this is the "best" way to play the game. They are going to try locking players as something like software consumers. Where you learn how to use the program, get used to it, and have to pay for additional features/rules changes that Wotc will keep changing/adding to keep you buying, like Apple and Microsoft do or Blender/Photoshop, etc. So, D&D's player base will be more isolated and less likely to try other systems than they already are just like every other long-time MMO player. There is also the fact that companies today only think about short-term profits and forget what diversification means. If this is successful, they are more likely to invest in maintaining the VTT and dnd beyond and forget about producing the books. They already did it in their content creators summit, for example. So now they might not even need to make books, just rules updates, new small quantities of contents packaged and up-sold to an already captive audience. No need to sell D&D books anymore for the in-person crowd. There is no money in it. The only way to play the latest D&D will be through their VTT model and nothing else... Oh but what about players having more options? It's not profitable, but if players really want it, we can make them a rare collector's edition that is super special and has a limited number for sale a la Magic the Gathering's monetization model. So yeah, it will not affect my game and my players. But it might affect the genre and for the worse. If the model is profitable, more companies will try to do the same with varying degrees of success. The successful ones will create their captive audience, VTTs will have to specialize and thus lose compatibility with several other systems, losing online support for new and small communities for games that could make use of the ease of access. FoundryVTT will only work with Pathfinder, and Roll20 with another game, etc. It doesn't even have to be profitable in a strict sense, like Netflix proved, just project the image of growth and money, and the share market will bring in the money. Who cares if they are paying everyone fairly or if the content is good and enjoyable, right? Who cares that there will be more concentration of the market, right? I'm hoping that it doesn't work, but the conclusion of the famous Skyrim's Horse Armour DLC left me skeptical about people's impulse controls.

I wonder how long it will take modders to make a VTT using Baldur's Gate 3?

I can't wait for all the WotC cultists to disappear behind the VTT D&D "walled garden" so that the rest of the hobby can return back to normal.

Neat: In the pre-scripted thing, the tavern floor collapses. Tell me how much time a DM would have to put into the VTT to prep something like that. Not to mention the amount of time to prep all the visual assets to handle the other 1,000,000 ways the players could either preclude or alter such an event. It's a fool's errand that will lead either to 1) DMs insisting that players "just watch" for a bit so all their work isn't wasted, or 2) this weird mix of things that are and are not visually represented on-screen b/c things didn't go as the DM planned but were allowed to happen anyway. As a VTT DM, I've struggled with this even in the simple 2D space and have gotten to the point where I pretty much just use static battle maps with none of the neato bells and whistles animations, dynamic environments, etc. It's just too much wasted work, not to mention that the richer and more detailed the pre-made visuals become, the less you get to use your own imagination. I'm a big fan of BG3, but it's not the same as a TTRPG. Both have strengths; both have weaknesses. Both are fun in their own right. There's no need to try to smoosh the two together.

Since the OGL fiasco I pledged to never spend another dime on D&D and I'm growing increasingly glad of sticking to that decision.

I remember DMing 4e using Fantasy Grounds. The amount of effort necessary to build an already existing adventure for that was.... more time consuming than table play. If the future of D&D is that DM's need to be programmers to run the VTT. I expect we'll have even less DMs

Great. One of my biggest gripes with people nowadays is that one can barely have a coherent, fluid conversation anymore, because people feel the compulsion to check their damn phones every three minutes. So the one thing I want in my spare time is to meet with a group of people so that we all might stare at monitors for the next couple of hours.

DnD Beyond has long sold power. Since on the platform you can buy the books, and individually buy all the various races, classes, subclasses, feats, spells, etc that were included in the books. And DnD has had significant power creep from the options included in post Players Handbook source books. A player that buys a new race, subclass, and feat could easily put together a more powerful character than somebody only using the default available options on DND Beyond. There was never any chance the vtt would be different. Thing is, this isn’t a change, or something new to DND. This all trickles down from the content model they have had with the books. And at least with the digital platforms you can piecemeal only purchase the stuff you actually want instead of dropping fifty bucks to get the info on that new subclass you wanted. It all sucks. And everything is spread out across an absurd number of source books. At this point it is isn’t just cheaper, but also far more practical to skip the books and DND Beyond and just use google and some wikis to play.

The power of roleplaying is that anything you can think of can happen! Except... in this new dystopia future, the only stuff that can happen is whatever they have made animations for. WotC should focus on tools that help with table play (like character builders, encounter builders etc), not some kind of weird computer game roleplay hybrid.

I like books. They hold their value really well. You can bust a book out , check a rule and share it with everyone in real time.

So... as a DM, I have to: do session prep, balance encounters, work out player conflicts, keep a tab on all NPCs and whole setting in general, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Too easy? Well, how about learning how to make scripted events in a 3D VTT (that still barely looks better than WotC's previous attempt from 10 years ago), and dealing with blatant P2W. Way to go!

I finally realized what I dislike most about current D&D. Playing current year D&D is like eating a baloney and mayo sandwich on white bread. It's not bad if you never had it and are starving, but after a while it just ends up being plain, boring, and everything just feels the same.

Thanks for the discourse! Roleplaying video games can be great, but they're not the same as in-person roleplay, where your imagination is the only limit, and you can share a great time with others, around the same table, seeing everyone's expressions as the adventure unfolds. I feel that this push more and more towards digital gaming risks leaving behind the heart and soul of roleplaying. Fortunately, there are still some proponents of in-person play, and I'm glad to count myself as one! I have played over 150 hours of Baldur's Gate 3, but it still doesn't match the joy of playing DnD with friends.

Seeing static minis in a 3d space is weird

End of Roleplaying lol, it will be another 4th ed, People will ignore it and then WotC will come back in two years with something either better or how it is now. Hopefully, more people will play the massive amount of non-D&D RPGs out there, most of which are better.

The more I see about OneD&D, WotC, etc the more I'm turning into Unabomber.

Wizard's just needs to partner with Larian to add a VTT mode to BG3. Problem solved.

sticking with in person and foundry. i can only imagine the pain in the ass it will be to create custom adventures.

My biggest worry is how much extra work this creates for a DM. How much time does it take to build an inn with a collapsable floor? How are we supposed to create homebrew monsters with a custom 3d model and special animations? Do we need to learn a whole new programming language to script the camera for cutscenes? And are all these features going to raise player expectations to the point where we feel like we HAVE to provide them? What if our players go off script and we don't have a map for where they go next? Preparing an adventure can be time consuming enough, but if we have to spend additional hours creating our own digital assets, i don't see how its feasible. I'm sure Hasbro would be happy to sell some expensive premade assets so you don't fall behind though....

Imagine getting an early update and having fucking Pinkertons suddenly raid your house and interrogate your family.

I have to say, all of this sounds absolutely horrible. Why would anyone, especially DMs, want this? Just go play a computer game with your friends, for crying out loud. But hey, if it's your thing, go for it, I guess.

I don't like to much graphics as it means less imagination. At a certain point it's like, "go play a video game". Also I would likely get kicked if I DMed for this fast. Frankly I am fine with banning items or kicking players if I need to balance items between players.

Thanks WotC. I've got my own TT thanks.

This sounds very interesting. Neverwinter Nights had a mode where you could design custom levels, and then have one player play the DM. I think that has a lot of potential. The problem will almost certainly be usability (if it takes 10 times as long to script an adventure as it would have been to just write it out on paper), consistent output of the sheer volume of assets required, and a lack of flexibility.

It feels a lot like the original NWN DM mode. You could create custom adventures and script stuff but still act as a DM.

Repeat after me... Path Find Ur. The core rules are free, and so is Zoom. The rest is source books, big juicy source books you can hold in your hands and place on your (admittedly over-packed) shelves.

"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them." - Frank Herbert - DUNE

I think the key to making a VTT work is how easy is it for a DM to create a custom advuenture module. If that's not possible, or is too hard; this is dead in the water. No DMs = No Players. I know that there's talk about Ai DM's but i bet they will feel very generic after a while.

As a DM I like to spend my time coming up with cool NPCs. How will they respond to choices players might make. What makes one NPC unique compared to another. I like working on character story arcs. With all of this said the thing I don't want to do is pay for a bunch of expensive maps. 2D maps are time-consuming enough to deal with. The last thing I want to do is deal with 3D maps. I love Fantasy Grounds. I can paste in maps I get from my Patreon support of artists. I don't want to pay Hasbro for maps.

I'm glad you said it looked like Talespire--I was thinking that myself.

I feel like worse case scenario D&D players and TTRPG players will become separate groups and the TTRPG players will continue on as always.

"I don't want to go to it." (re: orgy) This line is gold - and representative of how many of us traditional gamers feel about the topic as a whole.

One thing we do know is that to run the WotC VTT you need an ultra high end Alienware machine with more RAM than a Dodge dealership.

Honestly I'm not that worried about selling a +100 auto beheading vorpral sword. Buying something vs being able to use it in game are two different things. If a player can just equip something without the DM having authority to change it, then yes, its crazy. However, to me that would be an auto kick from the group. The thing that worries me, is if DMs/Players will be able to create their own magic items (or select them from a list), or if they are going to have to buy "+1 Magic Item Pack" to get access. How much freedom will they give players to do things, vs 1) charging for it or 2) (the worse option) just not allowing people to change things. Basically, you will play their version with no customization. I am also worried about the future microtransactions. They can start slow, for the first year or so, and get people into the system. Rebuying the books to be used with dnd beyond, then change how they handle what can be bough. We have seen video games do this. Send out a game with reasonable stuff, get good reviews, the player base grows, then they start with the crazy microtransactions. Most places won't update their reviews.

As Baldurs gate has shown, you can create extremely immersive environments, for things that are entirely programmed. But, walk out of that tavern, go across the street to the florists, or whatever. How is the vtt going to handle that? Is the dm going to have to create that florists shop? Certainly not unreasonable, but how easy will it be? How long will it take? The proof in this pudding will be when it’s possible to do things a computer game can’t, and without a degree in programming. I can see either the effort to create content, or the lack of content, causing this to fail, all by itself.

This is also clearly why they were exploring AI dungeon masters. That's so much extra specialized work for the DM and also with such reliance on scripted events as the main focus it both takes away play freedom of choice and makes the DM have to preplan a lot more. No way they are going to find as many willing DMs and players who like the video game style mechanics

The biggest issue i can see is that the VTT needs to be more convenient and easy to construct campaign scenarios freely than just using notes and physical resources. It can't be though. A homebrew campaign currently can do anything that the DM wants because it's as simple the DM going "Yeah, i think that sounds like a fun way forward". If i want to make a scenario where players stumble into a dark magical ritual and get teleported to another plane, or where players ride befriended giant eagles to raid or steal an airship, i can do that almost immediately. If i was to decide such in this medium, i suddenly need to find the right assets to use, that fit my vision and fit with what outcomes i envision. The amount of work required on WotC part to make all of the DnD assets ever, with animations, options, and all of the above: the only world where they could feasibly do this monumentous lifes work is one where they aren't depending on stock holders, or profits, to do it. Because they would need all of the money and time. And that can't happen in this world.

As someone who was a fan of Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, Neverwinter, and Dungeons and Dragons Online; all games who have had really great campaign and level building tools for a DM to blur the lines of tabletop D&D and video games, I actually still kind of love the idea of VTT; just absolutely not in the hands of Wizards. The pool has just been tainted too much, they just cannot be trusted.

While I agree that the VTT could have some issues, the arguments presented in this video are full of problems. The streamer postulates that Hasboro could sell some grand item and then the VTT automatically rolls it. Noting this is how players could become Pay to Win! The first problem is if a human is still actually running the game and being a DM (AI DM is a different conversation) they can still say Nope! Not in my game! Just as they can now. Infact, there is nothing stopping someone from hopping on DDB and giving their character homebrew superweapon of mass destruction or write it on their character sheet at this time. DM can still say uhhh no. Therefore, the streamer is trying to capitalize on the general hatred of the pay to win market setting up their strawman argument and tilting at that windmill. If the streamer would have put some actual thought into their stream instead of trying to cash in on general hatred of ideas they could have developed a much better argument. I was going to post more but honestly I forgot what the other points I was going to make were and find this video isn't worth rewatching to make them. I find the streamer just tries to capitalize on fears and general sentiment of people hoping to strike a chord instead of providing any real meaningful insight.

Analog forever!!

Foundry VTT literally does all of this including a full 3D battle map, animations and sounds, I can definitely make a floor collapse animation and all, move players that fall while keeping others that didn't on their own map layer, make something pop out of the ground animations and all(plus mine will have the acid attack). It just takes a bit of setup from the DM, which is just part of the prep. There is no real value to this outside of potentially easy setup, but it does make me concerned that once they bring this out they are going to go HARD legal wise on other VTTs they aren't partnered with like Foundry

I make stuff that would fit into this platform and could even sell on it.. but this is a hard pass from me as both a creator, DM and player.

Anyone remember D&D Insider and its promise of a VTT then? One thing that they wanted to do was to make each virtual mini a tradable item, like MTG online cards. Each mini you showed on the VTT would need a unique mini you owned. For PCs.. not really a huge problem. The question put out on the beta boards though is if you wanted a mob of 25 kobolds attacking the party, would you need to actually own 25 virtual kobold minis and not just pop in a copy. We never got an answer on that, but we did get more info on tradable minis. Has anything been announced on this front for D&D Insider part 2?

That is so interesting, the way they describe this VTT! It's so weird, because I feel like I saw it in a game, though. Like...some kind of..."video game" with D&D 5E rules, where modders can build entire campaigns, with environmental triggers, and - oh, wait. Crown of Solasta. Oh. So basically they made Crown of Solasta with less exciting graphics.

I wouldn't be surprised if one of the conditions for Larian making BG3 was to not include a gamemaster's mode like in Original Sin 2. No VTT will ever be as good as an actual video game.

I've never understood the appeal of D&D Beyond, or OneD&D. I get why people use VTT, but I could never see myself using a first party application and putting my game experience in the hands of WotC.

In the early 1980s computer games were based on DND. In the early 2020s DND is based on computer games.

"You people only laugh when I say '9/11'!" Gotta admit...once the absurdity of that statement sunk in, I failed my Charisma save on that one! 🤣

Thank God my group changed to Pathfinder 2e and Forbidden Lands. We use Foundry VTT and we are very happy to never play DnD 5e again.

It is going to fully split the player base into two camps. You either play "Real/IRL D&D" or you play "Virtual D&D", or some such terminology. Personally, I'll be sticking with "Real D&D", cause f*** that.

Our last hope is that WotC's implementation of pay-to-win is ham-handed enough for people to walk away.

I don't want my D&D to become a computer game, I have those already. I want my D&D to be about friends, a table, some dice and being social. We did use Roll20 a lot in Covid but now have gone back to f2f around a table with a mat and marker pens. Much better. And isn't the animation for a dead monster just tipping the figure on its side? :)

Not for nothing but the announcement of this virtual tabletop was the tipping point for me to finally get involved with DnD

Lmao. Its a BG3 level builder. A word of warning: I already see a lot of complaints about how so many DMs are only running paid games these days. If the new "standard" includes building out a video game level for every session, they aren't going to start charging less.

If they went a virtual minis route that had an Unreal plugin to import assets I would totally be down. Like a 2D roll20 model but using Unreal's 3D engine and a seamless integration with DnD beyond. Unfortunately, what I think they will do is charge everyone a subscription who wants to play on top of micro transactions for skins, etc. Books, Modules, GM tools, minis and 3d tile sets will all be additional purchases or available by subscription. The system will be closed so NO import of any 3D assets and probably difficult to homebrew.

the secret we should never let gamemasters know is they don't need any rules-- Gary Gygax

I will stick with paper, pencil, and a table. I have all the D&D books I require, along with Mork Borg and Lotfp. If I want a video game, I will play a video game. Hasbro can step aside, this will make way for many other games as those of us who want to sit across a table from our friends continue to do so.

Tbh people who can play physically will always do so. Miniatures and animated Battlemaps are just way more interactive in my opinion. For people who cannot play physically it is just an overprized update of what they might have used before. I don't see a problem here as long as you're keen on buying everything they sell to you. A problem could be that DnD won't expand on a physical basis and will always stay the same but there are so much things to uncover I don't think it's a big deal but I might get convinced soon enough if that is really the case.

Heres my 2 cents This is sort of something I want. I would love this whole system as a concept as an only digital player (by circumstance, not choice). Unfortunately we live in an age where the microtransactions will be terrible and it will lead to the (continued) neglect of tabletop players and useful DM resources.

nothing is stopping players from playing dnd tabletop old school style

Hidden dark side: The system seems to only affect combat. ROLE-PLAYING is not about combat, it's about telling a story and combat is part of the story but not the story itself.

0:44 We haven't been worried, we knew from the start that microtransactions where the goal. 7:05 Missing animations are not a concern actually. It's an Alpha build and such things are to be expected. 10:22 Of course they will charge a subscription fee. That's the cornerstone of their entire future plans. I expect that everyone who wants to participate in such a VTT round needs a subscription (maybe not immediately, but definetly in the long run) and on top of that expensive cosmetic microtransaction. I also expect that the DM will have to buy countless sets of monsters, NPCs and assets to build the locations and encounters. Not to mention that WotC will for sure claim ownership of everything developed with these assets. That's why they want to get rid of the OGL so desperately.

Love your style and your very radiophonic scripts - no sarcasm here, just genuine love! Thanks for the review, though. Now I know what to not get more information about

"Risking the company's future". Yeah, no. If this doesn't sell, they will print 10 Super Ultra Unique Magic Cards, put them in 10 of millions of boxes, and watch the cash flow. Their future is safe, as long as paper crack still sells. Also, end of roleplaying...what? Why? Has the hobby become so digitally dependent, that one company pay walling their product would erase analog roleplaying? Just change to a player friendly RPG, get the pdfs in a tablet for the GM, and have all the other players go Pen and Paper. Do you want a model for your character? Grab a mini (either a custom made one, or from another tabletop), throw a grid on the table, and populate it with objects from the house to represent the battlefield. Problem solved. Roleplaying is safe. D&D isn't, if WoTC continues along this path. And I am fine with it.

It'll be "nickels and dimes" if you're lucky. Imagine paying for virtual models like they're Warhammer minis.

I love that for problem players she used The Gamers: Dorkness Rising

Yeah, they're definitely gonna have the ability to buy custom minis, monsters and dice skins I wouldn't put it past them. But people buying legendary equipment to power level their characters to have an edge? DM can just say no you wouldn't have that, or oh looks like you accidentally rolled an attack with the wrong weapon and change the health to what it's supposed to be. I mean problem players will be problem players, it's up to the DM and fellow players to help iron out issues at any table digital or not. I'm gonna hope for a quality affordable product that may look competitive with other VTTs out there, but I won't hold my breath. Good video, and amen, skrew multi-buying the same books.

we can just let wizards of the coast burn and ignore their death throws as we all just use any system that doesnt do this

One of the interesting things about this paradigm shift is how it affects the output of new player races/species. Current D&D has close to hundred playable species, and when you just have a tabletop game, that is very is push out - you just give them a fitting set of starting abilities that hopefully are just powerful enough to make them attractive, and shove them out the door. They don't need nearly the same level of balancing and care that a class or even a subclass does, really. When you make a video game or MMO though, or in this case a VTT, you need to have at least one character model for every available player species, and usually at least a male and female variant. That is a lot of player models to create and animate for a VTT. I suspect we will have some kind of access to humans a small number of additional species either for free or at an introductory subscription price, and then other will be either sold as packs or accessed at higher subscription tiers. In terms of paying for power, I think that just flat out buying magic items or the like is unlikely, but I can see "higher-tier" species or subclasses being gated off as either DLC packs or as only accessible as part of increasingly premium subscription costs. Power creep is hard to avoid, and WotC has every motive to make the whale levels look more tempting and juicy.

Eh, there's no way it's customizable to the point that it could _always_ display exactly what I have in mind, be it characters, locations, or effects. I'd rather not have to buy a crapload of things to come close and/or have to settle for what's available. If I have to do that, I'll just play a video game and RP from there. There's also the animations and effects and such actually _distracting_ from things and breaking immersion. That's my biggest concern, honestly. Having that layer of detachment because a person's describing one thing, but the game's *_vibrantly_* displaying another.

Micro Transactions and you still will never own anything. Everything you buy is kept inside the garden wall. Buy the digital book? Only usable on that site, not a pdf even in sight. This push is highly profitable to them, cuts out distribution costs and much of the risk. I highly doubt that extra profit will get put back into development, it'll be some dumb low %. :( Its not gunna be a product for me, I hope my worst fears isnt what the hobby becomes. I use a TV table to play at, so i get the love of the digital maps, it works functionally no different than a drawn map. When i think of how this VTT would feel at a table, i see players eyes down on thier laptops aa amazing things happen, looking at an animation, not them looking at each other as then tell thier story of the epic kill. Like in the Ad video, they were happy, pointing at the screens and saying "look at that", but TTRPGs arent that for me.... they are the moments we craft in our minds with each other. Adding tools to your game to make it easier to run, always a good idea, but the ones that removes the expression and appreciation of the imagination at your table, is tough to swallow.

It's quite a big assumption to say players can just buy over powered weapons and the DM having no say on what weapons are allowed. I think it is much more likely to get charged for every piece of equipment that is shown on ones miniature. That doesn't mean that the player would have that equipment.

At this point, I don't think D&D crashing and burning is even remotely as big of a threat as initially feared. The OGL scandal gave people the push they needed to expand their horizons and begin finding alternative game systems to play, and Pathfinder has the Archives of Nethys, which features all the mechanical rules for 1st and 2nd edition of the game FOR FREE. Meaning that even brand new players can easily get into the game without having to spend their life savings on purchasing more books.

👍👍 theatre of the mind is king, sharing real stories with real people is king; "you must gather your party before venturing forth" 🤷🏼‍♀️

In a year or two, we can have our personal AI just create a game UI for us. Game mechanics such as rolling dice and various rules can not be copyrighted. Names can be, such as 'Roll a Charisma save vs the Fomorian's Evil Eye, DC 14 for half of 27 psychic damage'. But our AI can just rename the whole thing, with exactly the same game mechanics and WotC can sit and rot. 'Roll a will power resistance against the Fomernan's Glaring Gaze, power 14, for half of 27 mental damage.' Done. By then the AIs will also be able to create whatever level of graphic interface you find most suitable. I for one, just want my game to look like hand painted figures on a table top. Pretty much Critical Role style.

~~objects in the mirror~~ completely switching to pathfinder is closer than it appears

People spend tens and tens of dollars to buy the powerful m:tg cards, and even tokens to further buy some little picture on a screen in a game. Pandora's box's lid is creaking open. The VTT looks ok, but rather clunky and childish. For the money they're spending: to have the ROI they expect, they're gonna have to be drawing the lifeblood out of the playerbase. Cheaper/competitive options exist. And while "yes" one can make RPGs into great digital experiences, it really is best when the player's imaginations are used as the canvas. Everyone at the table is creating the experiences, the nuances. Good luck with beep-boop doing it for the players.

The problem with selling OP items to players is DMs have the veto over any item or, for that matter, character build. It's the DM who's in charge of the DM's campaign, not Hasbro.

Not a fan of VTTs myself, but even if this one is successful it's not really the end of role playing as a hobby, or some sort of huge issue in the long run; it's just a bigger wall between the people who play current edition D&D and everyone else, from OSRers to Shadowrun, Vampire, and whatever in-between. As someone who messed with building things physically using Dwarven Forge (too much, too extensively), I can speak from experience saying that actually building an elaborate physical representation of the encounter area, in person, or in digital like this, is not something that many people are going to have the time to do right. Drawing or LEGOing are both very time intensive, PITA activities that eat a lot of time that few have on top of actually, you know, getting the adventure ready. I could see them having pre-rendered everything being the biggest selling point for the super module hardback adventures, but how much are they going to charge a DM for that? How many will be able or willing to bite? How many players who play that way will be spoiled and then insist on only that as being "real D&D" for them? How many adventures designed for that system will be even more railroaded to facilitate big, set-piece type renders, further alienating the player base? So many questions.

Adding the ability to pay money for in-game advantages that aren't sanctioned by the DM would cause an outright revolt in the community. The OGL fiasco would look like a candle in a hurricane by comparison. As low as my expectations of WotC are right now, doing this wouldn't be a question of greed, it would be a question of stupidity --- there's no way they'd recoup as much profit as the revenue they'd lose from the backlash. And I don't think WotC is _that_ stupid. The DM will _certainly_ have the ability to exclude items that weren't awarded in-game, or bind characters to campaigns so they can't be changed outside of it.

Aye! Shoutout to the Korn album cover at 12:20! As a complete outsider to D&D and tabletop games as a whole the VTT sounds honestly pretty awesome. Never seen your vids before but as a seeming D&D enjoyer why is this the VTT a bad thing? Are they removing something from how it is currently played? Many of the cons you list, mostly the point that its moving closer to a video game and that many of the systems are automatically done, definitely draws me to it as someone who prefers to visualize rather than listen to someone for 5 seconds and then have my mind wander off to literally anywhere else and then have to ask the DM "What you say?" again.

They said EA wouldnt monetize progression in Battlefront. We saw that folks were wrong on that, and basically, a revolt was required to walk back that very thing. Good luck with doing the same with VTT.

I think the major issue is that no VTT will ever be 'right' for every DM. D&D has always been powered by the human mind and no virtual equivalent will ever come close to expectation. My response as a Game Designer has been to build my own minimalist VTT which functions as primarily a soundboard coupled with an accessible database - with a few extra features that aid in Theatre of the Mind style play, such as a graphic monitor, and interfacing with external tech like smart lights and haptic motors installed under the chairs and table. I'm still working on it, it's a huge project, but it will be what I want it to be and lets be honest... if you know even a little bit of code the most satisfying thing to build is an immaculate database + interface. 😂 If you want my hot take, here it is: - get rid of detailed or 3d battle maps and minis. For me, nothing ruins D&D more than 'reality' contradicting your brain fantasy. Invest in clever integrations that support what makes tabletop games unique, and assist in transporting and immersing your players in their already incredible high powered/personalised brain movies with their friends.

In all honesty I don't mind the concept of this. As long as there is a base usable package why not? We already have lots of MTx in RPG's and have for a very long time. Mini's, Battlemaps, Rulebook Expansions, Paints, hand outs, terrain, character art, dice sets, notebooks the list goes on. Ofc you can play with a core rulebook and a bit of scratch paper in someones dinimg room using solely theatre of the mind. As a DM the real questions will be: Is it quick to use? Will setting up a map in 3rd person be as easy as say Famtasy Grounds? How restrictive are the core tools? What's the price point? If it's £5 for a barrel no thnk you. It will likely sink or Swim based on how it matches up to othe VTT's which already have MTx with their token packs and custom dice.

I do not know how you got into my suggested, but your voice is nice and I've binged a lot of your videos because of it. Yeah, that is all, no unorthodox takes on WotC/Hasbro cosplaying Gaymes Workshop.

Never gave a shit. The only 3 things I love about TTRPG's: Writing and building narrative, tactical encounters, and designing 2D maps with my friend's physical painted minis. Having the virtual resources that I would need to accomplish this is, as of now, impossible. I'll keep evolving the way that I play with these elements for the foreseeable future.

The only thing this has in common with D&D is the name. It is a multiplayer video game. I’ll take my tabletop in-person homebrew ever time.

This breaks my heart. I've played DnD since Advanced back in the 80's. But I only play in person. For me, it's a social hobby. If I want to talk to strangers online while playing a game, I'll play an MMO, many of which are already free to play

So what does the One DnD VTT do that other VTTs don't? I mean, like, digital sales are standard for every other ttrpg...

if a character uses a weapon incorrectly, it would be no different than in person mechanically: I just reverse the damage dealt and remove it from their sheet. It's more of a pain to do that within the VTT in the first place. But-to-win characters go against literally the entire concept of what D&D is. If they did this, the community would laugh and slam against it. Just like literally everything else sold, this is all going to depend on what caters to DMs and what caters to players. It's DMs who will have to learn how to use the VTT. Meanwhile, I'll stick to roll 20 for maps and DnDBeyond for sheets. There's no reason to complicate it further. Every table will end up running the VTT or won't. Making people buy the book in the VTT is the absolutely wildest thing ever, though.

That sums up D&D perfectly. It's a "big, moist, orgy." And, "I don't want to go."