Books

hi, i was told that it was a good idea to get the books if i was going to play D&D 5e and i have most of them at this point as a hard copy. is there a way to use them to get a copy on this site someone has told me id have to pay for them a second time to use them on this site. is that true is sounds nuts to pay for them a second time.

Greeting ilikestuff, Think of it as you're not paying for the books, you're paying all the hard work that went into putting the information into the system and updating it.  As a DM it made it so much easier to drag and drop than create the tokens and classes and things like that once I got the books with Roll20. But you don't need to buy them if you have the time to enter the information you need.  Just my take on it.  

It's like buying the movie for a book you already have.  The value is in the presentation and integration on the platform.  Having the fully stat'ed tokens, the compendium information to share with distant players, integration with the charactermancer, etc.  You're paying for convenience. 

i understand that some work has gone into this but its not right to charge the full price for the book if you're saying its more like a secondary source rather then buying a copy of the book. at the very least there should be a discount with proof that you own a hard copy or a digital copy  

You would need to take it up with Wizards of the Coast.  Roll20 must conform to their licensing agreement, and still needs to pay for their investment.  If it isn't worth the cost to you, you are only missing out on the time you would save by not entering the information yourself.  It's definitely not required.

You can run from your physical books you just won't have the rules as handouts in the game and it will take some time setting up npcs, monsters. and maps.  

It isn't entirely impossible that we will see something like this in the future.  -E.g. if you buy the Essentials kit (physical box) you get a code to unlock the content on DnD Beyond- That model might be expanded to other books in the future. As an alternative solution, there are plenty of groups that look for a DM, that have a game set up with access to adventure, rules etc via the sharing-options on the site. (Or PM me and I could create one foryou)

Jens F. said: It isn't entirely impossible that we will see something like this in the future.  -E.g. if you buy the Essentials kit (physical box) you get a code to unlock the content on DnD Beyond- That model might be expanded to other books in the future. Roll20 has announced no plans or intentions of doing this. DnDBeyond has a very integrated and exclusive relationship with Wizards of the Coast, and a different licensing model. I wouldn't wait for this to happen.

keithcurtis said: Jens F. said: It isn't entirely impossible that we will see something like this in the future.  -E.g. if you buy the Essentials kit (physical box) you get a code to unlock the content on DnD Beyond- That model might be expanded to other books in the future. Roll20 has announced no plans or intentions of doing this. DnDBeyond has a very integrated and exclusive relationship with Wizards of the Coast, and a different licensing model. I wouldn't wait for this to happen. No, wouldn't hold my breath either.  Also, if this happens, I assume it will be as an initiative from Wizards of the Coast, not the other way around.

Me, I would be satisfied if they released the DMG already.