D&D 5E So what's the scoop on D&D in PDF Format?

[Reynard]

HTML is a savable format

So just to be clear, you are saying that you can save a Beyond book to use offline and outside of the Beyond app?

 

[Echohawk]

So just to be clear, you are saying that you can save a Beyond book to use offline and outside of the Beyond app?

I save copies of the HTML pages for all of my D&D Beyond sources, and frequently reference those local copies. It's easier to search those, for one thing. I'm not saying that's ideal*, but yes, you can save a book and view if offline as long as you don't mind the HTML.

*I love all the benefits having access to the books on D&D Beyond provides but I'd still like it if PDF versions were also available. So my ideal would be to have both.

 

[mamba]

So just to be clear, you are saying that you can save a Beyond book to use offline and outside of the Beyond app?

yes, never used the app. Chances are you lose the links / popups if you are not online (describing eg darkvision or giving you statblocks), but you still have all the content, so just like a save to PDF

 

[Micah Sweet]

yes, never used the app. Chances are you lose the links / popups if you are not online (describing eg darkvision or giving you statblocks), but you still have all the content, so just like a save to PDF

The two times I got web-exclusive content from DDB I immediately copied the text offline. It's clunky, but as has been said, you don't own material you need an internet connection to access.

 

[Wolfpack48]

Reporting for duty, sir. And why would you want to print it? The whole point is to have it all on the screen so I don't need to have a bunch of paper lying around being useless.

I know there's a lot of effort right now trying to make TTRPGs play just like a video game, but for those of us who still play in meatspace, paper is quite nice for writing on, making notes, highlighting important things, tracking HPs, handing out cool player maps and aids that can be passed around the table.

 

[mamba]

The two times I got web-exclusive content from DDB I immediately copied the text offline. It's clunky, but as has been said, you don't own material you need an internet connection to access.

oh, I always copy it locally too, in fact I turn it into a PDF, as I prefer that over HTML, but in the end a local copy is a local copy, regardless of the actual format

 

[Vince Snetterton]

I know there's a lot of effort right now trying to make TTRPGs play just like a video game, but for those of us who still play in meatspace, paper is quite nice for writing on, making notes, highlighting important things, tracking HPs, handing out cool player maps and aids that can be passed around the table.

D&D is a table top game designed to be played, in person, around a table, with paper and pencil. Anything else is a poor reproduction. Not that it won't stop micro-wotc from turning D&D into a video game. With also a secondary game called D&D Go.

 

[Reynard]

D&D is a table top game designed to be played, in person, around a table, with paper and pencil. Anything else is a poor reproduction. Not that it won't stop micro-wotc from turning D&D into a video game. With also a secondary game called D&D Go.

You do know that a lot of people have a lot of success playing it online so they can enjoy playing witht heir now far flung gaming friends from high school or whatever, right. D&D is not "designed to be played around a table." It was built that way because that was what was there -- and then almost immediately incorporated play by mail. And very soon afterward, play by email and MUDs.

Elitisms about "playing around a table in meatspace" doesn't help.

 

[MNblockhead]

I can

JSON
XML

Yeah, I realize it is a great format for helping transfer data into new systems. But stop pretending these are what the average customer expects when told that there is no lock in and that they can export their content.

 

[MNblockhead]

I save copies of the HTML pages for all of my D&D Beyond sources, and frequently reference those local copies. It's easier to search those, for one thing.

Huh?

Are you using a program or command line to parse through multiple files?

Not challenging, just curious about your workflow?

Easy to search for me is D&D beyond. I can have a huge number of heterogenous files, including word documents, HTML files, PDFs, and OCRed images and search through them all easily. Similarly, I could dump them into OneNote or Evernote and they would be just as easy to search with more options to organize and cross link. From my perspective, I don't see much of a difference between HTML, PDF, Word, etc. for searching. HTML might be better for loading into other systems or doing things with the files if you have some coding experience. But I don't see them making much of a difference in terms of searching.