Earlier this month, Dungeons & Dragons fans were puzzled by the sudden reveal of a brand-new leader for the franchise. Dan Ayoub revealed his new role as the head of D&D via a LinkedIn post that shared vague details about his vision for the future. In a recent post on D&D Beyond, Ayoub more clearly outlined the future of D&D under his leadership. And this includes a pretty big change to D&D Beyond‘s Maps VTT.
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To begin his post, Ayoub shares his story with the beloved TTRPG and affirms his desire to “open a dialogue” with fans of the franchise. From there, he digs into what players can expect from D&D‘s new direction. This includes providing more frequent updates to the System Reference Document (SRD). This document guides 3rd party materials for D&D, so more frequent updates could be a good thing for creators making adventure paths and more for 5e.
Ayoub also announced plans to create a “rotating advisory group” made up of many different members of the D&D community. The exact format of said group is still being finalized, but it will include creators, publishers, educators, and fans in a capacity to help shape the future of D&D. It’s likely we’ll hear more about this in the coming months, including how interested parties can participate. But the big announcement today, at least in my opinion, is a huge change to D&D Beyond‘s Maps VTT. Specifically, the platform that has always required a paid subscription will soon be free.
D&D Beyond is Making Maps VTT Free for All Players (Sort Of)
Maps is the official virtual tabletop hosted on D&D Beyond. That official status brings in some big perks, including easy integration with the whole host of materials available on the official D&D website. But the web-based VTT has always come at the cost of a Master Tier subscription to D&D Beyond. This subscription isn’t the steepest one around, but it does run players $4.58 a month. Now, the Master Tier will no longer be required to access the basics of Maps VTT.
Starting with the September 16th release of the new Heroes of the Borderlands starter set, the “core experience” of Maps VTT will be free. You will still need to register for D&D Beyond, but a free account will now let you use owned maps, modules, and adventures on Maps. This includes hosting adventures for friends, with the basic layer of tools.
This is a big change from the previous model, where players could buy digital materials on D&D Beyond but could not use them in Maps without a subscription. In that regard, it’s a big improvement. However, it sounds like players will still need to buy specific maps and modules to really get anything out of Maps VTT.
Many customization features for DMs will still be paywalled behind a Master Tier subscription, as well. Uploading homebrew maps, custom tokens, and accessing certain tools will still require paid D&D Beyond account.
Interestingly, this post makes no mention of the 3D VTT, Sigil. This more robust platform didn’t quite live up to Wizards of the Coast’s expectations. The platform is still available, but it certainly no longer seems to be a priority. Sigil will still require a Master Tier subscription even after Maps VTT goes free for registered users on September 18th.
Just how useful the free version of Maps VTT will be remains to be seen. Once players have access to this new tier, we’ll have a better sense of how many features are available without the Master Tier subscription.
What do you think of this update to Maps VTT? Will it inspire you to use D&D‘s official platform? Let us know in the comments below!
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