D&D Beyond and the Digitization of Dungeons & Dragons
Tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs) are at their peak in popularity, even surpassing the pop culture boom that Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) had during the ‘80s. Even the pandemic and multiple years of social distancing did little to shark this trend as players and publishers alike quickly adapted to virtual gaming sessions. As TRPG companies continue to embrace digital services and tools for their playerbase, one option has found more success than many others: D&D Beyond, an official platform and toolset designed to assist users playing Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition. Serving as a digital library for D&D rulebooks and adventure manuals, as well as an easy-to-use character creator and tracker, D&D Beyond looks to provide almost every service needed for D&D players. With D&D as the most famous and profitable TRPG company, examining D&D Beyond gives insight into the experiences TRPG players can expect in coming years.
Project Summary
This study looked at how the UI and general features of D&D Beyond makes playing Dungeons & Dragons easier for many users by following in the recent trend of “digitizing” board games. By taking advantage of the digital library’s ability to store and recall information with the press of a button, alongside updating the UI of character sheets to more closely resemble the HUD found in traditional video games, D&D Beyond serves as a form of “anti-gatekeeping” media that makes game information easier to decode and allows new players easier entry into the hobby. This report is a summary of a presentation for the 2022 DiGRA International Conference.
My Contribution
I served as the primary researcher of this project. I designed and conducted respondent-focused interviews and focus groups on how specific digital media impacted the gameplay of D&D players. Focus groups made up of pre-existing D&D campaigns (the Dungeon Master and players) were specifically utilized for this study to explore if impacts were felt on individual or group levels, so it was vital to collect testimony from people who were actively playing together at the time.
Insight
The results and insights gathered from this study found that benefits of D&D Beyond include:
Easier decoding of information for players- By having a UI that is easier to quickly read than the traditional D&D character sheet, as well as tools that automatically calculate modifiers and rolls made, D&D Beyond makes it easier for users to play D&D and take less time on their turns, a point of stress for many users who do not want to slow down play and upset fellow players.
Empowering new players- New players found D&D Beyond to be helpful in managing their characters’ abilities and helping with mechanical rules of play. This demonstrates the toolset to be effective at reducing two of the biggest hurdles for first-time players and serves as a form of “anti-gatekeeping” media, an attribute that is especially important as D&D is seen by many as a difficult game to approach. This may lead to greater numbers of new players sticking with the game long-term by avoiding early struggles and embarrassment.
Strategic cataloging of relevant information- D&D Beyond has a digital encyclopedia that can be accessed from hyperlinks on the character sheet itself, meaning that players can quickly find the specific rule or information they need without having to exit the platform or search through hundreds of pages in printed books.
Recommendations
With the success of D&D Beyond (both in terms of profitability and effectiveness at making Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition easier to play), the toolset should be a focus of studying how the digitization of board games now includes TRPGs. Many new players express that the seeming difficulty of learning the game is a major stressor and a reason for hesitancy to play or continue playing, but D&D Beyond has proven effective at combating this. As the tabletop industry as a whole continues to provide more official services online, from character creation apps to virtual tabletop boards to use during gameplay, the successful elements of D&D Beyond should be emulated by other companies to fit consumer demands for similar services for TRPGs besides D&D.
