Issue #007 Roll20 at the Head of the (Demi)plane

Roll20 acquired one of the fastest-growing digital character creators. What does this mean for you and your players? Read on for more!

Roll20 at the Head of the (Demi)plane

Roll20, one of the largest VTTs on the market, announced on Tuesday that it is acquiring Demiplane, a digital book provider and character generator.

Suppose someone wants to DM a Pathfinder or Vampire the Masquerade campaign. In that case, they can buy books on Demiplane’s Nexus and use the content there to have their players build characters through a self-explanatory and understandable interface without having to flip through books for the specific feat or spell they want.

Demiplane has become prominent in the TTRPG space in the last 1-2 months due to Darrington Press (Critical Role’s publishing company) using it to host character creation for Daggerheart, the new DnD alternative that the company is playtesting.

Why does this deal matter?

• Expanded Character Creation Options: If the company’s plans go as expected, Demiplane’s character generator will be kept separate from Roll20’s website for now but will eventually allow cross-interface integration. While Roll20 has had “Charactermancers” available for character generation in the past, Demiplane’s version is just a better design. The acquisition would provide a much smoother experience for new players who may not want to dig through all the books for their favorite feat or spell.

• Ease of Use for Newbies: One of the steps that often blocks new players from playing a new TTRPG is the difficulty of character creation. If I have to spend long periods flipping through texts to find the features and spells I want, I may decline. Character generators expedite this process and allow the player to do it quickly.

• Future Options for Indie Developers: If Demiplane’s CEO’s to be believed, their quality character creator could be offered to an assortment of games in the future. This could help lesser-known TTRPGs get their content before other players. For example, I’d lovI'do see a charactermancer for Our Beautiful Ruin, a Victorian fantasy game I backed months ago. That would help me, as a DM, convince other players to give it a try.

Not everything about this deal is good, however.

• Roll20 Monopoly: Roll20 is considered one of the leading VTTs in the marketplace. It also owns several side companies, including Roll20 Tabletop, DriveThruRPG, and Dungeon Scrawl. Demiplane would help it hold a monopoly over a lot of online play and may make it hard for other companies (like Foundry, Alchemy, Shard Tabletop, etc.) to compete appropriately.

• Limiting Competitors: One of the best things I’ve foI'veis how DnDBeyond allows DMs to allow their players to make characters outside of the game and import them into platforms like Foundry through various add-ons. I recently discovered Demiplane and was hopeful that I could use it to do the same for a VTM or Pathfinder game in the future. It’s doIt'sul that functionality of that type will ever exist for Demiplane.

• Technical Difficulties: Roll20 has always been a technical mess when I’ve used it, with many usersI'veorting that they’ve struggled to host or they'veat times compared to other platforms. Demiplane appears to be separate from Roll20’s interface, so I hopeRoll20's maintain its website quality.

It will likely take weeks and months to implement Demiplane’s software appropriDemiplane'sRoll20’s interface. But with Roll20’s recent decision to aRoll20'syers to play directly in Discord, the company may soon be the leader in its industry.

Game Deals

1. Delta Green, a military-themed play on the Call of Cthulhu mythos, has several texts and campaigns available on Humble Bundle for less than $20. It’s a steal, if you ask me—oIt'sf my absolute favorite settings.

2. A new “DnD-killer” called DC20 is available for your backing on Kickstarter. Written by Alan Bjorkgen (also known as the Dungeon Coach on social media), the game’s rules seem interesting. Several TTRPG YouTubers seem to support it heavily. The game was funded within minutes of its launch, so I think it’s fair to say there’s a substantial amount there.

3. Dungeons and Dragons is having a sale across platforms in honor of its 50th Anniversary. Up to 50% off many of its books. It's worth a look if you needIt'sexpand your DnD collection.

THIS WEEK IN TTRPGS:

• AI strikes again! Fans discovered that Wizards of the Coast posted a link to a job ad for a “Principal AI Engineer,” a ro”e that appeared to imp”y that they would help with creating generative AI content for DnD and MtG books. The company denies these allegations and claims the role is just for their video game design efforts.

• A Dungeons and Dragons TV show ordered after Honor Among Thieves was canceled before it even reached Paramount+. There were no certainties that the show would be made, so this should not surprise fans. It’s still a sad development It'sy book.

• The new Monster Manual cover’s out! Beholders and gocover'snd mimics, oh my!

• Fantasy Grounds, one of the virtual tabletops available on the marketplace, has hired Adam Bradford as its Chief Development Officer. Bradford is best known as the creator of DnDBeyond, a website used to provide Fifth Edition resources that Wizards of the Coast purchased in 2022 and his old role at Demiplane. Fantasy Grounds is one of the older VTTs on the market, so getting Bradford could be a significant technological win for the company.