Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen AMA

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

There is no majority, is the takeaway. Rolling is the most common, though.

Well, we don't know how many of those "manual" were actually rolled or just made up by the players, but yes, it does seem to suggest that rolling is the biggest single category. I tend to think of Standard Array and Point Buy as similar enough to lump into a single group, but either way, these stats show that the majority of characters created on D&D Beyond don't use rolling.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well, we don't know how many of those "manual" were actually rolled or just made up by the players, but yes, it does seem to suggest that rolling is the biggest single category. I tend to think of Standard Array and Point Buy as similar enough to lump into a single group, but either way, these stats show that the majority of characters created on D&D Beyond don't use rolling.

At which point we go to the next level question: how representative are D&D Beyond users in the larger fanbase?

 

[Scribe]

At which point we go to the next level question: how representative are D&D Beyond users in the larger fanbase?

Remember my quote the other day, that "75% of MTG players dont know what a Planeswalker is."?

I'd argue that we on this forum, and people playing online, would represent the 25% that are engaged, and hyper aware of what is going on with D&D, and not representative of the playerbase at all.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Remember my quote the other day, that "75% of MTG players dont know what a Planeswalker is."?

I'd argue that we on this forum, and people playing online, would represent the 25% that are engaged, and hyper aware of what is going on with D&D, and not representative of the playerbase at all.

I think that is still placing it too high.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

At which point we go to the next level question: how representative are D&D Beyond users in the larger fanbase?

Far more representative than ENWorld. There are 23 million active characters used in that graph. It's the best stats we have access to.

 

[Parmandur]

Remember my quote the other day, that "75% of MTG players dont know what a Planeswalker is."?

I'd argue that we on this forum, and people playing online, would represent the 25% that are engaged, and hyper aware of what is going on with D&D, and not representative of the playerbase at all.

It makes more sense if you consider that most Magic sales come from impulse buys at drugstores, Target, or WalMart. Kitchen table Magic is overwhelmingly where the money and players are.

 

[humble minion]

At which point we go to the next level question: how representative are D&D Beyond users in the larger fanbase?

And how many characters constructed on D&D Beyond are actually going to be used in a game, and how many are people trying out the software or messing around with character builds etc?

Our group generates stats depending on who's DMing, normally using various rolling methods that are more generous than rules as written. We've used best 6 of 7 x 4d6 drop lowest, and we've used 3d6+3 capped at 18, we've used (in 3rd ed) points buy with >15% higher points cap than recommended.

Anyway, while I wasn't playing in the heyday of original Dragonlance, I profess myself a bit skeptical that the majority of tables were running strict 3d6 back then too. I mean, the DL modules certainly don't seem to have been written with that assumption. Take a look at the stat lines for the pregen characters from the original modules. Across 8 characters there's a mere 4 stats below 10, notoriously sickly Raistlin is Str 10 Con 10 (and rolled well above average for hit points too), everyone has at least a 16 in something, and two of the warrior PCs had the extraordinary good fortune to roll 18s for Strength. That's not something that the dice would be expected to spit out, according to the law of averages. Given these are the suggested pregens for the module, and given that the option of BYO character is treated distinctly as a second-best choice, I assume that this is the sort of stat array PCs were expected to be bringing to the table

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I profess myself a bit skeptical that the majority of tables were running strict 3d6 back then too.

I've always found 18 comes up a lot more often when the DM isn't watching. Must be some kind of quantum effect.

 

[Parmandur]

And how many characters constructed on D&D Beyond are actually going to be used in a game, and how many are people trying out the software or messing around with character builds etc?

These stats aren't for all characters, just the 23 million actively being used in play at that time (Beyond established their methodology to differentiate used versus theory craft PCs).

 

[MonsterEnvy]

And how many characters constructed on D&D Beyond are actually going to be used in a game, and how many are people trying out the software or messing around with character builds etc?

Our group generates stats depending on who's DMing, normally using various rolling methods that are more generous than rules as written. We've used best 6 of 7 x 4d6 drop lowest, and we've used 3d6+3 capped at 18, we've used (in 3rd ed) points buy with >15% higher points cap than recommended.

Anyway, while I wasn't playing in the heyday of original Dragonlance, I profess myself a bit skeptical that the majority of tables were running strict 3d6 back then too. I mean, the DL modules certainly don't seem to have been written with that assumption. Take a look at the stat lines for the pregen characters from the original modules. Across 8 characters there's a mere 4 stats below 10, notoriously sickly Raistlin is Str 10 Con 10 (and rolled well above average for hit points too), everyone has at least a 16 in something, and two of the warrior PCs had the extraordinary good fortune to roll 18s for Strength. That's not something that the dice would be expected to spit out, according to the law of averages. Given these are the suggested pregens for the module, and given that the option of BYO character is treated distinctly as a second-best choice, I assume that this is the sort of stat array PCs were expected to be bringing to the table

View attachment 267805

I think this is a later version.

Raistilin only had 8 HP in the original DL1. (His stats where also buffed from the version of the original campaign where a 3 was rolled for Con)