Updated January 30, 2024
We are thrilled to share that Foundry Virtual Tabletop is now partnered with Wizards of the Coast to bring official content for Dungeons & Dragons to Foundry VTT!
A lot of hard work and persistence from our team as well as from the team at Wizards of the Coast went into making this partnership happen, and we are excited to work together to build a modern, innovative, and powerful toolset for playing D&D online. The capabilities of Foundry VTT combine with the iconic stories and settings of Dungeons & Dragons to create a super-powered, immersive, and engaging role-playing experience that we are confident you will love.
We are kicking off our partnership with two major releases: a huge update to the now-official game system, and Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk, an epic and iconic introduction to Dungeons & Dragons which expands a beloved starter adventure into a sprawling campaign for character levels 1 through 12. This update to the D&D fifth edition game system is available now and Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk will be available for purchase on February 1, 2024!
D&D Fifth Edition Game System Update
An essential objective with this partnership was to imbue our D&D game system on Foundry VTT with the quality, style, and iconic feel of Dungeons & Dragons. The system version 3.0 release is a huge step for us towards accomplishing those goals and makes playing D&D on Foundry Virtual Tabletop better than ever. The D&D system update includes the following major features:
Reimagined Character Sheet
A beautiful, intuitive, and functional new character sheet provides a wonderful experience for creating, managing, and role-playing your character. This sheet features an entirely new design, improved organization, beautiful and informative tooltips, and way more.
Gather the Party
It is now possible to designate a particular Group actor as the "Party" and add your player's characters to it. Having your player characters grouped up in a Party enables effortless automation of experience, currency, and loot distribution as well as DM-friendly automation for skill checks and saving throws. For example, hovering over any passive skill check will show you who in the party passes or fails the DC.
Item Containers
You can create Container items which allow you to bundle other items and currency together. Using containers allows for superior inventory management, easier loot distribution, clever shopkeeping, and more.
Requested Rolls
A new roll syntax allows the DM to easily request for players to make Ability, Saving Throw, or Tool checks against a configured DC. You can also easily test your Party's effectiveness against passive checks which summarize the group members who meet or exceed a passive check DC.
Ruletips
References to game rules like status effect conditions, terrain types, and cover mechanics now expand into elegant and helpful tooltips that make rules questions easy to resolve. These "ruletips" are supported both on our new character sheet as well as in Journal Entries whenever such rules are mentioned. Spend less time wondering what "three-quarters cover" means and more time focusing on the story!
Dynamic Token Engine
The updated system includes a new rendering engine for official D&D creature and NPC tokens which will be provided by premium content modules. These official tokens are rendered using dynamic composition which allows for the token ring, background, and creature artwork to be addressed with special effects or UX prompts. For example, a visual indication is displayed on the token ring when a creature takes damage or receives healing.
Expanded Automation
This release develops and strengthens the foundation for roll automation, allowing us to provide more automated guidance for roll outcomes and paving the way for future updates with features like automatic resistance and vulnerability application, expanded use of Active Effects, and automated damage application workflows.
In addition to these amazing features which are available now, we have written more about our upcoming roadmap and development plans for the official Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition game system so you can know what to expect over the coming months!
Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk
Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk is an epic 200 page adventure that brings you to the iconic town of Phandalin in the Forgotten Realms augmented with additional features that make the most of Foundry Virtual Tabletop. The journey begins with a re-imagining of the classic adventure The Lost Mine of Phandelver but pushes onwards to reveal a sinister forces at work which place the very existence of Faerûn at risk.
Journey to the beloved town of Phandalin, where a malevolent cult threatens to overtake the region. Together with your party, solve mysteries and stamp out growing corruption as you uncover more about the peculiar happenings plaguing the town. Discover what lurks below in this high-fantasy adventure that begins with the familiar story of Lost Mine of Phandelver and then delves into the perilous Underdark.
This adventure on Foundry Virtual Tabletop is expertly implemented with extreme attention to detail and added touches to immerse you in your journey and give you the best possible digital experience, including the following features:
Mastery of the Adventure
The entire adventure has been dilligently converted into 56 Journal Entries encompassing 550 pages of interactive, interactive, inter-linked, tool-tipped, and shareable content, placing all the details of the adventure right at your fingertips.
High Fidelity Scenes
The adventure on Foundry Virtual Tabletop provides enhanced Scenes for all maps in the adventure featuring high-resolution assets. These maps take advantage of the technical capabilities of Foundry VTT to deliver a more beautiful and higher-fidelity experience with 2-3 times the level of detail present in standard digital maps. Each Scene has been painstakingly enhanced with tiles, lighting effects, and macros to provide immersion and automation. All Scenes are fully integrated with the dynamic lighting engine including walls, doors, light sources, fog-of-war exploration, and weather effects.
Dynamic Tokens
The adventure on Foundry Virtual Tabletop includes over 150 gorgeous and high-resolution tokens which are integrated with the new D&D game system's Dynamic Token engine. Tokens using this engine are dynamically rendered with integration for special visual effects, ring highlights, UX prompts, and other visual indicators that facilitate gameplay and enhance immersion.
Character Creation Options
Build your character with 12 fully implemented Backgrounds which integrate with the character creation workflow in the D&D Fifth Edition game system to easily create new heroes. These Backgrounds come pre-configured with 38 background Features and Rollable Tables to optionally randomize character backgrounds by generating traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws for each background.
Art for Every Occasion
Ensure that your players feel connected to the world with 159 unique portraits for important characters and deadly adversaries that they'll encounter throughout the adventure. The adventure also includes 73 pieces of immersive environmental or narrative artwork that depict moments from the adventure - many of which are full size originals revealing details not present in the print edition.
Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk will be available on Thursday, February 1 and will be purchased from us directly for $29.99 USD. Follow the link to read more about this amazing adventure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What about the forthcoming rules update?
Our partnership with Wizards of the Coast is for previous and future fifth edition releases, including those following the release of the 2024 core rulebooks!
What does this partnership mean for the future of the D&D Fifth Edition game system?
Our plans are for the existing dnd5e system to evolve and upgrade to become the system used for the upcoming release of the 2024 core rulebooks once they are available. Older versions of the game system will remain available for users who aren't yet ready to upgrade.
What about basic rules sources like the Players Handbook and Monster Manual?
Normally we would have started with these products, but given the expected release window for the updated core rulebooks (later in 2024) we felt it would be the wrong call to develop and sell those premium modules when a new range of products designed using the 2024 core rulebooks are coming just around the corner. We will be working closely with our partners at Wizards of the Coast to support the core rulebook sources as soon as possible while continuing to work on other releases throughout the year!
What official content is releasing next?
We aren't ready to announce what the next official D&D release on Foundry VTT will be, but you should expect another product to be available soon. As mentioned in the previous question we will also be releasing core rulebook sources later in the year as soon as it's possible to do so.
Will there be official content for previous editions of D&D?
Not at this time. Our focus for the moment is on adding amazing features and content for D&D fifth edition. We will work with Wizards of the Coast to evaluate the opportunity for legacy content for older editions, but there are no plans to pursue development of such content at this time.
Does this mean that creators can sell D&D content for Foundry Virtual Tabletop via DMsGuild?
At this time, there are no changes to the DMs Guild policy on supported VTTs, but we will be working with our partners at Wizards of the Coast and DriveThruRPG to assess whether it is feasible to change that.
Does purchasing this content unlock it on D&D Beyond also?
No, the Foundry Virtual Tabletop editions of this premium D&D fifth edition content are not interchangeable with the digital books purchased on D&D Beyond.
I already own this content on D&D Beyond or another platform, do I get it for free or at a discount?
Unfortunately that is not something we can offer. Our team incurs the cost of developing and optimizing this content specifically for Foundry Virtual Tabletop, so the Foundry VTT version of a product is not interchangeable with versions purchased elsewhere.
We are proud of the level of quality imbued in Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk and we think you will love it!
Can I record videos or live-stream using this official D&D content?
Yes! You are permitted to record or stream videos of yourself or your group playing this content. Please be sure to comply with the Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy which applies to use of this content.
Where can I talk about this with other fans?
Join the conversation in our Foundry VTT Discord server, or discuss on the Foundry VTT Reddit.
I have a press inquiry about this announcement or would like to do a review of the content, whom should I contact?
We have review copies of the adventure available for press. Please contact us at support@foundryvtt.com with your inquiry, sharing details about your website or channel.
