Dungeons & Dragons companion app D&D Beyond launches into open beta today

That was quick: after revealing that it was planning to release an official companion app for Dungeons & Dragons’ fifth edition last week, Wizards of the Coast has announced that the tool will launch into open beta later today.

D&D Beyond is designed to run online and offline on any device, including phones, tablets and PC, and includes helpful utilities such as a rules compendium, character builder and digital character sheets.

It’s been co-developed by voice chat provider Curse, which is owned by the livestreaming behemoth Twitch, which said that both free and premium accounts will be available, with paid subscriptions unlocking features such as additional characters and advanced tools.

There will also be the option to purchase extra content for specific classes, but Curse insists that it will not adopt a microtransaction model.

What will be supported is fan-made content in the form of custom ‘homebrew’, plus the ability to print character sheets.

You can still sign up for the open beta of the app, which will go live sometime later today (March 20th).

Beta phase one begins Monday! And since we don’t want to be responsible for splitting any parties, it will be open! https://t.co/sfffwCSQXx pic.twitter.com/i9Cd7v5FrK

— D&D Beyond (@DnDBeyond) 16 March 2017