As we’re slowly building The Arena, we truly do appreciate your patience! We know our decisions are not always “fun”, but our ultimate goal is to put together a space where players can have fun, test out classes, and partake in combat (and possibly more RP in the future) without the need of trying to assemble a full party or be constantly waiting for others.
A bit about me: I’ve been playing DnD for several years (I started in 3.5 before 5e, so at least since 2012/2013), generally via PbP (Play by Post) on forums/Discord. I’ve taken part in a couple of live games, but they always suffered from the bane of all TableTop Games – schedule conflicts/lackadaisical players. Since that time, I’ve taken part in some West Marches-style games (which still suffer from the same conundrum), and desired a place where you could just pick up some combat, roll away, and then move on. Thus was born the idea of the DnD Arena! I talked with Skeletoriels (a DM friend from another game, which had also petered out due to scheduling) and here we are.
In the past few weeks, we’ve set up a bunch of systems, and I’d like to take a moment to detail where we’re at. A “State of the Game”, if you will.
1.) DnD Beyond – We now have a campaign with multiple shared resources made available to players via my Master Tier subscription. Via the subscription, we can host up to 60 players (5 campaigns with 12 players each) with access to the shared resources.
2.) OwlBear Rodeo – We now have an OwlBear Rodeo subscription which allows us to create up to 10 static “rooms” for combat. This means that the links do not expire, and once you’ve been added to a room by a DM (I would recommend setting up and logging into an OwlBear account – it’s free) you should be able to open the room even when a DM is not online. The next Tier includes the capability to open up to 25 rooms, and we may adjust upwards once we begin inviting more players.
3.) Assets – The Arena has access to over 50 GB of maps and tokens (2 Minute Tabletop, Tom Cartos, ArcKnight, and more!) – so there are plenty of options for upcoming maps. We also have access to DungeonDraft (a map-making software), and a bunch of asset packs for that particular program.
4.) The Traveler – Our custom bot is about to be upgraded with slash (/) commands, as well as commands for battle rewards and wins/losses, and currency. This will allow DMs to interact with the bot directly via Discord, rather than having to open up a Google sheet to update pertinent information.
5.) https://thedndarena.com/ – We have a custom website that contains basic information about The Arena (as well as a dev blog, which I will be updating with this post shortly).
Sneak Peek
A few of our players have reached Bronze Tier, and we’re now working on adding some new maps for our arenas!
The Cultist’s Hideout features dim lighting, obstacles (walls), and multiple hazards. Large enough for 2v2 battles, this may be a dream for anyone who is playing a rogue or other sneaky class and a nightmare to those who try to keep their enemies close!
The Ship is a “moving map”, meaning that while combat takes place on board the ship, contestants may attempt to shove their foes overboard (in the yellow section). But beware, your opponent will have a couple chances to “save” themselves and get back on board before they enter the red area and are left behind to the cruel sea!
