Development Update Summer 2025

Hi Gang!

Today's update is a bit longer than usual, we will start with a bit about the modules, and then a bit of a ramble into what I've been up to.

So what's up with DDB Importer? Well, shortly the 5.1.x version of the 5e system is going to be released. This offers a bunch of new enhancements around adding advantage/disadvantage to skills, saves and checks, new journal models, and a complete reworking of the spellcasting preparation model. (Amongst many other changes!)

I will be publishing a 5.1.x only release, which will be limited to v13 only, so we will enter the tricky state of having two versions in circulation. Foundry will stop you from installing a module version which isn't supported for your core Foundry version. If the system version isn't supported, stopping people from updating modules is a bit more lacklustre. Although it often pops up a message warning you, many folks end up with an incompatible version. If you find yourself in this situation, however, don't panic; you can find instructions for rolling back to a supported version in the FAQ!

I'll be maintaining a 4.4.x/5.0 release for a little bit, but I don't imagine any major changes to the current state of play.

I've been working on the much-requested Class/Race/Feature parser and have made a bit of progress. It requires extensive changes in the proxy and there have been a few dead ends. It's also focus heavy work, and requires quite a good headspace to be in.

I have also been doing work to move many forms/screens in DDB Importer to the new V2 framework , hopefully you are enjoying the improvements. This has led to a few tentative explorations into looking at migrating Tokenizer to the new model, but these are at a very early stage.

Abomination Vaults has also dropped on D&DBeyond, and although I have not yet finished adding it to Adventure Muncher, I would recommend this dungeon crawl if that's your bag (I have run this in Pathfinder 2e), it really leans on exposing narrative through storytelling, the dungeons layers make sense, there are strong ties to the local town and the story builds out dragging the players and the local area in.

I have found some of the recent official 5e adventures a bit samey, the same dozen or so monsters wrapped in some so-so plot. However, I can recommend The Crooked Moon third party adventure, absolutely fantastic. It's got fantastic theming, some wonderfully unique monsters, and a strong narrative. 

It's been just over a year now since my youngest's birth, this one is a real handful compared with the previous children, she just has the look of glee on her face when she's doing something she shouldn't be.

My wife and I are finally getting a bit more consistent time. and our weekly session with old friends has resumed! We are running a homebrew PF2e short campaign in Magnimar about some fanatics trying to resurrect the spirit of Runelord Karzoug whilst inciting the city into a frenzy of greed. We are all having a blast!

And finally.... Did you enjoy Gencon? Have you been playing anything new recently? Can you recommend anything?

Thanks for all the support!

Jack/MrPrimate