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Epic Initiative Feature Round-up (Patreon)

Published:
2020-01-08 05:41:12
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:
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Content

Hello DMs!

This post details all of the premium features that Epic Tier Patrons get. New features are occasionally added, so this list is kept up to date.

D&D Beyond StatBlock Importer: Import creatures directly from D&D Beyond, including your purchased and homebrew content.

Player View Enhancements

  • Custom Encounter Id
  • Combatant Portraits
  • Tag Suggest
  • Custom Colors
  • Background Image

You can include a Background Image with a Saved Encounter to automatically switch.

You can also attach your own User CSS to the Player View. This feature is experimental, as the Player View's structure will occasionally change, which can break User CSS. You can find some examples (with vastly outdated screenshots) in this article.

Happy DMing!

Files

Previews only

Comments

Sean Sweeney

Anyone have a good method they like for using Image URLs for the background and character images? Just looking for a simple way to update and change those.

Victor Navone

Hi Evan, I have 2 small feature requests: 1 - Now that we have access to so many sources from Open5e, it would be helpful if the Library pane displayed a hint of the source next to the monster name. For example, if I search for "Manticore" I get 3 results, all named exactly the same, though they come from different sources (Basic rules, Monster Manual, and Level Up 5e). Could Improved Initiative display some kind of tag next to the monster name so we know the source without having to hover over the magnifying glass icon? The tag might be an abbreviation for the source (5eCR, MM, LU5e) or a truncated version of the source name. 2 - Static initiative. Rather than rolling initiative for monsters, I would love the option to just use a static value - 10 plus the initiative modifier or dex modifier. I think the 2024 version of D&D is providing this option now anyway. Thanks!

Evan Bailey
>>148837876

I like both of these suggestions, thanks! I do plan to support optional rules included in the 2024 books, but I haven't gotten a copy yet. Feel free to let me know if there's other 2024 stuff that would be helpful to add. I'm expecting I'll get the new statblocks from Open5e when they're available.

Gene Armstrong

Hey Evan, There are some new conditions (actually they're technically called Hazards) like "Burning." I'd love to track them just like conditions if possible. Personally I'd still love to have the ability to add custom Conditions so I can apply LevelUp or MCDM or other 5e variant conditions like Dazed or Rattled.

Evan Bailey
>>149138261

Thanks for the suggestion. You can use Tags to add any text as a condition, but I understand it would be nice to have a way to add glossary text for any given condition.

Lance Cottrell

Is it possible to save an encounter in progress, including auto-expiring tags (stunned), initiative order, etc? I find that we often end a session mid-combat and don't play again for a few weeks.

Andrew O'Dell

Is there a way to use the application while not having a internet connection?

vonDMaster

Hi! I've had weird performance problems with this for the past 2 months or so. Im using a decent laptop, but after a while of using the site it slows down and page becomes unresponsive... Then I have to close the page and start it again. After few mins of usu it dies again... It doesn't seem to use that much CPU, so I don't really know whats the problem.

AJ DC

Hi Evan, the DnDBeyond PC importer seems to be acting up. I think it thinks that I'm on a monster page and only imports the HP of the PC. everything else reads "null"

AJ DC
>>35268296

Actually, that other guy's comments encapsulate the issue perfectly, but i will comment there anyway if it helps your process!

Tim Nesmith

Do you also have to subscribe at D&D beyond if we subscribe to get access to the combat tracker?

Evan Bailey
>>35439459

You don't have to subscribe to D&D Beyond, but you'll only have access to their free content

White Angel

Evan Bailey, Could you create a way to roll dice on the combat page itself? without just being in the GM area?

Adam Carlson

I have an idea for a feature that might drive adoption of Paragon. If you could link tag countdown timers in Improved Initiative to clocks in Paragon then you could have an encounter dashboard where players could easily see, e.g. how many rounds that Barbarian's rage or wizard's 1 minute concentration spell will last. In general, I like the idea of making a Paragon dashboard for an encounter, especially a set-piece of boss fight. You can have pictures of the setting or of creatures, text/clocks describing set-piece events (the fire that will burn through the rope, dropping the prisoners to their death in 15 rounds). Linking those to the improved initiative (so clocks update automatically with turns/rounds) would be especially useful.

Adam Carlson
>>35513639

White Angel, you can sort of do this in Paragon. If the GM makes a dice card visible, then any rolls they make are visible in the player view. The player can then click the re-roll button for that roll and do an equivalent roll themselves. So if, as the GM, you do a d20+3, a d8 and a d12+1 roll, on a player-visible dice card, the players can roll any of those rolls themselves. Not exactly what you're looking for, but it does allow some kind of player die rolling. (If I understood your question.)

Adam Carlson
>>35513639

I just reread your question and maybe you're just looking for a raw dice roller a la Roll20. The 'd' hotkey opens a die roller any time. If you want to see that in your toolbar, go to settings / commands and select the radio button next to the Roll Dice command.

Evan Bailey
>>50054419

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm still on the fence about creating any integrations between Improved Initiative and Paragon, since it's easier to work on the two projects when they're completely independent.

Steven Foose

Any chance to have the same stat importer function, the monsters get, for PCs on D&D Beyond?

Tainted Powers

Ooooh the endless hours I've spend copy-pasting the stats of monsters into Improved Initiative... Now all done in a few clicks. This has to be the single most important update on the app since its conception. My players disagree, they started to feel the overwhelming flow of new monsters I throw at them... :D Please keep up the amazing job you are doing!

TheSheDM

Was looking at my profile and saw the old conversation we had about requested feature to create a statblock importer and just wanted to come back here and say again thanks for making that feature. It is a fantastic add-on and I use it all the time!

Dominic Hartjes

Hi Evan, love this tool! Tried not using it for a couple sessions and things got weird! I would love to give my players permission to add or remove hit points and free me up from needing to accept their suggestions. Also, I would be interested in the players being able to suggest damage or healing to other npcs and enemies. As the DM, I am interacting frequently with many different windows on my computer, and I would like to put a little more control in the players' hands so that their updates can be more immediate and I can have fewer clicks. I trust my players to use this responsibly, but it would certainly make sense to put these functionalities behind a setting. What do you think about that idea? Thanks for the great tool! Dominic

Mark (zellspell)
>>74984149

Ditto. Multi-screens, trustworthy Players, and the ability to enable/disable would really be lovely. My players already suggest labels/tags for me during combat, so this would add more capability and take pressure off the DM.