Dungeonscape is the official software for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons, a "digital companion app" for those who want to play D&D with the help of computers, tablets, or smartphones instead of using books. I am a big fan of the 4th edition tools, and I'm happy WotC is still keeping those running. For 5th edition I'm not so sure whether they are that much needed, as 5th edition is much simplified. But what I found more interesting was when WotC started discussing how that would be sold. One big difference between playing with a book and playing with software is that nobody has yet found a way to prevent people from sharing books. Software on the other hand ...

So it looks as if a group which wants to play 5E using Dungeonscape will require every player to make some sort of purchase. Maybe not the whole thing, Mike Mearls talks of things like a "Fighter packet", or "Wizard spell collection".

I have a huge collection of 4th edition books. Pretty much everyone there is, in both English and French, with some extra copies of the Player's Handbook (now wishing I had bought more copies of the PH2 and PH3 in French). But several of my players didn't buy anything from Wizards of the Coast, as I provide them with the character sheets and information about powers and magic items that they need.

I wonder how well the new tool is going to sell if every player has to pay.