Since Roll20's merger with DriveThruRPG, we have launched DMsGuild content on Roll20 and Pathfinder | Starfinder content on Roll20. As a result, dozens of creators have launched hundreds of titles converted for the Roll20 VTT. With these collaborations, we have connected our Marketplaces to make purchases for customers easier, depending on if they want the PDF, the VTT version, Print on Demand, or all three!
We are thrilled to announce that this option will be available for all DriveThruRPG partners starting in June 2023. Partners can start converting their titles for use on Roll20 immediately, and you will soon be able to make those titles available for sale on DriveThru marketplaces and/or the Roll20 Marketplace.
General Questions
Who can participate?
Anyone! To offer Roll20 VTT content, you require a Roll20 partner account. Find out more at https://pages.roll20.net/partners.
To sell all your PDF, Print, and VTT content on DriveThru, you require either a DriveThru publishing partner account OR, if you plan to sell Community Content (e.g., DMsGuild, Pathfinder Infinite, etc.), you simply need a DriveThru customer account. Find out more at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/join.php
A Note for Community Content Program Creators: Each Community Content Program will set its own criterion for Roll20 VTT conversions; check our Content Guidelines for Community Content Programs to find details on your program. This will dictate which options you select from "Where will your Content be listed for sale to customers?" on the Roll20 Partner Application.
When does this roll out? Can I start creating listings now?
The option to create listings on DriveThruRPG is now available. Partners can start converting their titles now (after applying to become a Roll20 Partner). This is extended to DMsGuild, Pathfinder Infinite, Starfinder Infinite, and Miskatonic Repository.
Do I need to sign up for a DriveThru partner account?
First you will need to create a customer account. While logged in to that account, you can then create a DriveThru partner account.
How do I sign up for a Roll20 Market Partner account?
You (or your proxy) can set up a Roll20 Market partner account by completing the Roll20 Marketplace Partner Application. Detailed instructions for this application can be found on the Applying to Sell on the Roll20 Marketplace help desk article.
In order to sell your Roll20 VTT conversions on a DriveThru site, you (as the publishing partner) or a third-party contractor doing the conversion, will need to have a Roll20 partner account.
Having a partner account allows you to:
- Create a partner profile where you can link to your website, social media, etc.
- Access Roll20 Market back-end permissions that allow you to build VTT listings. (If you’re working with a third-party contractor as your proxy, we’ll help you grant them access to build your content.)
- Have complete control over your titles, including access to edit and/or remove them.
- Provide access to all active UUIDs (Universally Unique IDs), which link your products across marketplaces.
What if my Roll20 VTT conversion lives under my proxy’s account?
You may prefer not to have your own partner account on Roll20 and instead have your third-party contractor create your titles and listings within their existing Roll20 partner account. The contractor will then provide you with your UUID(s) once your VTT product is activated.
You will want to address these items with your proxy if you choose to go through a contractor for the listing of your content on the Roll20 Market:
- You must both agree that this is your preferred method of operation.
- Since the sale of your product is still being conducted on the Supported Marketplace, this will not affect your payments.
- Optional: If your contractor also has their own account on the Supported Marketplace, they could manage and set up the title with a royalty split for your payments.
Which Marketplace will pay me?
Publishing partners will earn royalties based on the marketplace where the customer made the purchase. For example, if the customer purchases the listing through the Roll20 Market, your Roll20 Market partner account will receive royalties. Please note that the Roll20 Marketplace does not have a mechanism for splitting revenue at this time; this currently has to be done by the partner.
If the customer purchases the listing through the DriveThru marketplace, your DriveThru account will receive royalties. If you are a Community Content Creator, those royalties will accrue to your customer account balance; if you are a publishing partner, then they will accrue to your publishing account balance.
Will the prices for items listed on DTRPG be limited by the minimum set by Roll20?
We will not be enforcing DriveThruRPG products to price-match Roll20 listings at this time. We want Partners to experiment with bundle discounting to see what works best for their products!
How Does this Program Work?
Once you have a Roll20 Marketplace Partner Account, you will be able to make Roll20 item listings. These are where you'll either upload your art assets as part of an Art Pack or link a Roll20 Game that hosts your converted content. Once your Roll20 listing is approved, it will have a UUID (Universally Unique ID), which can be plugged into a newly created Title on any DriveThruRPG Marketplace.
You can also create specific Supported Marketplace Item Listings for exclusive community content programs like DMsGuild. These will not be listed for sale on Roll20 but use the same UUID linking process.
You can read about the process here in the Building, Submitting, and Activating Marketplace Titles article.
The submission for approval and activation process follows the same procedure as other digital product listings on their respective Marketplaces. The only nuance is that the Roll20 UUID will be needed to be added to the listing to sell its VTT content.
Customers who want to purchase these Roll20 items will be required to include the email address attached to their Roll20 account. The Roll20 product will then be listed on their My Marketplace Items page over on Roll20 after the purchase is processed.
My question didn’t get covered here, who can I talk to for more information?
For questions regarding the Roll20 Marketplace, check out the rest of the Partner Help Center.
For questions regarding DriveThru marketplaces, please email PartnerRelations@roll20.net
Questions can also be asked on our Roll20 | DriveThru Discord server.
Roll20 Market Questions
What's the difference between a “Supported Marketplace ONLY” item and a “Roll20 Marketplace and Supported Marketplace” item? Which one do I use?
These terms indicate where the product is listed for sale and what content policies must be followed.
Roll20 Marketplace and Supported Marketplace items can be sold on both the Roll20 Market and DriveThru marketplaces. Your item will be available for sale on the Roll20 Market by default, and you are provided a UUID code with which you can set the product up on a DriveThru marketplace.
Supported Marketplace ONLY items are not sold on the Roll20 Market, but allow for your Roll20 content to be unlocked via DriveThru marketplaces. Activating a Supported Marketplace item on Roll20 will provide the UUID code necessary to sell the item via DriveThru. Use this option for Community Content Program VTT content.
Do I need to create a duplicate listing of my existing Roll20 product to list it over on DriveThru?
No. You can use your existing products that are already available on the Roll20 Market. These listings will have their own UUID (Universally Unique ID) numbers for the use of linking over onto DriveThru.
You can find an item listing's UUID under the Approved and Active tabs of your Roll20 Item Management page. The "Supported Marketplace" item types should ONLY be used for Community Content such as DMsGuild, Pathfinder Infinite, etc.
How do I convert my content?
Instructions for how to convert your own content can be found on the Creating Marketplace Content help desk page.
Do I need a Paid Roll20 Account to do this?
No, you only need a Roll20 Market partner account to get started, not a subscription. A subscription, however, will give you access to tools like Dynamic Lighting.
I don’t want to convert my content, can you do this for me?
Content conversion can certainly take a lot of time and effort. We’ve comprised this list of vetted third-party conversion contractors to help you out.
How do I become a vetted converter?
Please fill out our Roll20 VTT Approved Converter Application and our content team will have a look and be in touch.
Can I use content from Roll20 compendiums or adventures I own on Roll20 (ex. Tokens, Maps, etc.) for my own conversions?
The content standards will be dependent on the terms of the intended selling marketplace:
- Content Guidelines for Community Content Programs
- Product Standards Guidelines for DriveThru sites
- Content and Setting Guidelines for DMsGuild
- Content Guidelines for Pathfinder Infinite
No artwork from IP Compendium content can be utilized in Addons and Modules. If you are a Community Content Program Creator, you can utilize IP Compendium text and stat block content to have functioning character entries in your Addons and Modules. You will need to replace token art with your own content.
DMsGuild
DMsGuild conversions must abide by the Content and Setting Guidelines.
Artwork from Wizards of the Coast's official D&D 5E compendiums cannot be used in your Roll20-connected titles. This includes Token and Journal artwork attached to the compendium pages you add to your games.
To mitigate that limitation, we have created DMsGuild Creator Resource Tokens for Roll20 from allowed older edition art for DMsGuild creators to use in their Roll20-connected titles. This token pack contains the DMsGuild Creator Art Packs in Token form. These tokens are licensed to use in Roll20 VTT content sold via the Dungeon Masters Guild program and published under the Community Content Agreement. The tokens are not licensed to be used for any other purpose. All art is owned by Wizards of the Coast.
AI-Generated Art Policy
Roll20 defines "AI-Generated art" as images created through the use of artificial intelligence algorithms and techniques trained on pre-existing data sets. (Examples: Midjourney, Artbreeder).
At this time, the Roll20 Marketplace does not accept any product that utilizes AI-generated art.
-
DriveThru Marketplaces, including Community Content Programs and Supported Marketplaces
- At this time, DriveThru Marketplaces do not accept standalone artwork products that utilize AI-generated art.
- At this time, DriveThru Marketplaces require publishers to set their own AI-generated artwork policies on Game, Rulebook and Adventure products. Any products that utilize AI-generated artwork must be tagged as such.
Can I upload a PDF to my converted product?
Not at this time. PDFs uploaded in games will not carry over once addonized/modulized.
What would my content look like on Roll20?
The VTT Marketplace has three means of converting traditional print/PDF materials to VTT content:
- Art Packs: These are assembled outside the VTT itself. Your art assets are directly uploaded to its item listing. When a customer buys your Art Pack, they will have access to each art asset within the VTT itself without requiring them to download and re-upload them. We have several different categories of art listed on the VTT Marketplace.
-
Addons & Modules: For content that constitutes RPG Campaigns, One-Shots, Play-Aids, and other Gaming Components, these are best served as Roll20 Addons (and occasionally, Modules). These items are created by you uploading and/or transcribing your content into a Roll20 Game in the exact same way a GM would prepare their own virtual materials for their party. When creating the VTT Marketplace item listing for your converted product, you link the game you created. This will then be turned into a template that a customer can apply to a new or existing game after purchase.
- While this is not an exhaustive list, here are some features that exist within the Roll20 VTT that can facilitate adventures, play aid, and component materials:
- Card Decks that can have unique fronts and backs, randomization weights, and view/use permissions
- Rollable Tables that can include artwork, text, and numerical values
- Battle Maps and World Maps with grids and Dynamic Lighting
- PC/NPC entries with rollable stat blocks and token art attached
- Handouts: Can include pictures and text. Often used for adventure campaign instructions, item cards, custom rules, and other variously sharable visual items between party members.
- Jukebox music and playlists
- Customized Macros
- You can use all of these features at once to create your template.
- While this is not an exhaustive list, here are some features that exist within the Roll20 VTT that can facilitate adventures, play aid, and component materials:
-
Compendiums: For rulebooks and rule expansions, Roll20 Compendiums are books whose content has been converted into structured data. In this way, rules and stat blocks can be searched and utilize drag-and-drop functionality for character sheets within the VTT. Currently, we highly encourage the construction of Compendiums through either internal conversion by Roll20 staff or one of our vetted third-party conversion contractors. However, if you are interested in learning to build your own, you can get started by reviewing our documentation found here. If you decide to proceed with building your own, please mention this in your application or, if you are a current partner, submit a support ticket to discuss options.
- Compendiums are best used in service of Character Sheets that can benefit from drag-and-drop. For game systems that don't yet make use of drag-and-drop, we recommend converting your content as Addons with a focus on Journal Entries (Characters/Handouts).
DriveThru Marketplace Questions
Can I have an exclusive DriveThru partner account and sell on the Roll20 Market?
Yes, DriveThru publishing partners can sell content on the Roll20 VTT Market while still maintaining their exclusivity status. Community Content cannot be listed on the Roll20 marketplace because it is exclusive.
Do I need to create a new title on DriveThru for my VTT content?
Yes, you’ll need to set up a new title listing on DriveThru. Make sure you are very clear in your title and description that the VTT item is the Roll20 version; best practice is to also include a parenthetical “(Roll20)” at the end of the title when you create the listing.
Within your product listing, under “Virtual Tabletop Connection” at the bottom of your title listing edit page, choose Roll20 and enter the UUID in the correct field.
How do I find the UUID for my Roll20 VTT title?
The product's UUID will be visible on the Item Management Page once it has been approved by Roll20 staff. You can find the UUID listed with its related product's name under the Approved and Active/Active-Supported tabs of the Item Management Page.
If you have made a package containing sub-items, use the package's UUID.
Do Roll20 Dynamic Bundles work the same with the UUID process?
Yes, however, the price of Dynamic Bundles cross-listed to Supported Marketplaces is determined by the price set on the Supported Marketplace only. If a user purchases a VTT listing that includes a Roll20 Dynamic Bundle on a Supported Marketplace and they already own a sub-item in that bundle on Roll20, they will not receive their additional dynamic discount at checkout.
How will this affect my DriveThru title’s bestseller metal?
Since the Roll20 VTT DriveThru title will be a new, separate listing, it will not affect your metal status for any existing DriveThru listings. All Roll20 VTT listings on DriveThru sites have the same eligibility criteria as any other title for bestseller metals. More information can be found on our Bestseller Metals and How To Earn Badges help article.
What logos can we use to indicate our title is a Roll20 conversion? And how can we use them?
Included in our Roll20 and DriveThru Graphics help article are some Roll20 VTT logos that can be placed on the thumbnail cover image for your title.
Note: the Roll20 VTT conversion logos are different from the generic Roll20 logo; you want the ones that say “Roll20 Virtual Tabletop” on them.
I’m an artist who makes maps, tokens, stock art, etc. How do I go about selling these on DriveThru?
You can sell your stock art and other art resources on DriveThruRPG. We have filters specifically for Map & Play Aids as well as Publisher Resources if you’d like to allow other partners to license your content for commercial use.
If you have a lot of files to provide to customers, you can list them either (1) together under one title or (2) separately, and then bundle them together.
- One Title: You would set one price for multiple files. We recommend organizing your files and uploading a zip folder of them; be sure to always name the zip folder something specific and unique — i.e., not just “tokens.zip” or “maps.zip” — as they can sometimes overwrite files in your other titles if they share the same filenames.
- Multiple Titles Bundled Together: You would set individual prices for each separate listing and then use the “Manage Bundles” tool to provide one (optionally discounted) price for all of those items when bundled together.
Can I send complimentary copies of my cross-listed Roll20 Marketplace items through DriveThruRPG?
Yes! If your Roll20 item is public/activated, you can distribute complimentary copies on DriveThruRPG using our Complimentary Copy tools.
If you want to send out your Roll20 Marketplace items to backers only first, please submit a ticket here and include a link to the item on Roll20 Marketplace. Please also indicate that the listing should be available to backers only. When you're ready for the Roll20 item to be for sale to the public, send in a follow-up ticket letting us know.
How do I provide VTT content to customers who have already purchased a POD/PDF of my content?
There are a few ways you might do this, including offering a free copy by email via a link you’ve created with our special discount tool, to anyone who already purchased the original version.
If you want to offer a discount but not give away your hard work for free, then consider including both the POD/PDF and VTT versions together in a bundle at a discount. Because of the way bundle pricing works, anyone who already purchased the PDF won’t have to pay for it again, and they will still benefit from the bundle discount on the VTT version in the bundle.
- For example, if your base PDF is $9.99 and you price the VTT version at $12.99, then the total bundle price at 20% off would be ($9.99 + $12.99) x 80% = $22.98 x 0.8 = $18.38.
- Now, $18.38 is an odd price point, so let’s round that off to a nice, attractive price point of $17.99. The total discount amount in dollars at that price is $22.98 - $17.99 = $4.99.
If you want to help previous purchasers of your PDF out even more, price the PDF at its full normal price within the bundle, and have the 20% discount for the collective bundle price come entirely off of the VTT title instead.
- Continuing the above example, you would set the PDF bundle price at the full, normal price of $9.99, and then set the VTT item bundle price at $4.99 off, or $8.00.
- Now, anyone who already purchased the original PDF won’t have to buy it again, and they’ll also get a good discount on the VTT version, effectively paying $8.00 for it.
- (You’ll note that’s actually ~38% off the VTT item’s normal price, not just 20% off, for anyone who already bought the original version. Someone who never bought either one previously will still get the base 20% off.)