Where is the harp proficiency on dnd beyond

[creepyeye]

I tried looking for the harp on my bards list of proficency for instruments while they did have a lyre they did not exactly have a harp. Are they one and the same?

[Tawmis]

Do you have all the D&D books unlocked on D&D Beyond?
If not, it may not be visible.

For example, if you're just using the SRD (free stuff) not all spells are visible for classes (just like some class options are not available).

[Luccan]

I'm not familiar with dndbeyond character sheets. Can you not just put that you have proficiency with the harp somewhere? It doesn't really have a mechanical impact that requires referencing unique rules or anything.

[LtPowers]

The harp is not on the list of bard instruments in the Player's Handbook, so it's not going to be available as a proficiency.

A lyre is not exactly like a harp but it's close enough that as a DM I wouldn't mind using them interchangeably in D&D.


Powers &8^]

[Slipperychicken]

Harps are the massive ones you see in orchestras sometimes. They're fabulous instruments, but at 6ft tall and 80lb (with tiny wheels maybe) they are far too cumbersome for fantasy-adventure travel

Lyre is the instrument you want; they're handheld and about 6 pounds, making them reasonably portable when you have a briefcase-sized case for it

If I was GMing I'd just allow lyre proficiency to apply to performances made with harps. Yes they're different, but in the context of a fantasy-adventure dungeon crawler I just don't see the point in splitting hairs like that.

[Aelyn]

Harps are the massive ones you see in orchestras sometimes. They're fabulous instruments, but at 6ft tall and 80lb (with tiny wheels maybe) they are far too cumbersome for fantasy-adventure travel...

That's specifically the Concert Harp (or Pedal Harp). There are quite a few different types of harp (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harp), especially when you look at historical versions. Admittedly even the small ones are quite cumbersome (from what I can tell) but if the pedal harp is equivalent to a double-bass, a medieval harp would be roughly equivalent to a guitar. Not suitable for playing while dungeoneering, but portable enough to take with you on a pack animal or a cart.

[Arkhios]

Off-topic question about D&D Beyond: I own most of the official books as physical copies. Do I still have to buy the digital copy separately so I can use it in the builder, or is there a way to maybe enter some kind of code (e.g. barcode from the book I have) to a database to unlock it in the builder?

[Slipperychicken]

That's specifically the Concert Harp (or Pedal Harp). There are quite a few different types of harp (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harp), especially when you look at historical versions. Admittedly even the small ones are quite cumbersome (from what I can tell) but if the pedal harp is equivalent to a double-bass, a medieval harp would be roughly equivalent to a guitar. Not suitable for playing while dungeoneering, but portable enough to take with you on a pack animal or a cart.

Good stuff. The smaller handheld versions should be considered lyres for gameplay purposes.

[LtPowers]

Off-topic question about D&D Beyond: I own most of the official books as physical copies. Do I still have to buy the digital copy separately so I can use it in the builder, or is there a way to maybe enter some kind of code (e.g. barcode from the book I have) to a database to unlock it in the builder?

Yes, if you want the content in a different form (e.g., digital form) you do have to purchase it again.


Powers &8^]

[Hruken]

Off-topic question about D&D Beyond: I own most of the official books as physical copies. Do I still have to buy the digital copy separately so I can use it in the builder, or is there a way to maybe enter some kind of code (e.g. barcode from the book I have) to a database to unlock it in the builder?

You would have to repurchase the books you want to use. It might be possible to use the homebrew functions to copy out of your books, but I don't know how well that would work.

Edit: ninja'd

[Willie the Duck]

I tried looking for the harp on my bards list of proficency for instruments while they did have a lyre they did not exactly have a harp. Are they one and the same?

For gameplay purposes, yes. There is a harp option, and if that doesn't line up with your expectations, you can always rename it (except on D&D beyond, of course). D&D nomenclature is often like that. At least it isn't like bucklers and longswords of prior editions, where the word was actually mis-assigned.

[Arkhios]

Yes, if you want the content in a different form (e.g., digital form) you do have to purchase it again.


Powers &8^]
Welp. That blows. Hard.

You would have to repurchase the books you want to use. It might be possible to use the homebrew functions to copy out of your books, but I don't know how well that would work.

Edit: ninja'd
I guess it would lead to being banned. Although, at this point, I'm not sure if I really care. Might as well save their time (and mine) and delete my D&D Beyond account. I'm not so desperate that I would pay effectively twice for stuff I already have. Using basic+UA+homebrew just doesn't seem worth it.

[Aelyn]

Good stuff. The smaller handheld versions should be considered lyres for gameplay purposes.

That would depend on the DM I guess, since they are definitely different instruments but are from the same family. If you think a ukulele should be considered a guitar, a recorder should be considered a flute, or a trumpet should be considered a cornet, then yeah, I'd say it's reasonable to consider a medieval-style harp to be a lyre.

[LtPowers]

Welp. That blows. Hard.

I guess it would lead to being banned. Although, at this point, I'm not sure if I really care. Might as well save their time (and mine) and delete my D&D Beyond account. I'm not so desperate that I would pay effectively twice for stuff I already have. Using basic+UA+homebrew just doesn't seem worth it.

It would not lead to being banned. It's quite common. They do block "homebrew" that is too close to published material from being made public, but you can absolutely do it for your own characters.

As for the value proposition, you don't seem to understand how copyright works. You don't own the content of the book; WotC does. You own a single copy of that material. If you want to use another copy of that content in a different form, you have to pay someone to digitize it and make it available on digital platforms. That's where Fandom/Wikia (proprietor of D&D Beyond) comes in.


Powers &8^]

[Emongnome777]

Regarding the harp, the pdf character sheet that’s generated is editable, should be easy to type in harp. Not perfect, but there’s that.

[Arkhios]

It would not lead to being banned. It's quite common. They do block "homebrew" that is too close to published material from being made public, but you can absolutely do it for your own characters.

As for the value proposition, you don't seem to understand how copyright works. You don't own the content of the book; WotC does. You own a single copy of that material. If you want to use another copy of that content in a different form, you have to pay someone to digitize it and make it available on digital platforms. That's where Fandom/Wikia (proprietor of D&D Beyond) comes in.


Powers &8^]

Understanding and agreement are not the same thing. I understand how copyright works, but I still don't agree with their logic. I've paid for the right to use the material already. It shouldn't matter in what form I get to use it, if more than one form is available and provided by them.

In my country there's the national newspaper that provides the use of both old archived and newly published digital content AND physical prints as long as you're a subscriber, using the same customer ID to access them. Same goes for several other magazines. I'd understand if subscription for D&D Beyond would be required, but it seems you'd still have to pay twice for the actual rules content. I say it's bullcrap to demand payment twice for it.

I don't have to agree with them. That's why I've decided to back down from ever touching D&D Beyond, ever again. It's their loss, not mine. I'd be willing to pay a subscription fee if the platform worked how I thought it would. It's a monthly income, no less.

Also, we don't have to agree with each other either. I don't care if you agree with them, nor should you care if I disagree.

[sithlordnergal]

IF possible, make a customized tool proficiency. I tend to add in the Kazoo as a Lore Bard, and flavor my Cutting Words as me just playing a very loud note to mess people up. And for those thinking the Kazoo isn't an instrument that fits, the Kazoo was invented in about 1840. The Cittern was invented in 1930's at the earliest, while the Mandolin was made some time in the 1800's. The Kazoo is old enough to fit.

[Slipperychicken]

That would depend on the DM I guess, since they are definitely different instruments but are from the same family. If you think a ukulele should be considered a guitar, a recorder should be considered a flute, or a trumpet should be considered a cornet, then yeah, I'd say it's reasonable to consider a medieval-style harp to be a lyre.

For gameplay purposes

That is to say, yes we know these things are different IRL, but for the purpose of a game that isn't about music, they're close enough.

[Grey Watcher]

To the OP's question:

If you want to add a custom tool proficiency, here's what you do:


Create your character as normal. (If you want to avoid having too many proficiencies, leave one of the "select musical instrument proficiency" choices blank/unselected.)
Open the view sheet option. It looks like a little icon of a paper with writing on it near the upper left.
Find the proficiency window and click on the area where it says "Tools".
A sidebar should appear. Look for "Add new proficiencies" and open the pull down menu immediately below it.
Select "Tool".
There should now be, at the top, a tool proficiency called "Custom Tool 1". You can then click on that name and type whatever you want (you'll have to use backspace to delete the default text).
Click on some other part of the screen to get back out of the typing field.


And that should do it! Whatever you named the tool proficiency will show up in the list, all official looking and should also be there if you print it out. It'll even automatically alphabetize properly, so everything's nice and tidy.

(That said, the above posters are correct in that, if you're thinking of, say, Edward from Final Fantasy 4, that instrument is technically a lyre, which is one of the standard issue proficiencies.)

[Aelyn]

For gameplay purposes

That is to say, yes we know these things are different IRL, but for the purpose of a game that isn't about music, they're close enough.

Ah, so when you say the smaller harps should be considered lyres, you meant as in "I prefer that they are" rather than "RAW says that they are"?

Like I say, if you don't want to distinguish between different instruments in the same family, then yes, a lyre and a small harp can be treated the same. I would also prefer that that call was made in a game I was in.

But it's not strict RAW that they should be treated the same - and I say that as someone who's been hit with a penalty before because "you have proficiency: flute, this is a piccolo, doesn't count." (Thankfully not with a GM that I still game with)

I'm not trying to come across as difficult, I just misunderstood what you were saying before as you telling me RAW rather than you saying how you feel the matter should be resolved.

[Grey Watcher]

Ah, so when you say the smaller harps should be considered lyres, you meant as in "I prefer that they are" rather than "RAW says that they are"?

Like I say, if you don't want to distinguish between different instruments in the same family, then yes, a lyre and a small harp can be treated the same. I would also prefer that that call was made in a game I was in.

But it's not strict RAW that they should be treated the same - and I say that as someone who's been hit with a penalty before because "you have proficiency: flute, this is a piccolo, doesn't count." (Thankfully not with a GM that I still game with)

I'm not trying to come across as difficult, I just misunderstood what you were saying before as you telling me RAW rather than you saying how you feel the matter should be resolved.

Now I'm imagining a super-pedantic DM telling you that you can't play a viola at all because you wrote violin on your character sheet. (For those that don't know, the only difference between a violin and a viola is that a viola is slightly larger and thereby produces lower notes. The differences in exactly how far to move your fingers to get from one note to the next might cause a few minor issues, but anyone who can play one has a pretty short, shallow learning curve to adjust to the other.)

[Yunru]

Understanding and agreement are not the same thing. I understand how copyright works, but I still don't agree with their logic. I've paid for the right to use the material already. It shouldn't matter in what form I get to use it, if more than one form is available and provided by them.
DnD Beyond is not owned by WotC, so you might as well ask Amazon to give you a free digital copy because you bought a hardback copy from Waterstones.

[LtPowers]

That's why I've decided to back down from ever touching D&D Beyond, ever again. It's their loss, not mine.

But it's your loss as well, as you lose access to the best available online character-creation tool.

Keep in mind you don't have to buy the whole book. If you just want one feat or one subclass or a handful of spells from Xanathar's, you can pay piecemeal for just what you need to use.

And as pointed out one post up, the money you spend on hard copy books goes to a bookseller; the money you spend on the digital versions goes to D&D Beyond. Wizards is not charging you twice for the same product; two different retailers are each charging you for a separate product.


Powers &8^]