Wizards of the Coast has introduced D&D Beyond Drops, a new subscription benefit that delivers fresh content to players and DMs every single week.
D&D Beyond has had a busy few weeks. Hot on the news of the return of a la carte purchasing via the new Starter Packs, Wizards of the Coast has now revealed D&D Beyond Drops, a brand new feature that gives Hero Tier and Master Tier Beyond subscribers access to an ever-expanding library of content delivered on a regular schedule.
The announcement, posted by D&D Beyond’s Brian Perry on May 7th, makes clear that this is a big shift in how the platform thinks about subscriptions, moving away from static perks toward something closer to a growing content feed.
What are D&D Beyond Drops?
D&D Beyond Drops is a new subscription content library that all D&D Beyond subscribers can access, with new content released every week.
The launch dropped over 500 content listings, including 125 maps, 250 image reveals, 10 stickers, and 11 player options. Every week going forward, two new pre-made encounters will be released on the Maps VTT, and every month a larger drop will add more game content including player options, monsters, maps and more. Any subscriber can access all content in the Drops library regardless of when they subscribe, so there is no risk of missing out on a perk by joining late
What was available in the first launch?
125 maps
The 125 maps come primarily from fourth edition D&D, with a handful from third edition, and cover a wide range of common DM needs, from taverns and forests to dungeons. They appear in a new Subscription Library section within the Maps VTT browser, organised by area and biome.
250 image reveals
An additional 250 images from fifth edition are now available in the Maps VTT as reveals for use in campaigns, selected to serve common DM needs when running games.
New player options
The launch also includes a new background called the Pact Seeker, which allows characters to strike a deal with an extraplanar entity without being a Warlock, along with a new category called Planar Pact feats. Two Planar Pact feats are included at launch: Fey Pact and Infernal Pact, alongside additional General feats that build on the pact mechanic.
Five spells from the vault
Five spells have been brought forward from earlier editions, ranging from Astral Flood, which channels energy from the Astral Sea, to the more quirky Sticks to Snakes.
All previous subscriber cosmetics
Subscribers now immediately get access to the entire back catalogue of subscriber cosmetic items, including hundreds of character sheet backdrops, portrait frames, and digital dice sets.
Weekly and Monthly Drops
Every Thursday, two new Drop In Encounters will be released as Quickplay Maps in the VTT with an encounter already placed and ready to run for your party. Monthly drops will land on the first Thursday of each month. The June drop, due on June 4th, is planned to include 4 monsters, 5 maps, 25 reveals, and 6 player options.
Overall the drops will keep regular playgroups fueled up with plenty of content to work with, pulling D&D in a kind of super service where they keep subscibers engaged with lots of regular content safe in the knowledge more is always on the way!