The recent addition of Drops subscription content to DnD Beyond is going to challenge me.
I’m running only a single intermittent 5e campaign right now. The Ferments uses 2024 as its base set, but permits things from Black Flag, 2014 and A5e in general, with a quick scan to make certain that the addition fits within the campaign themes and the setting’s common lore.
In the past it’s been easy to judge what works and doesn’t. Book releases are heavily themed. Most grimdark will not fit in The World of the Everflow. Dragon stuff always fits. Giant stuff rarely fits. The new dinosaur book added to Beyond fits well in an undiscovered-to-this-point land.
But now there are weekly drops. The player facing stuff needs a quick review. Maps and stickers won’t matter because we aren’t using the Maps VTT. The cosmetics are fine, because they help a player connect with their character.
Teos explains the broader program.
Evaluating the content to fit The Ferments and The World of the Everflow
First off, the five feats added are all extra planar in a way that has not been explored in our games through the several hundred sessions of play plus writing and backstory. There’s only been a single Warlock.
Those are going to be easy to ignore. If I could toggle them off at the campaign level I would.
- All five feats = no
- Pact Seeker background = with lore tweak and different feat
- Astral Flood = yes, fully
- Buzzing Bee = yes, fully
- Insidious Rhythm = yes, fully
- Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment = yes, fully
- Sticks to Snakes= yes, but DM content only
The Pact seeker background doesn’t fit as written. The lore doesn’t work because of the demand that the pact is extraplanar, but if a player wanted to rework that and take a new origin feat it would be allowed. Maybe they are seeking a pact with a religious figure, an elder dragon, a scholar or something similar.
There are also five spells in the first Drops.
Astral flood fits unchanged. The Astral and Ethereal are somewhat merged in my world and opening that up to the physical realm would be devastating.
Buzzing bee is excellent. My first encounter with Bee was the useless cantrip from Unearthed Arcana back in the 80s. This is better and needed. It fits the use of animals for the Kin too.
Insidious Rhythm is a fun spell too. The magic of performance by Bards and others would be the path of introduction.
Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment may not fit combat well. It does fit in social and political settings. Players will definitely find a way to turn a crowded room into a debate-disaster.
Sticks to Snakes is a classic spell, but this version is quite underpowered for 2024. It adds in-combat complexity for low damage. It reads more like a 2nd level spell and not a 4th. For narrative purposes it fits the world well. But it’s a waste for a player. This will be DM content only.
Eleven player facing items this week needed to be reviewed. Next week there will be more. And then there will be more. And more.
It’s going to be too much.
And each drop and each book from every publisher stretches and pushes a world. But fantasy worlds are not only defined by being permissive. They are also defined by what’s forbidden.
Every world a DM and their tables creates can choose to be a global fantasy (kitchen sink) or be as neatly defined as the group wants.
With Drops the default in the Everflow will not be for permission, but to evaluate what a player wants to add as they want to add it in order for us to continue to explore the themes of the world — how strong can the love between person and animal be, who gets to control access to knowledge, how can our local connections make the world better for most.
Leave a comment