D&D 5E Humblewood: A New Third-Party Setting on D&D Beyond

Following November's inclusion of Dungeons of Drakkenheim and Lairs of Etharis, another third-party setting has been added to D&D Beyond. From Hit Point Press, Humblewood, a setting which features new birdfolk player races, made a million dollars on Kickstarter back in April 2019. You can buy it from DDB for $39.99

In the world of Everden, nestled between the mighty Crest mountain range and the vast marshes of the Mokk Fields, lies a mystical forest known as Humblewood that hums with the Great Rhythm of nature. Now the fires have come, and the Woods have been thrown into chaos. Even in these dark times, brave heroes can be found within the Wood. Will you answer the call?

Welcome to Humblewood, a campaign setting where you get to adventure as birds and other woodland critters. Come and discover the mystery behind all the forest fires, is it the Bandit Coalition or something even more nefarious? Explore the verdant forest within:

• Embody the Great Rhythm of nature by selecting between 10 new playable Races and 4 new subclasses from within the D&D Beyond character builder
• Empower your characters with 3 new backgrounds, 7 new feats, 10 new spells, and over 20 new magic items
• Expand your DM toolkit with more than 50 new monsters in the D&D Beyond Encounters tool and 11 new maps for use with D&D Beyond Maps

 

[overgeeked]

Humblewood looks like a lot of fun, although I've heard some issues raised about the logic and tone of some of the adventures, which are more murdery than one might expect when playing an adorable owl person.

Well, I mean...nature is a lot more murdery than most people expect. And just because you're playing D&D as a cute owl person doesn't mean you're suddenly not playing D&D...the game literally about murdering your way to the upper echelons of power.

 

[MichaelW]

I understand folks who already own one version would not be keen on paying for another, but . . . that's kinda how it has to work, at least for now.

Paizo worked out a deal with Demiplane where you can get a discount on titles you already own through the Paizo store . . . or perhaps it was the other way around . . . but very few of the RPG apps out there offer any sort of "already owned" discount.

What I would love to see . . . is some sort of industry agreement like the movie industry has with "Movies Anywhere" (formerly UltraViolet). You buy a digital movie on Amazon, and it also unlocks on Vudu and Apple TV, if you link your accounts. Something like that for the RPG industry would be very cool, but getting the entire industry in on the idea might be a herculean task . . .

Well yes, it is what it is. Probably a better question for me is if the Humblewood 2 sequel will be added to DDB when it comes out later this year. I think my group would like to go back to Humblewood. Someone has already asked Hitpoint Press this on their Patreon so I am watching out over there.

 

[TravDoc42]

The book predates Monsters of the Multiverse.

That makes total sense! I never considered that, thank you!!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well, I mean...nature is a lot more murdery than most people expect. And just because you're playing D&D as a cute owl person doesn't mean you're suddenly not playing D&D...the game literally about murdering your way to the upper echelons of power.

It's also a setting specifically pitched as playing cute mice and owls, with the audience you might expect as a result.

It shouldn't be a dealbreaker for anyone, but just note that, by default, the adventure writers assumed the solution to every problem involves stabbing. If you are picking this up to play with your kids and want a non-violent solution to the various adventures, like is offered in Witchlight, the DM will need to do a little labor.

 

[Clint_L]

Although I'm not inclined towards running a Humblewood setting at the moment, there are a lot of folks who are, and I bet a lot of DMs with young kids who want to try the game will appreciate it (not that it is only for kids, but it does have that family friendly vibe). I think it is smart that WotC is using 3PP like this to fill gaps in their line-up.

 

[Zaukrie]

I understand folks who already own one version would not be keen on paying for another, but . . . that's kinda how it has to work, at least for now.

Paizo worked out a deal with Demiplane where you can get a discount on titles you already own through the Paizo store . . . or perhaps it was the other way around . . . but very few of the RPG apps out there offer any sort of "already owned" discount.

What I would love to see . . . is some sort of industry agreement like the movie industry has with "Movies Anywhere" (formerly UltraViolet). You buy a digital movie on Amazon, and it also unlocks on Vudu and Apple TV, if you link your accounts. Something like that for the RPG industry would be very cool, but getting the entire industry in on the idea might be a herculean task . . .

But they don't need to rewrite the movie for other platforms. It takes real effort to get rules into usable applications.

 

[Zaukrie]

Although I'm not inclined towards running a Humblewood setting at the moment, there are a lot of folks who are, and I bet a lot of DMs with young kids who want to try the game will appreciate it (not that it is only for kids, but it does have that family friendly vibe). I think it is smart that WotC is using 3PP like this to fill gaps in their line-up.

Agreed

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Let's remember Hitpoint Press also has published Heckna and Islands of Sina Una, among others. Maybe we can see more in the future.

 

[Dire Bare]

But they don't need to rewrite the movie for other platforms. It takes real effort to get rules into usable applications.

Yes . . . didn't say it would be easy, just that it would be cool.

 

[darjr]

FYI this is in a modest sale at DnDBeyond right now.