Forgotten Realms Books to Have Several Digital DLCs, Including One Featuring Asterion

Wizards of the Coast plans to release several "digital DLCs" alongside the upcoming Forgotten Realms rulebooks. This week, Game Informer released a pair of articles about the upcoming Forgotten Realms rulebooks. Tucked away in the article is the announcement that the upcoming releases will include several "digital DLCs" that expand on the new setting. One example was Asterion's Book of Hungers, which focuses on urban vampire adventures featuring the character from Baldur's Gate 3.

No other details were made available about the upcoming releases, such as whether the new supplements will be paid DLC or free to D&D Beyond subscribers. Wizards has released several digital-only supplements alongside their various books, ranging from mini-bestiaries to supplementary adventures, but all were free to D&D Beyond subscribers or available as pre-order bonuses.

Since the Forgotten Realms books aren't currently available for pre-order, it's hard to say whether this is a new strategy or simply a continuation of current works. The fact that Wizards commissioned art specifically for Asterion's Book of Hungers and the usage of the phrase "digital DLC" suggests that this might be a new monetization scheme for the company, albeit one that makes sense given the growing use of D&D Beyond's marketplace.

 

[TravDoc42]

I wonder if GameInformer used the term "DLC" because they're primarily a video game outfit?

 

[GarrettKP]

LOL, I'm literally writing this for the front page as we speak.

My bad! feel free to fold this in.

 

[sevenbastard]

Guys I found this web site that's filled with DLC content for RPGs. Its called

Drivethrurpg.com

Fair warning for some reason they call the DLCs by the name PDF.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

One example was Asterion's Book of Hungers, which focuses on urban vampire adventures.

Sounds like a masquerade to me.

 

[dave2008]

I mean DnD Beyond has offered digital only content (usually free) for D&D supplements for years. Some of which was also downloadable in PDF format. If this a move to have more of that I am all for it!

 

[Azzy]

Hard to say until we find out more about the DLCs (DLCs for PAPER Books just sounds weird, this isn't a video game).

To be fair, the content will likely be downloadable.

 

[Azzy]

Man, they used to call them "web enhancements".

 

[AlViking]

If they have a product they feel is worth producing but the supplements do not have a wide enough audience or enough page count to justify print, selling digital versions doesn't bother me. It's not like anyone can buy a Super Awesome Powerup and force a DM to use it in their game.

 

[Jolly Ruby]

I also wonder what FR city he will use as his example setting for a Vampire City.

I really doubt they will make a “Vampire City.” More likely it’s just rules and adventure ideas for how to run a Vampire villain preying on people in a city like Baldurs Gate.

I guess the "Vampire City" idea is actually doable, albeit I highly doubt they will include it that way (an actual Vampire City).

(spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3 third act bellow):
At the end of Astarion's companion quest you find out that Cazador, Astarion's vampire sire, was kidnapping innocent citizens (including children), turning them into vampire spawns and imprisoning them for decades. Now Cazador has thousands of vampires spawns caged in his dungeon and ready to be sacrificed in a profane ritual. After defeating him you have the choice to perform the ritual for Astarion, kill the vampire spawn or release them to live in the city's sewers.

If they canonize the "release" option, you could have a literal Vampire City under Baldur's Gate. I would set it on the Under City, the subterranean ruins under Baldur's Gate that appears on the games but have little to no official lore besides "it's ancient, dangerous and servants of Bhaal like to gather there" AFAIK.


EDIT: just making it clear it's just a thought exercise and a idea for a campaign premise, I doubt it will be in the actual product.

 

[GarrettKP]

I guess the "Vampire City" idea is actually doable, albeit I doubt they will include it that way (spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3 third act):

At the end of Astarion's companion quest you find out that Cazador, Astarion's vampire sire, was kidnapping innocent citizens (including children), turning them into vampire spawns and imprisoning them for decades. Now Cazador has thousands of vampires spawns caged in his dungeon and ready to be sacrificed in a profane ritual. After defeating him you have the choice to perform the ritual for Astarion, kill the vampire spawn or release them to live in the city's sewers.

If they canonize the "release" option, you could have a literal Vampire City under Baldur's Gate. I would set it on the Under City, the subterranean ruins under Baldur's Gate that appears on the games but have little to no official lore besides "it's ancient, dangerous and servants of Bhaal like to gather there" AFAIK.

There just isn’t any reason to assume they are doing a Vampire city. The article doesn’t say that. Only that the supplement provides rules for Urban Vampire adventures. That doesn’t mean a city full of vampires, that just means adventures in cities that involve vampires.