Dhampir and Other Species To Be Included in Astarion's Book of Hungers

The dhampir will be among several playable species included in the digital exclusive Astarion's Book of Hungers, which is currently only available as part of a $159.99 "Ultimate Bundle." Announced today during a panel on the upcoming Forgotten Realms content at Gen Con, the dhampir will make its return in the upcoming "digital DLC" for the Forgotten Realms books. An Ultimate Bundle was also put up for pre-order on D&D Beyond, which includes 8 species. Assumably, the dhampir and seven other species will appear in Astarion's Book of Hungers and perhaps split with one other unnamed DLC that's also included in the bundle. A third DLC, Netheril's Fall, is an adventure of unspecified length.

The fact that the dhampir and other species content will be included as "digital DLC" is interesting for several reasons. D&D previously made three species - the grung, locathah, and tortle - available exclusively as digital content. However, all three were released to benefit charity, with the tortle eventually making its way into Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse. So, while this wouldn't be the first time that D&D made player-facing content exclusive digitally, the intent (charity versus "Digital DLC") is certainly different. Additionally, it's unclear whether these digital DLCs will be available to purchase separately or if they'll only be available via the Ultimate Bundle, which includes physical and digital copies of the Forgotten Realms books, plus the three DLC packets.

 

[Remathilis]

Ah. That's where the updated genasi is going to be, I wager...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I suspect these are only going to be digital exclusive until the next everything book.

 

[Remathilis]

I suspect these are only going to be digital exclusive until the next everything book.

Oh for sure. I don't for a second think we're not getting Dhampir in some future Ravenloft book or some Monster of the Multiverse take 2 book.

 

[Mark Craddock]

It puts a lot of pressure on completists. The covers in this bundle are the mass market versions. You have to either decide on the covers exclusive to local game stores or the DLC and the mass market versions. It also spits in the eye of those local game stores. As a DnD fan I'd like the DLC, but as a merchant its poor decision if we are supposed to be WotC's "partners".

 

[Kurotowa]

It puts a lot of pressure on completists. The covers in this bundle are the mass market versions. You have to either decide on the covers exclusive to local game stores or the DLC and the mass market versions.

No? Nothing stops you from getting the limited edition physical copies and then buying the digital releases separately. The bundle is only what's being offered for pre-order, not the exclusive means.

 

[Mark Craddock]

No? Nothing stops you from getting the limited edition physical copies and then buying the digital releases separately. The bundle is only what's being offered for pre-order, not the exclusive means.

You can only get the DLC with the $160 bundle of physcial and digital books.

This is at the top of this article, "The digital DLC is currently only available via an Ultimate Bundle costing $160."

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You can only get the DLC with the $160 bundle of physcial and digital books.

This is at the top of this article, "The digital DLC is currently only available via an Ultimate Bundle costing $160."

There's a bunch of threads on this. In one of them, someone is reporting from GenCon that the DLC will all be available piecemeal once the books hit the street.

 

[Mark Craddock]

There's a bunch of threads on this. In one of them, someone is reporting from GenCon that the DLC will all be available piecemeal once the books hit the street.

I'm glad to hear that. I'm not there so I only had this article to go on.

 

[Demetrios1453]

There's a bunch of threads on this. In one of them, someone is reporting from GenCon that the DLC will all be available piecemeal once the books hit the street.

And that you can get them with just the regular digital bundle as well.