D&D General Dungeons of Drakkenheim & Lairs of Etharis: WotC Adds Third Party Products To D&D Beyond

Products from third party creators include a cosmic-horror campaign and a collection of horror fantasy adventures.

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WotC has just announced that it is adding products from Ghostfire Gaming and Dungeon Dudes to the D&D Beyond platform. The products in question are Ghostfire's Grim Hollow: Lairs of Etharis and Dungeon Dudes' Dungeons of Drakkenheim (produced in conjunction with Ghostfire Gaming) which made over $1M on Kickstarter in 2021.

Ghostfire is often seen on the TTRPG Kickstarter charts and has been involved with multiple 5E million-dollar campaigns.

While material from Critical Role has appeared on DDB, this is the first time that something from a publisher without a visibly established prior relationship has been seen there.


Today Wizards of the Coast announced a partnership with publisher Ghostfire Gaming to bring two exciting new products to its digital toolset on D&D Beyond. Grim Hollow: Lairs of Etharis showcases twenty horror-fantasy adventures with more than 75 new monsters while Dungeons of Drakkenheim presents a full campaign set in a ruined city for players to explore created by the popular Dungeon Dudes YouTube channel. Maps, monsters, and more in these offerings will be available for Dungeon Masters to use across D&D Beyond, including full integration in the Maps feature available to subscribers. With these two additions and more on the horizon, Dungeons & Dragons continues to invest in its talented partners and the inspiring creative community and surrounding the World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game.

“It's incredibly important to us to showcase the ingenuity of the D&D community, and we’re excited to share the love of fantasy roleplaying with more fans by bringing the Dungeon Dudes and Ghostfire Gaming to D&D Beyond,” said Marjory Laymon, Vice President of D&D Beyond Product and Tech at Wizards of the Coast. “This is just the first step as we’ve got even more surprises planned for next year as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of D&D.”

Grim Hollow and Drakkenheim really are passion projects for Ghostfire and the Dungeon Dudes, respectively, with rich worlds meant to be explored and have stories woven within,” said Ben Byrne, Creative Content Director at Ghostfire Gaming. “That so many new D&D fans will be introduced to them through D&D Beyond is incredibly humbling.”

The locations, maps, and monsters within these offerings will be available to all fans who purchase them to use in their campaigns on D&D Beyond. Players can add feats, spells, and magic items to their character sheets, choose a new background for their character, or indulge in crafting items from parts harvested from adventuring. Dungeon Masters can quickly reference more than a hundred new monsters, faction NPCs, and more in the D&D Beyond compendium.

Dungeons of Drakkenheim began like every other D&D campaign; as a labor of love shared amongst a few friends at the game table (and a small audience of passionate viewers!) We started this project as a way to express our love of the game and showcase a world filled with all the aspects of fantasy role-playing games that we enjoy most: a blend of gripping action and cosmic horror where the player’s choices matter,” said Montgomery Martin and Kelly Mclaughlin, the Dungeon Dudes. “The original Drakkenheim characters were built and played on D&D Beyond, and so sharing the adventure we created on the platform is a dream come true. We can’t wait to hear the stories of other players’ adventures through the ruined city.”
 

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Umbran

Mod Squad
Staff member
Supporter
Yea the attitude is weird given that the roll20 and other 3pp platforms have been getting more from wotc, not less. Ah well. I do think it's a good idea to keep an eye on them.

I'm thinking more simply - making sure you have content to use on the VTT is necessary for the success of the VTT. Roll20 will sell you adventures from dozens of sources, right? When WotC expands beyond selling just their own content, they are trying to "kill"?
 


Umbran

Mod Squad
Staff member
Supporter
Yes, but they all involve time machines.

So, basically, the assertion that they are trying to "kill" is basically non-falsifiable - there is nothing you can imagine that would disabuse you of the notion.

Which is fine - folks can have that opinion. But an opinion like that really isn't open for discussion, either, if current facts will not change the position.
 

Reynard

Legend
I'm thinking more simply - making sure you have content to use on the VTT is necessary for the success of the VTT. Roll20 will sell you adventures from dozens of sources, right? When WotC expands beyond selling just their own content, they are trying to "kill"?
I think this underestimates the degree to which people will go with an official source assuming that source offers what they want. Alternatives -- publishers and play venues -- exist because WotC does not provide everything everyone wants. WotC providing more means they are consolidating. Consolidation generally means someone is getting the short end of the stick.

Mike Shae made an interesting point recently on his show that i think is worth talking about here. If WotC really wanted to criple other VTTs, one tool they could use is to make it super easy to import and use Beyond material in those VTTs. This would mean that instead of buying the adventure or sourcebook on Fantasy grounds or Roll 20, people would buy it on Beyond. That gets them in the ecosystem and denies those other places revenue. Once they are in the ecosystem, the development of the apparent two parallel VTTs by WotC means that as Roll20 and FG offer fewer benefits, people will just start using the integrated VTT in Beyond -- whether they want to simple map and token thing, or the complex 3D thing.

It is not guaranteed to work that way, of course, but I don't think it is bonkers to suggest WotC would prefer to make more money themselves rather than giving some of that money to other companies.
 


Sparky McDibben

Adventurer
So, basically, the assertion that they are trying to "kill" is basically non-falsifiable - there is nothing you can imagine that would disabuse you of the notion.

Which is fine - folks can have that opinion. But an opinion like that really isn't open for discussion, either, if current facts will not change the position.
Nolo contendre. I wasn't trying to start a debate, rather expressing an opinion.
 


Reynard

Legend
They're actively selling it elsewhere right now. You are correct, this agreement is a broader license than DMsGuild
I would guess that Ghostfire is giving up a not-insignificant fraction of ales (probably the usual 30%-ish). What I am more curious about is: is WotC doing to conversions in house to maintain quality, or is Ghostfire doing it. I use Fantasy grounds for my VTT and there is a HUGE discrepancy between different products by different companies regarding how the FG conversion works, is automated, looks, etc... I would think that WotC would want to do it in house to maintain consistent quality, but if that is true we are likely to see a very curated library of 3PP content. if they have the companies do it themselves, it suggests they want a much bigger 3PP library.
 


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