DDB Drops is a growing library of adventures, player options, and DM tools available to D&D Beyond subscribers—with new content releasing every month! Every Drop is yours to keep as long as you're subscribed, and they'll appear in your library automatically.
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Gore Drinker (CR 16). These hulking amalgamations of giant corpses and body parts originate from a colosseum in the Shadowfell. Artist: Michele Giorgi
Mirror Haunt (CR 9). These evil Fey travel through mirrors and often steal valuables or even kidnap people. Artist: Michele Giorgi
Sarcopike (CR ½) & Swarm of Sarcopikes (CR 3). These fish-like creatures lurk in water sources across the Shadowfell, searching for fresh corpses to eat. Artist: Michele Giorgi
Maps
Cavern Corridors Around a Ritual Pit. Do these four arcane glyphs keep something locked in the pit... or could they hold the secret to something greater? It can be found under Dungeon > Caves. Cartographer: Jason A. Engle.
Burial Chamber and Magic Circles. Who could’ve pried open the sarcophagi... and why are there still active arcane glyphs? It can be found under Dungeon > Gravesite. Cartographer: Jason A. Engle.
Forest Clearing at Night. Is this clearing as peaceful as it seems, or is something lying in way, waiting to strike? It can be found under Wilderness > Forest. Cartographer: Jason A. Engle.
Keep Ruins in the Shadowfell. Does anyone or anything still stand watch over this decrepit Shadowfell keep? It can be found under Wilderness > Ruins. Cartographer: Jason A. Engle.
Detect Thoughts: DM Options
I’m sure many of you may be confused as to why we’re re-exploring the Shadowfell when we already explored parts of the Shadowfell in June to commemorate the release of Ravenloft: The Horrors Within. As we talked about the theme for this month, we found ourselves drawn back to the Shadowfell (especially with Halloween coming later this month). We wanted to explore parts of the Shadowfell that exist outside of the Domains of Dread – the bleak and melancholic reflection of the Material Plane. This month’s monsters and maps (and even the character options) aren’t quite horror-themed; they’re instead infused with the Shadowfell’s pervasive melancholy.
Also: here’s a fun fact about the collective name for Sarcopikes. When the team was first creating the sarcopike, the draft document they were working on had a typo that referred to Sarcopikes as “Sarcopiles”. When we reviewed the text and saw the typo, we all found it hilarious, and agreed that it fit super well; hence why a school of sarcopikes is known as a sarcopile!
Storied Encounters
Today, we’ve updated these 5 Drop-in Encounters from our backlog to Storied Encounters:
Urban Vampire Cadre (Levels 4 & 10)
Corrupted Grove (Levels 5 & 19)
Demonic Cult Summoning (Levels 6 & 17)
Ooze There (Levels 6 & 11)
Slippery Slope (Levels 2 & 7)
We’ll continue to periodically update our backlog with new Scene Prep text – so keep an eye out for them in the changelog and future blog posts!
For Players
Marcela Medeiros
For players this month – we've got a lot of cool new options for you to play with – which includes two more firsts: a brand-new Fighter subclass and a new (player-facing) use for the Tarokka Deck! We also have a new Planar Pact feat and accompanying General feats for you to play with!
Subclass
Sorrow Knight (Fighter): These fighters harness their past despair as a weapon to wield against their foes. Their misery is fueled by special dice called Despairing Strike Die – which can deliver Despairing Strikes against their foes – attacks that channel the pathos of the Shadowfell itself. Artist: Marcela Medeiros
Feats
Shadow Pact: Make a pact with an entity from the Shadowfell and draw upon some of its powers.
Shadow Trapper: Inflict the Shadowfell’s pervasive melancholy on trapped foes.
Shadow Weaver: Create, control, and manipulate the shadows.
Detect Thoughts: Player Options
I've been eager (and nervous) to get this month’s Drop in your hands! As I mentioned in the Detect Thoughts section for DMs, when we decided to revisit the Shadowfell, I wanted to ensure that we created content that’s authentic to the Shadowfell itself (rather than re-treading Ravenloft). I can say that the team blew me away with what they created this month.
We have Drops' first ever subclass: the Sorrow Knight! This is a brand new subclass for Fighters that have a deep connection to the Shadowfell. You'll be capable of being able to sense the prevalent emotions of a creature at level 3, attuning yourself to the Shadowfell after using your Action Surge at level 18, and more.
Then we have a brand new Planar Pact feat with the Shadow Pact! Continue your journey through the Shadowfell by forming a pact with an entity or being from the Shadowfell. Both of the accompanying General feats reflect elements of the Shadowfell as well (for example, the Shadow Trapper feat takes cues from the Sorrowsworn in Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse).
Tarokka: Life Path
Tarokka Life Path:Ravenloft: The Horrors Within provided DMs with several ways to use the deck to build out their own campaigns (or even villains). We wanted to give players a way to get in on the fun of using the Tarokka Deck! Introducing the Life Path: a way to use the digital Tarokka Deck to provide a foundation to help you create a backstory for your character. While contradictions may come about as a result of using this spread (either due to conflicting results or the game taking your character in a different direction), you can embrace those contradictions. For example, if one of the results says that your character is fated to watch those who journey with you perish in blood and ash, unable to prevent your collective defeat - your character can be motivated by defying that fate and ensuring it never passes.
This is a new, original use of the Tarokka Deck – so the version in Drops only comes with the Life Path spread. If you’re interested in using the Digital Tarokka Deck for your own Ravenloft or Curse of Strahd game, you can buy the version that supports those spreads separately on the DDB Marketplace.
Character Sheet Backdrops: September and October
Finally – due to a scheduling snafu on our end, the September character sheet backdrops weren’t made available to subscribers until this past Tuesday (September 29). To make up for it, we’re ensuring that the September backdrops (all magic-themed) will be granted to your account through the end of October as well.
For October – you'll also receive 4 Shadowfell-themed Character Sheet Backdrops! That way, you can trick out your character sheet with all types of Shadowfell goodies! We expect to start rolling this out next week.
I hope you all enjoy this month’s Drop! As always, I'm eager to and excited to see your reactions and ready to hear your feedback.
What about the majority of people who play 2014 instead of 2024? Nearly every poll shows 2014 is still the most popular, so I'm surprised you would be actively snubbing the larger part of your customers.
True because the 2014 update has more (I really don't know how to say it) fun things. The 2026 has not a lot of no species and new subclasses in the player handbook or in the DM handbook, which I would like my players to have more things to mess with me as their DM and the monsters in the monster book are old with fewer new adds.
2014 is superior to 2024 for a number of reasons I won't get into, but the strangely uncomfortable reason Crawford gave for the removal of Half-Elves has me wondering why anyone defends it.
2024 is so much better. Feats are now a required rule, and Evocation Adept exists. I also love mastery properties. Convince me to play 5e.
Ruined Paladin, overpowered Monk, ruined Counterspell, removed half-orcs and half-elves, didn't even fix Ranger, lied about compatibility with 5e, made race nearly pointless, and Warlocks/Clerics getting their Patron/Domain at level 3 makes zero thematic sense.
Also not here to convince you to play the objectively more popular system. Play what you want.
Overpowered Monk? What? The only good way to play monk even now is way of mercy? Ruined Paladin? Paladin changed so much, and for the better. I agree with the Ranger thing, but at least we have better beast master. Human is the best race, they had they're reason for removed half races, the only one you really need to fix for 5.5 is cleric. Agree with the level 3 subclass though.
Expanded damage dice and the ability to recharge your Ki pushes Monk way too far.
Making Divine Smite a spell ruins Paladin's damage interactions, and having it cost a Bonus Action put an unnecessary speed limit on a class that shines best as a nova class. Arguing that the changes are positive with me is like saying "I turned your truck into a sportscar" when the reason I liked the truck was the hauling power.
If a single subclass could carry Ranger then we were already fine with Gloomstalker.
Half-Elf is my favorite race and is immensely important to the overall lore of the Forgotten Realms, as is Half-Orc. They aren't "mixed breed races", that are hybrid races that bring something important to the mixture.
It's okay to agree to disagree. You're not going to change my mind on 5.5e, just as I feel you aren't going to change yours about 5.0e. As an olive branch, I will say that including a feat with the background genuinely adds important weight to the background. It's just a shame that went too far and moved ASI to it, effectively inverting the value of Race and Background. If I was put in charge of 6e, I would make that a standard (though I'd move the ASI back where it belongs).
The asi thing is why i only play tashas. It does make sense to be in a background though. While seeing what you say about monk makes sense, its still the worst class in the game. Also halfelf was brought back for ebberon. And everything is more or less backwards compatible, with some changes.
What about the majority of people who play 2014 instead of 2024? Nearly every poll shows 2014 is still the most popular, so I'm surprised you would be actively snubbing the larger part of your customers.
True because the 2014 update has more (I really don't know how to say it) fun things. The 2026 has not a lot of no species and new subclasses in the player handbook or in the DM handbook, which I would like my players to have more things to mess with me as their DM and the monsters in the monster book are old with fewer new adds.
2014 is superior to 2024 for a number of reasons I won't get into, but the strangely uncomfortable reason Crawford gave for the removal of Half-Elves has me wondering why anyone defends it.
2024 is so much better. Feats are now a required rule, and Evocation Adept exists. I also love mastery properties. Convince me to play 5e.
Ruined Paladin, overpowered Monk, ruined Counterspell, removed half-orcs and half-elves, didn't even fix Ranger, lied about compatibility with 5e, made race nearly pointless, and Warlocks/Clerics getting their Patron/Domain at level 3 makes zero thematic sense.
Also not here to convince you to play the objectively more popular system. Play what you want.
Overpowered Monk? What? The only good way to play monk even now is way of mercy? Ruined Paladin? Paladin changed so much, and for the better. I agree with the Ranger thing, but at least we have better beast master. Human is the best race, they had they're reason for removed half races, the only one you really need to fix for 5.5 is cleric. Agree with the level 3 subclass though.
Expanded damage dice and the ability to recharge your Ki pushes Monk way too far.
Making Divine Smite a spell ruins Paladin's damage interactions, and having it cost a Bonus Action put an unnecessary speed limit on a class that shines best as a nova class. Arguing that the changes are positive with me is like saying "I turned your truck into a sportscar" when the reason I liked the truck was the hauling power.
If a single subclass could carry Ranger then we were already fine with Gloomstalker.
Half-Elf is my favorite race and is immensely important to the overall lore of the Forgotten Realms, as is Half-Orc. They aren't "mixed breed races", that are hybrid races that bring something important to the mixture.
It's okay to agree to disagree. You're not going to change my mind on 5.5e, just as I feel you aren't going to change yours about 5.0e. As an olive branch, I will say that including a feat with the background genuinely adds important weight to the background. It's just a shame that went too far and moved ASI to it, effectively inverting the value of Race and Background. If I was put in charge of 6e, I would make that a standard (though I'd move the ASI back where it belongs).
The asi thing is why i only play tashas. It does make sense to be in a background though. While seeing what you say about monk makes sense, its still the worst class in the game. Also halfelf was brought back for ebberon. And everything is more or less backwards compatible, with some changes.
Putting ASI in the Background not only makes the race less impactful to your decision, but it also assumes a Halfling could have a larger STR modifier than an Orc. I don't care if the Orc is has an Acolyte background and the halfling has a Soldier background, making a halfling that much stronger than an Orc under any circumstances outside of "the Orc lost his arms and legs in a conflict with a Paladin named Kevin" makes no sense.
The worst class in the game is still Ranger.
Weapon Masteries alone break literally every single combat encounter in any and all 5.0e adventures, exhaustion doesn't hit the way those adventures intended, and 2024 Healers would be restoring so much HP that every combat encounter would be trivialized. In order to make it "backwards compatible", you would need to make heavy alterations to existing content. And at that point, you're just admitting that it's not BC.
What about the majority of people who play 2014 instead of 2024? Nearly every poll shows 2014 is still the most popular, so I'm surprised you would be actively snubbing the larger part of your customers.
True because the 2014 update has more (I really don't know how to say it) fun things. The 2026 has not a lot of no species and new subclasses in the player handbook or in the DM handbook, which I would like my players to have more things to mess with me as their DM and the monsters in the monster book are old with fewer new adds.
2014 is superior to 2024 for a number of reasons I won't get into, but the strangely uncomfortable reason Crawford gave for the removal of Half-Elves has me wondering why anyone defends it.
2024 is so much better. Feats are now a required rule, and Evocation Adept exists. I also love mastery properties. Convince me to play 5e.
Ruined Paladin, overpowered Monk, ruined Counterspell, removed half-orcs and half-elves, didn't even fix Ranger, lied about compatibility with 5e, made race nearly pointless, and Warlocks/Clerics getting their Patron/Domain at level 3 makes zero thematic sense.
Also not here to convince you to play the objectively more popular system. Play what you want.
Overpowered Monk? What? The only good way to play monk even now is way of mercy? Ruined Paladin? Paladin changed so much, and for the better. I agree with the Ranger thing, but at least we have better beast master. Human is the best race, they had they're reason for removed half races, the only one you really need to fix for 5.5 is cleric. Agree with the level 3 subclass though.
Expanded damage dice and the ability to recharge your Ki pushes Monk way too far.
Making Divine Smite a spell ruins Paladin's damage interactions, and having it cost a Bonus Action put an unnecessary speed limit on a class that shines best as a nova class. Arguing that the changes are positive with me is like saying "I turned your truck into a sportscar" when the reason I liked the truck was the hauling power.
If a single subclass could carry Ranger then we were already fine with Gloomstalker.
Half-Elf is my favorite race and is immensely important to the overall lore of the Forgotten Realms, as is Half-Orc. They aren't "mixed breed races", that are hybrid races that bring something important to the mixture.
It's okay to agree to disagree. You're not going to change my mind on 5.5e, just as I feel you aren't going to change yours about 5.0e. As an olive branch, I will say that including a feat with the background genuinely adds important weight to the background. It's just a shame that went too far and moved ASI to it, effectively inverting the value of Race and Background. If I was put in charge of 6e, I would make that a standard (though I'd move the ASI back where it belongs).
The asi thing is why i only play tashas. It does make sense to be in a background though. While seeing what you say about monk makes sense, its still the worst class in the game. Also halfelf was brought back for ebberon. And everything is more or less backwards compatible, with some changes.
Putting ASI in the Background not only makes the race less impactful to your decision, but it also assumes a Halfling could have a larger STR modifier than an Orc. I don't care if the Orc is has an Acolyte background and the halfling has a Soldier background, making a halfling that much stronger than an Orc under any circumstances outside of "the Orc lost his arms and legs in a conflict with a Paladin named Kevin" makes no sense.
The worst class in the game is still Ranger.
Weapon Masteries alone break literally every single combat encounter in any and all 5.0e adventures, exhaustion doesn't hit the way those adventures intended, and 2024 Healers would be restoring so much HP that every combat encounter would be trivialized. In order to make it "backwards compatible", you would need to make heavy alterations to existing content. And at that point, you're just admitting that it's not BC.
Also sorry I'm continuing this argument, I am a dnd hyperfixater.
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Posted Oct 25, 2026The asi thing is why i only play tashas. It does make sense to be in a background though. While seeing what you say about monk makes sense, its still the worst class in the game. Also halfelf was brought back for ebberon. And everything is more or less backwards compatible, with some changes.
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Posted Oct 26, 2026Putting ASI in the Background not only makes the race less impactful to your decision, but it also assumes a Halfling could have a larger STR modifier than an Orc. I don't care if the Orc is has an Acolyte background and the halfling has a Soldier background, making a halfling that much stronger than an Orc under any circumstances outside of "the Orc lost his arms and legs in a conflict with a Paladin named Kevin" makes no sense.
The worst class in the game is still Ranger.
Weapon Masteries alone break literally every single combat encounter in any and all 5.0e adventures, exhaustion doesn't hit the way those adventures intended, and 2024 Healers would be restoring so much HP that every combat encounter would be trivialized. In order to make it "backwards compatible", you would need to make heavy alterations to existing content. And at that point, you're just admitting that it's not BC.
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Posted Oct 27, 2026Also sorry I'm continuing this argument, I am a dnd hyperfixater.
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Posted Nov 3, 2026Very Aura
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Posted Nov 4, 2026Why am I not able to claim the drops when I have been a subscriber for a while now?