It’s been a busy week for Dungeons & Dragons. Pre-orders for the upcoming Arcana Unleashed sourcebook and Deadfall adventure went live. A new season of Dungeon Masters began, showing off some of that upcoming content. And much like the first season of the new official D&D actual play, this one premiered alongside a brand new freebie for fans to claim. While most of the play-along packs for Campaign 2 will only be available if you pre-order Arcana Unleashed, the first one’s free. And it’s a magic-infused one-shot.
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The Season of Magic doesn’t officially begin until this fall, with Arcana Unleashed and Deadfall out on September 15th. But if you want to get a sample of the types of magical encounters in store, this new free D&D one-shot adventure should do the trick. To claim the first Arcana Unleashed play-along pack, you just need to make or log in to your free D&D Beyond account. Then, you can grab the free play-along pack on D&D Beyond. Unlike the monthly Drops, which are reserved for paid subscribers, this content is free for everyone.
New Free D&D One-Shot Pits Players Against Living Spells
Like the Horrors Within play-along packs, this freebie gives D&D fans an early look at upcoming content. It’s also inspired by the prep work that went into the first episode of Dungeon Masters Campaign 2. With Arcana Unleashed focused on all things magic, it makes sense that this is a magic-heavy supplement. The one-shot adventure sees players facing off against new Living Spells, powerful magical entities that linger following dangerous experiments or intense spellcaster battles. This encounter features 6 Living Spell stat blocks for DMs, plus a dangerous Evoker Archmage who players will need to contend with.
This freebie also offers a look at one of the new magical factions that will arrive with Arcana Unleashed. Specifically, players will become agents of the Ninth Quill Faction for this one-shot. The Ninth Quill is full of thieves and spies, whose goal is to claim powerful magical artifacts for themselves. All in the name of safety, of course. But this mission to reclaim some magical goodies goes awry thanks to the aforementioned Living Spells. Players will be able to sample the Renown rewards, trickets, and special facility for The Ninth Quill faction in this supplement, as well.
Rounding out the new content D&D fans can play around with in this free content drop is a new Arcane Infiltrator Origin Feat and a new magic item. So, there’s a good mix of content for players and DMs to enjoy, even in a relatively small supplement. For DMs, the pack also features tie-in content for Maps VTT, if you run your encounters online.
The play-along pack adventure is designed as a standalone one-shot. This installment is geared towards Level 6 players, so not quite the high-level adventure we’ll get in Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall. But if you’re eager to step into the Season of Magic early (and for free), this isn’t a bad way to do it. Subsequent play-along packs will release weekly after new episodes of the Dungeon Masters actual play. However, after today’s drop, you’ll need to pre-order the new sourcebooks to secure access to the preview content.
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