On November 11th of this year, Wizards of the Coast released two books based on its most popular setting: The Forgotten Realms: Heroes Of Faerun (an expansion for players) and Adventures In Faerun (an expansion for Dungeon Masters). In addition, they also released an exclusive, D&D Beyond Digital expansions that are connected to the Forgotten Realms: Astarion's Book Of Hunger (based on the popular Baldur's Gate 3 character), Netheril's Fall (a time-traveling adventure expansion), and Lorwyn: First Light (a Magic: The Gathering inspired land that lives in the Feywild's Domain Of Light). Each of these expansions are $14.99 each and offer new content and material that integrates with character options and D&D Beyond.

But are these worth buying at that price point?

I do a breakdown of what's in each expansion, what they come down to in terms of words per dollar, and my conclusion on if these are worth purchasing for the sticker price.

LINKS:

WATCH: "Broken Chains", a D&D Actual Play | https://www.twitch.tv/dndwithdee

Where You Can Find & Support Me Online | https://linktr.ee/crithitthegiant

CHAPTERS:

00:00 - Overview Of The Forgotten Realms Bundle

02:27 - Astarion's Book Of Hunger

09:21 - Netheril's Fall

13:22 - Lorwyn: First Light

15:29 - Price Breakdown & Is It Worth It?

21:59 - Final Thoughts & Outro

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Free League Publishing, the company behind popular tabletop roleplaying games such as Dragonbane, The One Ring, Vaesen, and Alien RPG, revealed a new and upcoming Kickstarter to publish 4 books of a classic Dragonbane setting. They also released for pre-order a new Lord Of The Rings book: The Hands Of The White Wizard (for "The One Ring") and Trials of Saruman (for D&D 5E).

I had a chance to speak with Tomas Harenstom, the CEO of Free League Publishing, to talk about his TTRPG origin story, the company's new projects and announcements, as well as the future of the Lord Of The Rings TTRPGs with the recent news of Asmodee becoming the manager of the LotR TTRPG license.

LINKS

Dragonbane Trudvang Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1192053011/dragonbane-trudvang-the-legend-returns

Pre-order The Hands Of The White Wizard (The One Ring) and Trials Of Saruman (D&D 5E): https://us3.campaign-archive.com/?u=2dcfb24fb7c8d0fb9c2f52040&id=d687b21b22

ARTICLE: Free League, Trudvang, and Hands Of The White Wizard: An Interview With Tomas Harenstom | https://crithitthegiant.com/2025/11/14/free-league-trudvang-and-hands-of-the-white-wizard-an-interview-with-tomas-harenstom/

WATCH: "Broken Chains", a D&D Actual Play | https://www.twitch.tv/dndwithdee

Where You Can Find & Support Me Online | https://linktr.ee/crithitthegiant

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Guest Introduction

01:02 - Tomas' TTRPG Origin Story

07:17 - Dragonbane's Next Kickstarter: Trudvang

10:29 - What's To Come In Trudvang

13:23 - Who Is Jorgi of Jorgi's Bestiary?

14:36 - Who Are The Vitners and Dimwalkers?

17:16 - Exciting New Trudvang Creatures

19:53 - New Kins & Mechanics Coming To Trudvang?

22:29 - What IS The Black Sun Setting?

23:52 - Will We See More Classic Dragonbane Settings Published?

28:36 - Trials Of Saruman / Hands Of The White Wizard Books

31:14 - Why Two Different Titles For The Same LOTR Book

32:29 - YOU Can Change The Fate Of Saruman (And Middle-Earth)!

34:34 - Are We Getting Alternate Universes In Middle-Earth?

36:52 - How Asmodee's Recent Development Will Affect Free League's LOTR Games

39:26 - What Conventions Will Free League Attend?

41:15 - Outro

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In the latest Unearthed Arcana update released on October 30th of this year, Wizards Of The Coast dropped 5 updated subclasses for community review and feedback. Two of these subclasses are for the Barbarian: Path Of The Ancestral Guardian (which will be renamed Path of the Spiritual Guardian) and Path Of The Storm Herald.

Here's an overview of what I saw in the updates:

• They are making damage scale increases tied to the Barbarian Rage Damage bonus (e.g. "a number of d6s per Rage Damage Bonus). This makes it consistently across all of the subclasses and easier to remember instead of having it arbitrarily assigned.
• The update to the name "Path of the Spiritual Guardian" is a great change to broaden the flavor and narrative approach for player's characters. Spirit guardians can be in the form of ancestors, bestial spirits, or elemental spirits.
• They're wanting to make the Spirit Guardian be less of a shield, which I think goes away from the flavor and intended theme of the subclass (e.g. splitting up Spiritual Protectors and changing Vengeful Spirits to an extra attack instead of adding damage to the Spirit Shield reaction).
• Path Of The Storm Herald no longer requires you to pick a permanent environment when you select it. Now, you select which environment aura you're activating every time you Rage (consistent with other subclasses, such as Path of the Wild Heart).
• They gave some love to the upgrades in Path of the Storm Herald, but Tundra still remains unimpressive (or at least not as impressive as Desert or Sea).

What are your thoughts? Let me know.

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro

01:03 - Path of the SPIRIT Guardian Review

10:35 - Path Of The Storm Herald Review

21:11 - Final Thoughts

LINKS

• ARTICLE: Updated Subclasses Unearthed Arcana 2025 | https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/2092-designer-insights-from-unearthed-arcana-subclasses
• WATCH: "Broken Chains", a D&D Actual Play | https://www.twitch.tv/dndwithdee
• Where You Can Find & Support Me Online | https://linktr.ee/crithitthegiant

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We just received the latest Forgotten Realms books for Dungeons & Dragons, and the Player Expansion book, "Heroes Of Faerun" have a lot of great, new character options. But which ones are the best for your Barbarian character? I'm here to tell you my thoughts on which ones are my favorite and what it can do to make your Barbarian even more epic!

LINKS!!!

ARTICLE: The Best Barbarian Options From "Heroes Of Faerun" | https://crithitthegiant.com/2025/11/07/the-best-barbarian-options-from-heroes-of-faerun/

WATCH: "Broken Chains", a D&D Actual Play | https://www.twitch.tv/dndwithdee

Where You Can Find & Support Me Online | https://linktr.ee/crithitthegiant

CHAPTERS!!!

00:00 - Intro

01:28 - No Barbarian Subclass Option!

03:29 - Backgrounds

08:45 - Feats

14:22 - The Future Of Barbarians In Faerun

HASHTAGS & MENTIONS!!!

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #Barbarians #BarbarianClass #IWouldLikeToRage #forgottenRealms #Karlach #KarlachCliffgate #BaldursGate #baldursgate3 #HeroesOfFaerun #WotC #wizardsofthecoast

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Dragon Delves is the first adventure anthology that Wizards Of The Coast released since the 2024 core rulebooks were published. It features an option to run a few of these adventures with a solo player character.

I ran one of these adventures and I found that it was a great start, but it still requires more.

Find out what the feature "Blessing Of The Lone Champion" entails for solo adventures, and what else you should take into consideration if you are running a solo adventure.

LINKS

• ARTICLE: D&D's Solo Adventure Feature Is Not Enough
• WATCH: "Broken Chains", a D&D Actual Play
• Where You Can Find & Support Me Online

CHAPTERS

• 00:00 - Intro
• 01:23 - What Is Blessing Of The Lone Champion?
• 04:12 - The Challenges With D&D's Solo Adventure
• 10:01 - What To Plan For When Running D&D Solo Adventure
• 15:29 - Conclusion

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Welcome to the podcast for Crit Hit The Giant! This is what you can expect from listening to the show, which is me bringing my love and adventures in the world of Dungeons & Dragons and Tabletop Roleplaying Games!

Find out where else you can connect with me here: https://linktr.ee/crithitthegiant

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