Ryan and Ben discuss the Q3 partnered content release schedule, the updates for the Villainous Unearthed Arcana subclasses, and then go over reasons to ban or not ban spells, species, and feats.

Community Pages: Q3 2026 Partnered Content Release Schedule; Vampire: The Masquerade – Bound by Blood Preorder; Designer Insights from Unearthed Arcana Villainous Options Update; Villainous Options Update PDF; Maps Token Resizing and Journal Edit Mode; Dungeon Masters Campaign 2: Arcana Unleashed.

Socials: Discord; Bluesky; Ryan’s Bluesky; Ben’s Bluesky

Ryan and Ben talk about the newest Maps feature, the forming of the Community Advisory Group, an update to Drops, and then dive into the Dread Domains of Ravonloft.

Community Pages: Journals announcement: The D&D Community Advisory Group; June Drops; Drops Program Updates; Drops Master Tier Sharing; Everything You Need to Know about Ravenloft: The Horrors Within; Celebrate International Day of Play; Claim Borderlands Quest: Dagger Danger!; Preorder Neon Odyssey.

Socials: Discord; Bluesky; Ryan’s Bluesky; Ben’s Bluesky

Ryan and Ben are joined by Charles and Tammie Ryan from Monte Cook Games to talk about the Cypher System, Monte Cook Games, and the joy of developing and playing games.

Community Pages: Monte Cook Games; MCG Bluesky; MCG Facebook; MCG Instagram; Jewel in the Sky Preorder; Monte Cook Games Linktree.

Monte Cook Games $10 coupon code*: 4EFXESKY-DnDiscussions

Socials: Discord; Bluesky; Ryan’s Bluesky; Ben’s Bluesky

*The coupon can be used once per user and expires 05/20/2027

Ryan and Ben take a look at the new available Starter Packs and subscription drops available on D&D Beyond. Then they discuss RPing a character that is counter to your real life persona.

Community Pages: D&D Beyond Starter Pack information; D&D Beyond Starter Packs in the Marketplace; Drops Library; Drops FAQ; D&D Beyond Drops AMA; Neon Odyssey Kickstarter.

Socials: Discord; Bluesky; Ryan’s Bluesky; Ben’s Bluesky

Ryan and Ben praise the Dungeon Masters actual play, look into round 2 of the Villainous Subclasses, and then discuss how to join in for improv and story at the table.

Community Pages: Dungeon Masters episodes 1 and 2; Dungeon Masters: Zombieclot Play-along pack; Designer Insights Villainous Options 2; Villainous Options 2 Unearthed Arcana; Ginny Di video: “This game fixes D&Ds ‘roll persuasion’ problem.”

Socials: Discord; Bluesky; Ryan’s Bluesky; Ben’s Bluesky

Ryan and Ben talk about the newest update for Maps, get excited about Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, hope about potential 3rd party outsourcing, and gush over all of the Villainous content coming.

Community Pages: Character Sheet in Maps; Ravenloft Ultimate Bundle; Ravenloft Digital and Physical; D&D scaling up as a franchise; Bringing back the Book of Vile Darkness; D&D Beyond Book of Vile Darkness; Designer Insights from Unearthed Arcana: Villainous Options; Villainous Options Unearthed Arcana; Villainous Options survey; Neon Odyssey cinematic trailer.

Socials: Discord; Bluesky; Ryan’s Bluesky; Ben’s Bluesky

Ryan and Ben look forward to the recent module announcement, play with the new character quick builder, and discuss various levels of meta gaming.

Community Pages: D&D Modules announcement; The announcement of an upcoming announcement at Gen Con; Wes Schneider is the Product Lead for Ravenloft; Character Quickbuilder deep dive; Behind the Screen Quickbuilder post; Dungeon Dudes Youtube channel.

Socials: Discord; Bluesky; Ryan’s Bluesky; Ben’s Bluesky

Ryan and Ben look at the course plotted on the 2026 roadmap, then discuss different ways to incorporate one-on-one RP.

Community Pages: D&D 2026 Calendar Release; Q2 2026 Partnered Content Release Schedule; Dungeons and Dragons State of the Game; Sneak Peek to D&D’s new books; Kickstarter: Big Bads: Most Wanted; Legends of Vox Machina Season 4 Release date teaser.

Socials: Discord; Bluesky; Ryan’s Bluesky; Ben’s Bluesky

Ryan and Ben go over some highlights from the most recent AMA, the current D&D Beyond roadmap, and encumbrance.

Community Pages: AMA w/ DDB Executive Producer and Maps Product Manager; D&D Beyond Changelog; D&D Beyond Roadmap; D&D 2024 now 5.5 edition; Mutants & Masterminds Kickstarter.

Socials: Discord; Bluesky; Ryan’s Bluesky; Ben’s Bluesky

Ryan and Ben dive into the possibilities for the HBO Baldur’s Gate TV series then discuss wrapping up a campaign.

Community Pages: Baldur’s Gate TV series info; Forgotten Realms Humble Bundle.

Socials: Discord; Bluesky; Ryan’s Bluesky; Ben’s Bluesky