Hasbro Pulse 2023 – D&D Updates

Welcome to the table,

Hasbro Pulse has a ton of cool stuff, but as you all know my favorite part is going to be the D&D and MTG content.

Out of the gate, we saw coverage of some new D&D books including the just-released Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk. I like this book so far, and will have a full review coming soon. It’s an adventure that begins in the town of Phandalin as danger looms.

Whether the heroes are newcomers to Phandalin, or are returning after the acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver, they discover hints of a threat lurking below the town. There are new consumables and meta-magic items, new creatures and NPCs, and a lot of opportunities for horror-themed adventure at your table. As a fan of body horror, mind flayers, and goblins, this really touches on a lot of fun plot points that can be used as its own adventure or as a jumping-off point for something you home-brew.

Next up, they talked about the Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse slipcase collection. I’m super excited about this one, because I have been a plan of the Planescape setting since I was in middle school. The set contains Sigil and the Outlands, a 96-page hardcover setting book that includes planar character options, details on the City of Doors, a super fun place to toss your players, descriptions of the Outlands and the gate-towns that lead to the Outer Planes, and more. I really love we are getting more content on the Outer Planes as those are really where things get weird.

The set also has a 96-page hardcover adventure called Turn of Fortune’s Wheel. It’s an adventure set in Sigil and the Outlands designed for characters levels 3–10 with a jump to level 17.

Morte’s Planar Parade is also in the set and is a 64 page hardcover bestiary that has game statistics and descriptions for inhabitants of the Outer Planes, including planar incarnates, hierarch modrons, and time dragons.

It also comes with a Poster Map of Sigil and The Outlands, and a four-panel DM screen.

Next up at the Hasbro Pulse 2023, they showcased the new Deck of Many Things set. As someone who has had all sorts of chaos rolls out at the table when the fabled Deck of Many Things has come into play, the idea of making a full set with a companion book is really cool both for collectability and use at the table.

The set comes with The Book of Many Things, a 192 page hardcover book with content that can be dropped into any campaign, all thematically tied to The Deck of Many Things. It also has a 66-card Deck of Many Things with the original 22 cards we all know and loathe… love… whatever it may be, and an additional 44 cards that can be substituted into the deck to modify and customize the experience to better fit your game. All of this comes in a rad Deck Box, and that is all in a case with guides, and more.

Next up, there was a Magic the Gathering-themed Monsters Compendium Vol. 4: Eldraine Creatures on D&D Beyond. This would be a must-buy for me if there were a physical version, but for those of you who dig digital content, this adds 25 new Fey and Fairy tale creatures inspired by the Wilds of Eldraine MTG set.

After the digital offering, they showcased some of the figures we saw at the last Hasbro D&D event. Starting off they showed the Golden Archive 6inch Xanathar. This beholder figure is phenomenal with a ton of detail and some truly cool accessories.

Those accessories included a pile of gold for Xanathar to rest upon and Xanathar’s pet fish and companion, Sylgar.

They followed up Xanathar with the 6-inch Displacer beast with flexible posable tentacles.

And they rounded out the more detailed figures by showcasing the Owlbear. While the figure is not listed on the site as the Woody Owlbear, this brown-toned Owlbear seems to have picked up that name, making me think there will be a Snowy Owlbear in the near future to match the D&D film’s version of the creature.

After this, they jumped to showcase some of the newer Dungeons & Dragons Dicelings. These D20s transform into various well-known D&D creatures. They showcased the Green Dragon, The Woody Owlbear, a semitransparent displacerbeast, and the Mimic.

Next up was a set of HeroQuest – The Dread Veil Dice set complete with a Scroll Dice Mat that can be used for dice storage to elevate your gaming experience to legendary heights.

From this point, they pivoted to talking about some Magic the Gathering Secret Layer drops we will follow up on at another time.

While I love the books I was a little disappointed that they did not have more figures offered. My thought is that they may be holding back for the 40th anniversary of D&D next year and lean hard into that for 2024.

Until next time, there was a poll on who the best D&D animated villain was, and somehow WarDuke lost… I have no words.