The impending release of the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide could provide a powerful new tool for Dungeons & Dragons DMs, but it's not the only interesting product on the horizon. 2024 has been a busy year for DnD so far, with new core rulebooks rolling out amid a flurry of celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the game. In addition to the onslaught of official releases from DnD publisher Wizards of the Coast, every year also brings its fair share of third-party DnD products, which can sometimes be even more exciting.

Even in a sea of new resources, it's not always easy to find material that can slot nicely into ongoing adventures. DMs used to running campaigns with homebrew elements are typically also used to pillaging from published materials, but it feels like a waste to collect books with the intention of using only a small percentage of what's inside, with the rest often being too specific to easily rework and implement. The quarterly Adventure Arcs periodical from AAW Games aims to address that issue, and if it fulfills its potential, it could be the perfect solution.

Adventure Arcs Could Be A Perfect D&D Resource

Modularity Is The Name Of The Game

As described on the AAW Games website and the BackerKit page, the concept of Adventure Arcs is simple. Each 88-page magazine breaks down the components of DnD adventures into eight color-coded building blocks like Factions, Wilderness, and Mini-Dungeons, which all work together as a whole but can be easily mined as distinct pieces. Like the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide, Adventure Arcs places an emphasis on flexibility, but it serves double duty as something that should still be possible to throw down on a table as a complete resource.

D&D Magazines Deserve A Major Comeback

There's Something Special About Physical Periodicals

The format of Adventure Arcs is also a bit special, at least in the modern era. While DnD magazines like Dragon used to be commonplace, the bulk of the tabletop RPG publishing industry is currently focused on books and digital releases, with physical periodicals being much harder to find. Adventure Arcs isn't the only project to take a periodical approach, but its promise of worldwide shipping that's "reasonably priced" in multiple major markets stands out. There's a certain excitement to having a magazine land on the doorstep, and the quarterly release of moderately sized volumes makes sense for tabletop play.

Adventure Arcs claims compatibility with the 2024 DnD 5e ruleset, which shouldn't preclude it from working reasonably well with campaigns using the 2014 books. Although the ultimate quality of the contents remains to be seen, the modular concept does prevent the possibility of a few weak elements spoiling the value of the magazine as a whole. The 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide is a great way to learn the ropes of the game and a useful tool in general, but for DMS who want ready-made material to throw into any Dungeons & Dragons campaign, Adventure Arcs might be even better.

Source: AAW Games, BackerKit