Grim Hollow Player Pack Brings Creepy New Subclasses to D&D Beyond

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If you haven’t heard of Grim Hollow before, it’s a unique third-party campaign setting published by Ghostfire Gaming for D&D fifth edition. It’s a dark and terrifying world populated by supernatural monstrosities, undead horrors and soul-shattering sorcery. In late 2023, the setting appeared for the first time on the D&D Beyond digital platform with the Lairs of Etharis monster guide.

In June of 2024, Grim Hollow returned to D&D Beyond with a player-focused supplement entitled the Grim Hollow Player Pack that introduced six new subclasses steeped in supernatural horror (notably, all of the subclasses originally appeared in Grim Hollow: The Player’s Guide, which was published by Ghostfire Gaming in 2023). When the Player Pack was first released on D&D Beyond last year, it received ver little promotion from Wizards of the Coast and slipped under the radar of many D&D fans and news sites (including us). In fact, much to our chagrin, we only learned about it thanks to a recent blog post on D&D Beyond. As such, we thought it’s better late than never to take a closer look.

So just what’s included in this petrifying player pack? Below, we uncover all the details.

What’s included in the original “Grim Hollow: The Player’s Guide”?

The original Grim Hollow: The Player’s Guide is a 152-page player focused sourcebook for D&D 5e that was created and published by Ghostfire Gaming after a successful Kickstarter in 2022. The book is set in the Grim Hollow central campaign world of Etharis and includes:

• 24 new subclasses
• 42 new spells and a new Sangomancy (Blood Magic) school
• 40 new magic items
• 6 new species
• New rules for Transformations (Fey, Primordials and Spectres)
• New character Backgrounds and Archetypes
• Lore on the world of Etharis

Notably, the book was spearheaded by lead designers Jordon Gibson (who also co-founded Ghostfire Gaming) and Shawn Merwin, who has an extensive background as a TTRPG designer, having worked at Wizards of the Coast on a number of major D&D products (including the popular Peril in Pinebrook adventure).

What’s included in the “Grim Hollow Player Pack” on D&D Beyond?

The Grim Hollow Player Pack on D&D Beyond contains select materials from Grim Hollow: The Player’s Guide. It’s also important to note the book does NOT use the new DnD 2024 rules. Instead it continues to use the DnD 5e rules from 2014. Specifically, the Player Pack contains the following six subclasses:

• Path of the Carrion Raven (Barbarian): Feral warriors glad in feathers who channel the spirit of battlefield ravens that feast on the flesh of the dead. The subclass leans into a range of combat options, tapping into a new feature called Martial Maneuvers that uses a pool of points to carry out superhuman feats.
• College of Requiems (Bard): Gifted performers who play their songs for the dead, channeling a range of necromantic energy to raise corpses from the grave in a danse macabre.
• Inquisition Domain (Cleric): Righteous holy warriors tasked with hunting down eldritch heretics, they are equipped with a range of powers that allow them to counteract the ability of magic users.
• Blade Breaker (Fighter): Durable fighters who can also tap into Martial Maneuvers and new battle stances that allow them to perform a range of powerful attacks.
• Oath of Zeal (Paladin): Religious zealots dedicated to rooting out heretics and unholy forces, they have a range of abilities that allow to track down their prey.
• Misfortune Bringer (Rogue): Cunning warriors who use bad luck itself to unleash devastating hexes against their foes.

How Much is the “Grim Hollow: Player Pack” on D&D Beyond?

Currently, the Player Pack retails on D&D Beyond for $14.99 USD. Notably, the PDF version of Grim Hollow: The Player’s Guide retails for $19.99 USD and includes all of the material from the original sourcebook (which is substantially more than you get in the D&D Beyond pack). The hardcover copy retails for $41.99 USD (although it’s since gone out of print and is unavailable for order from the Ghostfire website).

What you’re paying for with the D&D Beyond version, however, is really the ability to add the new species, subclasses, magic items and equipment into the character generation system. If you’re not planning on using D&D Beyond, however, you’re probably better off buying it directly as PDF from Ghostfire.

Final Thoughts

Grim Hollow is an incredibly unique campaign setting for D&D, and really shows just how. If you’re a fan of Ravenloft, horror or the creepier side of D&D, it’s definitely worth digging into. The Grim Hollow Player Pack offers up some of the more interesting subclasses from the book, but if you’re really looking for the most bang for your buck, you’re probably better off snagging the PDF. That being said, if you want to integrate the subclasses into the D&D Beyond character builder, you can download your copy now on on D&D Beyond.

Below is also a video from the official D&D Beyond YouTube channel (first released in June 2024), that offers a deeper look at what’s included in the new Player Pack.

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