Released earlier this year, Dragon Delves is the first published adventure book from Wizards of the Coast since the 2024 release of the their revised Dungeons & Dragons core books. It’s an anthology collection of 10 dragon-themed adventures, each of which will have players confronting dragons of many types and temperaments.

While Beadle & Grimm’s usually releases Silver, Gold, or Platinum editions for D&D adventures that are stuffed full of content, they’ve also started to put out some less expensive, trimmed-down releases known as DM Vaults. The DM Vaults are scaled-back sets that don’t have quite the same bells and whistles as many of their boxed sets, but do come in at a lower price point. Most notably, they don’t include the actual Wizards of the Coast books but instead serve as a companion for running published adventures.

Last year, I reviewed the DM Vault for the adventure Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse. And now, Beadle & Grimm’s have given Dragon Delves the DM Vault treatment.

What Is Dragon Delves DM Vault?

The Dragon Delves DM Vault is a tool for Dungeon Masters looking to run any or all of the adventures from the adventure anthology Dragon Delves. The DM Vault does not contain the adventure book itself, and must be purchased separately.

The Dragon Delves DM Vault costs $120, and is available to purchase from the Beadle & Grimm’s website. It contains the following:

— 22 Battle Maps

— 28 Encounter Cards

— 3 Player Maps

— 4 In-World Handouts

— 1 Wearable Artifact

— 1 DM Aid

Note: This is a review of the DM Vault for Dragon Delves and not of the adventure anthology itself. Be aware that if you are intending to play any of the adventures, that minor spoilers may lie ahead.

DM Aid

The first thing that you will encounter inside the box is the DM Aid. In this particular instance, it’s a guide as to how to weave the individual adventures contained in the Dragon Delves anthology into a levels 1–12 campaign.

Player Maps

There are 3 included 8.5"x11" maps that the DM can hand out to their players, corresponding to 3 different adventures. These are:

— The Forbidden Vale Overland Map (The Forbidden Vale)

— Village of Respite (Before the Storm)

— Godsbreath (Copper for a Song)

In-World Handouts

As with any Beadle & Grimm’s set, there are various items that the DM can hand out to players at certain points in the adventures. With Dragon Delves, there are 4 different handouts, all printed in different styles and on different paper stock: a letter (Death at Sunset), map (The Will of Orcus), recipe (The Forbidden Vale), and song lyrics (Copper for a Song).



Battlemaps

There are a lot of battlemaps in this set- 22 in all! included in the box. All of the maps are printed on thick, high-quality double-sided paper, and scaled to 28mm miniature size.

Here’s the location name, size of the map, and adventure that each map is found in:

— Redwood Grove, 24x32, Death at Sunset

— Death at Sunset’s Lair, 24x32, Death at Sunset

— Confectionery Conflagration, 16x20, Baker’s Doesn’t

— Fill’s Bakery, 16x20, Baker’s Doesn’t

— Candy Cottage, 24x36, Baker’s Doesn’t

— Temple of Orcus (North), 24x32, The Will of Orcus

— Temple of Orcus (South), 24x32, The Will of Orcus

— Starglass Waypoint Lower Level (Areas S6–12), 24x32, For Whom The Void Calls

— Starglass Waypoint Upper Level, 24x32, For Whom The Void Calls

— Monastery Upper Level (North), 24x32, The Dragon of Najkir

— Monastery Upper Level (South), 24x32, The Dragon of Najkir

— Monastery Lower Level (North), 24x32, The Dragon of Najkir

— Monastery Lower Level (South), 24x32, The Dragon of Najkir

— Garden of the Dragon (G14) (Map 6.3), 24x32, The Forbidden Vale

— Garden of Unearthly Delights (Center), 24x32, The Forbidden Vale

— Garden of Sacred Repose — West (G1; G6–12), 24x32, The Forbidden Vale

— Cobblehook Cove Area B6, B9, B10, 24x32, Before the Storm

— Cobblehook Cove Area B13 (Dragon Fight), 24x36, Before the Storm

— Shivering Death’s Lair (North), 24x36, Shivering Death

— Shivering Death’s Lair (South), 24x36, Shivering Death

— Nakari’s Lair Area N17, N18 and West part of N15 (Dragon Fight), 24x32, Copper for a Song

— Haskasori’s Lair Area H15/H16, 24x32, Dragons of the Sandstone City

Encounter Cards

There are 28 different encounter cards included. These are designed to hang on the DM screen, with the front of the cards showing illustrations from Dragon Delves:

On the reverse side of each card is the stat block for the monster or NPC.

Artifact

One of the things that Beadle & Grimm’s is known for is the inclusion of real-world representations of various item in an adventure. The Dragon Delves GM Vault is no exception. In this case, you get a 2" metal Orcus holy symbol, meant to be displayed during the Will of Orcus adventure.

Dragon Delves DM Vault — The Verdict

The Beadle & Grimm’s DM Vaults are clearly meant to provide several tools to make the dungeon master’s life easier, but without all of the bells and whistles you will find in their larger sets. Notably, you are expected to already have or acquire the actual adventure module yourself, as that is not included in a DM Vault.

Dragon Delves is the third DM Vault that I have reviewed, after Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse and Keys to the Golden Vault. Content-wise, I’d say it falls squarely in the middle between the previous two sets. Appropriately, its price falls in the median between its predecessors as well. There’s a few handouts included for the players’ immersion, but the main focus of Dragon Delves is on running the encounters. The Dragon Delves DM Vault includes 22 battlemaps, which is more than contained in the majority of the full-sized Beadle & Grimm’s sets.

And while I’m definitely a big fan of those full-sized sets, they also come with full-sized prices. The DM Vaults provide dungeon masters with a much more affordable way to bring utility to their games, while still adding a bit of bling for the players. In this regard, Dragon Delves is no exception. If you’re a fan of the latest Wizards of the Coast D&D adventure and want a great set of tools to help run the adventures, then you’ll get a lot of enjoyment and use out of the Dragon Delves DM Vault.

For more information or to make a purchase, visit the Beadle & Grimm’s website!

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Disclosure: GeekDad received a copy of the DM Vault for review purposes.