LEGO’s official Dungeons & Dragons set will launch with an actual play one-shot featuring the designer
The fantasy-themed inn will include an adventure booklet starring its heroic patrons.
Dungeons & Dragons’ first official LEGO set, Red Dragon's Tale, just enjoyed a full reveal, and the massive $350 construction has promised more than just neatly sorted bags of bricks. An actual play one-shot adventure releasing on April 6th will mark fans’ ability to give LEGO another chunk of change, and the creator who submitted the contest-winning design will join the cast.
This partnership made in brand-loving millennial heaven first solicited plans for a Dungeons & Dragons-themed set through the LEGO Ideas website. The eventual winner, Lucas “Boltbuildz” Bolt, imagined a fantasy inn with a crumbling tower where a massive dragon perched, its tail snaking down the parapet. It also featured a small dungeon full of traps, treasure and one angry Beholder.
Most of those elements survived into the final Red Dragon’s Tale that LEGO will stock on shelves - the fundamental structure has been slightly refined, a wicked displacer beast and gelatinous cube now stalk the dungeon alongside the more brand-fitting Beholder, and you can find an owlbear in the enchanted woods behind the cheekily named Inn Plain Sight. Oh, and the massive dragon obviously survived and has been made over into a menacing red lizard looming over the entire scene.
A classic adventuring party of five minifigures sit drinking and singing alongside the innkeeper, either returning from a successful raid or hyping themselves up to face the dragon’s lair. LEGO and D&D’s owner Wizards of the Coast have literalized the fantasy of this set by planning a promotional actual play video starring actor and DesiQuest regular Anjali Bhimani, Luis Carazo from NCIS, Exandria Unlimited and Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill!, YouTube creator and singer Ginny D, Jordan Scott, and featuring Bolt himself at the table.
The crew will likely use the D&D LEGO adventure book with the same name as the set, a special release that players can also access if they join the LEGO Insiders emailing list or download it from D&D Beyond. A D&D spokesperson clarified that a physical copy of the adventure can be purchased using LEGO Insiders points. Promotional shots show the booklet at the gaming table, and it probably consists of enough pages to run five characters through some skill challenges, roleplay at the inn, facing down some beasties and ultimately confronting the dragon and its hoard of treasure.
Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale will be available to purchase on April 4th and run you a whopping $350 in the US. The LEGO Ideas Dungeons & Dragons Epic Game Night stream (phew, what a mouthful) airs on April 6th at 12 p.m. EDT, ostensibly on the LEGO YouTube channel.
This brand crossover is one of several that D&D’s owner Hasbro planned for the near future. This one makes a lot of sense and has resulted in a genuinely cool set that will impress fans of either hobby, but I’m not sure if the same level of enthusiasm will meet the tabletop RPG’s impending deals with Converse shoes and Pop-Tarts.
Update: Clarified where and how the D&D LEGO adventure book can be acquired.