This year, the Role Playing Game Dungeons and Dragons turns fifty. I was about 5 years old at the time when Gary Gygax rolled out the first version of his tabletop role playing game. I took some interest in the 1980s:I was intrigued by the notion of creating your own world, and the variety characters you could create, and the monsters that could be encountered, but the game didn’t take off with my circle of friends at the time. It probably coincided with entering my LEGO Dark Ages as well. I was therefore surprised when I went to see the movie Dungeons and Dragons: Honour among Thieves last year and I found myself seeing so many character types and monsters that I had read about in a nostalgic haze.
Flash forward to 2022, and LEGO Ideas announced a challenge for fans to design a set to showcase their favourite aspects of the Game. The winner of this challenge was Dutch fan Lucas Bolt. His submission “Dragons Keep: Journey’s End” brought a tavern, a ruined castle with caves and crypts, to say nothing of a couple of brick-built beasties. Today, the final product is revealed: with over 3700 pieces, this set takes Bolt’s original submission and bumps up the level of original detail.
Priced at $AUD499.99/€359.99/£ 314.99/$USD359.99/$CAD469.99, the set will be available on the first of April 2024 (and that’s no joke.) The set is also associated with a free D&D Adventure booklet available as a digital download, or as a paperback book with 2400 LEGO Insiders points
Dungeons and Dragons publishers, Wizards of the Coast, are owned by Hasbro, and this represents the 3rd collaboration with the toy giant/entertainment company, following on from Transformers Optimus Prime released in 2022, as well as Peppa Pig DUPLO sets, also due for release in April.
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The Ideas Submission vs Final Product
The obvious change is changing the dragon from green to red. Some of the construction techniques (particularlyt trees) have become more parts intense in their construction, and there are some defininte changes in the shape and colour of the tavern.
I appreciate that by opening up the back of the castle, it makes for a greater variety of playable locations.
The modular nature of the build makes it easy to modify and extend different components to suit your needs, including access to different parts of the model for game play (or just posing the figures)!
The party includes a Orc Rogue, Gnome Fighter, Elf Wizard and Dwarf Cleric, while a a human innkeeper, a dragon headed bard and some skeleton warriors fill out the character roster here.
Compared to the original submission, we have seen some changes to the design of the Beholder (as in eye of the…), but also the addition of some additional denizens, including a mimic, gelatinous cube, an owlbear , a displacer beast some… I presume a couple of Myconids – mushroom type characters that appear slightly more malevolent to the dreamlings in LEGO DREAMZZzz.
Here’s the Press Statement:
19th March 2024: Today the LEGO Group unveils the LEGO® Ideas DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Red Dragon’s Tale set, a fan-designed brick representation of the iconic table-top game. Released in the year DUNGEONS & DRAGONS turns 50, this is the first time the LEGO Group has developed a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS set and to do so they turned to their fans to create the design, via a challenge on the LEGO Ideas platform.
Based on a brief co-developed by the Wizards of the Coast team, over 600 LEGO fans submitted DUNGEONS & DRAGONS inspired designs, but the winner was 33-year-old Lucas Bolt (known as BoltBuilds) from Amsterdam who created his version of the game in LEGO bricks. Lucas then worked closely with LEGO Design team, to develop the unique setting represented in the final set. In addition, the Wizards of the Coast team developed a bespoke adventure for the set.
The 3,745-piece set is incredibly detailed featuring a tavern with a removable roof, so you can see inside to the upper level. The set also features a dungeon and a tower. Also included are six LEGO minifigures – Orc Rogue, Gnome Fighter, Elf Wizard and Dwarf Cleric, plus brick-built monsters, such as a beholder, an owlbear and a displacer beast. Also featured is the giant Cinderhowl red dragon that builders can wrap around the tower.
The LEGO Group also turned to their fan community on the LEGO Ideas platform, giving them a chance to design the cover of the set’s building instructions. The winning design by Chris Yu features an epic battle using techniques to create depth in the image while showcasing good against evil centered around the iconic 20-sided die that’s set to determine the outcome. Chris’ design was a celebration of the game’s core values of collaboration, creativity, and adventure.
In celebration of the new set, the LEGO Group invited well-known DUNGEONS & DRAGONS players to LEGO House for an epic game night. Anjali Bhimani took the chair as the Dungeon Master and was joined by Luis Carazo and Ginny Di, as well as fan designer Lucas and LEGO Designer Jordan Scott, who all participated in an epic adventure on a very special custom-made LEGO DUNGEONS & DRAGONS table. Recorded live, fans can now watch all the action when the game premieres on LEGO.com/DnD and the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS YouTube and Twitch channels on 6th April at 09:00 PDT / 12:00 EDT / 17:00 BST / 18:00 CEST / 00:00 CST.
Fans can also get a specially created DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adventure book, created in partnership by Wizards of the Coast and the LEGO Group, to offer a completely new and unique play experience. Available for LEGO Insiders as a free digital download, or as a paperback book for 2,700 Insider points (whilst stocks last). The book is also available at D&D Beyond along with character sheets, a digital dice and more.
Commenting on his inspiration for the design, Lucas, said, “The DUNGEONS & DRAGONS theme combined with my love of history, fantasy and making games, inspired me to create a playable layout with different challenges and routes to explore. I had so much fun designing this piece, and it is a real privilege seeing my design developed into a detailed LEGO set to celebrate 50 years of the iconic game.”
In relation to bringing Lucas’ design to life, LEGO Design Manager, Jordan Scott, said “Lucas’ design perfectly captured the storytelling excitement of any DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game. Working with the Wizards of the Coast team, we were able to build on his design to co create a truly authentic DUNGEONS & DRAGONS experience full of details that will excite fans through the building process and beyond.”
“LEGO bricks and DUNGEONS & DRAGONS have been used by fans to generate stories and build adventures for so long that bringing these two creative brands together during our 50th Anniversary felt like a no-brainer,” said Dan Rawson, Global Play Lead on DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and RPGs. “With the amazing LEGO Ideas set designed by Lucas Bolt, the adventure package available on D&D Beyond, and the LEGO Minifigure series coming this fall, fans will have so many new sparks of imagination available to enjoy creating fantasy stories together with friends and family.”
Join us at the Amsterdam flagship LEGO Store as we welcome Lucas Bolt, the mastermind behind the new LEGO® Ideas DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Red Dragon’s Tale on Saturday 6th April. Immerse yourself in a world of creativity and meet Lucas between 9am – 12pm to have your new LEGO Ideas set signed making it totally unique and collectable.
The LEGO Ideas DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Red Dragon’s Tale set is available for LEGO Insiders from 1st April 2024 via LEGO Stores and LEGO.com/DnD and for all from 4th April 2024 priced at $359.99 / €359.99 / £314.99. In addition, between 1st-7th April all purchases of the LEGO Ideas DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Red Dragon’s Tale set will receive a LEGO DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Mimic Dice Box as a free gift.
The DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adventure book will also be available from 1st April at LEGO.com/DND and D&D Beyond (along with character sheets, a digital dice and more). The LEGO DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Minifigure series will launch in September 2024.
But Wait…
No Campaign would be complete without an unexpected twist, the villain that has remained unidentified until the climax. This figure has dodged most of the photos, and we only see them in a couple of shots, and never clearly from the front:
Wearing a hood and cape, while carrying a staff? Could this be some terrible sorceror, preparing to summon the Dragon? The Nemesis of our party? We will have to wait until we see the reviews roll out. Or watch the video on the LEGO Website. Its up to you.
Final Thoughts
I have to admit, while I am quite excited for this release, I am possibly more excited for the set of Minifigures due in September. While the IDEAS Set and CMFs are set in the world of the Forbidden Realms, with some known characters carrying nearly 40 years of history, It is the development of figures with the potential modified between races, classes genders and accessories that will have a lot of D&D fans very excited. There is already a keen community of builders who spend their time figbashing: creating their desired character types using a mashup of CMF, Castle, Ninjago and Monkie Kid minifigure components. If this serves to further inspire creativity in people’s play, then this is a terrific outcome (note to self: collect 2 sets: one to display, one to figbash…)
I appreciate the design of the Red Dragon’s Tale: bringing the tavern, ruins and caverns all into close apposition, allowing the story behind the game to be told in a relatively compact space. It might, however, require a little modification for a dedicated castle fan to incorporate it into a larger layout. We are truly entering a golden age for fans of the classic Castle and Space themes. That said, priced at $100AUD more than the medieval market village, you might need to pace yourself if you are considering both sets as early purchases.
But I’d love to know what you think of this set? Are you a regular player of D&D? Does this set hold appeal? why not leave your comments below.
The LEGO Ideas DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Red Dragon’s Tale set is available for LEGO Insiders from 1st April 2024 via LEGO Stores and LEGO.com/DnD and for all from 4th April 2024 priced at $AUD 499.99 $359.99 / €359.99 / £314.99. In addition, between 1st-7th April all purchases of the LEGO Ideas DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Red Dragon’s Tale set will receive a LEGO DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Mimic Dice Box as a free gift.
The DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adventure book will also be available from 1st April at LEGO.com/DND and D&D Beyond (along with character sheets, a digital dice and more). The LEGO DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Minifigure series will launch in September 2024.
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Until Next Time,
Play Well!
Whilst I ‘could’ be described as a very Senior LEGO Castle tragic, sadly, at $500 I shall be leaving this set to the die hard D&D fans. Lots of good ideas to incorporate into any Castle MOC, but for me, not this time. And I think I prefer the green Dragon to the Red one. To each his own.
Had a regular weekly gaming group for a number of years thru uni & really looking forward to this set.
Agree that the green dragon twining around the tower looked very cool – in a digital build- but apparently it was not possible to get that effect once the model was built in physical bricks according to an interview with the Lego designer, even when they built the original dragon.
My only connection to D&D is that I loved the 80’s cartoon and our family enjoyed the recent movie. I had friends that played D&D but I never understood the game. As for the LEGO set, my daughter will get more of the D&D-specific references than me. She doesn’t play D&D, but she reads a lot of fantasy stories, particularly stories with dragons. I really like this set for the buildings. I think my daughter and I will really enjoy building this.