New Lego Dungeons & Dragons set comes with its very own story campaign

Tabletop gaming classic Dungeons & Dragons has its first ever Lego set, allowing you to build the model and then play as the minifigures.

If there’s one element of nerd culture you would never have bet on becoming cool it’s tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. And yet over the course of the last decade the iconic game has become more popular than at any other time in its 50 year history.

And so, as part of its golden jubilee celebrations, Lego has announced the first ever set officially based on the franchise… and it’s a beauty.

Naturally, the model includes both a dungeon and a dragon, but there’s also a tavern, a tower, and six minifigures. Plus, the set includes a range of brick-built monsters, including an amazing beholder model.

The huge 3,745 piece set is highly modular, so you can remove many of the buildings and scenes to display them separately, but in its default configuration it’s 48cm tall, 37cm wide, and 30cm deep.

Rather than the generic dragon in the original fan design, the one in the official set is the Cinderhowl red dragon. And as well as the beholder you also get an owlbear, gelatinous cube, and a displacer beast – all of which were featured in the recent Dungeons & Dragons movie – and multiple skeletons and a couple of tiny myconid sprouts.

The minifigures are a Gnome Fighter, Orc Rogue, Dwarf Cleric, Elf Wizard, Dragonborn Bard, and Human Thief. Although there’ll also be a minifigure series of additional figures released in September, that will add even more races and character types.

Lego Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale beholder model — The beholder model is especially awesome (Picture: Lego)

Lego Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale set — You know you’ve made it in pop culture when you have your own Lego set (Picture: Lego)

Lego has also collaborated with Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast to create an adventure book specifically for the set, which will be available as a free download for Lego Insiders members (which requires only a free sign-up) and includes character sheets based on the minifigures from the set. Or you can get a physical version of the book for 2,700 Insider points.

On top of that, there’ll be a live broadcast of Some Dungeons & Dragons celebrities playing the campaign on April 6, including actress Anjali Bhimani as the Dungeon Master, as well as Ginny Di, Luis Carazo, original designer Lucas Bolt, and Lego creator Jordan Scott. It’ll be available to watch from Lego.com and the Dungeons & Dragons YouTube channel.

Lego Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale tavern — You’ve got to have a tavern for your minifigures (Picture: Lego)

That amount of bricks, and the cost involved in the using the licence, means it’s not cheap, but even at £314.99 it’s a dream release for fans, especially with all the exclusive minifigures.

The set will be available from Lego.com from April 4, or April 1 if you’re a Lego Insider member. Also, if you buy the set during the first week you’ll get a free Mimic Dice Box model, which is basically a chest with teeth and also looks really cool.