Hasbro is releasing a special Stranger Things Roleplaying D&D game later this Spring that will allow characters to play Mike’s adventure in the series.
Love Dungeons & Dragons and Stranger Things? Can’t wait until season 3 comes out on July 4? Well, Hasbro will be releasing a Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set later this spring! For those eager for it ASAP, it is already available for pre-order on several platforms — Amazon has a release date of May 1 while Barnes and Nobles advertises April 22.
Players will be able to adventure in Mike Wheeler’s Hunt For The Thessalhydra that he created for his friends. You can elect to choose one of the premade character sheets, pulled right out of Stranger Things, such as Will the Wise or Dustin the Dwag.
In addition to D&D’s standard game set, there’s a Stranger Things Adventure book, 5 Stranger Things character sheets, and two Demogorgon figures (one painted, one unpainted). Presumably, there’s a character sheet for the four boys — Mike, Dustin, Will, Lucas — and a fifth one for Eleven.
Ahead of the set coming out, I as well as other Stranger Things and D&D fans are surely excited about what details we’ll find. Just think of what character classes could match up with Stranger Things characters — Joyce as a Druid, Eleven as a Pcion, Chief Hopper as a barbarian.
Magical items would include The Stellar Skateboard that provides bonuses to speed and Dustin’s Hat could provide a saving bonus of +2, etc. In retrospect, that would be a lot of worldbuilding on the part of the game designers so it makes sense that they went with Mike’s campaign.
Photo Credit: Hasbro
But I do appreciate that they do include demogorgon figurines so there will definitely be some epic battles. Apparently, the demogorgon was one of the most feared creatures in the ’80s version of Dungeons & Dragons, which is why the creature got its name in the series.
However, this set’s figurines match the Stranger Things series and not the original description of the monster: “18 feet tall, has two baboon heads, a lizard-like body and legs covered in scales, two tentacles for arms, and a long, thick, forked tail.”
Now, there’s no text about what edition this world will be in. Will it be the dreaded second edition or something more recent and adaptable with D&D today?
I can only imagine a devilish Dungeon Master devising a hospital and tunnel system full of demogorgons for Will the Wise and Dustin the Dwarf to venture through.
The cover art for the box is spot on in its homage to the 1980s fantasy roleplaying box sets. It put me in the mind of when I played D&D with my friends in high school, spending entire days hanging out in our friend’s basement and eating an unimaginable amount of snacks while solving crazy puzzles and killing unusual creatures.
Thanks to Hasbro for this delightful game that is sure to entertain D&D roleplayers and entice newbies who love Stranger Things to try it out. The set is meant for both beginners and experienced players so hopefully the spring will be full of many happy days fighting demogorgons!