Dragon Delves provides ten slimmed-down, dragon-themed adventures for Dungeons & Dragons enthusiasts to tackle. Many of these adventures are intentionally short filler rather than memorable showcases. At the outset of the book, Wizards of the Coast notes that these adventures are perfect for either a short change of pace storyline during longer campaigns or as quick one-offs. As a result, most of these adventures are a bit bare-bones, with simple premises and a modest lair to explore. But there is little else for adventurers and DMs to sink their teeth into. However, the simpler set-up should work to most DMs’ advantage. The new adventures are far easier to use and incorporate than material found in past anthologies.
The new anthology, due out for wide release in July, is the first full adventure material released by Wizards of the Coast since the publisher revamped D&D last year with a new set of revised rules. The book utilizes methods found in the new Dungeon Master’s Guide to organize these adventures. The aim is to streamline prep for the DM. Relevant information on NPCs and key statblocks are at the beginning of each chapter. And there are step-by-step instructions on what DMs should do to prepare to run the adventure.
Veteran DMs might find some of the instructions a bit too self-explanatory. But I love the table of key NPCs along with what their respective statblocks are. I’m curious to see how this setup translates to full-length campaigns, especially ones that weave key characters in and out of the story.
Adventure anthologies are a key tool for Dungeons & Dragons’ DMs. While the anthologies can be a full campaign, their strongest use is to provide DMs with short pre-made adventures that are useful in a variety of situations with minimal modification. The major downside to past anthologies is an overreliance on the loose theme meant to tie the adventures together. When the adventures adhere too strongly to a theme seen as too niche, the DM must do a lot more work to make it usable in specific circumstances.
Dragon Delves avoids this pratfall with a theme almost universal to D&D campaigns. Each adventure centers on a different dragon, either chromatic or metallic. Players typically need to enter a dragon’s lair to either vanquish a dragon or aid them in some way. Given that dragons are a centerpiece of D&D (the creatures are in the name of the game), these adventures are generic enough that they can be put into any campaign setting and any style of campaign. This is assuming that players don’t mind testing their mettle against a magically powerful foe.
There is some variety to what players will encounter in Dragon Delves. Adventures range from saving a gold dragon wyrmling from a hag living in a hut made of candy to stopping a blue dragon from resurrecting its ancestors to subjugate a region of innocents. Most of the adventures are simple. However, there are some clever premises to be found throughout the book to prod adventurers into confronting dragons.
Some of the strongest adventures in Dragon Delves feature the good-aligned metallic dragons. Players often come into conflict with dragons who (assumably) have as noble of intentions as they do. It’s a good reminder that creatures with the same basic alignment don’t have the same goals. You can use that creative thinking can beto resolve conflicts instead of brute force.
Some highlights of the new adventure anthology include A Copper for a Song. This is an adventure that sends players back into the setting of Godsbreath (first found in the previous anthology Journey From the Radiant Citadel) to find the verses of a lost song that can revitalize the soils of a dying land. Ultimately, players discover that a copper dragon holds this lost knowledge as part of his unconventional hoard. They have to coax the verses out of the dragon through either bargaining, pleading, or through a fight.
Another fun adventure is Shivering Death, which requires players to delve into the lair of a white dragon seeking to relieve a region’s devastating heat wave. The players have a white dragon to contend with. And they also have to face off against rival factions of frost giants that can either complicate the quest or become a convenient scapegoat to redirect the dragon’s wrath.
I also enjoyed the low-level Baker’s Doesn’t, an adventure that deals with a hag who has ensnared a gold dragon. The big “twist” of the adventure is the hidden origins of two key NPCs, with one NPC having an almost macabre secret that can be revealed in a number of ways. The candy-themed adventure opts for a softer approach on how to resolve this NPC’s fate. But I’m sure many DMs (and players) will opt for a much harsher punishment once her crimes come to light.
Not every adventure is well put together. The Will of Orcus features a silver dragon tricking a small cult of Orcus into helping him build out his lair. The adventure is a bit too goofy for my liking. However, some players may appreciate the imagery of undead thralls painting a sky mural in a temple dedicated to the Demon Lord of Undeath.
I also found The Dragon of Najkir adventure to be a bit too clunky. It involves an assassin using his familial connections to a bronze dragon to help cover his tracks. The issue with this adventure is that the adventure ultimately boils down to convincing a bronze dragon that his friend is evil. There is no easy solution outside of rather heavy-handed execution if the players can’t properly convince the dragon to abandon his friend. The adventure seems to dissuade a combat encounter between a good-aligned bronze dragon and the party members. I’d incorporate the bronze dragon as a recurring antagonist if the adventure goes sideways.
My biggest recurring criticism of the adventures in Dragon Delves is that the dragons’ personalities don’t often shine through in the adventures. Dragons by their nature are bigger-than-life and should have personalities and motivations that literally shape the world around them. That job is largely left to the DM, as the dragons are given their basic motivations and little else in many adventures. There is no real room or suggestions on how to incorporate the dragon into a larger campaign should the players become attached to their new friend or foe.
Outside of the adventures themselves, another highlight of Dragon Delves is the book’s unique approach to artwork. Previous D&D rulebooks have opted for the use of dozens of artists, each of whom loosely sticks to a house style guide focused on realistic fantasy art. Dragon Delves drops this precedent with chapters featuring art made exclusively by one artist that sticks to their own unique style. This artwork tends to enhance the presentation of each adventure, giving each adventure its own vibe and theme. While there are a few artists whose styles skew closer to D&D’s established art styles, there are a lot of great pieces that are an absolute joy to look at.
Some of the strongest art pieces include Justine Jones’ psychedelic artwork in For Whom the Void Calls. It boasts bright colors and a style that fits right in at a head shop or the side of a van. And there’s also the joyfully cartoonish work of Andrew Kolb in Baker’s Doesn’t. I loved Luke Eidenschink’s gritty artwork of The Forbidden Vale, which feels like it belongs in an OSR adventure rather than a Wizards of the Coast publication.
These varying art styles really bring home that the anthology’s adventures are each different. They help do some of the heavy lifting to differentiate a series of adventures that are each about dragons. My only mild criticism of the art direction is that I wanted to see more art pieces in the book. Four to five pieces of art by each artist just doesn’t feel like enough. I feel like the artwork would have been a stronger selling point if there was more art to put in the book. Of course, asking artists to churn out more art in a short timeframe is probably a big ask. But I just wanted to see more of what some of these artists could do to bring these adventures to life.
All in all, Dragon Delves is one of the stronger adventure anthologies by Wizards of the Coast for 5E use. From the basic theming to the useful DM tools found at the start of each adventure, this book should be a useful resource for anyone who needs to quickly put together an adventure in a limited time. Dragons are fun to battle and scheme against. This book provides plenty of excuses to put a dragon in front of a party of D&D adventurers. I’m hoping to see more anthologies like Dragon Delves in the future, especially if Wizards continues to commission strong artwork to pair with each adventure.