LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons first impressions: ‘Is this what D&D fans really want?’

Roll the dice on the newly-revealed 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale with Brick Fanatics, as we share our gut reactions to the latest LEGO Ideas set.

Announced earlier today following weeks of build-up, the 56th LEGO Ideas set transforms fan designer Lucas Bolt’s epic tribute to the tabletop roleplaying game into a 3,745-piece celebration of Dungeons & Dragons’ 50th anniversary. And while there are clear differences from the original design – the colours above all else – this is still the same concept that took top prize in the Ideas fan vote held in late 2022.

So now that it’s finally here, what does the Brick Fanatics team make of LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons? Let’s find out…

Jack – ‘I adore every inch of this set’

As an avid Dungeons & Dragons player for a decade and a LEGO enthusiast for nearly two, I appear to be the ideal target audience for LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale. Unsurprisingly, I adore every inch of the model. There’s so much that I can recognise and appreciate while understanding that much of this model can be enjoyed by those unfamiliar with D&D too.

One aspect of 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale that I’m especially interested in is having a new place to display my array of custom D&D minifigures – from an artificer prince to custom homebrew classes. Ten years of minifigures are about to have a new home and I couldn’t be more excited.

Chris – ‘The composition feels a little too busy for me’

I’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons, but I have got a LEGO Castle itch that’s in perpetual need of scratching. And while I’ve enjoyed the LEGO Group’s relatively grounded takes on LEGO Castle in recent years, I actually got into the theme with Fantasy Era in the late ‘00s – so I was hoping 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale might be a backdoor return to that heyday of fantasy-themed medieval sets.

And it is, sort of, but not in the way that’s going to convince me to part with £315. I get why it’s more colourful than the original submission (D&D is a colourful universe), but the composition of the entire thing just feels a little too busy for me. The details are great and there’s a lot going on, but as a display piece it’s lacking that visual cohesion to elevate it to the heights of 10305 Lion Knights’ Castle.

Rachael – ‘Huge dragon – what’s not to love?’

Even knowing nothing about DnD, 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale is creeping to the top of my must-have list (sorry bank account). It has all the lore and references that come with it being backed by a fantasy IP paired with all of the charm that LEGO Castle’s influence brings. Plus, huge dragon – what’s not to love?

Some of the smaller references might go over my head but there’s enough colour and personality in every inch of this enormous build to catch my attention and keep looking. All in all, I’m very keen to find out more about whatever on earth a Gelatinous Cube is.

Matthew – ‘This isn’t really what D&D fans want from LEGO’

Every now and then, when talking with a normal person (someone who’s not obsessed with LEGO), I’ll be asked a question about LEGO Dungeons and Dragons. Whenever these questions have come up recently, I’ve shown people the LEGO Ideas project design, and watched as their faces fall.

The problem is that this isn’t really what D&D fans want from a LEGO collaboration. They want to be able to customise their own minifigures, they want terrain that can be incorporated into a tabletop play session. They had assumed that a mix of two popular creative brands would be a little more flexible.

The new set is an excellent start, but for the sake of all the disappointed D&D fans out there, I’m hoping we eventually get a few more sets that are designed to better meet their actual needs.

LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale will be available for LEGO Insiders from April 1 and for everyone else from April 4, priced at £314.99 / $359.99 / €359.99 and coming with a free Mimic Dice Box gift-with-purchase while stocks last or until April 7 for LEGO Insiders.

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