LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons could be canon

With a tie-in adventure by D&D legends, LEGO 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale could be canon as posited by LEGO designers.

When it launches on April 1 for LEGO Insiders, you can download the free copy of 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale's accompanying adventure – whether you want to play it or get more context for the contents of the set. The presence of this adventure is interesting, especially as it is designed by Chris Perkins, who has had a huge hand in the ongoing canon story of Dungeons & Dragons lore.

For those unfamiliar, there is a canon story to Dungeons & Dragons that affects official adventures, though not all tie into this narrative directly or indirectly. Most of the narrative takes place within the Forgotten Realms on the continent of Faerûn on the planet of Toril. One major recent example of these canon stories is the Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves movie from 2023.

A pair of Easter eggs in the new LEGO Ideas set suggest that the model and its adventure could be canon to the main D&D lore. As LEGO Designer Jordan Scott explains, "There's the Harper's symbol which is a faction in D&D, the Spine of the World, which is the landscape painting. That's an easter egg for Lucas the fan designer as well because he designs environments in video games, so we did a little environment portrait."

For additional context, the Spine of the World is a huge mountain range in Faerûn, beyond which is Icewind Dale where a lengthy canon adventure takes place. Confirming these paintings as Easter eggs specific to the Forgotten Realms means that 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale could, theoretically, be canon and the LEGO designers seem to agree.

"I would need to ask wizards if they consider this canon, but the dragon does have a name (Cinderhowl) so he's part of D&D lore," notes Jordan Scott. "Now, if it's canon or not, that's up to them."

"I think there's a Lego realm," adds designer Mark Stafford."

"Yeah," replies Scott. "There's the multiverse, you can go to any plane of existence so there's got to be a LEGO world somewhere."

Whether LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale is canon appears to be up to Wizards of the Coast, though there's nothing in the model that stops it being from canon to the Forgotten Realms. The LEGO adventure could be a good starter for a campaign anyway and you can find out more in our in-depth review.

For now, Cinderhowl is at least part of the D&D lore and you can pick up 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale starting from April 1, for LEGO Insiders, for £314.99 / $359.99 / €359.99. The set then launches widely on April 4 and for the first week, you can score a free Mimic Dice Box with purchases of the model while stocks last.

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