LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale review

The long-awaited LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale excels as a set based on the tabletop roleplaying game, but it comes at a high price.

After waiting years for the LEGO Group and Wizards of the Coast to team up on any kind of LEGO Dungeons & Dragons collaboration, settling for the likes of LEGO Heroica and NINJAGO’s Master of the Mountain game in the meantime, it’s thrilling to see dreams finally become reality in 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale.

That’s undoubtedly a strong start to a LEGO review but for those who have been waiting for the popular roleplaying game to join the LEGO portfolio in any form, the announcement of a LEGO Ideas D&D contest in 2022 came as welcome news – and for some, it almost seemed too good to be true.

Thankfully, LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale lives up to lofty expectations from its model to its minifigures and its equal parts adorable and horrifying monsters. This collaboration has been a long time coming and 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale delivers in (almost) every way.

— LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale set details —

Theme: LEGO Ideas Set name: 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale Release: April 1, 2024

Price: £314.99 / $359.99 / €359.99 Pieces: 3,745 Minifigures: 6

LEGO: Order now

— Where to buy LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale —

LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale launches on April 1 for LEGO Insiders or April 4 for everyone else, likely as an exclusive set to LEGO.com and LEGO Stores. It’s worth noting that those picking up the model between April 1 and 7 can score a free LEGO Mimic Dice Box gift-with-purchase (while stocks last) too. Don’t forget the free LEGO D&D adventure based on the set as well.

— LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale build —

Based on a design submitted in November 2022 by Lucas Bolt as one of five finalists in the LEGO Ideas Dungeons & Dragons challenge, the final product has convinced us that 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale was the right choice for the winner. As impressive as the other four entries were, none of them included minifigures and while we’ll save their praise for later in this review, they have had a huge impact on the model.

While much of Lucas’s proposed design has changed, the bones of it have stayed the same – and every change here represents a significant improvement over the original design. The box art depicts this massive structure with a dragon swooping overhead, swapping the original green dragon coiled around the tower for a red dragon instead. This dragon is simply more iconic than the green variety and drastically changes the colour palette of the set with its striking, warm design.

It is possible to pose the dragon on the tower, similar to how it appears on the box art, by positioning the back right leg on the tower in a reasonably-sized gap in the architecture, wrapping its long tail around the tallest part of the tower and balancing its front legs on the stone railing on the wall. It’s not the sturdiest option and it’s not too easy to do, but once it’s in position it should hold enough to keep on display.

It would have been great to see a sturdier connection for the dragon be integrated into the model but we’re not sure how it could have been achieved without massively affecting the profile of the tower. This relatively loose connection also means that it can be easily removed to focus on just the tower.

LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale is modular in the sense that the huge diorama can be easily split into four sections for easier transportation: the tavern, meadow, cavern and tower, and there’s a dungeon featured underneath the meadow section too.

Breaking apart these sections is as easy as putting them back together, and while it may come apart slightly when shifting it side to side, it’s no problem to quickly reconnect one section to another. These sections blend seamlessly and unless you’ve put together the model, you won’t be able to tell that LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale is modular.

The meadow is one of the biggest sections by surface area and covers a wall, an upper level, an underground dungeon and a field. The field provides ample space for battles with the Owlbear, Displacer Beast and giant spiders or a peaceful discussion with the awakened tree nearby. The awakened tree is a wonderfully integrated model that can be easily removed to appreciate separately. It plays into the story too, allowing access to the underground dungeon.

Above the greenery-laden meadow, a ruined wall provides shelter for a campfire as well as a small Myconid colony and this space acts as an introduction to one of the best features in LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale: loot. Potions, items, weapons and armour are scattered throughout the set to upgrade the included minifigures and this area has the especially enticing printed shield representing a Sentinel Shield. The Beholder design on this shield teases a monster to come later in the model and calls back to the original colour scheme of the monster as proposed in the fan-designed Dragon’s Keep project.

It’s just one of many great printed items throughout the set that you’ll certainly be tempted to scavenge for custom characters, as intended. A small cell is located in this area too for holding the green Dragonborn minifigure. The space inside is more detailed than you would expect, not that you can see much inside through the new medieval door. Placing a minifigure inside is easy enough but it would be nice to be able to reach further within the space.

The dungeon under the meadow area consists of a long corridor featuring a Black Pudding and a spot for a pair of Gelatinous Cubes. There’s of course more loot to find including a Staff of Frost and even a bonus spellbook that can be easily obtained by removing a panel of rockwork seamlessly integrated into the cliff face.

There’s plenty of room to pose minifigures down here and while it’s light on features, more spaces to pose minifigures and monsters in a set such as this are more than appreciated – they are vital.

This corridor leads through a trapped door to the larger cavern home to the Beholder and a spiral staircase leading up to the tower, as well as a backdoor to the tavern (not suspicious at all). This area is the most expansive dungeon space and has plenty of room to pose minifigures, including stud connections on the staircase. There is a small play feature here but it’s more difficult to operate than expected. The axe door trap frequently falls prematurely as the axe head seems to be slightly too heavy to keep the device held in the upward position.

The tavern would have been suitable as a standalone set and this module comes complete with a small dock, plenty of food and drink for minifigures and a completely safe bed to sleep in – no need to roll to investigate. The tavern’s exterior is beautifully decorated for its size, and the blend of blue and purple for the roof is unique but suitably whimsical for a Dungeons & Dragons set while not feeling completely out of place in a LEGO Castle display.

The tavern is split into two floors and it’s the best source of Easter eggs in the set. From the fan designer as a knight to the Spine of the World and a symbol for the Harpers organisation, you’ll spend some time pondering what each of the stickers could mean. There’s enough room to place some minifigures downstairs but upstairs is mostly taken up by some aggressive furniture.

A pair of mimics are neatly integrated into the build upstairs and while they take up much of the space, they can be removed with ease to customise the layout.

The tall tower above the cavern rounds out the model, immediately drawing the eye and offering a place for a mysterious minifigure to plot away at a magical scheme. The architecture on offer in the tower is gorgeous and the integration of transparent pieces for stained glass with metal grates in front is very smart. The working area with spell scrolls and artefacts on display works well too and a ritual circle is located upstairs in what appears to be a first for the LEGO Group. There’s also a trapdoor leading to the cavern and a key operates the mechanism.

It’s a fitting end to an incredible build and acts as the crown of a stunning set with interesting but approachable build techniques as you finish the third instruction book. There is still a fourth to go though.

The final instruction manual is dedicated to Cinderhowl. This massive adult red dragon is the true crown jewel of LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale. NINJAGO enthusiasts can appreciate a good LEGO dragon and this is an excellent depiction of one, reminiscent of 70653 Firstbourne in the best possible way.

The detailing on the body is sublime and the colour scheme is immaculate. The mop heads as horns are especially clever. Everything about this dragon works with everything beside it and it all blends into one incredible LEGO dragon – but it has a single major flaw. For the first few hours after building the dragon, the single ball joint attaching the head to the neck held strong. After moving it a few times to pose it on the tower, it has given way and is no longer able to support the weight of the head. Twisting it to one side enough fixes this but it’s still unfortunate that the dragon is always going to be looking down.

Aside from the dragon’s neck problem, the build in LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale is excellent overall but is suited for display or minifigure posing most of all, putting the emphasis firmly on display over play features. But then, D&D is all about imagination…

— LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale characters —

As impressive as the model in LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale is, don’t overlook the minifigures and monsters under any circumstances. The minifigures stand out for including alternate faces for almost every character as well as an alternate head for the main player characters for a male or female face.

The main player character minifigures are a Dwarf cleric in shining gold armour, an Elf wizard wielding a spellbook, a Gnome fighter with a sturdy shield and an Orc rogue complete with a hood and cape. The expressions on the many minifigure heads are excellent and surprisingly expressive. The black eye and missing tooth on the cleric are especially notable – the class can be quite good at taking more hits than most, after all.

Spare weapons are available for each minifigure to use and a huge focus has been put on customising these minifigures beyond just the heads. You might notice that the torsos and legs show no skin colour. This means that they can be used for any minifigures you desire and it’s an ingenious move that inspires personalisation – something that will be hugely important to LEGO D&D enthusiasts who have been creating custom characters for years.

Two non-playable character minifigures (officially non-playable according to the adventure, but you can do whatever you want) are included too. These are Alax Jadescales the Dragonborn and Ervan Soulfallen the human.

Alax’s design is great for a standard peasant or even a bard and while the torso and legs are suitable for any minifigure, they also work wonderfully with Alax’s green scales. Alax also makes use of the LEGO VIDIYO dragon head element and it works ideally for a Dragonborn here. It’s good to see the musical theme living on vicariously through other product lines. Note that there are about to be spoilers for the LEGO Red Dragon’s Tale adventure.

Ervan has two forms: a suspicious tavern owner with a completely trustworthy smile, of which the expression is just incredibly exaggerated, and an evil sorcerer up to no good. It’s surprising what a hood and tattered cloak do for the design but the evil transformation is undoubtedly helped by the alternate face print complete with a flair of green magic.

Ervan also includes a second head with female-coded face prints, and it’s great to see the customisation continue throughout 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale‘s minifigures.

It’s not just about the minifigures in 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale though. This section of the review is about characters after all and the LEGO monster figures are certainly full of character. Twelve are included overall, counting the skeletons but not the Black Pudding since that’s part of the build in 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale.

Every monster is nothing short of essential for a LEGO D&D set and it’s great to see that the designers have gone all-out for the first and what may be the only LEGO Dungeons & Dragons set. The Beholder is especially impressive after seeing several different takes on the monster in LEGO over the years.

The Myconids seem a bit too small to be full-sized and are closer to sprouts, but they make great use of the LEGO DREAMZzz body element. The design for the Gelatinous Cube is genius too and while it could have been bigger to fit a minifigure inside, it also would not have fit in the dungeon corridor at any larger size.

The trio of skeletons come complete with loot, including a great cape piece, and use the standard LEGO skeleton design – when it’s not broken, you don’t need to fix it. Top of the pack though is either the Owlbear with its tilting head and adequate posing options, or the pair of Mimics using printed eyes disguised as a bed and chest.

— LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale adventure —

The free adventure that can be downloaded to accompany 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale goes hand-in-hand with the model and is a fantastic source of context for those less aware of D&D. The adventure itself is relatively simple but a great introduction to the game, as emphasised by the provided simplified rules.

It’s not only a sufficient adventure for seasoned dungeon masters, but also a fantastic guidebook to the model and well worth looking through even for those who don’t own the set. The art alone is incredible and it would be great to see the LEGO Group offer the background of the cover as a separate poster in the Insiders Rewards Centre. A physical adventure book is also being released as a LEGO Insiders reward for 2,700 points on April 1.

— LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale price —

21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale is the ultimate LEGO love letter to Dungeons & Dragons, but its price may be enough to scare some people away from a purchase. For £314.99 / $359.99 / €359.99, there is just enough substance in this set to justify such a high cost and the piece count and number of exclusive printed elements reflect this.

That said, it is a high price to come to terms with and while seasoned LEGO enthusiasts may be used to these high price tags, those coming into the hobby from the D&D side of things may be intimidated by the cost. Similarly, anyone from the LEGO audience not familiar with D&D has fewer reasons than others to spend £314.99 / $359.99 / €359.99 and give LEGO D&D a try.

Once you put together the model, the price becomes a lot more understandable but there’s no doubt that for anyone new to either LEGO or D&D, it’s a lot of money to drop compared to a Dungeons & Dragons book, which usually goes for around £49.99 / $59.99 / €59.99.

That’s not necessarily the best comparison though. 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale is much more than a LEGO D&D adventure. It’s a display item with minifigures in place of miniatures. Compared to the Dungeons & Dragons Icons of the Realms: The Yawning Portal Inn display, it’s a lot more favourable as that item costs £349.99 / $349.99 with no miniatures included.

The price is more favourable with context, but a lower entry point – at least under £300 / $350 / €350 – would offer a more approachable and accessible product for new LEGO or D&D fans alike.

— LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale pictures —

— LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale pros and cons —

Even considering the price, there’s no doubt that the wait for LEGO Dungeons & Dragons has been worth it. LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale is an excellent model with incredible minifigures and ideal depictions of iconic monsters from D&D. There’s a story to tell in this set and many more unofficial, or homebrew, tales to tell too.

It’s worth at least reading the free accompanying adventure, and D&D enthusiasts will find it much easier to swallow the set’s price point. Make no mistake: this is the ultimate D&D set and even if this collaboration continues beyond the September 2024 Collectible Minifigures, it’s hard to imagine what could reasonably take that title from 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale.

21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale pros	21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale cons
Everything a D&D enthusiast needs from a LEGO D&D set	The dragon’s neck joint is too weak
A great, customisable minifigure selection	The dragon struggles to connect to the tower as depicted on the box art
The modular aspect makes it easy to transport and display	The price feels slightly too high

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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— Alternatives to LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale —

Recommending an alternative to 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale is challenging as it is the only LEGO Dungeons & Dragons set aside from the limited-edition gift-with-purchase Mimic Dice Box, but even that isn’t a great alternative to the massive model.

At a similar price point of £344.99 / $399.99 / €399.99, the 4,514-piece 10305 Lion Knights’ Castle expands on the castle aspect of the new LEGO Ideas set but has no dragon and is decidedly less fantastical. Incorporating a dragon and an underground section as another alternative is the £369.99 / $429.99 / €429.99 76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank Collectors’ Edition.

For those with an increased budget, look to 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell at £429.99 / $499.99 / €499.99 for an isolated fantasy location model with stunning architecture and a blend of natural and elf-made elements. While it’s much bigger and more expensive than 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale, the similarities in theme are noticeable.

— LEGO Ideas 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale FAQs —