Dungeons and Dragons competition winner announced
Posted by Huw,
The winner of the recent LEGO Ideas Dungeons and Dragons competition has just been announced.
Dragon's Keep: Journey's End by Boltbuilds will be made into a set, most likely sometime in 2024.
It is without doubt the best of the four shortlisted projects so I look forward to seeing what LEGO does with it.
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89 comments on this article
"Here be Dragons!'
Awesome model, I hope they don't change much / ruin it.
Smart move. Interested to see how it turns out.
This is going to be expensive.
I have never played D&D in my life, but this I'll play with. :-)
Bit of an odd choice... could be literally any medieval themed fantasy town rather then something that is specifically Dungeons and Dragons.
Is it silly that I hope the minifigs, if any, will be yellow rather than flesh-tone?
More castle sets is always good. I wonder if the dragon will stay brick built or go down the specialised pieces route like Smaug.
Awesome! This is the one I too thought was clearly the best.
@GrizBe said:
"Bit of an odd choice... could be literally any medieval themed fantasy town rather then something that is specifically Dungeons and Dragons. "
I agree. We've had a few lovely Castle sets over the last few years, it would've been nice to get something that was more specific to D&D.
It's a cool design, and congratulations to the winner, though I am a little sad the Monster Manual didn't win. It had a wonderful diversity of content from the game, while the dragon in this design isn't technically accurate to a green dragon from the game. That Beholder in the winning entry does look great though!
Yet another castle set everyone will love but won't buy.
I hope it is similar to 10305 in aesthetics so that they don't look too sharp in contrast next to each other
Any new "castle" set is great. With D&D spice, even better. I love D&D.
End result will just be a small tavern, but to justify 499€ price point, set will include 60 minifigure heads in 10 skin colors and many hair pieces, so that you can have a truly personalized and inclusive team of adventurers.
More castle! Rip peoples wallets...but more castle!
Can't wait for this one! Won't see it until next year I guess but bring it on.
Wow, very impressive!
I disagree with the "without a doubt": I think it's a fantastic fantasy model, but of the five shortlisted submissions it was also the least specific to Dungeons and Dragons, imo. Massive congratulations to the winner though.
@GrizBe said:
"Bit of an odd choice... could be literally any medieval themed fantasy town rather then something that is specifically Dungeons and Dragons. "
It has a beholder round the back
I'm not even a D&D fan, but I might buy this just because it's a cool fantasy scene.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it was “without doubt” the best of the shortlisted projects (I was personally partial to either the practicality of the Dice Tower or the mechanics of the transforming Mimic. And, as some have pointed out here, there’s not really much that directly ties this unequivocally to D&D like some of the other builds), but happy enough that this is happening at all and it’s still a solid set. Congrats to the winner!
I mean, we KNEW this was going to be picked as the winner, right? It was pretty obvious because this was by far the largest.
Seems like it could be a nice fantasy cheaper alternative to Lion Knights' Castle (though I still want it).
@GrizBe said:
"Bit of an odd choice... could be literally any medieval themed fantasy town rather then something that is specifically Dungeons and Dragons. "
It's kind of the point. D&D has become and was the inspiration for modern fantasy settings. But this model also contains a lot of the very classic things: a dungeon, a dragon (good start huh?) but also the main classes, a beholder probably a mimic, and other small details that are part of D&D lore of old.
It's also why it was the best set by far. It's a whole adventure in one model! The others were good, but weren't as evocative of the whole thing.
@ItisNoe said:
"Seems like it could be a nice fantasy cheaper alternative to Lion Knights' Castle (though I still want it)."
Kind of wondering how much cheaper though... there has to be at least 3000 or so pieces in that submission.
gorgeous! and most likely $200 or more, no thanks
Absolutely this is the best submission. Anyone who thinks it does not represent D&D hasn't thought much about what the game is all about and what happens when you play it.
A party of brave adventurers survive a dragon encounter, escape a beholder, delve into a dungeon, and find treasure, before retiring to the tavern they started out from.
All the rest were good, but focused on a single part of that game.
Well, sadly it's not the "XANATHAR, THE BEHOLDER" by Shaddowtoa.
But let's see what they can do with this one...
I think it looks cool as a display piece, but won't be as useful to DnD players as the Xanathar set could be. (Dice storage, a dice tower and a Xanathar miniature)
@GrizBe said:
"Bit of an odd choice... could be literally any medieval themed fantasy town rather then something that is specifically Dungeons and Dragons. "
This is why it's a GOOD choice. It appeals to more than just D+D fans. l wouldn't have gotten the set if it was any of the others, but this would look nice next to the latest castle, so l'll probably pick it up.
At least three of the other submissions could be configured into a GWP size set to go along with the winner. Just saying...
@leetshoe said:
" @GrizBe said:
"Bit of an odd choice... could be literally any medieval themed fantasy town rather then something that is specifically Dungeons and Dragons. "
This is why it's a GOOD choice. It appeals to more than just D+D fans. l wouldn't have gotten the set if it was any of the others, but this would look nice next to the latest castle, so l'll probably pick it up."
Exactly. It has mass appeal and is certainly the only one of the five I would buy. I expect it for about £300 as it has quite a few pieces less than the Lion Knight’s Castle but includes the licence cost.
This was by far my favorite. Personally I feel all of entries were done by people who never really played the game but watched the 80's cartoon. This is least 80's cartoonish and has the most potential to be a really cool set. I look forward to seeing the final design.
OMG! Of all the models submitted, this is the one I was hoping would be selected. In the end, it was selected, that's a FIRST! I'm not sure if I'll be able to recover from the shock! ;-)
I'm not a DD players but this, to me, looks the part: there is a dragon and the basement of what's left of this castle must have some sort of dungeon and underground passages. Happy with this selection, sorry for the other contestants.
Let's just hope the final version will not be a 4+ set.
Thank you all for the support and congratulations!
I still can't believe this will become a real set and am super excited to see how Lego will improve this idea further!
Also the alternative Red dragon version can be seen on my instagram @bolt.builds , let me know which color you think would be more cool!
@NissanZ32 said:
"End result will just be a small tavern, but to justify 499€ price point, set will include 60 minifigure heads in 10 skin colors and many hair pieces, so that you can have a truly personalized and inclusive team of adventurers."
Honestly, I'd buy that.
As I said to a friend: It's got "dungeon" and it's got "dragon", I just don't know that it's got "Dungeons & Dragons".
However, if they decide to integrate a dice tower into the keep tower? Then consider me sold.
Very cool choice, but somehow I have the bad feeling they will mess it up again with too much colour and playfulness + out of scale proportions or dollhouse look.
I'm disappointed: this is really nice but generic. We don't need D&D's official support to do something generic. Icons is what should have been highlighted: they're the only thing that make D&D different from other fantasy RPGs. A beholder hidden somewhere isn't enough.
In any case, I'll probably still buy it because any fantasy stuff is better than none. This is not the final model too, I presume LEGO will up the brand factor and brighten the colors.
They really should look into doing that Monster Manual too thought, that was my favorite.
Castle, Castle Castle!
There can never been too much castle when the builds show such variety and quality.
@ToysFromTheAttic:
Someone I knew in college got sent two different sets of Beta rules for 3rd Edition to playtest, so a bunch of us got our names printed in the Player’s Handbook. Ironically, that’s probably more than I’ve played D&D in any form for the rest of my life, and the rules we used were changed so much for what was eventually published that it was like everyone else skipped straight from AD&D to 5th Edition.
It will be worth every penny, provided it stays exactly like it is, with no major (or minor) changes.
Great work: congratulations!
I jsut hope the dragon will not be a part of the tower and you could pose it alone.
Obviously the best of them all. To be honest I had seen such great entries at instagram etc and I never quite understood how they ended up at those 4-5 shortlisted.
This (probably yet another expensive) set, proves the worldwide known theory/opinion that PEOPLE NEED MORE CASTLES!!! Give us a castle theme pretty please dear TLG! :-)
@BoltBuilds said:
"Thank you all for the support and congratulations!
I still can't believe this will become a real set and am super excited to see how Lego will improve this idea further!
Also the alternative Red dragon version can be seen on my instagram @bolt.builds , let me know which color you think would be more cool!"
Congratulations! It’s been a decade that i played D&D, but your design looks great!
@DragonLord56 said:
" @NissanZ32 said:
"End result will just be a small tavern, but to justify 499€ price point, set will include 60 minifigure heads in 10 skin colors and many hair pieces, so that you can have a truly personalized and inclusive team of adventurers."
Honestly, I'd buy that."
Really???? As of now, there are currently 116 Lego minifig heads available at pick-a-brick. In Canada they sell for 0.33 in the US it must be something like US$0.25. So, in total, US$29 and a big chunk of them will not fit the theme at all. Let's say we add to this 116 head gear at an average price of US$0.75 (dual moulded item are costly, basic stuff, not so much). This puts another US$87 to the tally (many might not fit the theme as well). Let's say the small tavern costs US$150 (this should be quite substantial but smaller than the Medieval Blacksmith). This is only US$262 and you would be willing to pay USD$500 for it?
I understand what you are saying in wanting a whole bunch of different characters (like a massive Castle/Fantasy/D&D battle pack) but even this should not cost more than roughly US$250 (including a sizeable structure). (you cannot charge that much in design just by putting a whole bunch of heads and wigs in a bag).
"I want a free copy of this set!"
"Alright, roll for Persuasion."
(rolls a Nat 1)
"Shoot."
Love this. Haven't played a ton of D&D, but this is the adventure with a great pack of characters. I suspect there are more traps and monsters than we see, based on the Ideas page.
I could see Lego mucking about to add a dice tower component; it doesn't seem that hard, though you'd lose a bit of detail on one area to make it happen. However, with a trapdoor and the right base for dice to fall onto, it'd do decently well.
After seeing a lot of entries, I wasn't that interested, but after ignoring it until now, I most certainly am. It can work great as a display castle, or as a D&D game icon.
@PurpleDave said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic:
Someone I knew in college got sent two different sets of Beta rules for 3rd Edition to playtest, so a bunch of us got our names printed in the Player’s Handbook. Ironically, that’s probably more than I’ve played D&D in any form for the rest of my life, and the rules we used were changed so much for what was eventually published that it was like everyone else skipped straight from AD&D to 5th Edition."
Sounds almost as much fun as mathematics. :-)
@HOBBES said:
" @DragonLord56 said:
" @NissanZ32 said:
"End result will just be a small tavern, but to justify 499€ price point, set will include 60 minifigure heads in 10 skin colors and many hair pieces, so that you can have a truly personalized and inclusive team of adventurers."
Honestly, I'd buy that."
Really????"
It's a joke about 21337.
I believe that people need some low cost castle - theme sets. It is good to have huge, costly sets which are beautiful, but a knights battlepack or some castle supplemental minifigures set would be a great chance for all of us to create armies or just to get some medieval stuff without spending a fortune
Poor Hobbes, that joke went way over his head.
This set looks awesome, love the dragon and how it wraps around the tower
@Murdoch17 said:
"Awesome model, I hope they don't change much / ruin it."
It's LEGO Ideas, they probably will.
Kidding aside, I did see a post by a designer who seems new to the Ideas team. I've been saying for years the team needs an overhaul and some new/different talent, and thankfully that seems to be happening.
No offense to any previous Ideas designers, I'm just personally not a fan of their work for a while.
@Darth_Moschonas_ said:
"I believe that people need some low cost castle - theme sets. It is good to have huge, costly sets which are beautiful, but a knights battlepack or some castle supplemental minifigures set would be a great chance for all of us to create armies or just to get some medieval stuff without spending a fortune "
Like 31120 ?
You can go to pick a brick and buy all the Black Falcon armor, shields, and weapons to make an army.
I think castles are beautiful but too expensive to purchase. This however, comes with a dragon.... that is a game changer. I collect dragon sets. I hope the price isn't too steep. I wouldn't mind getting this as a gift for my daughter and future son in law as they are d&d geeks.
Looks good - I hope the IP levy does not make it disproportionately expensive.
@empire0 said:
" @Darth_Moschonas_ said:
"I believe that people need some low cost castle - theme sets. It is good to have huge, costly sets which are beautiful, but a knights battlepack or some castle supplemental minifigures set would be a great chance for all of us to create armies or just to get some medieval stuff without spending a fortune "
Like 31120 ?
You can go to pick a brick and buy all the Black Falcon armor, shields, and weapons to make an army. "
Yes, but what about lions or forestmen??? You need two sides to have a battle, don't you think?
It is the best
Glad the best one won, can't wait! Any Castle-related set is welcome to me!
@Banners said:
" @HOBBES said:
" @DragonLord56 said:
" @NissanZ32 said:
"End result will just be a small tavern, but to justify 499€ price point, set will include 60 minifigure heads in 10 skin colors and many hair pieces, so that you can have a truly personalized and inclusive team of adventurers."
Honestly, I'd buy that."
Really????"
It's a joke about 21337."
Got that alright (but someone said he would buy that). Do you know what is not a joke? I received that set (21337) as a gift (not from a family member) and I am not happy about it at all. On the one hand I feel extremely ungrateful as this is a gift and I should be happy that someone is willing to spend that kind of money for me but in the other hand, I am not so much of a minifig collector (except maybe for Classic Spacemen) and this set is not even a good part donors for what I usually build. I'm very sorry for the creator of this, it was a good idea but it was completely destroyed in the process of making it an official Lego product. It is already heavily discounted. I guess I'll have to eventually sell it.
Funny though, Lego did this thing (21337); but ask Lego for Star Wars battle-pack, Castle battle-pack, Pirates/Blue Coat/Red Coat battle-pack or Classic Space battle-pack and they cannot do it for their life (they always have to put some sort of (useless) build in there). Back in the days, there were boxes with a few minifig in it and nothing else (accessories maybe) 6701. I don't believe it should be too hard to do the same in the 21st century.
Keep it under $200 and I'll buy it.
If it’s not like $400 that will be awesome! Love this project
I'd love to have it (especially since I haven't played D & D since my stroke), but I'm not sure I'll have the space for it. I have a feeling the price will give me a bonus to that Will save...
WHERE ARE THE CHEETOS?!?
No doubt it will look good. Shame we will have to pay the D&D tax on it though when it could have easily just been some medieval set.
@johleth said:
"This is going to be expensive."
Took the money out of my wallet.
Looking at 10302 Optimus Prime it'll probably be standard ppp + a Hasbro tax of $20.
So anyways, I started throwing money at it....
This model is awesome! Very well done! Would look great next to Lion Knights Castle. Now the dragon is excellent and I really like how the designer has it curving around the tower, but I am curious whether the dragon is detachable from the castle for those of us that want a more realistic medieval build?
@peterlmorris said:
"WHERE ARE THE CHEETOS?!?"
THEY’RE RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!
And before you ask, the Mountain Dew is in the fridge, duh.
@BoltBuilds said:
"Thank you all for the support and congratulations!
I still can't believe this will become a real set and am super excited to see how Lego will improve this idea further!
Also the alternative Red dragon version can be seen on my instagram @bolt.builds , let me know which color you think would be more cool!"
Congratulations on your win! Definitely worthy of being the first (and only?) D&D LEGO set. A lot of your detractors seem too caught up in the gaming aspect of D&D or its specific genre of fantasy and not enough on the spirit of adventure that your submission captures so well.
Brilliant...
I wantss it... my preciousss's.
Huh. Wrong Theme?
O well, I will have this one anyway.... just because it will have the D&D logo on the box....
It would be nice, but sadly impossible to see GG sign it.
Maybe TLG will print his signature on the box?
To everyone saying it's not specific enough to D&D, I would argue this set has more D&D references than any of the other finalists - it just also has a huge castle and dragon. Unlike all the other castle sets we've ever gotten, this one specifically has a dungeon with some D&D creatures in it like a beholder, and has this storytelling aspect of a party of adventures moving room by room through it.
I am excited by and excited for the Creator, so I'm very worried about how expensive it is going to be and I truly wish people would stop submitting these sets that are many thousands of pieces. I also wish that we had gotten something more practical for play at the table in an rpg, but I understand that's not a mainstream requirement for the set. As a castle fan and a D&D fan I would be stoked to have this set on display.
I voted for this one, and will definitely buy it! But I also like the idea above of the other three being converted or combined into something as GWP set. But I played D&D as a kid, and I think this set is the best one of the four, I only wish I had the creativity and time to build something this amazing and submit it. I love the beholder and can't wait for this to come out!
And please keep sets like this coming!
While I like the build and idea I didn't vote for this one cause I felt like it would end up being $250+ which is unaffordable for a DnD tie in IMO. Let's hope I'm wrong!
@BoltBuilds:
Which version would look coolest? Dark-purple. Duh.
@Reventon:
Tax? There’s no tax in D&D! They’ll just loot your wallet.
^Oh god, very sorry about the spam everyone. Not sure why that happens, hopefully Brickset team can fix that problem
@Brickchap:
If it seems like it’s taking a really long time for a post to go through, refresh the page and you should be able to see if you left multiple duplicates. As long as you get to them right away, you can just delete the extra posts. If you leave without realizing it happened, by the time you get back the only option might be to use the Report Post function and ask for some on the site staff to delete the extras.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Brickchap:
If it seems like it’s taking a really long time for a post to go through, refresh the page and you should be able to see if you left multiple duplicates. As long as you get to them right away, you can just delete the extra posts. If you leave without realizing it happened, by the time you get back the only option might be to use the Report Post function and ask for some on the site staff to delete the extras."
Thanks, yeah I've reported the posts, hopefully admins can fix it up.
It'll be interesting to see how this turns out and how much, they could split it into three connecting sets to make it affordable, but I doubt that will happen.
Not even remotely familiar with D&D, just would like a realistic looking castle set.
Now please do game of thrones.
They had no choice but to choose that one given the overwhelming support :-) Can't wait to get my hands on it!
@Ridgeheart said:
""Fan Model" seems like kind of a sneer, but that's probably because I've met fans.
Call it a concept-model, be nice."
LEGO needs to be clear that this isn’t one of its own designs that has gone through its rigorous build process, structural integrity, legal (in a LEGO sense and the general one) and safety assurance. A ‘concept model’ could easily be misinterpreted as one of its own.
Cool. I have been wanting to try dungeons and dragons.
@BoltBuilds: Congratulations and thank you for designing this set for me (and all other Lego lovers, D&D lovers etc....)
Fantastic. this one will certainly find its way to my home.
And congrats with you price. I was looking at the guidelines and was thinking,...man, you won 10 times your own set. GREAT!!!!!!!!!!! And all the other stuff, but how nice. Truely deserverd. Have fun with it. As I will enjoy building this set when it is available.
1% of the total net sales of the LEGO IDEAS Dungeons & Dragons product;
10 complimentary copies of your LEGO IDEAS Dungeons & Dragons set;
Credit and bio in set materials as the LEGO IDEAS Dungeons & Dragons Fan Designer; and
a prize package of Dungeons & Dragons goodies!
I don't play D&D, but this looks like a wonderful fantasy model, so I'll likely pick it up. I feel like the 90th Anniversary Castle could've used a Dragon.
Will D&D still be around by the time this comes out?
@quark12000 said:
"Will D&D still be around by the time this comes out?"
The game was first published in 1974
yes i think so... has a great book catalog
This was definitely my choice of the sets that made the cut to the final round.
Overall, I think it has the both the most generic appeal for the wider market and also feels like it has the best mix of “Lego” and “D&D” features.
@BoltBuilds — Congratulations, great work!
With the size of the instruction booklets nowadays Lego should incorporate the Players Handbook with this set; that shouldn't increase the instruction manual size by too much ;P
Amazing looking set, this was certainly my favorite looking one, with a great selection of DnD tropes and set pieces. The designer did a phenomenal job and surely deserves this.
I would love it if they add in the functionality of a Dice Tower to this at least, and I know a lot of other people would appreciate that as well. Seeing that not one, but two of the other ideas submissions were Dice Towers should be telling.
That said, I am bummed that this will be yet another $250-300+ set, preaching to the choir probably but man sometimes these prices are so prohibitive to all but the wealthiest LEGO aficionados.
Hopefully this will at least lead to some further collaborations. DnD collectable/customizable minifigures would be incredible.
Amazing looking set, this was certainly my favorite looking one, with a great selection of DnD tropes and set pieces. The designer did a phenomenal job and surely deserves this.
I would love it if they add in the functionality of a Dice Tower to this at least, and I know a lot of other people would appreciate that as well. Seeing that not one, but two of the other ideas submissions were Dice Towers should be telling.
That said, I am bummed that this will be yet another $250-300+ set, preaching to the choir probably but man sometimes these prices are so prohibitive to all but the wealthiest LEGO aficionados.
Hopefully this will at least lead to some further collaborations. DnD collectable/customizable minifigures would be incredible.
@night13flyer said:
" @quark12000 said:
"Will D&D still be around by the time this comes out?"
The game was first published in 1974
yes i think so... has a great book catalog"
I think that was probably referring to the current potential shakeup of the rules and licensing by Wizards of the Coast and the fan community backlash.
@Andhe said:
" @night13flyer said:
" @quark12000 said:
"Will D&D still be around by the time this comes out?"
The game was first published in 1974
yes i think so... has a great book catalog"
I think that was probably referring to the current potential shakeup of the rules and licensing by Wizards of the Coast and the fan community backlash."
I just noticed that.... DnD ogl 1.1
wanted say more but not going to..