Dragon Delves is the first official “adventure book” for the 2024 D&D rules, and it’s got some interesting stuff in it – interesting enough that it bears sharing, even if you’re not a D&D player. This isn’t a review; I haven’t actually used any of it at the table – but I’m running one of the adventures tonight, so I’ll report back on that. Nevertheless, there’s some useful structural things in how it’s presented which I think make it really useful.

It’s long been my position that D&D has too many dungeons, and not enough dragons, and so it’s nice that the latest 2024 release tries to redress the balance with 10 short adventures for a range of levels, each themed around a dragon type. There’s 3 for Tier 1, 4 for Tier 2, and 3 for Tier 3 – some conversion notes around adapting them for slightly weaker or stronger parties would have been nice, but they do at least include ways to run some of the adventures for a solo PC, facilitating duet play. Personally, I’d be more tempted to use Sly Flourish’s guidelines if I did this – but it’s a good sign that D&D is embracing and supporting this form.

The Art 

This is a very pretty book. Each adventure begins with a 4-5 page colour spread of iconic art from previous editions of the dragons in question – it’s cool to compare different eras, and nice to be able to note that, e.g. the green dragon’s crest has stuck from David C. Sutherland’s 1977 Monster Manual illustration right through to today. 

Each adventure then has a full-page illustration of the dragon featured, drawn by that adventure’s artist. The art across the book is really varied in style – although all high quality, but having a consistent artist for each adventure really makes them stand out from one another.

The Structure

All but one of the adventures are designed for 1-2 sessions of play; and I know that, because each adventure starts with a summary page where it says this – very useful. This clearly shows the level it’s designed for (I shouldn’t have to stress this, but it’s relevant – as this was sometimes hard to find in earlier adventure anthologies). It’s also got a plot summary, a list of key NPCs – with their locations and stat blocks – and a list of preparation steps to follow if you plan on running it.

This sounds simple, but it’s so good to see it being adopted by D&D! It even tells you to bookmark the monsters that feature – so you can read through (if, like me, running D&D is a fairly rare occurrence) and check you’re up on their rules beforehand. The plot summary also really clearly shows you how the adventure runs – no surprises here as to what bits you should be up to. This also makes them really useful for one-shots and pacing at the table.

The Adventures

The adventures are all reasonably simple in structure – a bit of plot or investigation surrounding a dangerous adventure location – but there’s some real inventiveness in how they’ve been put together. I think (hard to parse from the credits) they’re each by a different designer, which means there’s a pleasant variety in style. I’m not going to list them all now, but for example, Baker’s Doesn’t (a 3rd level adventure) involves a candy-cottage inhabited by a hag and a kidnapped gold dragon wyrmling, while Shivering Death (for 11th level PCs) has adventurers searching a white dragon’s lair for a dead frost giant who has a ritual hidden with his frozen corpse. They’re reminiscent, to me, of Dungeon Magazine adventures – short, flavourful, varied, and often as interesting to steal ideas from as run.

As far as a first look goes, I’m very pleased with Dragon Delves – it’s up there with Radiant Citadel in terms of interesting adventure books, and similarly has lots of inspiration and easily-borrowed ideas. But it doesn’t stop there – I’m running one of the adventures tonight, so I’ll report back with a proper review then!