Dungeons & Dragons, at its core, is about storytelling, with some officially published campaigns being great examples of character-driven narratives that could be easily adapted to film. This focus on characters and plot means that many DnD campaigns lend themselves well to being adapted onto the screen. While some campaigns would naturally translate into epic movies, others would be better suited to become TV series.
Dungeons & Dragons is no stranger to film adaptations, with the ill-fated trilogy of the early 2000s and the brand-new reboot Dungeons & Dragon: Honor Among Thieves releasing at the end of March 2023. However, these on-screen exploits have always been original adventures written for the purpose of the movies, and to date, no campaign modules have ever been turned into either movies or TV series. This is a shame, as the lore and depth of many of DnD’s campaigns and settings allow for stories to be told using multiple genres.
Story Structure Matters When Adapting D&D Campaigns
Not all Dungeons & Dragons campaigns would work as adaptations, whether due to the scope of the adventure or because it relies on the quirks of being written for a roleplaying game rather than as a linear story. Some campaigns work better as a longer big-screen experience with a movie better able to showcase the scale of the story, whereas others would require more time to flesh out and cover all the plot points fully and would be better suited to be a series. Here are some DnD campaigns that would work fantastically as TV series or movies.
D&D Campaigns Better Suited To Be Movies
Starting with movies and DnD’s newest campaign module, Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, works brilliantly as an action-adventure movie. Set in the world of Krynn, the Dragonlance setting has been fleshed out over the decades with over 190 novels. Shadow of the Dragon Queen reintroduced new players to Krynn with the campaign taking place in one region of the continent of Ansalon, Solamnia, and in particular, the city of Kalaman, keeping the plot focused on one place rather than spanning an entire planet.
The plot of Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen focuses on the war between the arms of the Dragon Queen and the forces of Solamnia. Toward the end of the campaign, players must defend the city of Kalaman during a siege which in a movie would look a lot like the Battle of Helm’s Deep from Lord of the Rings but with a DnD twist with dragons and even a flying citadel. With a clear enemy from the start of the adventure, epic battles, and amazing aerial fights with dragons, Shadow of the Dragon Queen would look fantastic on the big screen.
Curse of Strahd is another DnD campaign that takes place in one isolated area with a clear and identifiable villain from the start. In the adventure, players find themselves lost in the mysterious land of Barovia at the mercy of the formidable Count Strahd von Zarovich. To escape, they must find a way to defeat Strahd or remain in Barovia forever.
Curse of Strahd is a wonderfully simple premise, and any side quests from the book could easily be cut for a movie adaptation. Instead of having to collect magic items or level up enough to take on Strahd, a movie could pace the adventure around the exploration of the Dungeons & Dragons land of Barovia. The real strength of Curse of Strahd is its atmosphere, and the adventure really leans into the gothic horror themes to create a setting filled with gloom and the perfect amount of claustrophobia.
Finally, Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus would make another epic movie for DnD fans. After the city of Elturel vanishes from the Material Plane, players must find a way into the first level of the Nine Hells to rescue its inhabitants and prevent the same thing from happening to Baldur’s Gate. Descent into Avernus is a campaign packed with quests for players, but for a movie adaptation, many of those could be lost in favor of focusing on the main plot of Elturel and Zariel.
DnD’s Descent into Avernus campaign works well for the same reasons as Shadow of the Dragon Queen and Curse of Strahd in that there is a clear goal and enemy. While the first chapter set in Baldur’s Gate could be significantly slimmed down as the action really starts to get going once the heroes arrive in the fallen Elturel. Descent into Avernus features some memorable characters such as Joe Manganiello’s Arkhan and Lulu, the cute flying hollyphant, and the backdrop of Avernus – the first level of the Hells – is a truly epic one that would look amazing translated into live action.
These D&D Campaigns Make Perfect TV Series
Adapting a story into a series is a completely different animal, as the episodic nature of the media allows for a more paced, careful exploration of the subject matter. Dungeons & Dragons official adventures better suited to a series would be those with larger overarching plots, perhaps with twists that reveal themselves over time rather than having obvious goals and enemies. Tomb of Annihilation and Out of the Abyss are great examples of this for vastly different reasons.
Tomb of Annihilation takes place in one area of Faerûn, specifically in Chult, a peninsula in the southwest of the continent. The story covers a lot of ground, but most of the side quests players can unlock link back to the main plot in some way and introduce lots of great characters. With Tomb of Annihilations‘ true main villain not fully revealed until the latter stages of the campaign, this slow-burn zombie Dungeons & Dragons adventure would make a fantastic series.
Out of the Abyss works better as a series as well. While the epic scale would work well for a movie, the number of demon lords and the drow politics would play out better over several episodes to help viewers get to grips with life in Menzoberranzan. The campaign has several great iconic Dungeons & Dragons locations for the Underdark, such as meeting Bruenor Battlehammer in Gauntlgrym and the strange library of Gravenhollow. Out of the Abyss could make a fantastic Dungeons & Dragons series with the fellow captives that the players start with in the drow prison getting a chance to shine as side characters fleshing out the world.
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