One of the most iconic characters from last season Stranger Things certainly Eddie Munsonexiled leaderHellfire Club – club of Dungeons & Dragons from Hawkins High School – who has been nurturing the boys, especially Dustin whom he sees as his successor in the role of guide and master of the group of young role players. Small warning: the following paragraphs may contain some spoilers about events that occurred during the fourth season of the hit Netflix series.
Stranger Things: Welcome to the Hellfire Club it’s a boxed set Dungeons & Dragonswhich arrived on the market (currently only in English) during the month of October, presenting itself as an adventure pack (4) written and prepared by the club’s historic master for his players, and left as a legacy to young Dustin so that the latter could continue the narrative and adventures after Eddie passed – something that those who have seen the series already knew could not happen after the heroic sacrifice of the leader of the Hellfire Club.
The box comes with an introductory manual for the game inside, four adventures which can be played sequentially – one for level 1, one for level 2 and two for level 3 -, two double-sided dungeon maps, one screen for master15 character cards (one card per level for each of the 5 characters played by the Hawkins boys playing in the series), a set of 11 dice, 36 magic cards – where spells are explained -, 30 monster cards, 16 cards for magic items – which explain how they work -, 72 tokens to place monsters and characters on the map and a sheet of paper to keep track of battles, as well as several posters and information sheets to make the gaming experience more immersive.
Pre-printed cards with character illustrations
What players can encounter, guided by a master, is a series of true Dungeon & Dragons adventures, based on the latest regulations in 2024 fifth edition, set around a fictional city Greyhawkin -recalling a bit of Greyhawk, the setting of the present-day role-playing game by Wizards of the Coast of the 70s-80s- and in “reverse”, not only dealing with more traditional monsters but also some that come from television series such as DemodogThat Demogorgon spawn and it Demodrago (The real D&D Demogorgon is different from the enemy in the TV series). To add a little “flavor”, various fake “post-its” and notes around the manual, which act as support to the master, as if they were advice left behind by Eddie Munson to help Dustin in his new role as Master.
As anticipated in one of the previous paragraphs, the adventure will lead the character to grow from the first level to the fourth, gradually facing challenges. missions that can be completed in one or two sessionswhich can be handled by both expert players and novice players (in this case, however, a master with a little experience will be useful), who in any case will see in some situations the risk of death is higherto remember that game old school where the character’s death is always in sight.
We already had the opportunity to try the first one with a group of beginners, the maps and materials available help to engage playersand “Eddie’s” advice in our opinion helps the master, especially if he is not a veteran, to manage several phases of the game and support the players with useful advice when necessary; The player’s card is completed properlyprinted on thick paper, but for playing we chose to photocopy it so that it would not be damaged if later we were to propose an adventure to another group, perhaps A link to download it in PDF format would be useful printer friendly.
Dungeon & Dragons – Stranger Things: Welcome to the Hellfire Club is certainly an interesting box set for fans of Stranger Things, with its excellent artwork, who thanks to the TV series have come close to role-playing games, or those who are already experts looking for an adventure that takes them to the world where children played in the series (even if only for a few moments). List price at launch is €59.99 for the physical version (but online it is available at a cheaper price), it is also available for €19.99 in its second digital version on D&D Beyond – the game’s official online service – both on major online role-playing gaming platforms such as Roll20.
