Dungeons & Dragons - Honor Among Thieves - Easter Eggs & References

If you've watched Stranger Things, you probably know the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons by name because you've seen some matches being played by the characters in the series.

You're also likely to have seen the first trailer for the movie "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves", which came full of clues about what we can expect to see on the big screen soon, all of them related to official modules edited by Wizards of the Coast.

Haven't watched the trailer yet? Check it out below!

We list here some clues, and we bring some explanations for people who don't know much about the game and its proper references to the D&D books:

Chris Pine: Class – Bard, Harper

Michel Rodriguez: Class - Barbarian

Justice Smith: half-elf, Class - Sorcerer

Sophia Lillis: tiefling, Class - Druid

Hugh Grant: New Lord of Neverwinter

Yes, the druid we see transform into an owlbear is a tiefling. But what the hell is this? The question was a kick in the neck: tieflings are individuals who have in their ancestry some relationship with the fiendish.

In this game, there are rules that allow the creation of characters that have direct influence from plans other than the material.

Before starting the complaints, tieflings can have the same skin colors as humans or different shades of red. What they all have in common are the horns and tail that refer to their proximity to the lower planes, according to the D&D Player's Handbook, p.42.

We explicitly had two organizations indicated by the trailer, being the Harpers and the Red Wizards of Thay.

The Harpers

The Harpers are an organization of mages and spies that oppose all sorts of abuse of power, whether magical or political (Dungeon Master's Handbook, p 21). Although dispersed throughout Faerûn (name of the continent where most of the adventures of the Forgotten Realms setting and the D&D movie take place), this is a decentralized organization and very active behind the scenes of some events present in various campaigns.

Considering that the symbol of this organization is present on a brooch worn by Chris Pine's character, I imagine that this organization has some importance in the plot, as the Red Wizards of Thay represent the opposite of what the Harpers stand for.

Red Wizards of Thay

Thay is a region far from where the movie will probably take place, and which lives under a dictatorship controlled by a group of Wizards.

In addition to being known for the abuse of magical power, the Thay government is known to D&D players for its expansionist stance and military use of mages, who are easily recognizable by their red robes, tattooed bodies, and shaving off their hair.

In the campaign “The Rise of Tiamat”, between pages 9 and 12 there is a brief presentation of these organizations. Another source of information is the digital supplement “Thay Land Of The Red Wizards” available on the DM's Guild website.

Possible spoiler below! If you still want to read it, click on the banner!

I believe that the mage in the image above is the character Valindra Shadowmantle, an important agent of Thay who was of great importance in the reconstruction of the city of Neverwinter(Neverwinter Campaign Setting, p. 104, 2011)}

The item she handles is probably one of Orcus' horns. Orcus is considered the demon lord of the undead, and his horn can suck people's life energy, turning them into zombies.

The whole thing gets complicated, as Valindra is a mage who is subordinate to the mage Szass Tam, a lich (immortal mage with the appearance of a zombie) who is part of the government of Thay ("Spellbound" novel, p. . 109) and makes use of an army of the undead in its operations (supplement: "The Grand History of the Realms. p. 154. ). This information may explain the evil that the heroes intend to fight in the movie

All the monsters I identified were:

- Owlbear;

- Mimic;

- Displacer Panther;

- Gelatinous Cube (poor of the supporting character who threw himself into it...);

- Black Dragon;

- Red Dragon.

By the way, all these monsters became cards on the Magic: the Gathering game recently.

And with honorable mention, the red dragon that looks like the dragon known as Themberchaud, who lives in the caves of Underdark (see more on this location below) in a realm of gray dwarves.

These dwarves began to have some political problems, while the negative influence of a certain Demogorgon began to manifest itself in a good part of the local population (campaign “Out of the Abyss, p. 55).

Underdark

Underdark is the name not of a kingdom, nor a city, but the entire set of tunnels and caves that exist throughout the underground of the Forgotten Realms scenario.

Home to many hostile creatures, this region is best known to D&D players for housing the drow elf city Menzoberranzan. For people who don't know much about D&D, drow are elves who cannot live in sunlight, and those who live in the city of Menzoberranzan are followers of the spider deity Lolth. The Out of the Abyss campaign has a lot of information about this region.

Sword Coast

The other locations relate to a region known as Sword Coast, a location explored by the vast majority of the most recent books published by Wizards of the Coast and by several video games, such as the Baldur's Gate series and Neverwinter Nights.

Revel's End

Revel's End is a prison shaped like a six-pointed star located in an icy region of the continent of Faerûn.

This prison is controlled by the "Lords' Alliance", a political organization that brings together important members of the cities of Neverwinter, Baldur's Gate, Waterdeep, Silverymoon, Mirabar, Daggerford, Yartar and the strong dwarf Hall of Mithrall. Political criminals and spies who do not have contacts that can ease their sentences after being caught in their activities are imprisoned here. This location was described in the campaign “Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden” p. 154-158.

Neverwinter

Neverwinter is a city that, despite being close to the Frozen Lands, has mild temperatures due to the activities of a dormant volcano that keep temperatures mild. This volcano was responsible for the partial destruction of the city, leading it to a recent reconstruction process. (Sword Coast Adventurers' Guide, p. 51-53).

But, going back to information that might relate the film to official D&D campaigns, underground structures and labyrinths are also present in this region. Even the largest of them can be accessed through an existing tavern in Waterdeep and was described by the campaign “Waterdeep: Dungeon of Mad Mage”.

Waterdeep

*Waterdeep, finally, is the most cosmopolitan and wealthiest city shown in the trailer. If you don't find something you want in the commerce of this city, you will hardly find any merchant in possession of what you are looking for. (Sword Coast Adventurers' Guide, p 55 – 57).

If in economic terms the city is quite stable, its politics are quite the opposite: an attack on the rulers was described in the novel “Death Masks” written by Ed Greenwood. After this occurrence, the government of the city was reformed and, due to idle vacancies, it stoked the greed of those who would like to buy a vacancy as lord of this city. A detailed description of this location (including illegal factions and organizations) is featured in the “Waterdeep: Dragon Heist” campaign.

If you have found any unexplored references in this text, just leave a comment below. Do you have any theories about the film's plot? Are you betting there will be a tribute to the characters of the "Dungeon & Dragons" TV Show? Comment too!

Thank you for reading, and I ask you to share this text with your friends. Until the next time!