LEGO Minifigures: Dungeons & Dragons

(See Tim's LEGO Reviews for my reviews of past LEGO Minifigures series.)

Ironically, Hasbro licensing the LEGO Group to produce "official" D&D-branded minifigures and sets coincided with my family and many of our gaming friends losing interest in D&D following the Open Game License 1.1 fiasco in January 2023. So I initially had very mixed feelings about the announcement of a D&D Minifigures series. However, the characters and parts chosen for this series, and a huge dose of nostalgia, persuaded me to collect a full set. 

This set of 12 includes a mix of four named characters from D&D lore (like Strahd and Tasha), one classic D&D monster (mind flayer), and seven characters defined by their race and class.  Most of these unnamed adventurers come with two double-faced heads--one male and one female (or at least presenting that way)--and each hero has been given a different skin tone as well. With WotC and other game publishers increasing their efforts to be more inclusive and representative, this is a very welcome addition to the Minifigures theme. (The LEGO Group has been making similar changes in other themes as well, most notably the Friends theme, which has always provided a wide variety of skin tones, and has recently introduced some characters--and even pets--with disabilities.) Very few of these characters disappoint on their level of detail, often incorporating two-color molding, printing on the sides of arms and legs, and distinctive accessories.

Aarakocra Ranger: Aarakocra* are avian humanoids who excel at aerial combat. Many are rangers, though somewhat surprisingly, this one has chosen a landbound companion, a small gray dog. This hero has the same digitigrade legs used for the Faun (Series 15) and Harpy (Series 25), in a new color and print. The head and wings are new molds; the wings are a single, fixed-position piece, but have a more natural curve than past options. I am not certain if the bow is a new mold (I think it is to my collection), but the tan color certainly is. 

* Aarokocra first appeared in the AD&D 1E Fiend Folio. For their 5E stats, see the Elemental Evil Player's Companion.

Dragonborn Paladin: The dragon head profile on this paladin's shield shows allegiance to Bahamut, the god of good dragons. They wear full plate (minus helm) with huge pauldrons. The torso is printed front and back underneath the cuirass, as well as on the sides of the arms and legs. The paladin's weapon is a mace with a large, translucent crystal head and a gold tassel on the shaft. The head is also a nice sculpt and print job, which has appeared in other themes (and, I believe, in the huge initial D&D set), but is in gold here for the first time.

Dwarf Barbarian: This is one of the five character with two double-sided heads; this one is brown, with an orange beard printed on the male head. (The heads alone are welcome additions to any collection, just for more diversity in available dark-skinned heads.) The dwarf wields a torch and a battleaxe that (AFAIK) is a new mold. A tan fur collar covers the shoulders of a torso printed front and back, and on the arms. The axe pendant (front) and hunting horn (back) are nice details.

The legs are the mid-length, jointed legs that debuted in Harry Potter sets a few years back. These, however, lack any printing at all, which has both pros and cons. They're kind of dull compared to the other legs in this series, but this leg length is still fairly uncommon, so having a unprinted set to use for other characters may be useful to some builders.

Elf Bard: This character's skin is a pale caramel, basically a shade yellower than the peachy-pink default for licensed "white" characters. (It's close enough that the elf-ears hairpiece could be used with either and not look bad.) Naturally, both heads come with a "singing" side. The costume consists of a raspberry scarf (and hands), a teal vest with white arms, and two-tone brown (dual injection) legs. Fittingly for a bard, the most detailed piece is their lute. 

Gith Warlock: The githzerai* and githyanki* are closely related races that dwell in Limbo and the Astral Plane, respectively. Long relegated to adversarial roles only, they became a playable race in 5E and are currently more popular than ever thanks to the latest Balder's Gate game. This one has the facial markings typical of both races (more pronounced on the "male" head), and the classic LEGO yellow is a decent match for gith skin tones. The hairpiece is black dreads or braids gathered into a topknot, and would work well with elves and similar races, too. For the warlock, the body is printed with an amulet, potion bottles, and pouches, and subtle black spirals on the dark blue base. The legs are dual-injected to give brown boots, which match the hands/gloves and spiky shoulder pads. The gith wields a unique dagger (that seems to evoke the gthyanki's distinctive swords in miniature) and a staff topped by a large eyeball.

* Githzerai and githyanki first appeared in the AD&D 1E Fiend Folio. For their 5E stats, see Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.

Halfling Druid: The druid's two heads are caramel-colored, and the male head sports the muttonchops common to many 5E halflings. The torso is printed front and back, but the legs (being short) are dual-injected but unprinted. The cape is dagged to resemble a leaf, and is reversible, with brown and green sides. The latter side matches the hood, which is a very nice piece, dual-injected with hard rubber tan antlers. The remaining accessories are a staff topped with a flower and leaves, and a small, dark tan sparrow.

The Lady of Pain: The mysterious Lady of Pain rules the many-portaled city of Sigil in the Planescape setting. Her robes are orange with printing on front and back, and she wears an orange cloth cape that is split into four streamers below the shoulders. She wears her distinct many-bladed helmet over a plain black minifigure head. She carries a cubic gate made from a 1x1 plate and a printed 1x1 tile, and levitates on a clear 2x2 cylinder brick. This minifig of my two least favorites in this series, mostly because I have never delved much into Planescape lore, and the parts could be challenging to use in another context. 

Mind Flayer: The mind flayer, or illithid, is one of the most classic of D&D monsters (and is, in fact, one of the ten monsters from the 3E Monster Manual that were never released as Open Game Content, as I discussed here). The pale purple, squid-like head is very nicely sculpted, and is set off well by the relatively simple body (black robes with printed shoulder plates on the torso and arms). It comes with an intellect devourer, a monster created by the illithids (and featured in the Honor Among Thieves movie). The 'devourer is designed to fit over the head of its minifigure victim, which is a lovely macabre touch.

Szass Tam: This lich is one of the rulers of the magocratic nation of Thay (which is not one of the regions of the Forgotten Realms setting that I know much about). His red robe is printed on front and back, and he wears a two-piece dark red cape. His head and hands are bone-colored , and the facial print includes some small details that elevate it above most LEGO skeletons. He makes a very distinctive lich enemy for any campaign, but I was underwhelmed by his accessories, which consist of a transparent orange flame projectile and a transparent red skull. The skull's classic LEGO skeleton face is printed in plain black, so is hard to see on the head.  

Strahd von Zarovich: Strahd is the most famous vampire in all of D&D, having been the signature villain of the Ravenloft setting ever since the debut of the module of the same name in AD&D 1E. His torso and legs are elaborately printed, including on the arms, and the legs are dual-injected to give him dark brown boots. His head has two faces: one with a smug smirk (well known to anyone whose character has met him) and one with fangs bared for killing. He holds a clear crystal goblet (for holding blood, of course) and a longsword (one of the longer knight's sword models). He comes with a large, red-eyed black rat.

Tasha the Witch Queen: Tasha (also known as Iggwilv) is the one witch who could ever rival her mother, Baba Yaga. This minifigure is clearly based on her portrait on the cover of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything--even to the windblown red hair. Her legs are dual-injected, and arms are printed with buckled straps like the ones on her torso. She comes with a cauldron with a transparent purple flame, and an arcane-looking book with a printed cover and a printed 1x2 tile for the page inside. 

Tiefling Sorcerer: The final adventurer provided with two heads, the tiefling has orange skin, which matches their tail. Black hair is tied into a bun behind brown horns. The torso is printed on front, back, and arms, and the legs are dual-injected to provide black boots. The sorcerer's accessories are an energy effect in transparent pink, almost certainly meant to be magic missile, and a small red dragon  The dragon would be perfect for small draconic familiars, such as a pseudodragon (though those have tail stingers, and this one does not), or for a wyrmling red dragon (though in 5E, those would be Medium-sized). 

The tiefling sorcerer is probably my favorite character for this series, for several reasons: 1. I'm fond of tieflings in general, so more variety is better; 2. The hairpiece lacks ears so can be used with just about any other LEGO head; 3. The magic missiles are simple but dramatic, and 4. The dragon is, simply, the best dragon LEGO has ever produced at this scale. My next favorites are the mind flayer and the dragonborn paladin, then probably the halfling druid (whose hood and cloak I already plan to steal for building existing player characters of my own).