Magic: The Gathering Releases First Free Dungeons & Dragons Adventure

07/01/2021 10:51 am EDT

Wizards of the Coast has released the first chapter of a free Dungeons & Dragons adventure created to celebrate the release of an upcoming Magic: The Gathering set. "In Scarlet Flames" is a 14-page module designed for Dungeons & Dragons characters of 8th level that was posted as a free download on Magic: The Gathering's website. The adventure pushes players onto the trail of a pair of wizards seeking out arcane secrets in a barrow on the Sword Coast. During the adventure, players will meet a Red Wizard of Thay, delve into a mini-dungeon, and eventually face an elemental spirit destroying ancient secrets.

The new adventure replaces the usual short story chapters posted on Magic's home page that provide context (and free marketing) to upcoming card set releases. Although most Magic: The Gathering card sets have a story told throughout the artwork and flavor text of cards, the next set, "Adventure in the Forgotten Realms," is a crossover set that instead highlights the many monsters, characters, and spells of Dungeons & Dragons. Because of that, Wizards decided to release a five-part D&D adventure in lieu of its usual short stories.

Interestingly, Wizards of the Coast opted to make their free adventure suitable for relatively high-level adventurers instead of an adventure for beginners. Most official D&D adventures start at Level 1 and "In Scarlet Flames" begins at Level 8. Subsequent adventures will take the players to Level 10, which is typically where official D&D adventures cap their player characters. Likely this is to help showcase some of the magic and monsters featured in "Adventures in the Forgotten Realm," which includes dragons, beholders, giants, and other creatures that could easily crush low-level adventurers.

"Adventures in the Forgotten Realms" will be released next month. Pre-orders are live on Amazon now. More previews will be released daily, so keep a look out for our coverage on the best cards from this great new set.

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