Strange Things Season 5 Fans Are Spoiled for Choice with Fitting Dungeons and Dragons Options
The connection between Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons was established in the very first episode of Season 1, with the show opening with four friends around a table, battling a Demogorgon near the end of a long Dungeons and Dragons campaign.
Now, the popular Netflix series has released the first part of its final season, and the Dungeons and Dragons references were plenty as the characters prepared to face Vecna. Stranger Things fans waiting for the last few episodes to drop can pass the time by playing a Dungeons and Dragons game or two of their own, with there being plenty of connective tissue across an array of products.
Stranger Things Has a Long History With Dungeons and Dragons
Stranger Things has always thoroughly embraced 1980s culture and nostalgia, and Dungeons and Dragons is at the heart of it. All five seasons of the show have featured the game heavily, with connections including:
- Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will are shown playing Dungeons and Dragons in the first episode of Season 1 and again after Will’s return. They name the season’s antagonist the Demogorgon after a monster they faced in their campaign.
- Season 2’s antagonistic monster is named the Mind Flayer, another iconic Dungeons and Dragons creature, because of its ability to possess humans and lesser Upside Down creatures.
- In Season 3, the party’s lessening interest in Dungeons and Dragons upsets Will, who repeatedly tries to organize games. When he leaves Hawkins, he leaves his Dungeons and Dragons books to Lucas’s sister Erica.
- Season 4 sees the now high school-aged Mike and Dustin join the “Hellfire Club” to play Dungeons and Dragons with dungeon master Eddie Munson. They play a campaign called “The Cult of Vecna,” and later dub the season’s monstrous foe “Vecna” after the lich lord.
- No spoilers, but Season 5 continues this trend.
Stranger Things Fans Can Enjoy Official D&D Adventures
- The Stranger Things Dungeons and Dragons Starter Set
- Welcome to the Hellfire Club
The entire plot of Stranger Things may not be one giant Dungeons and Dragons adventure, but the characters’ adventures have become official Wizards of the Coast-published tie-ins. The Stranger Things Dungeons and Dragons Starter Set features the original campaign DMed by Mike in Season 1, while Welcome to the Hellfire Club includes adventures designed by Eddie for new club members. Both are excellent options for Stranger Things fans to explore Dungeons and Dragons, but are generally designed for newer TTRPG players.
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Official Dungeons and Dragons Gameplay |
Stranger Things Sets Gameplay |
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Characters can be fully customized and player-generated. |
It features pre-generated characters, with some options to switch out spells or items. |
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Characters can level up throughout, with 20 as the max level. |
Adventures are designed for low-level characters, with few or no leveling options (Level 3–4 in Starter Set, 1–3 in Welcome to the Hellfire Club). |
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A huge amount of monsters, spells, items, etc., to choose from, with dozens of published books. |
Generally designed for newer players, with a limited selection of monsters, spells, and items. Includes stats for fighting against the Stranger Things versions of the Demogorgon and Mind Flayer (but not Vecna) |
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A mix of linear and open-ended adventures, with many options for creating custom stories. |
Stories are generally linear, with some room for improvisation. |
While the Starter Set and Welcome to the Hellfire Club are great introductions for fans of the show who are Dungeons and Dragons beginners, they are just that: a starting point. Veteran Dungeons and Dragons players, or those who enjoyed the Hellfire Club adventures and want to experience more of what D&D has to offer, can create their own adventures or even spice up existing campaigns with Stranger Things flair.
Incorporating Stranger Things Into Dungeons and Dragons Campaigns
For those who want to move beyond Welcome to the Hellfire Club or are looking for something a bit more high-level or complex, there are plenty of ways to incorporate elements Stranger Things fans can enjoy into a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Here are just a few options:
Adding Stranger Things Into a Homebrew Campaign
- Bring a Stranger Things-style ‘flower-headed’ Demogorgon or many-legged Mind Flayer into the campaign as a monster for players to fight.
- Have players visit an alternate realm or dimension similar to the Upside Down. The dismal Shadowfell plane is a great option for this—alternatively, use the Vale of Shadows from Welcome to the Hellfire Club.
- Include an NPC inspired by a favorite Stranger Things character. DMs could use the character sheets featured in the Starter Set or Welcome to the Hellfire Club as a starting point for bringing in Will the Wise, Lady Applejack, and more.
- Have players solve a puzzle like ones seen in Stranger Things. For example, they could interpret a message delivered via flashing Christmas lights, like how Joyce and Will ‘spoke’ during the latter’s time in the Upside Down.
Best Official Adventures for Stranger Things Fans
Alternatively, there are several official Dungeons and Dragons campaigns that Stranger Things fans can check out while waiting for the rest of Season 5 to debut on Netflix. With Vecna shaping up to be the series’ final boss, Dungeons and Dragons players may want to face down the deadly lich themselves. The best option for doing so is Vecna: Eve of Ruin, a high-level adventure released in 2024. Eve of Ruin is an epic setting-spanning campaign that takes players from 10th to 20th level.
- Vecna: Eve of Ruin
- Curse of Strahd
- Candle Keep Mysteries
- Tomb of Annihilation
- Out of the Abyss
Curse of Strahd is another great option because it centers around the grim horror aesthetics that have been increasingly present in Stranger Things’ later seasons. Candlekeep Mysteries also features some shorter adventures that blend mystery and humor, which would be ideal for those Stranger Things fans who love reading and crafting theories. Tomb of Annihilation borrows heavily from classic adventures in earlier editions of D&D, potentially invoking the same 1980s nostalgia as Stranger Things. Finally, Out of the Abyss centers around players being trapped in a strange alternate world, perfect for anyone who’s ever wondered what being stuck in the Upside Down was really like.