Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieveshas hit cinemas and impressedD&Dfans while also making some new fans out of the large movie-going audience that has never played the game before. There is every chance that Dungeon Masters out there will be looking toHonor Among Thievesfor inspiration.
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If any DMs are trying to add elements fromHonor Among Thievesinto their current or next campaign, there are some elements that will work better than others. Many elements of the movie are already established inD&Dlore, but others are new takes on old ideas.
6A Prison Break
For any dungeon master looking to have a well-built story session, the opening act ofHonor Among Thievespresents agreat idea for a change of pacein a campaign. When Edgin and Holga are sent to prison, they were placed in the same plight that many chaoticD&Dcharacters have found themselves in.
The hilarious scene where they escape prison unlawfully despite having successfully petitioned for their early release is indicative of the kind of chaosD&Dplayers will engage in for no real reason. This whole sequence is both filled with great ideas for how a stretch in prison can shake up a campaign from a DM perspective and the horror of how terribly wrong it will probably go in the hands of most normal sets ofD&Dplayers.
5A Show-Stealing NPC
One of the most hilariously fun parts ofHonor Among Thieveswas the Paladin Xenk Yendar, played by Rege Jean-Page. While he appeared for a significant stretch of the film, he was clearly an NPC taken too far. Any DM who has had to play through multiple sessions of a campaign as an NPC and realizes they are beginning to overbear has been through the same plight as Xenk.
DMs are meant to guide players through the world independently, not with physical manifestations that become part of the party. However, in Xenk’s case, he guided the party through a part of their journey and did literally everything for them for a long time. He then, even more comically, disappeared by walking in a dead-straight line for no reason. Adding an NPC that overbears on the party until they rebel against them is a brilliant idea for any DM to pick up on.
4Gladiatorial Arenas
A great way to up the ante of a campaign in a slightly similar way to sending players to a prison-like Revel’s End is to have them forced to enter gladiatorial games. The High Sun Games inHonor Among Thievesprovided an exciting sequence filled withD&Delements like the gelatinous cube and the displacer beast.
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Setting up games similar to these, or a test where players are thrown into a labyrinth, is a great idea for a fun side quest session in any campaign. The idea of fun NPCs in the form of other teams, similar toHonor Among Thieves’best cameo appearance, makes this an even more intriguing idea for a session.
3The Tablet of Reawakening
MostD&Dcharacters have some sort of backstory, and often, they seem to involve tragedy. The same goes for Chris Pine’s character inHonor Among Thieves. Edgin Darvis lost his wife and was left to raise his child alone. The only thing that could entice him to leave his child was the idea of bringing her mother back to her.
A DM could throw a real spanner into the works of any party by introducing the potential for someone from the past of one of the characters to be brought back. Alternatively, it could be chaotic for the party and pit them against each other as multiple members might have their own ideas for the use ofsuch an impressive magical object. There are many possibilities with a one-usage item such as this. An enemy from the party’s past could even be in danger of return via such an item, prompting a race against time for the party to find it before it falls into the wrong hands.
2A Civil War
While the events ofHonor Among Thievesaren’t exactly a Civil War, there is a lot of shifting allegiances with Forge’s takeover of Neverwinter andthe way the Emerald Enclaveis being oppressed by Neverwinter. All of this made for great potential plots for any party to fall into, and a DM that introduces these sorts of conflicts and gives their players the chance to pick a side will make it feel like their players reallyhave a world of opportunities before them.
Having a general plan for the party, whether they choose to help either side or remain neutral, makes for a fantastically intriguing premise. The DM will be able to enjoy watching their players' decisions play out as much as the players will in this sort of scenario.
1The Graveyard Scene
One of the very best scenes inHonor Among Thievesinvolves a typicalD&Dsort of side quest. When Edgin and his party attempt to revive some of Holga’s ancestorsto find the Helm of Disjunction, they have a few struggles with asking their limited five questions per corpse.
This hilarious scene will fill DMs with great ideas for sending their party on side quests with annoyingly specific instructions. The graveyard scene was one of the most perfect examples of how a party ofD&Dplayers can waste an entire session on an almost meaningless quick side quest.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieveswas released on March 31st, 2023.
