D&D 5E Is Dragons of Stormwreck Isle Based on the 80s D&D Cartoon?

We've known about the new starter set for D&D, Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, for some time, but we've known precious little about the boxed set.

The folks over at comic book.com have a theory, though -- they posit that the adventure is based on the 1980s Dungeons & Dragon cartoon. Looking closely at the cover art (which is very blurry) it looks a lot like Hank the ranger with his energy bow, and Diana the acrobat leaping over the dragon's lightning breath, while the one piece of interior art we can see features somebody with a glowing shield -- the signature magic item of Eric the cavalier in the cartoon.

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But that's not the only clue! WotC has been teasing the cartoon in various social media posts over the last couple of weeks, as has D&D Beyond.

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The cartoon ran in the 1980s and featured a group of children who found themselves in the magic world of Dungeons & Dragons, and were granted magical items by the mysterious Dungeon Master. Those children became Hank the ranger, Eric the cavalier, Diana the acrobat, Presto the magician, Shelia the thief, and Bobby the barbarian. The show also featured Uni the unicorn, plus the Dungeon Master, the villain Venger, and, of course Tiamat the 5-headed dragon.

A couple of years ago, a Brazilian car commercial featured a live action version of the D&D cartoon heroes.

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[Lidgar]

Cavalier is a subclass of Fighter from Xanthar's.

Acrobat could be a Monk or a Rogue with the Entertainer background.

Acrobat could also be a Bard subclass. More likely a monk, but a Bard would be more versatile and offer healing.

 

[J.Quondam]

Lots of speculation how classes might work in a set based on the cartoon, but... I'm also curious if/how they would pull in other PC races, since all the canonical characters are human, as far as I can recall. Were there any significant "NPCs" that were other races?

 

[Lidgar]

I'm more curious about why these dragons are from an island where rough weather comes on a sandwich bun; why else would the place be called "Stormweck Isle"?

Maybe it’s referring to a storm of Wide Eyed Cartoon Kids?

I’ll see myself out now…

 

[Oofta]

Oh! Hopefully it will include "The Quest for Venger's Other Horn."

Maybe. On the other hand we don't know where Uni came from and we should leave open the option for Venger to declare at a critical moment "Uni, I am your father". Talk about shocking plot twist!

 

[Dire Bare]

Lots of speculation how classes might work in a set based on the cartoon, but... I'm also curious if/how they would pull in other PC races, since all the canonical characters are human, as far as I can recall. Were there any significant "NPCs" that were other races?

Its been so long since I've seen the show, but I don't remember the kids meeting any dwarves, elves, halflings, or gnomes. They did meet some care bears though . . .

 

[Dire Bare]

Acrobat could also be a Bard subclass. More likely a monk, but a Bard would be more versatile and offer healing.

In AD&D 1E, there was a thief-acrobat class, which is where the "acrobat" Diana in the show riffs from. Although she is portrayed more similarly like a monk-acrobat . . .

 

[Parmandur]

Lots of speculation how classes might work in a set based on the cartoon, but... I'm also curious if/how they would pull in other PC races, since all the canonical characters are human, as far as I can recall. Were there any significant "NPCs" that were other races?

Its been so long since I've seen the show, but I don't remember the kids meeting any dwarves, elves, halflings, or gnomes. They did meet some care bears though . . .

Gygax worked directly on the show, and he preferred Humans-only in general.

 

[Lidgar]

In AD&D 1E, there was a thief-acrobat class, which is where the "acrobat" Diana in the show riffs from. Although she is portrayed more similarly like a monk-acrobat . . .

Yep, I remember, from UA. Just speculating how an acrobat class would be introduced in 5e parlance.

 

[Parmandur]

Yep, I remember, from UA. Just speculating how an acrobat class would be introduced in 5e parlance.

Mearls spun out an Acrobat Rogue Subclass on air for his Happy Fun Hour a few years back. Basically Rogue, but who got free short range flight and mobility abilities that allowed for Sneak Attack. Dunno if that will ever go anywhere:

Acrobat (Rogue)

The following material was created by Dungeons & Dragons Franchise Creative Director Mike Mearls for his stream Happy Fun Hour, which you can watch live at Twitch.tv/DnD on Tuesdays at 4:00 EST…

thinkdm.org

 

[Jacqual]

Be a quite twist. Especially since the move is in the Forgotten Realms, and we've seen one actress has horns, among other differences.

Please remember Presto stayed behind to learn magic, and a D&D comic book had him in an issue living in Waterdeep