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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[Mike Myler]

Dropping this here for the folks that missed it

 

[Parmandur]

They did escape. Maybe not televised, but the script was written, and complet d via old school radio voice acting, with some of the original voice actors.

That's good enough for me to consider "official"

Might not be canon in a new show.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm surprised that they aren't actually going to be making a new D&D cartoon (or at least, that they haven't announced that they're working on one). The old concept would still work well enough, there's tons of streaming services available so that they wouldn't be competing for time slots, and D&D is definitely popular enough.

I'll bet dollars to donuts that they are.

 

[ninjayeti]

We also have three licensed D&D Halloween Masks coming this fall: a beholder, a mind flayer, and Venger. The last is a pretty obscure reference if WotC is not planning on doing something related to the cartoon between now and October.

 

[Parmandur]

We also have three licensed D&D Halloween Masks coming this fall: a beholder, a mind flayer, and Venger. The last is a pretty obscure reference if WotC is not planning on doing something related to the cartoon between now and October.

Yeah, there has been a number of cartoon related merchandise items lately...early part of a push for a revival, perhaps?

 

[Dungeonosophy]

There was a D&D promotional comic, set in the Realms, that featured older versions of the kids from show. They are trapped in the Forgotten Realms! Or at least, they were pre-Spellplague.

Not that any of that matters . . . they escaped in my campaign!

Presumably they escaped from The Realm of the Dungeon Master, and eventually entered the Forgotten Realms.

Unlike Toril, the Realm has two moons (or was it suns?). Anyway, The Realm wouldn't be the same world as Toril.

 

[John R Davis]

It does make sense. In the cartoon the PCs killed nothing. That is the way of new modules.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

It does make sense. In the cartoon the PCs killed nothing. That is the way of new modules.

Personally I appreciate having more options given for how to resolve an encounter with enemies without fighting, which is still always an option seeing as most of D&D's rules are about fighting. Besides, Wild Beyond the Witchlight is pretty much the only one that has significant support for nonviolent options.

 

[beancounter]

That would be really cool if it is based on the 80's cartoon!

What the lady in the tweet said in the OP isn't entirely correct. Many years later, fans put an ending together where the kids escaped.

 

[J.Quondam]

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