Dragon Delves takes the dragons part ofDungeons & Dragonsliterally, giving players a deep dive into all things dragons. For veterans who know all about dragons, these adventures are a chance to dive into the dragons you’ve been encountering throughout your adventures. For newer players, it’s a chance to discover dragons, the differences between them, their personalities, and just why they’re so revered in the realm.
Dragon Delves runs players from level one to level 12, with each adventure featuring a different dragon. Of course, that means different types of adventures, and they’re not all going to be great. With ten adventures to choose from, we rank them to show which are the best.
Be warned, there are spoilers for every adventure in Dungeon Delves below.
2
Type
Gold Dragon
While Baker’s Doesn’t is an adorable level two adventure, it’s also unfortunately kind of boring. The plot is familiar enough that it ends up being not very intriguing. It’s reminiscent of some other published adventures, along with well-known fairy tales. On top of this, there isn’t much involvement with the gold dragon here for an adventure about dragons.
While you do get a good idea of the personality and motivations of gold dragons, Briochine, the gold dragon featured in this adventure, is Charmed for most of it and is an assistant baker for the other. This just ends up being a weaker adventure that does little to make gold dragons the center of attention.
10
Tyoe
Black Dragon
Black dragons are some of the cruelest creatures, so an adventure featuring one should reflect that. The adventure features pirates being goaded by a black dragon that the players will eventually need to deal with. You’ll get to roleplay the evils of a black dragon that doesn’t care for the pawns it uses, and your players get to tackle an Adult Black Dragon.
The adventure itself is, unfortunately, not very engaging. It’s easy enough to drop this adventure in any setting, but random pirates pillaging a village being controlled by a black dragon almost seems too small for the ambitions of such a creature and such a difficult fight. The adventure just falls flat in comparison to other options in the book.
12
Copper Dragon
A cool premise thatstarts with a riddleA Copper for a Song is a neat little adventure to play through. It’s not as in-depth as others, and the entire premise of a desolate land needing something to bring it back to life isn’t new at all, but the process of restoring the land is unique enough that most players will ignore the feeling that they’ve maybe done this adventure before.
You get to start with a riddle and a pretty cool handout, but afterward you’re back into regular dragon lair territory, this time with kobolds and a sequestered maestro. It is a great opportunity, however, to roleplay a new interaction with dragons, as the Adult Copper Dragon Nakari has adopted two green dragon wyrmlings she’s attempting to teach to be kind to others. It’s a welcome change from some of the more stereotypical dragon interactions.
7
Bronze Dragon
If you’re looking for an adventure where the dragon is a danger, this is a great place to start. Throw in a shipwreck, some small islands, and you’re able to create an atmosphere of tension using this adventure. You’re probably used to using a Kraken to sink ships, but imagine the devastation a vronze dragon can invoke on the party.
You won’t usually get adventures revolving around dragons that live and work underwater. It’s a great chance to try out some water combat, and with some tweaking of the story, potentially, you’ll have the opportunity to truly surprise the party and throw them off guard with what you may do with a powerful entity and the depths of the ocean in between the islands. Personally, I find the story lacking as much as the dragon’s motivations, but the setting and the options a DM can take from it are worth giving it a try.
11
White Dragon
When dragons and giants collide, you know you’re in for a good time. Players will face an oppressive heatwave that can only be stopped by a magical ritual. Of course, in D&D fashion, to complete the ritual, they will need the remains of a giant that can be found in the lair of a white dragon. They will have to deal with two fueding giant siblings as they delve into an icy cave.
You get to play with the environment and weather a lot in this adventure, depending on how you adjust it. While it seems like a simple dungeon crawl, going through Challidax’s lair means the players will have to deal with extreme cold, frigid water, and other environmental obstacles they might not usually interact with. If they’re lucky, they can even recruit some giant ally to help fight Challidax if necessary.
Blue Dragon
Get ready to fight an angry Ancient Blue Dragon (not an Adult Blue Dragon). Giving your players a dragon egg is always a good time, as just waiting for them to see how they handle the situation is part of the fun.
The adventure has everything they would want, including an epic boss fight in the end that they can weaken based on their choices throughout the adventure. What’s really fun is just how devastating you can make their failure, creating a high-stakes situation unlike any other in this book. It’s an intense good time with atough battle for your more expert-level playersto undertake when they’ve done everything else.
4
Silver Dragon
If you’re looking for a cool dungeon crawl adventure with a dragon running the shots in the background, you should run the Will of Orcus. This adventure showcases the machinations and good-aligned machinations of silver dragons, combined with a jaunt into a temple, zombies, cultists, and the opportunity to prove yourself to a dragon.
This adventure does a great job of capturing the attitude and lawful nature of a silver dragon using its intelligence to play chess against itself while destroying the plans of an evil cult from the inside. The Will of Orcus is a pretty strong adventure overall worth placing in your own campaign.
5
Brass Dragon
For Whome the Void Calls, it’s a pretty fun adventure with a unique angle and unexpected twist that’ll ensure your players have a psychedelic time. A sentient Bag of Holding telepathically crying out for help isn’t something you see every day. It’s one of the more whimsical stories, but it involves a great cast of characters and a dragon that can’t figure out what’s happening to its hoard.
You’ll get the typical dragon guarding its treasure hoard to roleplay through and some unique encounters with Modrons and a Githyanki, and potenitally a lot of treasure for your players. This one is however a bit harder to slot into certain adventures.
9
Red Dragon
My favorite part about this adventure is that it will test the morals of your party. Famously known for their raging tempers, red dragons are angry and dangerous. The basic premise is that an angry red dragon sets fire to the region, and the players have to decide how to handle it.
The stakes are high, and the consequences are higher. Combined with the difficulty of dealing with a red dragon and the consequences of how they choose to do it, this ended up being one of our favorite adventures. Your players will be left with a lot to consider, giving this adventure both danger and moral complications in the end. Definitely a must-play from the adventures available, especially for groups who will empathise with their final choice.
1
Green Dragon
This is a great adventure if you love intrigue and classic dragon angles. This adventure cements the sly and scheming nature of green dragons. It’s got everything for a perfect adventure. Quarreling elven families, a secret dragon wyrmling living under the village, and terrorizing it from the inside by corrupting the forest and making villagers go missing.
As a level one entry, it’s the perfect balance of what you’re looking for when introducing dragons to a campaign. The plot, cemented in classic D&D style, is well worth throwing into any campaign of yours. Change a few things around and adjust for level, and it’s a great plot to drop in your own campaigns as well. A good mystery, a thrilling conclusion, and an intriguing backstory, this adventure has everything you’d want in it and isperfect for starting out.
