Dungeons & Dragons has become big business not just as a game but as an entertainment property featured in actual plays, video games, and stage plays. The latest way to experience the fantasy world without sitting around a table with some dice and a character sheet involves taking a trip to Plano, Texas to explore Dungeons & Dragons: The Immersive Quest.
“Our intent is to be really respectful of the tropes of D&D, but also to make it appealing to a broader audience,” Eric Brouillet, president of Vibrant, the experiential marketing company that created The Immersive Quest told Polygon in a Zoom interview. “It’s really an experience for the whole family.”
Visitors begin their quest by assembling a party, choosing whether to play a rogue, druid, fighter, or wizard. You don’t have to create a character sheet – the choice will just be logged on an RFID bracelet along with which of the three difficulty levels you want for your adventure. That bracelet will track the challenges you accomplish during your visit and log them as experience points you can redeem for discounts on merchandise at the Waterdeep Market after your adventure is over.
Once everyone has a character, they’ll step into the Yawning Portal, the Waterdeep inn that serves as a gateway to the notorious dungeon Undermountain. Costumed actors will present them with a quest to protect the city from the legendary red dragon Ashardalon, who has stolen a sentient magical gem.
The full experience is spread throughout six rooms. The largest is a dungeon with interactive stations where players will have different experiences based on what class they’re playing. For instance, the druid can pet the owlbear hanging out in the middle of the dungeon but the beast will just growl at the fighter. The difficulty comes into play with challenges like dodging a roper’s tentacles by playing a rhythm game similar to Dance Dance Revolution.
The adventure culminates with a battle against a dragon, which is depicted on a 30-foot projection screen. Players wave their arms to trigger the RFID to protect themselves from the dragon and attack it. The animation differs based on your class and whether the dragon is in melee or not. A warrior will raise their shield or attack with a sword or bow and arrow, while a wizard might cast a protection spell or Ray of Frost. The room also vibrates to represent Ashardalon flapping his wings.
Vibrant took inspiration from Harry Potter: The Exhibition, where visitors earn points for their house by competing challenges as they explore, and the live action D&D adventure True Dungeon. Dungeons & Dragons: The Immersive Quest launched in Toronto in 2024 before moving to Texas in October, where it will be until the end of January. Brouillet said they learned a lot from the initial experience and added elements they thought were missing like an adventure journal.
“At the end you’ll be able to walk away with your own character sheet with your stats that you can use in the game or not,” he said. “We can use your face and create a portrait of your character to make it very personalized.”
The entire experience takes about an hour to complete. After the quest is done, players will be welcomed as heroes at a gift shop where they can pick up custom apparel, dice, and figurines. There are opportunities to take a picture with an actor playing the iconic paladin Strongheart, and with Ashardalon, who is manacled and quite literally fuming about his defeat. The market also sells themed food and drinks like a Jell-O gelatinous cube and rice krispy treats shaped like intellect devourers.
While Dungeons & Dragons: The Immersive Quest is designed to be accessible for people without D&D experience, Brouillet is testing features for players. There’s a gaming room available for rent where you can get food and play D&D pinball, and Brouillet imagines it being used for D&D sessions or a Magic: The Gathering tournament as part of The Immersive Quest’s partnership with Wizards of the Coast. They’re also working on connecting the experience to D&D Beyond to try to bridge the gap between visiting and actually playing the game.
“Whether you play the game or not, it doesn’t matter,” Brouillet said. “We welcome you to this great universe.”
