It felt as if I was recreating that 'sickos' meme when my D&D party sauntered down a mysterious corridor in the latest book, Dragon Delves. A few moments later, I got what they wanted – our resident Paladin took a step forward, heard a strange click as the tile underfoot lowered, and saw a giant rolling pin pop out of the ceiling like a Jack in the box. This did its best impression of the boulder from Raiders of the Lost Ark and careened toward the group… only they were less successful than Indiana Jones. When the dust (well, flour) had settled, the group's Paladin was squashed flat. And I don't mean that metaphorically; he was quite literally flat. Upon getting up, he discovered that he'd been turned into a gingerbread man.
This bonkers creativity did more than give my party a hurdle we could all laugh about; it made me excited for a book I hadn't been too fussed about beforehand. Yes, Dragon Delves is the first major published adventure/s we've had since D&D got an overhaul last year. (I appreciate that Uni and the Hunt for the Lost Horn/Hold Back the Dead also launched over the last few months, but they were digital one-offs released for free on D&D Beyond, so aren't quite the same.) I'm always partial to oneshots as well, as evidenced by the fact I have some in our list of the best D&D books. But judging by the synopses that had been revealed in advance, I was worried some of its stories would be standard fantasy fare. I'm glad to be wrong.
