Over the weekend, Wizards of the Coast (and powered by ReedPop) hosted MagicCon Chicago. If you’re unfamiliar with this event, MagicCon is a convention dedicated to the popular trading card game, Magic: The Gathering. Here, they hosted panels to deliver exciting news about upcoming releases for the game, casual play events, as well as play tournaments.

What makes this event more significant, however, is that this is the first MagicCon that featured Dungeons & Dragons as part of their program. I was lucky enough to get invited to attend this convention as a member of the Press, so I was able to experience this side of the convention for myself.

So what did it mean for MagicCon to include Dungeons & Dragons? What was that experience like as an attendee? And is this a convention you should go to as a Dungeons & Dragons player or enthusiast?

Want to watch a video version of this article? Then check out the YouTube video below!

“Featuring Dungeons & Dragons” At MagicCon

To reiterate – MagicCon is a convention specifically and (almost) exclusively for Magic: The Gathering. So to compare this to a convention like GenCon or Pax Unplugged would do it a disservice for both games. With that in mind, when you look at the event schedule that features Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), it had a surprisingly large presence for MagicCon.

Over the course of the weekend, there were numerous panels that were connected to D&D, such as a few actual plays and a couple of panels. One panel, Here Be Dragons, focused on dragons (shocker!) from both Magic: The Gathering and the newest Monster Manual from Dungeons & Dragons. Jess Lanzillo, the Vice President of Franchise and Product for Dungeons & Dragons, discussed the history and art of dragons in the game as well as their personalities. She also revealed the main and alternate covers for Dragon Delves, an adventure anthology book that will feature 10 dragons and 10 dungeons, set to release on July 8th. The main cover was illustrated by Greg Staples and the alternate cover was illustrated by Justine Jones.

Saturday evening, MagicCon hosted D&D Live – Baldur’s Gate: From Hags To Liches. This actual play featured Aabria Iyengar as the Dungeon Master and some of the cast members from the popular video game Baldur’s Gate 3: Neil Newbon (as Astarion), Samantha Beart (as Karlach), Theo Solomon (as Wyll), and Devora Wilde (as Lae’zel). As a fan of D&D and Baldur’s Gate 3, I was very excited to see this, especially with it being the first Actual Play I’ve ever seen live. It was nothing short of fantastic.

In addition to these panels and actual plays, attendees also had the option to play D&D in a number of ways.

The D&D Experience

When MagicCon said they were featuring Dungeons & Dragons, they weren’t saying that lightly. In addition to the programs, panels, and actual play events, attendees had the opportunity to play D&D as well. (It should be mention that with the release of the 2024 core rule books, all D&D games used this rule set). The main organizer for the D&D events, Baldman Games, hosted a “Learn To Play D&D” area on the main floor of the convention, allowing those in attendance to get a feel of what it’s like to play the popular tabletop roleplaying game. They also hosted a series of D&D plays that you could participate in: “Stormbreak: A Tarkir Adventure” was a single event for those wanting to play D&D in the upcoming Magic: The Gathering setting and deck series that will release in April; A MagicCon one-shot exclusive called “Thunder Over the Forsaken Isle” created and ran by Level Eater Adventures (not affiliated with Baldman Games); and multi-day sessions of the Legends of Greyhawk Adventures, which is the new convention campaign play being offered by the team of Dungeons & Dragons.

The Legends of Greyhawk Adventures premiered at this event, which is to help usher in the 50th anniversary of D&D as well as the 2024 Core Rule books. This will be its own series that will be powered by D&D Beyond (and is not considered to be part of the Adventurer’s League). They are also introducing new features with this style of play, such as the campaign being shaped by the actions and results of those who play at certain events and physical cards to show what you earned at your organized play event (such as a +1 weapon or Marks of Prestige).

The Legends of Greyhawk Adventures was the most prominent D&D offering over the weekend, with multiple, daily adventures that participants can play in. There were sessions that were open to anyone in attendance for a ticketed fee, as well as sessions that were exclusive for those who purchased the higher tier, Level 20 VIP badge. I paid for two games, The Village of Hommlet and Darkness in Nulb. These sessions were roughly 3 hours long. Baldman Games has a stellar reputation for their games, organization, and quality of Dungeon Masters (DM) and this weekend was no exception. None of us knew each other when we played at the table but by the end of that session, we all enjoyed our time together which is always a win. They also handed out prize cards that you can collect and spend at the Baldman Games shop outside the room, which range from dice sets to adventure books, and I was able to get a couple, so for spending $40 a game, playing two games, and getting two adventure books along with that – that was a really great deal for me.

By the way, here’s an interesting connection about the Legends of Greyhawk Adventures kicking off at MagicCon Chicago (thanks to this wonderful insight from the Baldman Games team): Greyhawk was the first official setting of D&D that was introduced by one of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons, Gary Gygax. He created this world for when he was playing the game with his children: they finished their quest in a dungeon and Gygax realized they’ll want to sell their treasures they just found. So he took a map of North America and traced over it to create his first world map, and placed the city of Greyhawk where Chicago was located (and where Gygax was born). So for the Legends of Greyhawk Adventures to kick off at MagicCon Chicago is a nice touch.

Is This A D&D Convention, And Is It Worth Going To?

As I stated at the beginning, this was MagicCon, a convention about Magic: The Gathering. But with the addition of Dungeons & Dragons this year to the convention, it definitely felt like it was branching out a bit more but making it connected to each other at the same time. It was definitely a great opportunity to release Legends of Greyhawk Adventures in Chicago as well as focusing on dragons with the release of Tarkir: Dragonstorm later this year. But I wouldn’t have called this a convention about D&D, and I think they advertised it correctly by saying it was “Featuring D&D” because that was definitely more of the vibe that it had.

Now it’ll be interesting to see if they do this again next year and in the future. I can see them either continuing this option for MagicCon since both Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons are both owned by Wizards of the Coast. I think there will be strengths and drawbacks for doing it this way.

Whether they decide to keep doing a “MagicCon featuring D&D” convention or expanding it out to be a convention that is equally both games, I think this could be a convention worth going to for different reasons. This was a good experience for me as someone who only went there for the D&D part of the convention and not for Magic: The Gathering and I enjoyed the D&D events they had and the fact that I got to play D&D in a less crowded venue like GenCon. If they did extend it be a convention that is both games equally, I think it’ll be worth checking out but it’ll definitely depend on how they execute it as well.

But for what it was, a convention that featured D&D, this was definitely well worth the time, money, and experience for me.