What is a “D&D Experience” anyway?

Standing outside one of the massive sound stages at Universal Studio City, surrounded by fake foliage and buzzing production crew in bright yellow vests, Stephen Siercks, the Senior Director, Entertainment Production, Universal Studios Hollywood asks us not to take pictures. “This is an active worksite,” Siercks says before leading us into the building, around various rooms, and into a space decked out in wood panelling and featuring walls of Dungeons & Dragons art from across the last ten years. “Here’s where our guests will receive their quest.”

This is the media preview of the attractions that Universal Studios will be offering during their Fan Fest Nights — a spin off of their Horror Nights shows, where soundstages and black box theater setups are transformed into haunted houses. For three weeks, these spaces will instead play host to many different fandom experiences–events that are either miniature theater productions or specific parts of the park set aside for immersive transformation, such as bringing to life the fictional town of Hill Valley from Back to the Future, complete with characters and lightning strikes. One of these events will include the D&D inspired (and approved) “pulse program” titled “Dungeons & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep.”

Guests to “Dungeons & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep” will be asked to retrieve the Dragon Staff, which was stolen by a member of Xanathar’s thieves guild. Xanathar is a legendary beholder in Waterdeep, and one of the most famous modern D&D villains. Guests will be assigned classes and meet two adventurers — Throckary Heartsong and Evalina Kempflina — who will guide them through the next few rooms. After moving through an alley and then solving a puzzle that largely includes identifying the light-up runes on the wall, they’ll arrive at Xanathar’s hoard where the adventurer (not the guests) will seize the dragon staff.