Dillon’s birthday is coming up soon, and since he will be joining a new school in September (and his birthday is in October), I am planning on having a big birthday party so that we can get to know all his new classmates. It will also be a good opportunity for Paul and I to meet the parents. Thankfully, we are lucky to have a big garden, and October should still have nice weather.

Although, last year’s party will be a tough act to follow as I went all out with a Dungeons and Dragons interactive birthday party. My boys had been obsessively playing D&D for a couple of years, “infecting” as many kids as they came across with the D&D bug. Even though Dillon was quite young when they started playing, he was completely hooked, helped by the fact that my eldest, Elliot, is such a good storyteller!

The only problem is that you can’t play a game of D&D with over 20 kids, so I thought, “How about making it interactive so that even the little ones can join in an adventure?”
With Elliot’s help, as I am not too familiar with the ins and outs of how to play it or what it entails; we came up with an interactive story that even the little ones could partake in.

So, if you are planning a Dungeons and Dragon birthday party and would like some inspiration (you can also find a free bunting download here), read on. It came out pretty good, and all the kids, big and small, had a fabulous time. But you can judge from the (very few) pictures we took… as I was far too busy adventuring with them!

I started by sending a very captivating invite. Where I wrote something along these lines (the invite was obviously in Italian)

“Hear hear adventurers,

Queen Laria needs your help!
The evil Salem Shadowsoul has stolen something very precious, without which she will not be able to celebrate Dillon’s birthday. Therefore, she is asking you to join in her quest to defeat Salem on

October the 15th, 2023, from 15:00 in Belvedere

All the heroes and heroines will have their thirst quenched and their hunger sated, and they will receive a bountiful reward at the end of the adventure.

– Laria”

Many of the kids invited had no idea what D&D was, so to make things easier, I created a whole load of character cards, with made up names and some basic info on their skills, race, etc. I sealed them inside envelopes so they each randomly picked one at the beginning of the game. That was their avatar for the adventure. I kept the males and females’ characters separate so that it would be easy for me to know from which pile they could pick.
It was so fun to watch them compare their cards, swap them among themselves, and be excited about who they had suddenly become.

Once they all had their cards and they knew their race and their skills/magic, we started the adventure.

Please bear in mind that it was all make-believe, and my son Elliot and I narrated the story as we went along. We did have some very basic props, and we also had the help of a few guests who were impersonating a few characters, but these were optional. When they turned up at the party, we just asked them if they could say a couple of lines when it was their turn

Anyway, here is the story:

I gathered them all around me (I was impersonating Queen Laria, of course!!) and told them: “As you all know, the evil Salem Shadowsoul stole something very precious from me a few weeks ago. I confronted him, but he still got away. The only clue I have is this piece of cloth from his cloak, which I ripped off whilst we were fighting.”
I then passed the piece of fabric on to Dillon and the kids, for them to inspect. On this piece, they found a label with a name stitched on it, which they guessed was the name of the tailor who had made the cloak. So, they went around the guests and found the tailor (one of Elliot’s friends who was very happy to play a part in the game, and the name on the label was the anagram of his name).

He then told them: “Yes, I do remember this cloak. A gentleman came into my shop and bought it only a few weeks ago. He must have come from the north as he wore thick clothing and boots that only people from the colder regions wear. He wanted something lighter and more appropriate for the temperature in this part of the realm. If you want my opinion, you should go north; he must have gone back home,” so they all set to find “the north”. However, on their journey (helped by Elliot), they came across a river that was way too wide and deep with a strong current, so they could not cross it. Elliot said he knew a fairy lived nearby and suggested they ask for her help.
The fairy was very happy to help; however, she needed something in exchange. They had to go and find all the precious stones she had somehow lost around the pond. They needed 10, so they hunted for them and brought them all back to her.
The fairy told them the only way to cross the river was to use the hidden dungeon that extended from this side of the river to the other side, but that it was very dark and there were no torches available. Elliot suggested they all check their character card to see who had night vision; then he told them they could pair up with one other who couldn’t see in the dark to guide them through the dungeon. The fairy also told them that once on the other side, they should go and ask the witch for help, as she would be able to address them on where to find Salem’s lair.

So, one couple at a time, the one that could not see in the dark, was blindfolded, and we set, randomly in front of them, a path made out of cardboard pieces wide enough for them to walk on. Then the person with night vision, would guide the partner from the beginning to the end, without holding onto them, but just talking them through with instructions such as “one step forward, one left, and so on”. We then rearranged the path differently for every player so they could not memorise it. They all made it through. It was so much fun that even the kids with night vision wanted to have a go, so we spent way more time playing this than I was expecting. But the whole point was to make it fun, so I considered it to be a great achievement for me.

Once they got across, they went to find the witch (my sister), who agreed only to help if they could correctly identify five objects she would show them. All together, they managed to name them all. We chose the following things that we already had in the house: a couple of gemstones, a bunch of herbs, the molt of a snake (I had found it by our pond a few weeks earlier and kept it to show the kids) and a wasp hive (again, found in the allotment)

After they named all the objects, she gave them a scroll with a message written in Elvish (I used this font I found online to write the message ) …. They had to check their character’s cards to see who could speak Elvish, and then they worked together on deciphering the message with a decoder I gave them. The message read: “The path that leads to Salmon’s castle is signposted by pine cones.”. At that point, they all scrambled outside, and as they found a pine cone outside the garage where we were just gathered (or I should say the witch’s lair!), they proceeded to follow all the other pine cones we had left for them up the hill and back down around the house.

When they got to the last pine cone, Elliot was waiting for them with another clue. They had got to the castle, which was surrounded by a moat. The bridge was broken in bits, so they had to go on the hunt and find all the scattered pieces, following the clues behind the one piece Elliot had in his hands. That was the beginning of a treasure hunt, which kept them busy for a good 15-20 minutes. Once they had all the pieces, they could put the bridge back together and cross it to the castle.

However, this was not the end, as they were confronted with the beholder! I had made a pinata shaped like the monster, and before they could find the last clue hidden inside, together with all the usual sweets and presents, they had to bash him hard. They all had several goes (I had not realised how thick and sturdy I had made him!!), and after scavenging for all the sweets, they had the last clue: to go to the darkest room in our house (the pantry).

There, they found Shadowsoul (who was Elliot all along). They all pretended to slay him, and then they recovered the precious thing he had stolen from me, which was….. Dillon’s birthday cake!

In the end, as a reward, I had a chest full of Dungeons and Dragons dice and some homemade D&D bookmarks plus, of course, food and drinks!

Honestly, this was one of the best birthday parties I have ever organised. I absolutely enjoyed thinking it up with Elliot and making all the props, even though they were pretty basic.

I hope you enjoyed reading it and that it has inspired you to organise your own Dungeons and Dragons birthday party. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below.