Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves managed to both impress longtime tabletop players and charm new fans with its faithful depictions of iconic Dungeons & Dragons locales, and the sequel could feature even cooler settings. Set in the land of Faerun, from the most well-known campaign setting, the Forgotten Realms, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves took viewers on a tour of standout areas many RPG enjoyers may recognize from their own campaigns. From the unforgiving Icewind Dale to the mysterious Underdark and the intriguing urban sprawl of the city of Neverwinter, the film really nailed the set design and imagination required to bring these exotic areas to life.
But the Forgotten Realms have a long history, going all the way back to 1987. With so many years of rich lore being piled up over the years, the planet of Toril has no shortage of classic destinations for Edgin Darvis and his merry band of misfits to tear through in a possible Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves sequel. The great thing about the open ending of the film is that the possibilities for a follow-up adventure are wide open, and could take the thieves in a staggering variety of different directions.
10 Baldur’s Gate
Mentioned by name in the film, Baldur’s Gate just may be the most iconic city in the entire setting of Forgotten Realms. Sitting along the Sword Coast, the Western coast of the continent of Faerun upon which most of the major cities of the setting lie, Baldur’s Gate is famous for its eponymous gate, a massive arch acting as an important checkpoint for commerce along the Sword Coast. For all the security and stability offered by Baldur’s Gate in the otherwise chaotic land of Faerun, it is a city of political intrigue, schemes, and subterfuge, all of which would lend excellently to a possible Honor Among Thieves 2.
The proximity of Baldur’s Gate to the city of Neverwinter seen in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves makes it a very likely candidate to appear on-screen in a sequel. In addition to that, the recent success of Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3, which takes place in the area, means the city is fresh in the pop-culture zeitgeist. The inclusion of the iconic city in a sequel would be a no-brainer.
9 Waterdeep
Another glimmering city on the Sword Coast, Waterdeep is another sprawling urban labyrinth that Edgin and his crew could easily get lost in. The setting of many officially published campaigns for Dungeons and Dragons over the years, Waterdeep is a medieval metropolis steeped in mystery. One of the most powerful cities of the Lord’s Alliance, an official union of the mercantile cities of the Sword Coast like Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter, Waterdeep is known for attracting artisans, musicians, painters, and scholars from all over the Forgotten Realms.
For all its Slpendor, Waterdeep is also a city steeped in mystery. The clandestine existence of a massive underground dungeon, known as the Undermountain, is an open secret, drawing adventurers near and far. Dark criminal elements pull strings from the shadows of the city, not the least terrifying of which is a secret network of spies, thieves, and assassins led by a maniacal Beholder known as the Xanathar. As one of the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons’ signature monsters, Beholders are monstrous floating cyclopean heads teeming with stalks holding yet more eyes, all of which have a variety of magical attacks.
8 Candlekeep
Moving further along the Sword Coast, the glimmering bastion of knowledge that is Candlekeep is a stoic location that has stood the test of time. Described as a half library, half fortress, Candlekeep is a sprawling archive of tomes, scrolls, and esoteric knowledge of all kinds, functioning as a sort of library of Alexandria for Faerun. It’s no surprise that the keep attracts magic users from far and wide, filled with arcane secrets just waiting to be discovered.
As a suppository of knowledge, Candlekeep is ripe to be explored by the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves characters. Perhaps Simon Aumar would stage an expedition there in hopes of improving his sorcery; More likely, however, the crew would need to steal a MacGuffin from deep within the enchanted halls of the fortress of knowledge. Whatever the use case, Candlekeep is a prime opportunity to see the film’s lovable anti-heroes stumble through a pristine hall of magic with all the grace and subtlety of the average Dungeons and Dragons party.
7 The Moonshale Isles
Moving further West from the Sword Coast, The Moonshale Isles are an archipelago that sits in the Sea of Swords. Inspired by Celtic mythology, the Moonshale Isles are an insular land, making it a good location for a fish-out-of-water story. The history of the Isles prominently features two populations, the peaceful but hardy Ffolk and the warlike Northlanders. The Viking-like Northlanders had a long history of pillaging the Ffolk, the wars and eventual treaties of the two cultures form the bulk of the Moonshale Isles’s historical significance.
Aside from its human population, the Moonshale Isles feature ravaging giants, lycanthropes, and cults, all dangers that would be welcome on-screen in a sequel to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Additionally, the Isles’ connection to Druids and worship of Chanutea, a goddess of nature and agriculture within the setting, could make it a great place to develop Doric’s character, being a druid herself. In any case, The Moonshale Isles are a classic setting ripe with story possibilities for adventurers to find themselves in.
6 Stormwreck Isle
Another island off the Sword Coast, Stormwreck Isle is a volcanic island that earns its intimidating name. So named after the many shipwrecks that dashed themselves across the island’s dangerous shores, Stormwreck Isle is a dramatic landscape of cliffs, hot springs, and volcanoes. The perfect natural habitat for dragons, the island itself was formed when a great Red Dragon, Sharruth, was buried beneath the sea floor.
A live-action adaptation of Stormwreck Isle would be great at putting the dragon in Dungeons and Dragons, and audiences could see how much Edgin and his crew have learned since their last encounter with one. As the setting of the 5th edition’s most recent starter kit, the burning cliffs of Stormwreck Isle have a good chance of being familiar to the widest range of newer players. Some of these players may have only even gotten into Dungeons and Dragons thanks to the first movie’s influence, meaning the opportunity for those audiences to have the first thing they saw in the sequel be a place they’ve just explored is too good to ignore.
5 Phandalin
When it comes to being a landing zone for new players, few places can claim to have heralded fresh blood to the scene quite like Phandalin. The setting of the 5th edition’s first starter kit, Phandalin was the setting of The Lost Mines of Phandelver, an accessible starter adventure for Dungeons and Dragons‘ most accessible edition yet. Paramount would be hard-pressed to find a fan who didn’t have at least a passing knowledge of Phandalin.
On the surface, Phandalin is a sleepy mining town, a much more constrained location than the sweeping epic locations featured in the first film. But beneath the worn-down town lies an abandoned mine, hoards of untold treasure, and a cutthroat gang of bandits. Phandalin is a great example of how even the most innocuous of small villages in the Forgotten Realms setting can hold fantastic adventures within them and makes a great starting point for a campaign or a film.
4 Menzoberranzan
Deeper beneath the earth than even the mines of Phandalin, the sprawling city of Menzoberranzan is a hive of evil. Located within the Underdark, a vast cave network running underground as a parallel world to the surface of Toril, Menzoberranzan is the capital city of the evil Drow. In Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the adventuring party got a brief taste of the Underdark, barely escaping with their lives. Escalating them to the most powerful city beneath the surface would only be a natural progression.
The Drow who run the city are a race of largely evil Dark Elves, sensitive to sunlight. Worshiping strange spider gods, the Drow city would be a visual spectacle and could act as a showcase for the bizarre creatures, customs, and factions of the Underdark that the first film had time to explore. It’s also the home city of Drizzt Do’Urden, one of the most famous characters to ever come out of the Forgotten Realms. Considering the iconic ranger was almost featured in the film, Menzoberranzan would be a great place to introduce him formally to wider audiences.
3 Chult
A far more exotic location, Chult eschews the typical castles, villages, and mountains of Western fantasy in exchange for dense jungles and crumbling temple ruins. An entirely different continent than Faerun, Chult is an ancient land known for its flora and fauna, not the least notable of which being its population of dinosaurs. Chult could be a breath of fresh air for audiences that may be sick of the same fantasy locales.
A largely unexplored region, Chult was the setting of Tomb of Annihilation, a 5th edition adventure that was designed as a spiritual successor to Tomb of Horrors, an infamously unforgiving and deadly module written by Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons and Dragons. The downright evil dangers of Chult include vicious traps, hulking undead monsters, and disease-infested swamps. A trip to Chult would certainly put Edgin and his crew at their limits, putting them up against some of the most feared puzzles and traps in the history of the game.
2 The City of Brass
Far beyond being underground or even on another continent, the City of Brass lies on another plane of existence entirely, separate from the material realm. Located in the burning Elemental Plane of Fire, The City of Brass is one of Dungeons and Dragons most famous extra-planar locations, frequently referenced in a wide range of official materials. A floating city that glides among the hottest fields of the Plane of Fire, the City of Brass is one of the oldest cities in the entire Forgotten Realms setting.
One of the most visually spectacular places a sequel to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves could visit, the City of Brass has actually been a consistent feature of multiple Dungeons and Dragons settings, making it a staple of the franchise. Ruled by a sultanate with an iron fist, navigating the intense world of the city on top of the pressure of being visitors from another plane would be a spectacle hard to pass up on. The home city of the Efreet, genie-like fire elementals, would make for an unforgettable journey for Edgin’s party.
1 Barovia
Residing in its own pocket reality, the dreary land of Barovia is kept enshrouded in a permanent fog by the vampiric Baron Strahd von Zarovich, as much of a ruler of the land as he is a prisoner of it. The gothic landscape of the valley of Barovia was lifted out of the material plane and into the Domains of Dread as a consequence of Strahd’s deal with the self-explanatory Dark Powers. The towering Castle Ravenloft sits on the tallest peak of the valley, from which the Baron keeps a watchful eye over the miserable human occupants of his sunless land.
Originally featured in 1983’s Ravenloft supplement, re-created for modern audiences in the 5th edition in 2016’s Curse of Strahd campaign book, Barovia is one of the most iconic settings in Dungeons and Dragons as a whole. Both books are regarded as being some of the best campaign materials out there, the highly recommended Curse of Strahd is a familiar sight to new and old players alike. The gothic horror of Barovia would be pure fanservice to adapt into a live-action film, and simply putting the cast of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves into the story of Curse of Strahd would be enough to satisfy fans for generations to come.
