Stranger Things Welcome to the Hellfire Club

Written by Kelly Gray on 11/24/2025 for TTOP  

When I first started watching Stranger Things, my ears certainly perked up at the first dice roll. My people! Of course, playing Dungeons & Dragons in a basement in the '80s was an early character development choice to show that our protagonist band of friends was not the most popular—my how times have changed. Right? Right?!

But it also foreshadowed what was to come, because Dungeons & Dragons is the closest we in our normal non-demogorgon world will ever get to experiencing the horrors that mythical, fictional, fantasy worlds like the Upside Down can provide. So, all of this to say, none of us, the fans of both Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons, should be surprised that there's been a collaborative release of Hellfire Club campaign. Swoon.

First Impressions

When the box arrived at my door, I realized I was in over my head in the best way possible. This box set is hefty, so it's fairly obvious from the start that your full campaign is waiting inside. I'm personally used to piecemeal D&D, where you have your campaign book that aligns with your players guide, and you build your library book by book, whereas the Stranger Things Welcome to Hellfire Club ultimate bundle is a complete guide to playing a campaign right out of the gate. You'll have everything you need to sit down and start planning your sessions.

The artwork on the exterior the box is cool. There's no better way to describe it than that: cool. You have a cartoon illustration of Eddie Munson in his Hellfire Club shirt, opening his arms and beckoning you into his game. Behind him features the adventuring party, set for battle with flames and monsters lurking on the horizon.

Welcome to the Hellfire Club.

I'm a sucker for great visuals within my games, so the cover of the box alone is compelling. One thing to note, however, is that this boxed set doesn't have the standard look-and-feel of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. To me, D&D art tends to be soft realism, almost similar to Renaissance-style paintings, with almost misty light pouring through trees, or gleaming from armor, whereas this boxed set art is fully two-dimensional.

I'm totally fine with this, but it's an interesting choice because I wouldn't look at it in-store and immediately align it with D&D. Also, if you're worried about your game shelf aesthetics, this could be something you consider. Me? I think it's cooooooool.

You'll also see on the outside of the box a quick bulleted list of contents that are included, and a QR code to learn more. On the back, per usual, you'll find a quick summary of the game, along with a few key points to help lure you into purchasing the game. If you're hooked? Congratulations, you're a new member of the Hellfire Club.

Theming

I anxiously awaited the arrival of the box set game, hyped to see how the Hellfire Club was weaved throughout. To be honest, I was expecting some minor nods to the show, maybe some artwork to support the theme, but I ended up getting way more Stranger Things content than I expected.

Luckily, it's also not a repurposed version of the show, which is a pleasant surprise, because it's hard to roleplay in a space that you've already been before, pretending it's new. The special sauce lives in the in-between, where you have your standard D&D rules, gameplay, and monsters, but with elements of Stranger Things sprinkled throughout.

One of my truly favorite elements of Stranger Things that you'll find within the booklets are in handwritten notes from Eddie to Dustin to help Dustin through his first campaign as a dungeon master. These little snippets of notes are helpful hints for the Dungeon Master that correspond to the portion on the game your party is currently in.

"Cover areas they haven't explored with whatever you have laying around. When you reveal a room with a big baddie in it, slap that monster token down and make a big show of it."

Conversational in tone, these helpful hints help drive the theme while breaking slightly from the more technical copy you'll see in campaign materials, all while genuinely making me nostalgic for Eddie's character.

Something I truly appreciate in this bundle is that it comes equipped with character sheets that are prepped for each individual character, which supports quick start options and will also assist any newcomers to the table with the often tricky and always overwhelming character builds.

These gold sheets have everything you need to know about your character ready to go! There are also combat trackers to help the DM (or party) with maintaining hit points and conditions, along with magic item cards, spell cards, and monster cards.

Campaign Style

This campaign is written for players at levels 1-3 and has four chapters to it. There's a book for level 1, a book for level 2, and two books for level 3, each with their own flavor and plot points, leading up to a boss battle with a demogorgon. Could it be a Stranger Things inspired campaign with any other end boss? Highly doubtful.

I'm not going to go through the details of each chapter of the campaign, because I don't want to spoil any of the fun, especially for those who may be in the adventuring party. But players will experience the Dungeon of Shadows, the Rillard Family Farm, the Oakshore Docks, and finally, the Hellfire Dome. These four locations offer multiple settings for exploration, all with their own unique elements and perhaps some challenging monsters lurking around corners.

As a DM, there are so many opportunities for role playing, with a great assortment of NPCs to lean into. The vast array of locations also keeps the momentum and energy going for a party that wants to see a bit of everything. You'll also see your standard Dungeons & Dragons monsters, but you'll get to see some new Stranger Things-inspired monsters as well, allowing for your more sagely D&D players to discover and battle something new.

Who Is It For?

As I dug into this campaign I couldn't help but think that this is the perfect player experience for newcomers to the D&D world. From the prebuilt characters to the stat supplemented player sheets, this bundle takes quite a bit of the heavy lifting out of the initial player experience. Due to the seamlessness of the character creation portion, the fact that it's only built for levels 1-3, and with the tie-in with the Stranger Things theming, this campaign would make for a great introduction to the Dungeons & Dragons universe for those who may want to get their toes wet in something not entirely new to them or overly complex.

Similarly, this campaign seems like a great way for a new Dungeon Master to test their skills as the leader, as the bundle provides many of the resources needed up front, and the campaign story and choices allow for deeper exploration without getting lost in the weeds. With a campaign like this, a DM has so much opportunity to help build the world and develop the NPCs in a way that supports the adventuring party—but can also be scaled back to a more simplistic approach.

Although I talk about how this campaign is for newbies, that's not to say it would fall short for a more experienced tabletop role-playing gamer. We're always looking for new spaces to explore, and new monsters to face. This bundle provides that. With the additional Stranger Things elements, this brand-new adventuring space is worth exploring.

It's important to note that a player doesn't have to have preexisting knowledge of the Stranger Things universe in order to enjoy the game. You are not missing out on any important character arcs or monster secrets if you've never seen an episode. Because you're playing as the character from the TV show's D&D character, you don't have to have an understanding of the cast or how they would play the build. You have the freedom to make this character your own through the game, but with the ease of having the backstory and stats provided to you.

Additionally, I think it's safe to say that you're welcome to create your own character build and play in throughout this campaign as well. The quickstart characters let you dive in early, and provides you with very '80s inspired characters, but essentially any of the standard race/class builds should provide the same type of gameplay, it's just up to you to create your own destiny.

Final Thoughts

All in all, this bundle was more than I expected, and who knows? I may even try my hand as the Dungeon Master and see how this one plays out. I feel like Eddie Munson would urge me to try!