Fans ofD&Dand other TTRPGs who got to watchDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesmay find themselves surprised at the sheer number of hilarious and epic moments throughout the film. And whileHonor Among Thievestells a rather typical fantasy story, its personal moments and ridiculous highlights make it asDungeons & Dragonsas the TTRPG could get. However, hardcore fans of the game may notice some flaws in the way the film visually depicts some moments in the game.
While others can playfully dismiss these non-technical moments as the way the film artistically interprets epicD&Dscenes, some eagle-eyed enthusiasts may still prefer some uses of the spells and even scenes to be more game-accurate, in order to make a more faithful experience. Thankfully, there are ways to fix some small errors in the film’s depiction ofD&Dmechanics.
7The Time Stop Should Not Have Allowed The Tablet To Escape
Sofina the Wizard is immediately revealed as a villain in the film after she double-crosses Edgin and the gang viaTime Stop(Transmutation Level 9),leaving them ina Harper strongholdwhile she gets a mysterious artifact. Thankfully, Edgin is able to throw the Tablet of Reawakening and have it “escape” the Time Stop’s grasp at the last second, leaving it in Forge’s hands. However, since the spell doesn’t have a Saving Throw, there should’ve been no way to give anyone or anything a chance to “escape” the Time Stop.
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The Fix
Since Time Stop takes an entire Action to cast, Edgin’s player could argue that he should’ve been able to react within the six seconds of that time it took for Sofina to cast the spell. After all, Edgin was already Prone due to being knocked down by Sofina’s initial Chain Lightning (Evocation Level 6). He could have instinctively thrown the Tablet to the nearest person to the exit, which at the time turned out to be Forge.
6Blur & Magnetism Cannot Work At The Same Time
Despite the commonality of magic in almostanyDungeons & Dragonssetting, tricksters like Simon still exist to entertain, and steal from, most ordinary people. One trick up his sleeve in the film isBlur (Illusion Level 2), which lets him “fizzle” out of existence to distract viewers while he steals their belongings viaMagnetism (Transmutation Level 1).
The main caveat here both Blur and Magnetism require Concentration in a realD&Dgame. Since the game only allows spellcasters to use one Concentration Spell at a time, Simon can technically only use one of those spells at a time. A simpler alternative here would be using Prestidigitation (Transmutation Cantrip), which doesn’t need Concentration, alongside Magnetism.
Despite his misgivings, Edgin and company bring Simon to an ancient barbarian battlefield to converse with the souls of the dead aboutthe ancient Helm of Disjunction. They do this with a trinket that allows Simon useSpeak With Dead (Necromancy Level 3)to get the information they need, but only within five questions. When their first attempt fails hilariously, the party spends the entire night asking one corpse after another for more information about the Helm’s whereabouts. However, aD&Dartifact with that kind of power normally has a certain number of uses every day.
The film’s usage of the corpse question montage is something that might happen at aD&Dtable whose DM uses exaggeration for comedic effect. While it’s totally possible for a customized Speak With Dead trinket to feature unlimited uses, most artifacts usually only allow a certain number uses before needing a recharge. If the film’s trinket does follow this example, the characters simply need a more effective line of questioning. Since the barbarian ancestors were buried in graves, it could be possible to ask corpses which among their brethren is most knowledgeable about the Helm and where their approximate location might be.
4The Owlbear Wild Shape Conundrum
The Tiefling Doric becomes the team’s equivalent of the resident nature-lover:aDungeons & DragonsDruidcapable of shifting into various animals due to her control over flora and fauna. That being said, Doric’s signature form is that of a whiteOwlbear, classified as a “Monstrosity” capable of besting some of the mightiest walking creatures in the land. Sadly, this classification as a Monstrosity is vastly different from that of the Beast. And according to the rules, Druids can only Wild Shape into Beasts.
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Folks fromWizards of the Coast thankfully had an answer for this question, wherein the Dungeon Master could theoretically allow a Druid to Wild Shape into an Owlbear despite RAW (rules as written) due to its similarity with Beasts of the same Challenge Rating. That being said, an improved argument here on the part of players is the proposal of a homebrew (custom) ruling. In this rule, all Druids, including Druid opponents, can not only use Owlbears, but also other monsters that fall under a similar category. That way, the players aren’t the only ones getting an advantage.
3The Portal Painting Problem
When Edgin and the crew discover they’re in the possession ofthe portal-making Hither-Tither staff, the team thinks of using theartifact to bypass the anti-intrusion seals of Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum and get into Castle Never’s treasure-filled vault. To do this, they hope to attach a portal to a painting via the staff’sArcane Gate (Conjuration Level 6), which is then inserted into the room. The problem arises when the painting falls on the floor, meaning the team’s portal is connected to hard concrete.
Instead of a painting, perhaps they could get a chest with gold that conceals a portal. The team can either use a Deception (Charisma) check to masquerade as merchants bringing more treasure from Baldur’s Gate, or engage in combat to subdue the treasure-carrying carriage while wearing its escort’s knightly attire. Once they get the chest inside the vault, they can remove the portal’s cover and have the gold flow out of it. The process should leave a chest big enough for a person to hack their way through, leaving an opening for the rest of the team. Not to mention, the “gold flowing out” can be referenced later in the trick involving gold going out of Lord Forge’s picture on the hot air balloon.
2The Distance-To-Mouth Insanity
Towards the end of the movie,theBardEdgin and the gang realize the real reason Sofina wanted the High Sun Games to happen: to gather a big-enough crowd to activate the Billowing Death. Upon confirming the distance of the Hither-Tither staff’s Arcane Gate to be half a mile, Edgin attracts citizens out of the arena via gold raining from the portal-ized mouth of Lord Forge’s hot air balloon picture. While this kept the people from being undead, it also raises eyebrows among rules lawyers on the insane distance of the Arcane Gate.
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While it’s perfectly possible (and overpowered) to have the Hither Tither’s Arcane Gate range be half a mile, it’s still too much of a range separation from the original 500-foot maximum limit of the original spell. An alternate here could be a scene where Doric, as an owlbear, carries a deathly-afraid Simon up a tower to cast the spell. This follows the spell’s original rules, with characters like Simon representing the usual player working his away around to casting it.
1Bigby’s Hand Versus Maximillian’s Earthen Grasp
During the epic spellcaster showdown betweenthe Wizard Sofinaand Sorcerer Simon, the Wizard is seen controlling a gory reskin of the otherwise-shimmeringBigby’s Hand (Evocatio Level 5).while the Sorcerer conjures a faithful depiction ofMaximillian’s Earthen Grasp (Transmutation Level 2). While the clash between the two hands make for a cool battle scene, what’s more glaring here is that the Earthen Grasp is simply for grappling, not direct combat.
To make the Sofina versus Simon duel more rules-legal, it may help to have Simon also cast his own version of Bigby’s Hand. That way, both hands have the same magical properties, leaving the winner to be determined by their respective skill levels.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieveswas released on June 17, 2025.
