🐉 Fantasy
The Dragon's Hoard Murder Mystery Party
The dragon is dead, the gold is counted, and one slayer is missing.
6-12 players, sweet spot 8 · the full kit is ready in about 20 minutes. Or name your guests and see who they play, with the opening scene, free in about 30 seconds.
The dragon Vorrath is slain at last. Its hoard, a cavern of coin, crowns, and enchanted odds and ends, belongs to the adventurers who brought it down. Tonight they camp in the cavern to divide the spoils by firelight: a knight who did the striking, a mage who did the thinking, a rogue who did the counting, and a bard who will do the telling. The mead is opened, the tally begins, and by dawn one dragonslayer is nowhere among the gold.
A hoard party is greed in fancy dress, and it is glorious. Every guest has a claim on the treasure and a reason to want one fewer claimant. Accusations centre on the count, the missing gemstone, and who slipped away while the fire was banked. The bard's version of events changes with each telling. Guests bargain, bluff, and quietly pocket evidence. The reveal happens beside the treasure pile, with the survivors deciding who walks away with nothing.
Perfect for
Tabletop gaming groups, fantasy-loving friends, and adult birthdays where guests would rather scheme over gold than sip cocktails politely.
Cast size
6-12 players, sweet spot 8. Every kit is written for your exact headcount and gender mix, so nobody doubles up and nobody sits out.
Who is at the party
A taste of the cast a the dragon's hoard kit produces. Your mystery is written fresh, with its own suspects, secrets, and one guilty guest.
The Dragonslayer Knight
Struck the killing blow, or says so loudly, and claimed the largest share before anyone else finished counting.
The Battle Mage
Cast the binding spell that let the others get close, and wants one enchanted item before it is appraised.
The Guild Rogue
Volunteered to count the hoard, which was generous, and has counted it twice with two different totals.
The Travelling Bard
Joined the party three villages ago, sings a stirring version of the battle, and was not seen during it.
Setting the scene
Costumes
- A fleece or wool blanket pinned as a cloak over a belted tunic, plus a cardboard sword, makes a knight.
- A long dark dressing gown as a mage's robe, with a wooden spoon wand and a cardboard-tube staff painted brown.
- A hooded jacket, dark jeans, and a belt hung with leather pouches for the rogue, gloves optional.
- A puffy shirt, a sash, and a cheap ukulele or a cardboard lute for the bard.
- Scale patterns drawn on the cheeks with green eyeliner and a spiked headband for the dragon-blooded cultist.
Food and drink
- A platter of roast chicken or turkey legs, torn by hand, as the adventurers' campfire feast.
- Honey mead, or a hot honey-and-lemon drink for the non-drinkers, poured from a jug into mismatched mugs.
- Gold-wrapped chocolate coins scattered as the hoard, with a few locked in a box for the treasure count.
- Bread bowls of thick stew with a 'dragon's breath' hot sauce on the side for the brave.
Atmosphere
- Amber lamps and a paper or projected flame effect in one corner as the campfire, with every other light low.
- Play fantasy film scores and folk tunes on lute and fiddle, and drop in a distant roar during the tally.
- Pile gold coins, costume jewellery, and spray-painted trinkets on a red cloth as the hoard centrepiece.
- Set the table with pewter-look mugs, a hand-drawn cave map, and a tally sheet for the treasure split.
Host tip
Make the treasure real enough to fight over. A pile of chocolate coins and thrift-store jewellery on a red cloth gives every accusation a physical target, and you can hide printed clues under specific items. Run a mock treasure-split negotiation as your first act; it warms up the group faster than any icebreaker. Keep the fire prop lit until the reveal, then put it out and let the survivors divide whatever is left.
How your kit comes together
Set the table
Pick The Dragon's Hoard, your player count and gender mix, the difficulty, and the tone: campy, dramatic, or dark. Add your guests' real names if you like.
We write the mystery
A complete, original plot with a victim, a killer, red herrings, and a web of clues that lets the table solve it. Usually 15-25 minutes; we email you when it is ready.
Print and play
Download the host guide, one booklet per character, name tags and ballots. Or send each player a private link to read their part on their phone.
Questions hosts ask
Is this a Dungeons and Dragons murder mystery?
It is in that spirit: a fantasy adventuring party, character classes, and a loot dispute, but you need no dice or rules knowledge. The Gather & Gasp booklets carry everything, and the mystery plays as conversation, not combat.
Can we use our actual tabletop characters?
Yes. Add each guest's character name and a line about them when you create the kit and the generator writes those details into the cast. Kits cover 4 to 20 players and print in about twenty minutes.
How dark does a dragon hoard mystery get?
You choose. Campy tone gives you squabbling heroes and a very undignified dragon; dramatic gives you a proper betrayal by firelight; dark gives you cursed gold and a party that has stopped trusting itself.
If you like this, try
Adventurers' Guild Tavern
Rogues, paladins, and a quest-giver stabbed before the loot was split.
Wizard's Academy
A professor is dead, and the wands are drawn.
Viking Longhouse
The mead flows, the sagas are sung, and the jarl doesn't survive the feast.
Ready to gather the suspects?
A custom the dragon's hoard mystery for 6-12 players, written for your guests, in your inbox in about 20 minutes. Kits from $19.99.
Create your The Dragon's Hoard mystery