Crafting epic roguelike D&D Zombie Dragon Adventure in UEFN
D&D Zombie Dragon Adventure is the culmination of a lifelong love of Dungeons & Dragons, years of roguelike design experience, and a journey into Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN).
Currently in Early Access, this new Fortnite island from TeraCreators in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast challenges players to battle through increasingly dangerous biomes filled with monsters, powerful enemies, and legendary creatures before facing its towering final boss: a terrifying dracolich.
We caught up with Creative Director Luis Daniel Zambrano and Lead Game Designer Cesar Solis Galindo from Teravision Games to learn how they adapted tabletop adventure into an action-packed Fortnite roguelike—and how UEFN helped bring their vision to life.
A love letter to Dungeons & Dragons
For Zambrano, D&D Zombie Dragon Adventure is a deeply personal project.
“One of the main reasons why I’m a game designer today is because D&D helped me survive high school,” he says. “So working on this project is a dream come true.”
Building on the roguelike foundation established in the Havoc Hotel series, the team wanted to evolve the formula by emphasizing exploration and player progression.
Rather than simply surviving waves of enemies, the goal was to recreate the feeling of a classic D&D campaign—an adventure that builds toward a memorable final confrontation.
“We wanted this game to feel like a fantastic campaign you valiantly journey through, until you finally reach that epic fight that you’ll always remember,” says Zambrano.
Building a world worth exploring
Capturing the freedom of a tabletop adventure became one of the team’s biggest design challenges.
Galindo explains that conversations about player agency shaped the entire experience.“
That feeling of deciding to take the mountain path or the mines makes your journey unique,” he says.
Having played lots of D&D with his brother, Galindo wanted to capture the exploration that makes the game special. Each biome introduces its own navigation rules, combat encounters, and environmental design, encouraging players to adapt as they progress.
To create these varied spaces, the team leaned on UEFN’s World Partition system and did extensive optimization work, including texture atlasing, thoughtful asset management, collision optimization, and lighting improvements to ensure the island performs well across every platform.
Bringing iconic monsters to Fortnite
No D&D adventure would be complete without unforgettable monsters. The team used UEFN’s NPC Definition panel, custom Verse scripting, bespoke animations, VFX, sounds, and NPC Spawner devices to recreate iconic enemies—including Zambrano’s favorite, the fearsome dragonflesh abomination.
“We made them mean and difficult to beat,” he says. “We want players to get angry at them!”
Watching players develop new strategies and share discoveries through the community has become one of the team’s biggest rewards.
“We’ve seen people in Discord discussing strategies, and others getting pretty good at beating them live,” says Zambrano, “Such fun!”
Engineering an epic dracolich encounter
Everything in the adventure leads to one climactic battle. Using Scene Graph modules, custom boss management systems, and Level Sequences, the team created a multi-stage dracolich encounter that transforms the arena as players fight.
The undead dragon flies across the battlefield, unleashes devastating breath attacks, smashes through the arena floor, and continually reshapes the encounter as the fight progresses.
“Level Sequences were truly a fantastic tool that made this evolving fight a reality, allowing us to move that undead dragon in epic ways, true to the spirit of D&D and the boundless creativity of a dungeon master,” says Galindo.
Just the start of the adventure
Although players can already experience D&D Zombie Dragon Adventure in Early Access, the team sees this as only the beginning. New features, deeper progression systems, and ongoing improvements are already in development, with community feedback helping shape future updates.
“This Early Access is only the surface of what we want to do,” says Zambrano. “We can’t wait for players to see how it will grow, following not only our design plans, but also adapting to how everyone is playing the game.”
Whether you’re a longtime D&D fan, a roguelike enthusiast, or simply looking for your next Fortnite adventure, D&D Zombie Dragon Adventure offers an ambitious new experience—and one epic Dracolich waiting to be defeated.
Edit: D&D Zombie Dragon Adventure is no longer in Early Access. You can immerse yourself in the full experience today. Play now (Island code 2525-9596-3235).