Final Face-off

Dungeon Club #3

by Lee Knox Ostertag, Xanthe Bouma (Illustrator), Amelia Allore (Colorist)

In the third and final installment of the heartfelt Dungeons & Dragons graphic novel series by Molly Knox Ostertag and Xanthe Bouma, the club battles new monsters—both real and imaginary—as their first campaign comes to an epic conclusion.

Tyler has a secret—Sunny, the imaginary friend he had when he was younger, hasn’t gone away. Not only that, she now acts as his butt-kicking character in his after-school D&D club, too. Whether it’s helping him deal with his rowdy cousin, Luis, or avoiding his archnemesis, Kelly, at school, Sunny always has his back, often encouraging soft-spoken Tyler to be a little more…bold.

Until one day Sunny pushes Tyler a little too far and he unexpectedly confesses his feelings to Sam, his outspoken and dreamy crush. Instead of a happily ever after, Tyler’s confession turns into gossip fodder for the entire school. Hurt and angry, Tyler banishes Sunny from his mind.

But the silence afterward is louder than Sunny’s presence ever was, and Tyler must look to the people in his real life to discover who he truly is—and who he wants to be. 

Praise for Dungeons & Dungeon Club

A Harvey Award–Nominated series

“An absolutely wonderful story that exemplifies the joys, challenges, and lifelong memories forged between friends in the creative furnace of role-playing games. The vibrant, energetic art further elevates the beautiful dichotomy between epic, fantasy adventures and finding one's place in those awkward teenage years. I couldn't help but see much of myself and my own youth in parts of each character as they find their companions in real life through their imaginary adventures, and the sense of unparalleled bonding one finds within a good game group resonates deeply throughout this story. I absolutely loved it.” —Matthew Mercer, creator of Critical Role

“The power D&D has to help you explore and express yourself is on full display in this lovely story of friendship and growing up." —Kat Leyh, author of Snapdragon

“Perfectly captures the magic when the world you create with your friends becomes as real as the world around you.” —Tim Probert, author of the Lightfall series

“A thrilling and gorgeous adventure that goes straight for your heart.” —ND Stevenson, New York Times bestselling author of Nimona 

“What Molly Ostertag and Xanthe Bouma pull off in Dungeon Club is nothing short of astounding. Contained within these magical pages are not one but two amazing fantasy and reality woven masterfully together by Ostertag's spellbinding storytelling. An adventure filled with fun, magic, and deep insight into the trials and tribulations of high school, Dungeon Club is what we in the D&D world would call a 'Critical Hit'! To everyone who knows that there's always adventure and a little bit of magic just around the corner, this book will be a treasured artifact for years and years to come!” —Brennan Lee Mulligan, creator of Dimension 20

“Middle grade readers intrigued by the cult classic RPG and fans fond of popular campaigns like Adventure Zone and Critical Role will enjoy the message of this series ‘Monsters are easier to fight when you’ve got people by your side.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Comics, LGBT, Queer, Fiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2025

About the author

I grew up in the forests of upstate New York, where I spent the first half of my childhood reading about fantastical adventures and the second half acting them out with foam swords at a live action roleplaying camp . I graduated in 2014 from the School of Visual Arts, where I studied cartooning and illustration, and I currently live in Los Angeles. My artistic interests include women in fiction, fantasy and sci fi, superheroes, and history.

I illustrate a twice weekly webcomic called Strong Female Protagonist with co-creator Brennan Lee Mulligan, which was listed as one of io9's Best New and Short Webcomics when it launched in 2012. I ran a successful Kickstarter in the summer of 2014 to print the first volume, which was distributed by Top Shelf comics and is now available in stores and online.

I'm currently working on a graphic novel with First Second named Shattered Warrior, coming out in Spring 2017.

Reviews

[Jenna-booklooksbyjenna]

Overall so CUTE but i did not appreciate the emotional support stuffed animal slander.

[Grace]

me and my 4th grade bestie both felt melancholy as hell after this but we loved it so much

[Sam Donovan]

I hate to say goodbye

[Dakota Morgan]

The final Dungeon Club volume focuses on Tyler, his imaginary friend (and D&D character), and his crush on Sam. The close-up means some favorite characters from previous volumes take a backseat, but that's just fine because Tyler has a lot to work through. The D&D campaign running through the volume seems to have leveled up too, as it forces the characters to make hard decisions.

Dungeon Club continues to be a warm, friendly series that provides a place for outsiders and folks with big imaginations. I'm sad this is the final volume - a lovely series like this could go on forever.

[Alexandria]

I wasn't expecting to shed tears around 6am reading this! I loved this series. I wish it continued into high school.

[Kennedy Elder]

OMG! I couldn’t put this book down! The whole trilogy is just amazing! This my new favorite! Reading these books are making me want to actually play D&D.
Im actually really happy the way this ended, but still, I want at least one more book! 😫

I totally recommend this trilogy, it got me out of my reading slump and has given me so much joy!

[Chaitra]

Another lovely one... Continuing their game.. Its sooo fun cute adorable... We could just go on reading it all day.. 🥺✨💓

I hope we are getting a 4th one soon 🤞🏻

[Faylinn Geurts]

mn hart breekt oprecht dat t over is ik volg deze serie al jaren t was insanely fire

[Frank Chillura (OhYouRead)]

Maybe I’m into bad boys, but Graz’zt is hot as hell!!! Am I right? 🤷🏻‍♂️ Giiiiiiiiiiiirl!!!! That man could tie me up in his dungeon and torture me… okay! This is a middle grade book and I need to cool it, but if you know, you know! 😝

There are a lot of reasons to be sad after finishing the third book in the Dungeon Club series. The main one is that this is the last book. They graduated middle and are making their way into high school as it ends. So that should be a reason for celebration (to me that means a new series with a young adult audience in mind would be an obvious next stage).

The reason I am sad, like most readers of this book, is that a main character dies in game. I won’t tell you who, because that would spoil the fun of reading it, but it makes sense for the story. Character death can be traumatizing for some, but in this case, I think it all helps the person move on to another stage of their life. Someone who helped them through the tough times now leaves so they themselves can grow alone. Or in this case, with the help of all of their new friends.

I love how many incredible D&D books have come out in the past few years, thanks in part to the success of Critical Role, Vox Machina, and Stranger Things, but in part to the resurgence of the people wanting to be a part of something exciting. Even if it is all make believe.

[Cami]

I love this graphic novel series! The art is beautiful, and the character-driven stories are compelling. I like how each book focuses on the struggles of a different character. Tyler's plot is especially interesting to me, because it explores how the designs of our original characters might reflect back on us as their writers/artists.

We saw in the first graphic novel how Jess's choice of D&D character foreshadows their own gender exploration, and in the second, I found it remarkable how similar the two Sams D&D characters are to themselves outside of the game. In contrast, Tyler's D&D character is an imaginary friend founded on wish-fulfillment rather than self-insertion. Sunny is everything that Tyler is not, and rather than deciding that he must become more like her in order to succeed and be happy in life, Tyler learns to embrace who he is already.

Ultimately, he doesn't need a "disguise" to make his original characters more interesting or heroic, and that can lead readers to some fascinating discussions. When is it helpful to look to others (such as the fictional Sunny) for inspiration in our lives, and when does it become harmful to focus so much on the things that we are not? Moreover, at what point should our focus turn to self-acceptance and shaping fiction to reflect reality, rather than the other way around?

[Elina Purmonen]

Jag älskade tredje delen! 🤩

Det kändes vemodigt att slå ihop den med vetskapen om att det var tredje och sista i serien, men samtidigt var den så fin. Att rollspel och en klubb för gemensamt intresse kan betyda så mycket! ❤️

[Ray boycott Reading Challenges until they fix app]

I just want to know why in one scene (in the real world) it goes from Breaking Bad Desert Orange and in the next to Fargo Winter Blue?

And yeah the thing about Kelly saying Olivia can try on her dresses is weird no matter the context, too

[Miranda]

magiskt bra. älskade den! nu måste jag köpa hela serien till mitt eget personliga bibliotek, inte bara skolbiblan.

[Jenna]

An amazing ending to an amazing series ❤️😭

[Aidan]

A wonderful conclusion to a wonderful trilogy.

[Paige (pagebypaigebooks)]

A great ending to the series! The D&D element beautifully connected with the story of the friend group. I love the art style!

[Cassandra Hamm]

A great end to a beautiful MG graphic novel series. Still obsessed with this art. The relationships are so sweet.

[fireheart]

I'm so sad this series is over. Not only was it a beautiful introduction to DnD, I think it also held beautiful messages for kids about friendships, queerness, and being yourself.

I love that this volume followed Tyler. It was so important to see his journey as a shy kid who was frequently bullied to the man he was slowly becoming. I also adored the romance he had with Sam. It was so sweet while also showing the problems kids can go through when it comes to crushes. I think the way it was discussed was done so well and would be very eye-opening for kids. It also showed how important it is to stand up for yourself and do things you're afraid of. This whole series would be perfect for middle-grade kids to read to give them a boost of confidence. I had so much fun with all of the plots, and the art was absolutely stunning. I'm going to miss these kids and their campaigns!

[Paul W.]

Just lovely, great art, well told story about preteens to teens learning about life while playing Dungeons and Dragons as a backdrop for their emotional journeys.

[Isabella]

love this series

[lauren]

a really cute final book in the series! as always the art is great, and man am i jealous of people who play d&d and have that community, its so cool!

[Kaylie]

Super cute ending to a beloved series!

[Ally]

This series is so cute

[Jones & the books]

such a rollercoaster of emotions 🥹

[Renee]

⭐⭐⭐⭐
4 stars.

Dungeon Club: Final Face-Off by Molly Knox Ostertag is the third book in the D&D Dungeon Club series, this time focusing on Tyler as he navigates friendship, bullying, a very inconvenient crush, and the increasingly blurred line between the person he thinks he needs to be and the person he already is.

I've really enjoyed this series, and once again my favourite parts were the D&D campaign itself. The books move so naturally between the kids sitting around a table playing together and the fantasy world they're creating, and I love watching their real lives and their characters' adventures intersect.

The artwork by Xanthe Bouma, with colours by Amelia Allore, is a huge part of why that works so well. It's bright, colourful and just genuinely enjoyable to look at, but it also does a lot of the storytelling. The characters are wonderfully expressive, and there's an immediate visual distinction between what's happening around the D&D table and what's happening inside the world of the campaign without those two parts of the story ever feeling disconnected. The D&D scenes in particular wouldn't have nearly the same impact without the artwork bringing the places, creatures and characters the kids are imagining to life.

That works particularly well with Tyler. His D&D character, Sunny, is confident and assertive in all the ways Tyler doesn't believe himself to be, and he also imagines Sunny alongside him in real life, encouraging him to be braver and stand up for himself. When things go badly after Tyler admits he has feelings for Sam, both versions of Sunny disappear from his life in different ways.

I did find the imaginary Sunny slightly confusing at times. I understood what she represented for Tyler, but the book occasionally gives her enough independence and influence over his actions that I wasn't entirely sure how literally I was supposed to interpret her presence. The underlying idea worked for me much better than the mechanics of how she was portrayed.

What I really liked, though, was where that idea eventually took Tyler. When his D&D character Sunny is gone, Jess points out that there's nothing stopping him from creating a new character. Instead of creating another version of the confident person he wishes he could be, Tyler creates someone much more like himself. It's a small moment, but a lovely piece of character development. He doesn't actually need to become Sunny in order to deserve his place in the group.

His relationship with Sam works for much the same reason. Tyler has such a difficult time believing that somebody could genuinely like him that he repeatedly misreads Sam's attempts to get closer to him. Watching him slowly realise that Sam really does reciprocate his feelings is very sweet, and I liked that their relationship remained appropriate for how young they are. There's no need to turn it into a grand romance. Sometimes holding hands with the person you really like is more than enough.

I also really liked where the book eventually went with Kelly. After spending the series bullying Tyler and his friends, she becomes terrified when Tyler discovers something about her that she thinks could make her a target too. Tyler does briefly use it against her, but ultimately realises that he doesn't want to become the person who makes somebody else feel the way Kelly has made him feel.

Even better, the story doesn't turn that realisation into an obligatory friendship or instant redemption. Kelly eventually reaches out towards the group, but they're allowed to decide that they don't want to be friends with someone who has treated them badly. At the same time, there's an interesting reversal in watching Kelly look at Tyler, Jess, Olivia, Sam and Sammy and realise that they have something she doesn't. She's spent much of the series as the popular girl other people are supposed to envy, but by the end she's the one looking from the outside at a group of people who genuinely like and support one another.

And while this is the final book in the series, I loved that Olivia's D&D campaign doesn't really end. They're simply moving into the next part of it, ready for another adventure. We don't get to follow them there, but their game continues beyond the final pages.

That feels like a fitting place for the series to leave them. Across these three books, D&D has never really been about escaping into somebody better or more interesting. It's given these kids somewhere to experiment with who they are, find people who accept them, and eventually become a little more comfortable being themselves. And, just as importantly, the campaigns themselves have been enormous fun to follow.

[Kim]

Lee Knox Ostertag wrapped up this adventure with a bang! Xanthe Bouma has such skill in showing so much emotion and action in each frame. I'm really going to miss this middle school bunch as they head off to high school!

I have truly enjoyed the way each book shows the perspective of a different kid. Tyler left us with some big-time nervous energy at the end of Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Club 2 - Time to Party. I was thrilled to learn more about his backstory and especially how his D&D character Sunny came to be. She has always been my favorite, in the D&D world of this series. Spunky, go-getter, natural leader... completely opposite of our dear pal, Tyler.

This final book in the series stuck to the original cast of characters with some new layers exposed. The D&D scenes were well-balanced with the real-life middle school life. The story flowed well, with a satisfying conclusion to the bully Kelly saga. (No spoilers! I promise!)
D one-shot!

Strengths: Atmospheric illustrations, action-packed D&D story, satisfying wrap-up of our dear characters' middle school experience. The final scene felt quite nostalgic. This is probably the 40-something in me talking, but I am a huge fan of a modern day graphic novel that has minimal cellphone presence. Tyler showed a lot of character growth in this story. I left this one feeling inspired and motivated to sign up for a beginner D&
Weaknesses: I had to scratch my head over this. I am a big fan of the Sams and we got a lot of one and very little of the other. She never really got her chance to shine in this series. My other yearning was to have a full-circle moment with Jess. She was our first perspective in book one, struggled with growing the group, yet flourished. I would have loved to get a bit more of her at the end.

I believe my library patrons will be grabbing this one off of the shelf, even as a stand-alone. Xanthe Bouma's art is very inviting and easy to jump in and out of each "world." I think kids will love her style, if they haven't found her work yet. There are so many different, well developed characters. If a kid has made it through all three, the will certainly find one that they can relate to.

This was my favorite in the series! (But I'm always a sucker for a story that ties up everything so neatly.)

[Anna]

Final Face-off (should the O be capitalized?) concludes the Dungeon Club series, and unfortunately doesn't feel quite as strong as the previous installments.

The art style is still really charming (so many cute outfits on the characters!), and the in-game D&D action is still well-done.

Unfortunately, the out-of-game plot wasn't as well-written. It's always been harder to get a read on Tyler compared to the rest of the cast, and now that he's in the protagonist position, I found him kind of frustrating and difficult to sympathize with. The supporting characters, like Jess, Olivia, Sam, and Kelly, also feel oddly flat now. There's a confusing time-skip or two near the end that result in the reader not getting to see how/whether several important plotlines get resolved.

This series as a whole is fun and I'm very glad I read it, but Final Face-off doesn't live up to the standard set by the first two Dungeon Club books.

[Lilly]

Two of the main characters from the first two volumes were barely even in this. It makes no sense. I really didn’t like that, even when they were in a scene they barely got any dialogue. I loved the first two volumes and felt like they did a way better job on focusing on all the characters. This volume was 80% just about one character. I also don’t get why every volume is so short, if it were longer we would have gotten to actually have conversations with the other characters. Barely anything even happens in this. Really disappointing. I was so excited for this because I loved the friendships in the first two, why would you take that away in volume 3 and replace that with a focus on one character and his imaginary friend?

[Sara]

this series is one of my all time favorites, and this was a fantastic conclusion! the juxtaposition of scenes in the campaign and real life is exceptional, and it's so easy to be endeared to every one of the characters. seeing the whole of tyler's character arc was really sweet, and the layers of relatability continue to make this something I would recommend to any middle grade reader. it's heartfelt, and very fun! a perfect balance! and still really enriching for any d&d enthused reader, as I am exactly that, and it may even feel nostalgic if you started playing in middle school yourself. I highly recommend this entire series! I'm sad to see it's over, but I'm so happy to have a really well done middle grade dnd series to recommend, and revisit in the future.

[Kim]

Art and coloring still great! Tyler listens to the imaginary friend Sunny he has in his head and makes bolder life choices, just like he does as Sunny in their D&D game. He does have character growth and I enjoyed that he did tell the truth to Sam. I rated it a 4 because it felt like it had less substance than the previous two works. Latino rep with Tyler’s family culture. He realizes he is gay. Bullying. He and Sam end up together in the end (at least holding hands). My favorite part was actually the epilogue where it wraps up nicely - it shows their party of five playing D&D right before their first day of high school and them considering if they want to start a high school D&D club! Satisfying ending.