Instructions are given in the first pages of the module on where to place it in the worlds of Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, and Eberron (the three primary campaign settings of D&D at the time of release).

[5] Red Hand of Doom follows a group of adventurers who have entered the Elsir Vale, a thinly populated frontier region.

The party discovers a massive hobgoblin horde that is fanatically devoted to the dark goddess Tiamat and led by the charismatic half-dragon warlord Azarr Kul.

To stop the horde, players have to muster the inhabitants of the Vale, battle hobgoblins, giants, and dragons, and defeat an overwhelming enemy.

Red Hand of Doom was the first Dungeons & Dragons adventure to include Designer Notes—asides written by the authors to provide additional advice to players and to explain decisions made during the design process,[6] as well as incorporating downloadable content in the form of PDF stat blocks.