The Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set was pretty much inevitable. From the moment we saw Mike DM D&D for his friends early in the first session of the Netflix series, the clock started ticking when some crossover product would be released. Announced at Toy Fair earlier this year, Hasbro is heavily gearing this product to the mass market, not just hobby game stores.
Modeled on the original “red box” D&D Basic Set, the Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set has nice faux wear and tear on the box as if one of the kids in the TV show carried it around in their bag. Like the original red box set it comes with six, not seven, polyhedral dice (only one d10 that has to be rolled twice to generate percentile results) though these are all a sapphire blue instead of the original colors. In addition to a starter rule book, adventure, dice and pre-gens it also comes with two demogorgon minis that have a nice amount of detail in the sculpture.
The rules in the set are 5th Edition, of course. While not authentic to the original red box the entire point of this crossover is to attract new or lapsed players so pulling them into the current rules makes the most sense. Plus 5th Edition has a old-school feel anyway mixed with more streamlined mechanics.
The actual explanation of the rules and how to play are nicely done. While the 5th Edition Players Handbook does a good job of explaining everything, it's simplified even more here without dumbing it down. The examples of how to play use the character names from Stranger Things, of course.
The best part and the showcase material is “The Hunt for the Thessalhydra, a D&D Campaign by Mike Wheeler.” Written by Stan! and Ben Petrisor, it's a mix of the D&D adventure you see Lucas, Will and Dustin play on Stranger Things with echoes of the weird things happening in their town, like “The characters meet the Proud Princess, a powerful adventurer who has her own quest and wants nothing to do with the characters.”
More than just a gimmick, the adventure is broken down well for a new DM about taking time for certain things, plus with in-character notes about Lucas wanting to be all business. The “Notes to Myself (As Dungeon Master) have good advice for anyone, especially the part about “my job as DM is to make sure everyone has a good time...” Some experienced DMs still need to learn that, unfortunately.
If you ever wondered what the kids' characters on the show are, wonder no more. The pre-gens in the set match what you see.
If you're a huge Stranger Things fan, you'll probably like the Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set. More importantly, if you have a friend who loves Stranger Things but has never played D&D and is curious about it, the Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set is probably a perfect gift.
This article was contributed by Beth Rimmels (brimmels) as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. If you enjoy the daily news and articles from EN World, please consider contributing to our Patreon!
Modeled on the original “red box” D&D Basic Set, the Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set has nice faux wear and tear on the box as if one of the kids in the TV show carried it around in their bag. Like the original red box set it comes with six, not seven, polyhedral dice (only one d10 that has to be rolled twice to generate percentile results) though these are all a sapphire blue instead of the original colors. In addition to a starter rule book, adventure, dice and pre-gens it also comes with two demogorgon minis that have a nice amount of detail in the sculpture.
The rules in the set are 5th Edition, of course. While not authentic to the original red box the entire point of this crossover is to attract new or lapsed players so pulling them into the current rules makes the most sense. Plus 5th Edition has a old-school feel anyway mixed with more streamlined mechanics.
The actual explanation of the rules and how to play are nicely done. While the 5th Edition Players Handbook does a good job of explaining everything, it's simplified even more here without dumbing it down. The examples of how to play use the character names from Stranger Things, of course.
The best part and the showcase material is “The Hunt for the Thessalhydra, a D&D Campaign by Mike Wheeler.” Written by Stan! and Ben Petrisor, it's a mix of the D&D adventure you see Lucas, Will and Dustin play on Stranger Things with echoes of the weird things happening in their town, like “The characters meet the Proud Princess, a powerful adventurer who has her own quest and wants nothing to do with the characters.”
More than just a gimmick, the adventure is broken down well for a new DM about taking time for certain things, plus with in-character notes about Lucas wanting to be all business. The “Notes to Myself (As Dungeon Master) have good advice for anyone, especially the part about “my job as DM is to make sure everyone has a good time...” Some experienced DMs still need to learn that, unfortunately.
If you ever wondered what the kids' characters on the show are, wonder no more. The pre-gens in the set match what you see.
If you're a huge Stranger Things fan, you'll probably like the Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set. More importantly, if you have a friend who loves Stranger Things but has never played D&D and is curious about it, the Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set is probably a perfect gift.
This article was contributed by Beth Rimmels (brimmels) as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. If you enjoy the daily news and articles from EN World, please consider contributing to our Patreon!
