Another Look at the D&D Essentials Kit

Len · May 22, 2019

Parmandur said:
Target already gets enough of my money for diapers.

When you stop buying diapers, it'll be time to pick up a D&D Essentials Kit.

cmad1977 · May 22, 2019

TheBanjoNerd said:
This is what I'm most intrigued by. I'm assuming this means running games with DM and one PC. My gaming group can't regularly get together, but my best friend and I hang out on a fairly regular basis, so getting some sort of rules for running smaller games would be great so I can run sessions more often.

I’ve run 1v1 using the standard rules. I’d be interested in what this set has to say.

Parmandur · May 22, 2019

Len said:
When you stop buying diapers, it'll be time to pick up a D&D Essentials Kit.

Touche.

lyracian · May 22, 2019

MartyW said:
I wrote a bit more about it here
[EDIT: It was confirmed by Adam Bradford the other day on Twitter.]

With a code to get it online and a discount for the PHB I may pick this up!
I have the physical PHB but an online one for reference would be so much easier (depends what the discount is)

Badvoc · May 22, 2019

lyracian said:
With a code to get it online and a discount for the PHB I may pick this up!
I have the physical PHB but an online one for reference would be so much easier (depends what the discount is)

That's an unexpected bonus.

Whether the purchase of the physical products should come with a code to redeem the content on D&D Beyond has been a topic of conversation for a long while. I wonder whether this is a one-off marketing ploy help introduce new players to D&D Beyond, or whether it signals a wider plan to discount the digital content for owners of the books?

I've always thought the D&D Beyond pricing was nuts if you already own the books, but I'd be tempted if I could get discounts for the products I already own.

Joshua Randall · May 22, 2019

SerHogan said:
Is this going to replace the Starter Kit? Seems a bit confusing from a marketing standpoint.

Somewhere the ghosts of 4e are laughing uproariously.

Jer · May 23, 2019

TheBanjoNerd said:
This is what I'm most intrigued by. I'm assuming this means running games with DM and one PC. My gaming group can't regularly get together, but my best friend and I hang out on a fairly regular basis, so getting some sort of rules for running smaller games would be great so I can run sessions more often.

I believe that in the announcement they said they were using "sidekick rules" to fill out the party. There was a UA playtest involving sidekick classes a few months ago - the assumption I've seen is that the 1-to-1 variant will use some version of those.

Mercador · May 23, 2019

Jer said:
I believe that in the announcement they said they were using "sidekick rules" to fill out the party. There was a UA playtest involving sidekick classes a few months ago - the assumption I've seen is that the 1-to-1 variant will use some version of those.

I guess it's a bit like followers in Diablo 3?

If I was an editor, I would create 1-to-1 adventures, it's not easy to get 1 DM and 4 players these days. I'm pretty sure there's a market for that.

ced1106 · May 23, 2019

AD&D had some "one on one" modules decades ago, then decided to not make money. While I recall D&D and AD&D being designed for group play, much fantasy fiction was nonetheless centered around a main character. Glad D&D has finally caught up. Now, if only Gloomhaven wasn't the only campaign dungeoncrawler which was designed for gamers with busy lives...!

DMZ2112 · May 23, 2019

lordstimpy said:
Guessing it was a deal to get Target to carry it.

This makes sense to me. I have been watching the Hasbro game shelves at my local Target for years waiting for first the D&D4 and then the D&D5 starter sets to show up, and they never have. Not super happy about the circumstances, but more exposure is good. Folks who shop at FLGSes are likely to wait anyway.

Ramaster said:
I feel that rolling in the open has made me a much better DM, since it has helped me own my mistakes and plan (and design) better.

Fudging die rolls doesn't protect you from having to own your mistakes or design well. If anything, it makes you more accountable for your decisions. Players don't have to trust a dungeon master who doesn't fudge. Maintaining player trust while fudging is dungeon mastery hard mode.