Got the D&D 4e Starter Set...So whatcha wanna know?

[Thanee]

Sounds decent enough. It's a starter set after all.

Putting in tiles from another set is a little bad, however it does make sense, I guess, to not have unique tiles in there (aka forcing the DT buyers to get the starter set ). Hopefully they are the ones you actually want extras from.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Scribble]

OK...Bad number 2. I knew I had seen the tiles before and after a couple minutes it hit me...I just bought them not to long ago...there from DU1 Halls of the Giant King. Not sure how I feel about this one, since it's only some of the tiles and I guess they can supplement what I have...but I do feel a little ripped off.

Scott Rouse actually mentioned the tiles would be from another set. He said this helped keep the prices down.

 

[Imaro]

Ok, I've just spent the past 10-15min looking through the Dungeon Masters book...They really went all out for this. In fact I would say that if this had been out when the PHB was released you could have run a rudimentary game with just the boxed set and the PHB (It even has a nice mini-monster manual in the back). In fact it's so close to the red box (on the DM's side of things) that I almost feel more disappointed they didn't just go the extra mile and flesh out the PC side of things. I would have paid another five dollars to have some basic character creation and advancement rules.

Included are...
1. Dungeon Master's Quick Start Rules: Same as KotS, but more fleshed out with a listing of conditions, and a step by step guide to Using Monster Stats.

2. Adventure: 3 encounters, a little dialogue to start it, a small area map and home base (Harken village) for the pc's as well as advice on integrating PC's into the setting with backstories, etc.

3. Creating Adventures: A section that discusses the different monster roles, Encounter Components, Encounter Settings, Skill Challenges, Traps and Hazards, Creating Dungeons (utilizing tiles as well as the "parts" of a dungeon like corridors and random encounters)

4. Monsters: 25 pages of monsters (Nothing new, though I wish they had threw in a couple that weren't in the MM).

I definitely think this boxed set will be very good for teaching someone to DM 4e, and in that aspect I give it 4 stars. As far as the PC side I gotta give it 2 stars(it's just KotS revised without the adventure). The Tokens are cool and sturdy though I kinda wish it did have minis of the PC's (just so I can get my hands on a non-rare Dragonborn...lol). The dungeon tiles are a wash, but only because I have DU1 already...hey would be cool (though I wish it were more) for a new player.

One other note though, I'm not sure...but I don't think the errata on skill challenges has been incorporated into the starter set, so this might be an issue to some.

 

[Thanee]

(Nothing new, though I wish they had threw in a couple that weren't in the MM).

Well, as with the tiles, that would make no sense.

Look at it from the other direction... wouldn't you be annoyed if there was something exclusively in the starter set and not in the (complete) rulebooks, if you didn't plan on buying the starter set, anyways?

Wouldn't that scream a bit like "here, you don't need it, and we know that, but you will buy it anyways, because... heh heh heh".

Bye
Thanee

 

[justanobody]

Image of contents? I always like to see what comes inside. Last I saw the box was even B&W sketch.

 

[erf_beto]

What about the artwork for the counters? are they just copy-pasted from the MM or something new?
Can you take a picture of them?

thanks

 

[Imaro]

Image of contents? I always like to see what comes inside. Last I saw the box was even B&W sketch.

No, the box is in color (though it's nowhere near as sturdy or big as the previous basic sets).

What about the artwork for the counters? are they just copy-pasted from the MM or something new?
Are they round or square?
Can you take a picture of them?

thanks

The counters are round and the artwork is from the 4e MM. There are as follows...

8 orcs
8 skeletons
8 goblins
8 hobgoblins
8 kobolds
8 zombies
1 Red Dragon(large)
1 White Dragon(large)
1 Black Dragon(large)

Opp. Side
2 Spiretop Drakes
2 Rage Drakes
2 Spitting Drakes
2 fire beetles
4 Gray Wolves
2 Webterror Spiders
4 Stirges
2 Spectres (Phantom Warriors)
4 NPC Halflings
2 Stormclaw Scorpions
5 Dire Rats
2 NPC Elves
2 Gnomes
8 Kruthiks
2 Things I haven't been able to figure out what they are... (I failed my MM Knowledge check)
1. Gelatinous Cube (large)
1. Dire Wolf (large)
1. Unicorn (large)


About to go out to breakfast, will try to post some pics when I get back.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

From my glance through...only pre-gens, which can advance to 3rd level, but everything (powers, feats, etc.) are already selected for each character. Not liking this at all. I feel this is what killed the 3.x basic sets and don't see this one being any different in that regard.

Dammit dammit dammit. I guess I'll be skipping out for a couple years.

I was so hoping for a set that honestly inherited the mantle of the 1983 Red Box set. I suppose the name of this thing at least is honesty. Starter Set.

Tell us, how replayable is this? Because, to me, one of the biggest reasons the Red Box edition was so phenomenally successful in the market that it made D&D a cultural sensation in the 1980s was that it was easily replayable.

Oh, is there a "recommended age" for the set. The Red Box was recommended for ages 10+ while the 3.x Basic was for recommended ages 12+ (!)

 

[Delta]

The pre gens are the same except the cleric is human in the starter set and the wizard is an eladrin... No character generation rules (but we already knew this.).

I've said it before and I'll say it again: D&D play is about ownership and role-playing your own unique character. "Basic" sets that leave that out are missing the whole point, the hook to new players of D&D. I just do not understand it.

 

[Imaro]

First, let me say...probably won't be getting pics up today. But if someone else has it feel free to post them in this thread.

Dammit dammit dammit. I guess I'll be skipping out for a couple years.

I was so hoping for a set that honestly inherited the mantle of the 1983 Red Box set. I suppose the name of this thing at least is honesty. Starter Set.

Tell us, how replayable is this? Because, to me, one of the biggest reasons the Red Box edition was so phenomenally successful in the market that it made D&D a cultural sensation in the 1980s was that it was easily replayable.

Oh, is there a "recommended age" for the set. The Red Box was recommended for ages 10+ while the 3.x Basic was for recommended ages 12+ (!)

Recommended age is 12+

You know what, I feel you. This set comes so close to the red box in the DM department...and then falls totally flat in the players department. Like I said before if you have KotS...you have the players portion of the starter set.

It's replayability is hard to grade. I mean it gives you enough whereas you could make a fairly large number of adventures before the options would feel stale...the problem is you only have the same 5 characters with no options in creation or leveling. I could see players quickly getting bored after playing much quicker than the DM.

Of course it would have been cool if they had at least switched the PC selection up from KotS...it could have helped cross promotion since you could add those characters to the basic set and get a wider range. Maybe WotC could do a web enhancement that gives the PC's a couple of choices in advancement or selection.