D&D 5E What Would You Put In a 5E Red Box?

[Stormonu]

I really think the Starter set should be a "game in a box". Those it appeals to could move on to the trinity core books, but the box should be complete enough that it can be a one-time purchase for casual players and they don't have to ever buy anything else ruleswise - but you could create the desire to at least pick up adventures in the box's level range.

With that in mind, I'd have it cover the basic four classes, four races to level five as PCs, a range of foes up to 6-7th level (including a dragon or two). I'd shoot for a 24 or 36 page player's book and a 64 page DM's/MM book. Include one walk-through solo adventure in the Player's guide, one complete adventure in the DM's book. Also dice, of course and a coupon for some plastic minis or a pog/pawn set.

I think that Paizo's pawn sets are a fabulous idea and I'd love to see WotC do those. Since the MM's could be freestanding, you could then have folks who use the starter set and just buy the MM's and/or pawns for their game, without having to buy into the "full" game.

And then on top of that I'd have some electronic downloads - Ranger, Barbarian, Paladin, Sorcerer, Bard, Monk class as downloads. Maybe Gnome, Half-Elf and Half-Orc races. Once-a-month springboard adventures (that possibly link into a campaign). And a handful of "new" monsters from the full game. After a year, package it all together (and fully flesh out the adventures) into a second set to physically sell, as if it were an expansion pack. Maybe cover levels 6-10.

I think it would sell marvelously, as long as it remained compatible with the "full" game.

 

[Mistwell]

Player's book with: Four iconic races, four iconic classes, no feats, no backgrounds, no skills.

DM's book with basic DMG, advice, magic items, random treasure and monster generators, basic set of MM monsters.

Levels 1-10.

Good sandbox-style adventure or two.

Fold-out map of a geographic region with hexes (one hex = days travel), with a closer-up map on the back of a smaller region on that larger map (one hex = hours travel).

Set of pre-printed character sheets.

Set of dice.

 

[Jester David]

The trouble is that not everybody uses the internet for tabletop gaming. In itself, it's a good idea, but there needs to be other avenues in.

People inclined to D&D are quite likely to have internet access. I think the internet might be more accessible and common than gaming stores.
Big box stores are an option, but they're unlikely to stock large numbers of boxes and might not always have the product in stock. A lot of stores decline to even carry D&D products.

 

[Mistwell]

A lot of stores decline to even carry D&D products.

Like who? Do you have a link?

Hasbro has a lot of sway with big box store distribution. They've always carried their boxed sets before (4e boxed set was at Walmart, Tartget, Toys R Us, K-Mart, etc..), and the D&D board games got very good distribution as well.

 

[TrippyHippy]

People inclined to D&D are quite likely to have internet access. I think the internet might be more accessible and common than gaming stores.
Big box stores are an option, but they're unlikely to stock large numbers of boxes and might not always have the product in stock. A lot of stores decline to even carry D&D products.

How can we know this without some decent marketing research. It seems quite a risk to simply remove any chance of contact with the game outside of online sources. Moreover, indications from the snippets of information we do get from game companies is that the people who regularly use the internet for gaming-related discourse is still a fraction of the overall market. It is afterall, a tabletop hobby not an online one.

Just because you are happy to use the internet for all gaming purposes, doesn't mean that everybody else is the same.

 

[tsadkiel]

I'd actually make two starter sets. One would have the human/elf/dwarf/halfling and cleric/fighter/rogue/wizard set-up that everybody is discussing, and provide support for, oh, ten levels at least.

Then I would throw money at cartoon network to let me make the Adventure Time Adventure Game (powered by Dungeons & Dragons). Throw in a handful of weird races, and include the fighter and rogue, along with the warlock and artificer classes. Make sure everything is fully compatible with 5E, and direct players to the D&D rulebooks if they want more monsters and other stuff. It ought to capture a few potential gamers, at least.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I really think it depends on who the target audience is for the product. If you're going for hard-core gamers, don't bother with an introductory boxed set, because nothing you can do is right. If you're going for casual gamers who are RPG-familiar, you need a complete but somewhat cut down product. If you are trying to introduce new RPG gamers, you want enough game to get them hooked and understand that they can expand the game and continue to play, but you don't want to drive them away by dropping a 400-page book on them.

If you're cutting the game down, there's really only two choices: maintain breadth and sacrifice depth (the BECMI multiple-interlocking set model) or maintain depth and sacrifice breadth (the 4x4 full 20+ level model). Regardless of which one you pick some group walks away dissatisfied. If your favorite class is ranger, you'll be pretty disappointed to find out its in the second book of a 4x4 product. If you don't want to buy another product for your 20-level campaign, you'll be disappointed with a 5-level product. If you want both, you're not the target audience for an intro set.

Using the play test document as a base, we'd be able to have a full D&D game with 10 classes, several races, up to Level 10, a decent intro bestiary and beginners adventures in well under 300 pages, let alone 400. That is, if the D&D production team and fan base want it.

Flatly, the issue is not about lacking space for a complete game in one book/box - it's an issue of formatting for the purpose of marketing and sales. The reason why WotC followed in line with the previous TSR 3 book format in 3rd and 4th editions was because they could maximize their profits on three core books much moreso than just one standalone core. Personally, I'm totally over this format.

 

[Jester David]

How can we know this without some decent marketing research. It seems quite a risk to simply remove any chance of contact with the game outside of online sources. Moreover, indications from the snippets of information we do get from game companies is that the people who regularly use the internet for gaming-related discourse is still a fraction of the overall market. It is afterall, a tabletop hobby not an online one.

Just because you are happy to use the internet for all gaming purposes, doesn't mean that everybody else is the same.

I'm not discussing online only gaming, just downloadable PDFs with videos and FAQs. Make it so you can get started for free by downloading the game (printing if you want).
Having to go online is far less of a barrier to entry than having to find a local gaming store or purchase a $40 item at some box store.

 

[MJS]

Dragon-shaped chocolates. And some gaming stuff.

 

[Jester David]

Like who? Do you have a link?

Hasbro has a lot of sway with big box store distribution. They've always carried their boxed sets before (4e boxed set was at Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, K-Mart, etc..), and the D&D board games got very good distribution as well.

Never saw the boxed set in local Walmart or Targets.
So it likely varies based on location. Because you can't sell everything.

I did see the Red Box at the local Chapters, but the other books were a random assortment of other unsold books.
And the starter box being sold there means nothing if you can't buy the core rulebooks to continue playing. The point is to create sustainable sales and new regular players.

Boxed Sets are expensive and have a low profit. And it's hard to get an adequate amount of content in a Boxed Set. And there's the feeling of financial waste once you buy the full game and the starter set was irrelevant.
One thing to remember was the old Red Box was the first product in Basic. So when you went to Expert you kept using the content from the Red Box. It was only if you want to AD&D that the Red Box was superfluous.