D&D 5E Dragons of Stormwreck Isle: New D&D Starter Set Is Coming This Year

Hasbro has posted a short video which highlights its 2022 portfolio of brands, including toys and games, and in it can be seen images of a D&D Starter Set called Dragons of Stormwreck Isle. The cover feature a blue dragon breathing lightning.

Critical Role's Call of the Netherdeep also appears briefly.

In this press release, Hasbro lists the boxed set with a retail price of $49.99, which seems very high for a starter set.

 

[darjr]

It wasn't included because it's supposed to be an expansion, not a rewrite. If you follow through with the online content the action moves to Leilon, which is well detailed.

Also it was written over Christmas, if I remember right.

 

[Juomari Veren]

Just to clarify, the adventure in the first 5E Starter Set was Lost Mine of Phandelver, and it was excellent.

The adventure in Essentials Kit was called “Dragon of Icespire Peak” and it was quite a bit worse.

Lost Mine is a damn classic now, but Dragon of Icespire Peak was kind of a stinker that should be replaced.

As someone who's played and run Lost Mine, is running Dragon of Icespire Peak currently, and every player in that campaign also having already played Lost Mine - Incredibly hard disagree. It's not even close how much more enjoyable DoIP is.

Plus, that doesn't really change my statement - The Essentials Kit wasn't just a starter set, and I would still put good money on that being the case here too, I just couldn't say in what way they'll expand upon the starter set DNA.

Dragon of Icespire Peak is level 5-6, and the characters on the cover might be NPCs anyway.

Actually, if you do everything in the book, players are meant to hit level 7 after they kill the aforementioned dragon. Obviously by that point you'd need to spin things off (and they were nice enough to make D&D Beyond exclusive expansion content to go from 7-13 that comes with the kit for free via a code) but it does let you go to level 7, just that the actual content in the book is built for 1-6.

 

[Parmandur]

Agreed. Probably the best use of Dragons of Icespire Peak tbh. My biggest disappointment with that adventure was how much detail about the town of Phandalin got removed compared to the amount of info in Lost Mine of Phandelver.

Well, it that was the point, it wasn't a standalone, but a supplement that could work OK by itself: really, it goes together. And they are on the shelf right next to each other at Target.

 

[Jer]

Agreed. Probably the best use of Dragons of Icespire Peak tbh. My biggest disappointment with that adventure was how much detail about the town of Phandalin got removed compared to the amount of info in Lost Mine of Phandelver.

Keep in mind that the Essentials Kit was created because Target wanted a second boxed set to sell next to the original Starter Set. It was never meant to be a replacement for the Starter Set, it was supposed to be what people who bought the Starter Set at Target picked up as a second purchase with more adventure. But it was made so that the two boxed sets could be used independently of each other rather than requiring the Starter Set (a genius move in my eyes - making it an add-on to the original leads to disappointment, making it a standalone game that works with the other box means you have incentive to buy both but don't have to buy them in any order).

 

[doctorhook]

Keep in mind that the Essentials Kit was created because Target wanted a second boxed set to sell next to the original Starter Set. It was never meant to be a replacement for the Starter Set, it was supposed to be what people who bought the Starter Set at Target picked up as a second purchase with more adventure. But it was made so that the two boxed sets could be used independently of each other rather than requiring the Starter Set (a genius move in my eyes - making it an add-on to the original leads to disappointment, making it a standalone game that works with the other box means you have incentive to buy both but don't have to buy them in any order).

I wasn’t aware of that, but it makes sense. Thanks you you and others for pointing it out.

 

[doctorhook]

As someone who's played and run Lost Mine, is running Dragon of Icespire Peak currently, and every player in that campaign also having already played Lost Mine - Incredibly hard disagree. It's not even close how much more enjoyable DoIP is.

Plus, that doesn't really change my statement - The Essentials Kit wasn't just a starter set, and I would still put good money on that being the case here too, I just couldn't say in what way they'll expand upon the starter set DNA.

I’ve both run and played both boxes too, and we’re going to have to agree to disagree here, friend. I found that DoIP has a very loose, bland plot made of a series of boring mini-dungeons. The Essentials Kit seems like it’s meant as a stand-alone product (though others here have indicated it was produced to sell along the Starter Set) but I was frustrated about how little it offered relating to the town of Phandalin or it’s people. The expansion content seemed pretty flimsy too. At least in the Lost Mine we met villains with some backstory and motivation.

 

[darjr]

Target wanted this box set so bad they fronted investment (not sure what kind though) to get it made a priority. Chris Perkins put in a ton of extra hours to get it done on an excelerated schedule.

The first orders sold out in store so fast that people resorted to scouring the internet for sightings.

 

[darjr]

One of the very best live plays, imho, is Mike Shea (SlyFlourish) and Enrique Bertran (Newbiedm) live stream of the Dragons of Icespire Peak.


I so wish they’d do more.

 

[doctorhook]

Target wanted this box set so bad they fronted investment (not sure what kind though) to get it made a priority. Chris Perkins put in a ton of extra hours to get it done on an excelerated schedule.

The first orders sold out in store so fast that people resorted to scouring the internet for sightings.

Ahh this explains why it was a Target USA exclusive at first, which I’m suddenly recalling.

 

[overgeeked]

As someone who's played and run Lost Mine, is running Dragon of Icespire Peak currently, and every player in that campaign also having already played Lost Mine - Incredibly hard disagree. It's not even close how much more enjoyable DoIP is.

It’s probably due to everyone already having been through Lost Mine once before that made it boring the second go through.