D&D 5E (2024) Hellfire Club Starter Set

[Stormonu]

Earlier today I got the Hellfire Club Starter set, and I've spent a little bit of time with it checking it out and comparing it to the Heroes of the Borderlands starter set.

It, of course, has a really different feel - where the Borderland set seems aimed squarely at modern newcomers who've never touched D&D, the Hellfire Club seems squarely aimed at those who have some knowledge of what D&D is - either from pop culture (such as through Stranger Things...) or having had played prior versions and returning to try out 5E for the first time.

Unlike Borderland's equipment and gear cards, the premade characters here are actual character sheets, with 1st, 2nd and 3rd level versions. However, unlike Borderlands, the Hellfire Club pregens don't allow you to pick race or background - they're already set for you. I am annoyed a little bit that neither set covers making your own characters from scratch, but the free SRD rules are available if you did want to go that route (of course, those who start with these are unlikely to know the 5E SRD even exists...).

Both starter sets come with spell, magic item and monster cards, though the latter is quite different between the two (Hellfire comes with a couple devils and the demodand monsters of the show).

While the art in both play guide's starter set is similar to the typical 5E core book introductory chapter tone, the art in the Hellfire Club adventures interior is black-and-white line art along the lines you would expect to see in late 1E products by Elmore, Parkinson, Roslof and the like. The covers have a sort of Jeff Dee like tone.

The adventures that come in the Hellfire set are in four (thin) booklets of 12 pages apiece, and they are all dungeoncrawls. There is an overland map of the overworld area of "Greyhawkins", but I've not seen any of the booklets cover it, unlike the Borderlands set coverage of the Wilderness area and the Keep. Also, I find it amusing that while it has "12+" on the box cover, there's some foul language in Eddie's notes among the adventure booklets for the DM, including an F-bomb.

While I think Borderlands wins in the amount of adventure content and number of battlemaps, Hellfire comes with a real, heavy duty DM's screen that has a pretty decent player-facing side.

There's aspects that I like about both sets, each having its good and not-so-good points. The Borderlands set covers an old classic but has a rather light-hearted tone, while Hellfire will give you something off the beaten path and the adventures are a bit more 80's camp while at the same time having moments that could touch on the horror side (though the writing tone comes across to me as a bit silly, like a too-old middle aged man trying to fit in with the cool kids).

 

[sevenbastard]

Im hesitant about buying this. On one hand i love the old school art amd design. On the other hand the adventures look generic and to be played in a railroad order.

I liked the spell cards and monster cards in Heroes of the Borderlands but when adventures include searching the keep for lost sheep I tuned out.

Maybe I got spoiled by Lost Mines giving us a sandbox but I was hoping for more from both the new starter sets.

 

[haakon1]

Sounds pretty good to me. Greyhawkins has a nice ring to it.

 

[Stormonu]

Im hesitant about buying this. On one hand i love the old school art amd design. On the other hand the adventures look generic and to be played in a railroad order.

I liked the spell cards and monster cards in Heroes of the Borderlands but when adventures include searching the keep for lost sheep I tuned out.

Maybe I got spoiled by Lost Mines giving us a sandbox but I was hoping for more from both the new starter sets.

The birthday party goblins in Borderlands made me roll my eyes, but the great thing as a DM is if you don’t like a certain quest or presentation , you don’t have to give it out. On the other hand, if your players for some reason are into those sort of fetch or offbeat quests, it’s their choice if they want to take the lead or not. (Back in the early 90’s, I got stuck - as group leader no less - in a RPGA adventure about leading geese to market - it was my least favorite adventure of all time, but mundane quests, including “fetch” quests, aren’t exactly new to D&D).

The big things is choices - I’m somewhat glad D&D is willing to go beyond “kill everything” (starting with the rats in the basement) for adventure quests and things to do, even if I’m not totally onboard with the exact choices.

As starter adventures, I feel both sets would be an overall great intro for those new to the game. It’s up to the players to pick and choose what to do, but I applaud being given options where judicial use of non-combat spells, skills and RP have an opportunity to shine over “kill ‘em all and take their stuff” - if the players want to pursue that option.

 

[Charlaquin]

Also, I find it amusing that while it has "12+" on the box cover, there's some foul language in Eddie's notes among the adventure booklets for the DM, including an F-bomb.

I think culturally, much of the US at least is in the process of a shift in what words are taboo. People are much more comfortable with their kids hearing and using “swear words” than they were even when I was a kid, and my generation’s parents were much more lax about such language than their parents had been. On the other hand, a lot of terms that were considered kind of rude but far from unacceptable when I was a kid are considered slurs now. And I know if I had kids of my own I’d be much more ok with them “dropping f-bombs” than I would with r-bombs, or… the other f-bomb. Both of which were very common when I was growing up.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

How big and heavy is the box? Is it comparable to Borderlands?

And I'm glad that the screen is heavy duty. I might try to pick it up separately on the after market, if nothing else. (Not sure I need two $50 starter sets.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

And I know if I had kids of my own I’d be much more ok with them “dropping f-bombs” than I would with r-bombs, or… the other f-bomb. Both of which were very common when I was growing up.

My kids test their boundaries with profanity, but generally, we're pretty lax about it at home, with the understanding that the language isn't appropriate at school or work.

But our kids would be horrified if anyone used words that are considered slurs today, no matter who says it. Given how many of us had elders who said completely inappropriate things when we were growing up, I'm happy to follow my kids' leads on this one.

 

[Stormonu]

How big and heavy is the box? Is it comparable to Borderlands?

And I'm glad that the screen is heavy duty. I might try to pick it up separately on the after market, if nothing else. (Not sure I need two $50 starter sets.)

Hellfire is noticeably lighter, and it does feel like a somewhat pared-down version of Borderlands. You'll definitely get more adventure time out of Borderlands. I assume the similar cost is due to licensing/royalty costs paid back to using the Stranger Things brand.

Either one looks to be decent starting point and I don't think you'd go wrong with either - more of a "which tone appeals to you more" sort of thing. Wouldn't suggest getting both (or either, if you have Phandelver and/or Essentials) unless your a collecting nut like me.

 

[Aellic Mornbringer]

I received my copy a few days ago and have skimmed through the adventures to get their pulse before reading everything cover to cover. I largely agree with @Stormonu 's review points. I would add that in my opinion I'd almost call it a collector's piece for fans of both Stranger Things and D&D at 60/40% respectively. The adventures, in order, are most definitely "inspired by" the first four seasons of Stranger Things. (as I'm pretty sure someone else said in a related thread, this is a product that belongs more in Target's Stranger Things display setup vs. placed in a D&D section.)

I've got my kids started with Heroes of the Borderlands now which IMO is the better 'new player' starter set but I could see this Stranger Things set working great with inspiring fans of the show (especially given how the included characters are the 'in-universe' PCs for the show's characters) to try out D&D. With a little tweaking, I think the first three adventures will make for easily scalable drop-in adventures, the fourth one I need to give a more in depth review of before I decide.

Lastly, fully agree that the DM Screen is really nice and heavy duty.

I am curious to see if future products continue the spell/equipment/magic item cards like both this and Borderlands have.

 

[Parmandur]

as I'm pretty sure someone else said in a related thread, this is a product that belongs more in Target's Stranger Things display setup vs. placed in a D&D section.

Yup, I did say that: the older Starter Things Starter Set was in the Stranger Thihgs merchandise section (usually near the televisions and video games, with other geek culture merch), while the Phandelver Starter Set was in the Board Game aisle of the toy section.

I expect thst Heroes of the Borderlands will be sold in board game aisles, too, while this definitely looks like geek culture merch (though it still looks like a legit Starter set, just a different marketing approach).