Parmandur
Book-Friend, he/him
Sounds nice: I am a "like, subscribe,and comment" listener of the podcast, but I understand that price-gsting it probably does keep things more civil and manageable.
D&D 5E (2024) Teos talks about using the hero’s of the Borderlands Starter Box to run games.
- Thread starter darjr
- Start date
MrTemplar
Explorer
I have the Goodman games conversion of the original adventures to 5e. We have played some other classic modules that were updated for 5e, and although I will not likely run the starter set as written for my players, I will likely use the maps and battle mats for when we start the Goodman Games version. Of course there is a lot more material in that version, but the starter caves will look a lot better then my squiggles in wet erase markers on my Chessex battle mat.
Alphastream
Hero
Sorry for not responding sooner, folks! I was busy on a writing project and I'm catching up. Most probably have the set now, and we had our recording with the project lead, Justice Arman, here (or YouTube here).
Specifically to your question, when making a character, the board lists starting equipment, so it's just about adding the cards and not about choices. Later, at level 3, you pick which side to use of the level 3 card, with each being a different subclass.
There is no specific guidance on fitting it into an existing setting. There wasn't in the original either, though later books and revisions provided ideas on where to place it in various settings.
It's super fast. When we ran at PAX, we already set them up so all we had to do was explain what they had before them. If you have seen my "learn an RPG in 5 rooms" videos, you may know I'm a big fan of teaching a game by using a part of the game and the character sheet, such as starting just with skills. This set does that. The first wilderness adventures on the trail start with skills, then some skills with a friendly NPC or two, then skills likely followed by a combat.
Specifically to your question, when making a character, the board lists starting equipment, so it's just about adding the cards and not about choices. Later, at level 3, you pick which side to use of the level 3 card, with each being a different subclass.
You can have 1-2 short combat encounters of a sort in the Keep, but it is primarily roleplay and exploration. This works well for a starter set to make it a place to rest up.
There is no specific guidance on fitting it into an existing setting. There wasn't in the original either, though later books and revisions provided ideas on where to place it in various settings.
Sorry, the Discord is for our Patreon that makes our Mastering Dungeons podcast possible. Darjr didn't realize that on our Discord I was just asking for questions from Discord members. It happens. Hopefully the podcast answered your questions. If not, ask here and I'll do my best. Our podcast links are up above at the start of this message. We typically record on Mondays and publish on Wednesday each week. The Discord is the same one I use for supporters of my own "Alphastream" videos... it was just too hard to maintain two separate Discords and I think the conversations are much better for having both groups together.
FitzTheRuke
Legend
Makes sense. As a follow-up: All this had me sign up for the "free" part of a number of patreons. I'm not agianst paying for them, but I'm curious as to how much I'd actually take the time to read or watch their content. I've noticed that many of them (IDK if I'm specifically speaking of yours here, so you might not be able to answer, I understand) simply e-mail what is essentially an ad for "unlocking full access". My question is: Do you (or any that you have knowledge of) have much content that goes to the "free" tier? Again, the reason I ask is because I want to figure out if I will actually reasonably engage with the content before I start dropping the money, not because I'm particularly reluctant to pay for it. Does that make sense?
Alphastream
Hero
It will vary by Patreon creator, and Patreon is constantly making changes which impact how any of us may run our own Patreon. Their data shows that introducing a "free" category can be a way for folks to follow the creator and this can mean many things: see that they post often/consistently, get a sense of what they post, or simply enjoy free content. The platform encourages creators to use this feature and has strong statistics showing it helps us.
Some creators do a lot of free posting. I follow a few. Others do very little. In our case, my hope is that it shows how consistent we are in posting our show notes, which is one of the main benefits, along with access to our Discord. We really intend for the Patreon to be a place where people go to support the show. We are already making the show, but it is entirely likely that without any support we would have closed up shop a long time ago. It takes a lot of work to make the show. Funds help cover equipment, software, and most of our time. It also means a lot to us, especially as supporters then hang out with us on our Discord, forming a community we enjoy being part of. If the "free" tier can at all bring someone into that, I'm all for it!
Edit: for Mastering Dungeons, an example free post is episode 256, which we made free so that anyone could get access to the links in that show. It's an example of our show notes.
FitzTheRuke
Legend
Thanks for the response!
As the longtime owner of an FLGS, where I have run demo games since D&D was AD&D 2nd Edition, I understand too well the juggling act that is doing what you love while wanting to be generous, but also put food on the table, and not get taken advantage of. It can be difficult to know just how much to give. I only started charging for running D&D games, for example (first-time is still free, and I only charge in the sense that you have to buy yourself gift-certificates that you can spend in the store, and only for participation in ongoing campaigns).
What I'm trying to say is: I appreciate what you do, and I hope that you remain very successful at it.
Gorck
Prince of Dorkness
I was curious to know if they plan on releasing just the adventure and maps as a separate product in the future for those of us who don’t need the entire starter box?
Alphastream
Hero
From our interview with Justice, it doesn't sound as if there are any public plans (or had been any plans at launch) to do more with the Starter Set. Justice says that the team does react to what they hear. If in public places enough people are asking for something, then it's possible that they might do it. HoB selling out already is a strong indication they may consider doing something, but it's always hard to find what else to do that really will sell well. For example, a separate pack of maps would only appeal to people who haven't purchased the Starter Set and might be seen as something that takes away from Starter Set sales, so it likely would need solid data suggesting there is a strong established number of DMs who want that smaller product.
MonsterEnvy
Legend
He also said things move slower in a company like that. There is quite a bit of turnaround time.
Gorck
Prince of Dorkness
Aw, giant rats! I’ve heard so many people gushing over how great the original KotB was and I figured here’s my group’s chance to experience it for ourselves. But we’re veteran enough to not need a “starter” set and all the extra stuff that comes along with it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad WotC put out this product to try to draw new people into the game. It’s just that my group isn’t it’s intended audience.
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