D&D for Beginners (new product)

[MerricB]

G'day folks!

Lost in the shuffle with the announcements of super-size miniatures, the Draconomicon and other things seems to have been this announcement:

D&D First Challenge

I wonder how many levels it will deal with?

Character generation rules are a step up from the 3E Adventure Starts Here! product (which I thought was otherwise excellent) - and the miniatures will be nice; one hopes that counters are also provided.

With 3E, I definitely feel the need for a beginner level product for D&D; I'm currently teaching a 9-year old D&D, and am reluctant to give her the 3E rulebooks as they are way too much to absorb all at once.

Cheers!

 

[rounser]

I think the name is a mistake, but apart from that, sounds good. 12-18 year olds don't like to feel like they're buying something watered-down or "kiddie", and "First Challenge" suggests that, IMO, moreso than "Basic" did...in the "Baby's First Crossword Puzzle" sort of vein...

 

[Harlock]

Merric this wasn;t lost on me. In fact it was more exciting to me than the minis and stuff. I have ben recently hard at work aquiring mint copies of the old Basic, Expert, Rules Cyclopedia etc in order to teachmy son gaming when he is old enough. I have just about all I want or need then I see this. Sounds like a great step. I had used the 2e D&D Adventures box to teach my wife and sister-in-law the game at first and to gauge their interest before I told them to invest in some books. A game geared toward youngsters like the old basic set would be super. I cut my teeth on the Basic set and loved OD&D for years. I hope it turns out well, as I think the younger crowd has been lost in the shuffle lately with all the "mature" themed stuff. Kudos WotC!

 

[MerricB]

The three books (cut down PHB, DMG and MM) in this product sound like a great idea.

Cheers!

 

[scarymonkey]

This is a great idea! I just hope that it is complete enough to make into a full blown D20 version of the Basic D&D game. Now we just need them to release an Expert set next year.

 

[Crothian]

I'm glad this is finally happenning, about time I saw.

 

[Saepiroth]

what happened to using the "Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition Adventure Game" as a beginner's tool?

 

[Melan]

"First Challenge" doesn't sound too good, but they will hopefully rename it.

IMHO, an entry level product must not only be simple , but intelligent and thought provoking as well. As rounser stated, teenagers hate it when someone is talking down to them. Especially since D&D usually attracts the intellignet, geeky kids...

A good intro module would also be nice, like Keep on the Borderlands or something like that - inspiration, inspiration and inspiration. Bruce Cordell should be writing it if possible.

And ditch the goth-punk look. Kids love LotR and LotR isn't anything like the freaks in the PHB.

In the best of all worlds, of course, this product would be a whole product line (like the old Basic game), supported by its own SRD and released under the OGL. WotC could easily cover both the "rules-lite" and "rules-middle" part of the market with a bit of effort.

edit: And making it a box is a very, very good idea.
a) it can be sold in toy stores
b) all the cool stuff inside the box!

 

[tieranwyl]

I was hoping WotC would come out with a rules-light d20 D&D. It needs to be as comprehensive as the Basic and Expert box sets of Basic D&D, or I will not be interested. It should be easy for kids to learn, but it should be a complete game unto itself. It should be class-based without feats, AoO's, and multiple round action types.

 

[mmadsen]

Excellent! I've been recommending this for a long time now.

I'm not sure that the miniatures need to be in there though. The counters in the Adventure Game were just fine, and I'd prefer to see a less expensive product.

This new compact version of the D&D game is designed to introduce a younger audience to the world of Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying. Targeted at ages 12-18 this box set contains all the components needed to play a D&D game right out of the box, including pre-painted miniatures, a battle grid, dice, and three rules booklets based on the three D&D core rulebooks. There are characters ready for play, or players can use the simplified creation rules to craft a unique new character. Since this product is adapted from the full-blown game, it carries many of the unique elements of D&D roleplaying, including character advancement and multiple levels of play.

This set is to be the first to include the new pre-painted miniatures and is to retail for $19.99. Due for release in October 2003.