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]

I don't own it but I am getting the sense from reactions online that it is maybe better at teaching but ultimately a less worthwhile product overall.
As a related aside: i wonder if this means we might get a stand alone, perhaps expanded, Lost Mines of Phandelver. Even if they stop selling the Starter Set they should definitely keep that adventure in print.

The adventure is definitely a teaching tool. Plenty of verbiage dedicated to it.

It’s a cool little adventure and there are bits in it I adore.

Also I love the art and like the artist.

But!

It isn’t quite like Phandelver. That is a recommend on the adventure alone for everyone. This is definitely for beginning DMs, or if you ever want to foster one.

 

[delericho]

I don't own it but I am getting the sense from reactions online that it is maybe better at teaching but ultimately a less worthwhile product overall.

My view is that the Essentials Kit is an upgrade on the LMoP Starter Set in every regard except one - LMoP blows DoIP out of the water. But everything else about that set is great, to the point where I now consider the Essentials Set rulebook to be "the rules", and treat the core 3 as a mega-splat.

Frankly, I consider the LMoP Starter Set to be largely a waste of money, except for one thing. But that one thing, the adventure itself, is easily worth the price of admission.

(And my recommendation is actually to get both - while I consider the LMoP adventure better, DoIP serves as a very nice expansion.)

As a related aside: i wonder if this means we might get a stand alone, perhaps expanded, Lost Mines of Phandelver. Even if they stop selling the Starter Set they should definitely keep that adventure in print.

Agreed. Or, possibly, get it up on DM's Guild as print-on-demand.

 

[delericho]

Forgive me if this has been answered here or in another thread, but do we know why WotC is constantly making new "Starter Sets" instead of choosing one to be ever green?

Speaking for myself, I'm glad to see it - I've used LMoP twice now to introduce different groups to the game, and when the time came to introduce a third group I really didn't fancy running it again. So another Starter Set with a new adventure is welcome. Assuming, that is, that that adventure is a good one - not having the new set, I can't comment on that.

 

[Reynard]

My view is that the Essentials Kit is an upgrade on the LMoP Starter Set in every regard except one - LMoP blows DoIP out of the water. But everything else about that set is great, to the point where I now consider the Essentials Set rulebook to be "the rules", and treat the core 3 as a mega-splat.

Frankly, I consider the LMoP Starter Set to be largely a waste of money, except for one thing. But that one thing, the adventure itself, is easily worth the price of admission.

(And my recommendation is actually to get both - while I consider the LMoP adventure better, DoIP serves as a very nice expansion.)

I played through DoIP and it was... okay. I don't own the set, though. What in your opinion makes it "the rules"?

 

[delericho]

I played through DoIP and it was... okay. I don't own the set, though. What in your opinion makes it "the rules"?

I felt that that massively-constrained 64 page count forced them to really boil the game down to, well, the essentials (in a way that even Basic didn't require). There's an awful lot in the core 3 that is just extraneous, or corner cases, or otherwise mostly best ignored.

It also had the very great benefit that WotC made that book available for free download (not sure if it still is), so I was able to point new players at it without fear of them being utterly overwhelmed.

I fully understand, of course, that that approach won't be for everyone. It just made me quite happy.

 

[darjr]

I must agree that the essentials kit rulebook is quite awesome.

 

[Reynard]

I felt that that massively-constrained 64 page count forced them to really boil the game down to, well, the essentials (in a way that even Basic didn't require). There's an awful lot in the core 3 that is just extraneous, or corner cases, or otherwise mostly best ignored.

It also had the very great benefit that WotC made that book available for free download (not sure if it still is), so I was able to point new players at it without fear of them being utterly overwhelmed.

I fully understand, of course, that that approach won't be for everyone. It just made me quite happy.

I must agree that the essentials kit rulebook is quite awesome.

I LOVE concise rules. I am often of the opinion that modern RPGs are entirely too wordy. I mean, i understand -- I freelance write for RPGs and get paid by the word. But I would be very interested in a pure rule book for 5E.

 

[robus]

Perhaps you are looking for different things than the typical player? Where you 12 when you started playing?

That could be it. I just want a fun little adventure over the first few levels that doesn’t try to be too clever and doesn’t have weird continuity issues.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I did not know that. Is that new since the acquisition?

Yes.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

That could be it. I just want a fun little adventure over the first few levels that doesn’t try to be too clever and doesn’t have weird continuity issues.

Kids don't tend to think about continuity very much. I remember running Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, White Plume Mountain, and Cave of Chaos when I started out, aged 13. We weren't bothered that they didn't "make sense". Well, Caves of Chaos, maybe.

Personally, I want adventures that do try to be clever. Not clever, I can do easily myself (and could back in 1982).