Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set Price Point Revealed

The new Heroes of the Borderlands D&D boxed set will be significantly more expensive than past Starter Sets. Pre-order pages up on D&D Beyond and Amazon confirm that the new Starter Set, made to introduce the new version of 5th Edition rules to newcomers, will cost $49.99. Previous starter sets, such as the Essentials Kit or the Dragons at Stormwreck Isle, had much lower price points ranging from $19.99 to $24.99.

One reason for the price increase is that the new Starter Set will contain many more components than previous Starter Sets. A trailer (seen below) shows off many of the cards, tokens, and handouts that are included in the boxed set in addition to the standard quickstart guide and character sheets. Per Amazon, the new Starter Set will contain 3 adventure booklets, 8 character class boards featuring iconic D&D classes, 1 quick-start guide, a reference booklet, 5 in-world immersive handouts (including a tavern menu and shop catalogs), 9 double-sided poster maps, a combat tracker, 11 dice, 210 game cards (including spells, magic items, and equipment), and 273 tokens (including monsters, terrain, and resources).

One twist for this new boxed set is that it will include tiles that will add a modularity to character creation. Players will choose their background and class and then build a character sheet using corresponding tiles.

Hasbro also previously stated that the Starter Set was produced in China, so the increased price could be impacted by the current tariffs imposed by the US on foreign-made goods.


The new Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set will be released on September 16th, 2025.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Side unproductive discussion aside, I think it’s important that when teaching new players, we have to consider what life is like currently, not 50 years ago. New players know about the game, they have internet, they have cellphones and apps, they are used to seeing minis and tokens because those are so much more accessible now then back then. We have 3d printers.

It’s just not remotely the same.

 

[Parmandur]

Given that D&D started out as a miniatures game, it's "theatre of the mind" that is the non-standard variant.

Pretty easy to do, though.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Pretty easy to do, though.

To learn? I don’t think so. It’s like trying to teach electricity. It requires a very good imagination, and a very good description, to visualise without the aid of diagrams. Once you have learned with the visual aids, you might then go on to discard them*.

Also consider chess. Everyone starts out with pieces and a board. Very advanced players eventually learn to play without.

*When is comes to D&D though, making props is a fun activity in its own right.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Side unproductive discussion aside, I think it’s important that when teaching new players, we have to consider what life is like currently, not 50 years ago. New players know about the game, they have internet, they have cellphones and apps, they are used to seeing minis and tokens because those are so much more accessible now then back then. We have 3d printers.

It’s just not remotely the same.

It was also fully expected that you already owned a plethora of miniatures, because the game was designed for extant wargamers to play, not for non-wargamers to pick up. That came later, and the game had to change to support it.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

To learn? I don’t think so. It’s like trying to teach electricity. It requires a very good imagination, and a very good description, to visualise without the aid of diagrams. Once you have learned with the visual aids, you might then go on to discard them*.

I've learned that there are plenty of people who have no ability to visualize "cinematic" scenes in their heads. I likely once scoffed at them (not to their faces, that would be rude, but internally) for that inability, because I'm so good at it, myself. Now I understand that it's not their "fault", and they are perfectly capable of being fun, productive players. They just need some visual aids to play. And that's okay.

Also consider chess. Everyone starts out with pieces and a board. Very advanced players eventually learn to play without.

Now, THAT is a skill. I think like my scenario above, if everyone who could play chess that way "scoffed" at those who could not, then they'd be the jerks, not the rest of us.

The two scenarios are pretty much the same, I think.

*When is comes to D&D though, making props is a fun activity in its own right.

Too right!

 

[Parmandur]

To learn? I don’t think so. It’s like trying to teach electricity. It requires a very good imagination, and a very good description, to visualise without the aid of diagrams. Once you have learned with the visual aids, you might then go on to discard them*.

Also consider chess. Everyone starts out with pieces and a board. Very advanced players eventually learn to play without.

*When is comes to D&D though, making props is a fun activity in its own right.

I learned through TotM, yeah. Certainly not the only way to do it, or the best for everyone, but that's what we did in college.

 

[Arilyn]

Visual aids are really helpful with spells, which are still described as cones, lines, spheres, etc.

 

[Argyle King]

I feel that $50 is reasonable for a boxed set with this much content.

 

[Clint_L]

Yeah, ultimately I think most of us agree that the contents of this box seem like good value for $50. But I'm not the target audience.

For me, the question is whether that price is too high for the impulse buy niche that Lost Mine of Phandelver, in particular, served so admirably for years. I think LMoP contributed a lot to 5e's exponential growth. It was one of many factors, but if you had just sort of become aware of D&D, or remembered loving it from your youth, having an outstanding starter kit available everywhere for around $20 certainly made for an easy on-ramp. $50 puts it in a different category, IMO.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Yeah, ultimately I think most of us agree that the contents of this box seem like good value for $50. But I'm not the target audience.

For me, the question is whether that price is too high for the impulse buy niche that Lost Mine of Phandelver, in particular, served so admirably for years. I think LMoP contributed a lot to 5e's exponential growth. It was one of many factors, but if you had just sort of become aware of D&D, or remembered loving it from your youth, having an outstanding starter kit available everywhere for around $20 certainly made for an easy on-ramp. $50 puts it in a different category, IMO.

It does, but... as the subsequent starters have shown, WotC has struggled to repeat that successfully. This is something new. if those learning tools work, I think it will be worth it.