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.

 

[Parmandur]

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.

However, unlike 10 years ago, D&D Beyond has tons of free resources for free.

 

[Distracted DM]

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.

I think LMoP also acquired the (deserved) reputation for being a particularly good starting adventure. Not sure why the others didn't take as well.

 

[Stormonu]

Within days of getting the Holmes basic set, I convinced my dad to get me miniatures to go with them (specifically Grenadier's 5003 - Woodland Set for heroes and 5004 - Tomb of Spells v2). I wish I still had those minis too - hmm... I may still have the shrieker in storage somewhere.

Through a lot of years, I did do TotM, but there were too many arguments about positioning and the like, so I almost always use miniatures of some sort for play in D&D, most especially since late 2E.

There are some RPGs I can handle not using minis - Daggerheart comes to mind as does WEG Star Wars and the various Star Trek RPGs. But D&D is not one I would even try.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I think LMoP also acquired the (deserved) reputation for being a particularly good starting adventure. Not sure why the others didn't take as well.

They simply weren't as good, and were MUCH lighter on content. LMoP took 40-50 hours to play. Dragons of Stormwreck is probably a couple of sessions. Essentials is longer, but not even close to LMoP. And neither are quite as "good". I'm not disparaging them, either! They're both pretty decent - they just pale compared to the first one, which was a knockout in conception, content, and value. All three of which decreased slightly each time they made a newer Starter Box.

 

[Clint_L]

Phandelver is on my short list of best adventures for any edition. That's a high bar to match.

Heroes of the Borderlands is an interesting choice because it plays so hard into the nostalgia factor, especiaaly given the 50th anniversary. Given the impressive number of double-sided battle maps that are included, I am hopeful that it goes for a similar sandbox feel to LMoP.

 

[Parmandur]

Phandelver is on my short list of best adventures for any edition. That's a high bar to match.

Heroes of the Borderlands is an interesting choice because it plays so hard into the nostalgia factor, especiaaly given the 50th anniversary. Given the impressive number of double-sided battle maps that are included, I am hopeful that it goes for a similar sandbox feel to LMoP.

That the folks responsible for Quests from the Infinite Staircase is promising, since they updated the old Modules there very thoroughly and smartly where needed.