Red Box Essentials Unboxing Video

[Festivus]

I'll have to pull out my old box to be sure but I think the original had a "solo" adventure bit as well.

Hopefully this red box will be a good way for new folks to play D&D as the original was fer me.

The old "Kill Bargle" or some such?

What was different from anything I had seen prior is that you start the adventure without a pregenerated character, no stats, nothing... zero things written down. Just start playing, and then the complexities of the game and character generation are added on like a reverse onion.

One of the things about D&D is that you almost always needed someone to show you how to play it to get up and running quickly. Now you don't need to seek anyone out to have a evening of fun.

 

[JohnSnow]

The old "Kill Bargle" or some such?

What was different from anything I had seen prior is that you start the adventure without a pregenerated character, no stats, nothing... zero things written down. Just start playing, and then the complexities of the game and character generation are added on like a reverse onion.

One of the things about D&D is that you almost always needed someone to show you how to play it to get up and running quickly. Now you don't need to seek anyone out to have a evening of fun.

I still have my Mentzer books, and I've re-read them a lot lately. The difference is that they just tell you you're a fighter from the get-go for the intro adventure(s). The complexities get added in as things go on, but it's always from the standpoint of playing a fighter.

So the fact that 4e has 4 separate "tracks" in its intro adventure is, dare I suggest, a pretty cool improvement on the old Red Box.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

I love that the adventure chastises you about not being a hero when you try to hide in the wagon instead of choosing a class and act.

 

[giant.robot]

I'm really excited for the 4E Red Box. I've been desperately wanting something that can easily introduce D&D, particularly 4E, to new players. The 4E and 3E PHB and Pathfinder's Core Rulebook suffer from presentation problems. If you aren't really familiar with what pen and paper role playing games are and how they work none of these books really teach you. They tend to gloss over a lot of basics that really new players don't know anything about. A lot of new players today have likely played video game RPGs but may have zero experience with P&P games.

Walking players through an encounter and having them build out characters based on their reactions to the situation I think is a brilliant move. It explains the D&D basics to them while showing them what P&P role playing is all about. This is something a good DM will do with a new player, walk them through some situations to see what sort of character they want to play.

 

[Baumi]

That seems perfect! I love the Idea that you create your first character while playing a chose-your-path adventure.

Now i only wish that it would also be released in German so I could buy this for my 9-year old Niece.

 

[Danzauker]

I still have my Mentzer books, and I've re-read them a lot lately. The difference is that they just tell you you're a fighter from the get-go for the intro adventure(s). The complexities get added in as things go on, but it's always from the standpoint of playing a fighter.

So the fact that 4e has 4 separate "tracks" in its intro adventure is, dare I suggest, a pretty cool improvement on the old Red Box.

Yep, in the old times the fighter was the easiest class, so it was pretty obvious to be a fighter in the intro adventure.

Now that all classes share similar mechanics and have more or less the same level of difficulty, it's a good approach.

 

[hopeless]

Enter the basic dungeon

I'll have to pull out my old box to be sure but I think the original had a "solo" adventure bit as well.

Hopefully this red box will be a good way for new folks to play D&D as the original was fer me.

The player's book had you play a fighter who fought a goblin at the entrance and then a snake before coming across a cleric who was later slain by Bargle who charmed your character so he could flee once hc could cast sleep whilst your intro character's back was turned.

They did give the option that you saved against the spell but the cleric still died.

This short intro adventure was followed by a dungeon crawl as a way of introducing you to d&d more properly with rats, goblins, a rust monster and a few skeletons to fight against oh and of course fleeing the trio of ghouls from the first part.

Now if only I could remember other stuff that well considering I haven't owned a basic d&d set for at least 5 years!

 

[hopeless]

Kill Bargle

The old "Kill Bargle" or some such?

What was different from anything I had seen prior is that you start the adventure without a pregenerated character, no stats, nothing... zero things written down. Just start playing, and then the complexities of the game and character generation are added on like a reverse onion.

One of the things about D&D is that you almost always needed someone to show you how to play it to get up and running quickly. Now you don't need to seek anyone out to have a evening of fun.

That was in the basic dmg but only detailed the first level as I recall, the last issue of dungeon dealt specifically with that which is why I have kept that copy, now I have a good reason to see about introducing Bargle to 4e although I'm wondering whether he'd be better off as a warlock than a wizard...

Essentially wise however its wait and see since the boxed set won't be released until next month, anyone know if they'll try and release an expert, companion and master's set like the original run?

Still the boxed set they unboxed looked a major improvement over the 4e book release!

 

[Mr. Teapot]

now I have a good reason to see about introducing Bargle to 4e although I'm wondering whether he'd be better off as a warlock than a wizard...

Bargle's an NPC, so he does whatever you need him to do. He could steal mechanics from both wizard and warlock, if needed. If I were making 4e Bargle, he'd have ability to fit the railroady nature of the original solo adventure: "When Bargle rolls initiative, he also turns invisible and makes a Stealth check." Aleena would be a minion, auto-killed by Bargle's errata'ed Magic Missile. Then when you later return to get revenge on him, he'd have much more normal spellcaster monster stats.

(There's an official version somewhere on the WotC website, but I wouldn't use it.)

Essentially wise however its wait and see since the boxed set won't be released until next month, anyone know if they'll try and release an expert, companion and master's set like the original run?

They're not just gonna follow the format of previous editions. In the boxed set is information directing you to the additional Essentials books you need to buy (Heroes of whatever lands, the Monster Vault and DM book and such). Once you've bought and played those, you're ready to move onto the main D&D line we're all familiar with.

 

[JohnSnow]

In the boxed set is information directing you to the additional Essentials books you need to buy (Heroes of whatever lands, the Monster Vault and DM book and such). Once you've bought and played those, you're ready to move onto the main D&D line we're all familiar with.

I don't know that I'd characterize it precisely that way. After you buy the Starter Set, there's essentially 2 "tracks" of Essentials products. For DM's there's the Dungeon Master's Kit and the Monster Vault. For players, there's Heroes of the Fallen Lands (which covers the human, eladrin, elf, dwarf & halfling races and the classes of cleric, fighter, rogue and wizard levels 1-30) and Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms (which covers dragonborn, drow, tieflings, half-elves, & half-orcs; and druids, paladins, rangers & warlocks levels 1-30). There's also the Rules Compendium and the Dungeon Tiles Master Sets. That's all there is to Essentials, and by itself, it's enough for ALL your D&D gaming needs.

But for those who want more options in their games (and who doesn't?), D&D Essentials remains fully compatible with the rest of Fourth Edition D&D.