NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MNblockhead" data-source="post: 7587673" data-attributes="member: 6796661">4 out of 5 rating for Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter SetLet's get one thing out of the way first. This set is not as good as the main starter set. Lost Mine of Phandelver is an excellent adventure that even seasoned players will enjoy. The Hunt for the Thessalhydra, the adventure included in this set, is not nearly as good. Another thing to get out of the way: fans of the show Stranger Things will be disappointed if they are looking for a game that captures the show. This set is not meant to simulate the show. If that is what you are looking for, you'll be much better served by the excellent game Tales from the Loop (<a href="https://www.modiphius.net/products/tales-from-the-loop-rpg-rulebook" target="_blank">https://www.modiphius.net/products/tales-from-the-loop-rpg-rulebook</a>).The last thing to get out of the way is that the description is a bit misleading. The product description states: "[FONT=gilroy, sans-serif]It's a great way for new as well as seasoned Dungeon & Dragons players to experience the D&D adventure Stranger Things character Mike Wheeler has created for his friends."  Some unluckly grognard may make an impulse purchase hoping that this set trys to capture D&D as it would have been played during the time the show [/FONT]Stranger Things[FONT=gilroy, sans-serif] take place. If you are looking for an OSR experience, you'll be disappointed. [/FONT][FONT=gilroy, sans-serif]So what [/FONT]is[FONT=gilroy, sans-serif] this set all about? [/FONT][FONT=gilroy, sans-serif]It contains two softcover, stapled booklets. The first is the Basic Rules, with some screen caps and images from the show [/FONT]Stranger Thing[FONT=gilroy, sans-serif].  The monster section also includes stats for the "demogorgon" monster that is the main monster in the first season of the show. Other than that, it is basically the same content in Basic Rules that you can get as a free PDF from the Wizards of the Coast Web site. [/FONT][FONT=gilroy, sans-serif]The adventure is basically a one shot that is designed to look like it was handwritten by Mike Wheeler (a character from the show who is the DM for the games the boys play). The adventure is a pretty basic railroad adventure that is only distinguished by some light treatment of the "Upside Down."  It contains a bit of fluff description and some special mechanics for the upside down. Other than that, the rest of the adventure is your basic fantasy road trip and dungeon crawl. Experienced players and DMs are only going to want this set if they are collectors. If you like the Netflix series and like D&D, it is a nice collectible to have. I could see having some fun running the adventure as a beer & pretzels one-shot using the included pre-generated characters sheets included in the box. I also like the two demogorgon (the monstrosity from the show, not the Demon Prince) minis included in the box. They are both grayish, with one having the inside of is flower-like maw painted red. While not an amazing sculpt, it is more than good enough for use at the table and, as far as I know, is only available through this set. A set of dice are included. They are dark blue with white numbering (at least in my set, not sure if they are the same in all sets). They are fine, but I don't consider them a "full" set because they only include a single 10-sided die. Percentile rolls do not seem to come up in the included adventure, but I still consider a full set of D&D dice to have two ten-sided dice, one for the "tens" and one for the "ones" for rolling percentiles. But I'm still giving this set 4 stars. The reason for the high rating is that for YOUNGER PLAYERS, or even junior high and high school students who are new to the game and less "bookish", this adventure is far easier to prep for and run. In this regard, it is a superior introduction to D&D and TTRPGs to new players with little to no prior experience. I am confident that I can give this to my 9 year old son and he could run it, with perhaps me helping with the some of the combat rules. If you are a collector or know a young potential gamer who is new to the hobby, I think that this is an excellent introduction. [/FONT]</blockquote>

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