D&D (2024) What's In D&D's New Starter Set?

There's a new Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set, titled Heroes of the Borderlands, coming in September. WotC has given us a quick peek at what's inside! The set is designed to be replayable, and comes with maps and cards, which are presumably part of the tile-based character creation system WotC has hinted at recently. The video doesn't reveal much else, but we should have more information over the coming months.

 

[sevenbastard]

For beginners I'd rather have something clean and useable... The one above, IMO, looks to crowded and difficult to reference at a glance. Maybe if this was a more advanced adventure I could see it but this is something beginners and even kids are supposed to be able to easily run as an intro to D&D. So I feel useability should trump aesthetics in this case. But I can understand your sentiment.

I get that approach. I would be fine with an overhead map as well. Something you can use if the keep goes under siege or combat breaks out inside.

 

[AlViking]

Cards on the character sheet? The doors Daggerheart opened.

Nothing new and not particularly close to what daggerheart does. From my understanding in daggerheart there is no character card it's more you get cards to represent what your character can do similar to what we did for 4e. But other versions of DnD have also had things like spell cards and similar.

 

[AlViking]

Fair Question. It's very steril and clean looking. I want my borderlands rough and tumble.

I liked this 3d rendering more.

View attachment 398510

While I like the art and the Candlekeep book has something similar I don't really think of this as a gameplay map. It's more of a map to give you a feel and visual of the setting which is a different thing. We also haven't seen everything in the starter set so I think it's premature that we won't have something similar. The map shown is a battle map which is something different.

 

[Parmandur]

That's a lot of content, and components. For a Starter Set that theybwant to get in big box stores, board game style to ease people into play seems smart.

I think I saw Ray Winnikger say somewhere that the plan was to have the 2024 role out of the core rules be for existing core fans, with the new Starter Set being were WotC really starts marketing hard to new players (now with a complete trilogy of core rulebooks to upgrade to from this box).

 

[Sacrosanct]

From my understanding in daggerheart there is no character card it's more you get cards to represent what your character can do similar to what we did for 4e.

That's not new either. Years ago I did that for Compact Heroes (won DieHard GameFan's Best New Game of the Year, to toot my own horn )

 

[Lazybones]

I wonder if they'll do a simultaneous release in Sigil. Could be a good way to introduce newcomers to their 3D VTT as well as the basics of the rules.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Surely 4E opened these doors a very long time ago lol

Character sheets on cards? Dragonlance.

 

[John R Davis]

The NPCs look too syrupy and happy.
I will buy this.
I'm John and I'm addicted to starter sets

 

[Sacrosanct]

I will buy this.
I'm John and I'm addicted to starter sets

Did I mention I'm coming out with a boxed set later this year....

 

[npick03]

Nothing new and not particularly close to what daggerheart does.

Oh, I was being facetious

However! The species and background cards with dedicated zones kind of remind me of what Daggerheart does with the Community and Ancestry cards (or least how it was in the playtest, I have not been following Daggerheart that closely).