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.

 

[wicked cool]

I’m intrigued. Is this keep on the borderlands

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The most shocking thing about this update is that they're actually naming the NPCs this time around. What a concept!

 

[darjr]

I’m intrigued. Is this keep on the borderlands

I think so.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I gotta say, I love what we're seeing here, especially if -- fingers crossed -- the booklets and cards are sturdier than what WotC has produced in the past. (The biggest issue with Lost Mines of Phandelver, IMO, is that it might get loved to death by running an adventure on flimsy paper too many times.)

Very excited for this. And if Matthew Lillard is reading this (hey, Matthew!), this would be a good set to do a Beadle & Grimm version of, so that the materials could be made as sturdy as the components that come with a board game and truly last a lifetime, rather than just a few months.

 

[Parmandur]

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.

I mean, that would make ssense.

 

[Distracted DM]

I gotta say, I love what we're seeing here, especially if -- fingers crossed -- the booklets and cards are sturdier than what WotC has produced in the past. (The biggest issue with Lost Mines of Phandelver, IMO, is that it might get loved to death by running an adventure on flimsy paper too many times.)

So Matt Colville talked about this on a stream (I hope I'm recalling it all correctly), basically that starter sets have to be cheaply made because they're designed to show up on major retailer shelves- those retailers take a big cut, so the production cost of the product has to be very low if they company wants to make money.

IIRC the topic came up because some folks asked if a Draw Steel! starter set would show up on Target etc. shelves, and IMO his definitely indicated a bias against the idea, so I guess take it all with a grain of salt.

 

[Parmandur]

So Matt Colville talked about this on a stream (I hope I'm recalling it all correctly), basically that starter sets have to be cheaply made because they're designed to show up on major retailer shelves- those retailers take a big cut, so the production cost of the product has to be very low if they company wants to make money.

IIRC the topic came up because some folks asked if a Draw Steel! starter set would show up on Target etc. shelves, and IMO his definitely indicated a bias against the idea, so I guess take it all with a grain of salt.

If you walk through the board game aisle at Target, there are a few other boxes from Hasbro already present. Selling board games in bulk at those big stores is precisely what Hasbro is better at than indie TTRPG publishers. It is like their thing.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

So Matt Colville talked about this on a stream (I hope I'm recalling it all correctly), basically that starter sets have to be cheaply made because they're designed to show up on major retailer shelves- those retailers take a big cut, so the production cost of the product has to be very low if they company wants to make money.

IIRC the topic came up because some folks asked if a Draw Steel! starter set would show up on Target etc. shelves, and IMO his definitely indicated a bias against the idea, so I guess take it all with a grain of salt.

That makes sense. And what I'd want from Heroes on the Borderland would really be more of a Beadle & Grimm take anyway.

 

[tsadkiel]

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

As a separate product, or will that be B&B's true final form? I'm onboard either way, but I like having everything in one book . . .

 

[Sacrosanct]

As a separate product, or will that be B&B's true final form? I'm onboard either way, but I like having everything in one book . . .

Separate. 100% will have it in hardback book form. Then I've been looking at the logistics of doing a boxed set.