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.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

This looks like it was designed for younger people, like under 18. The bright colors, the cartoonish illustrations, the cheery monsters, bright colors, etc. That's not a bad thing considering it's a Starter Set. There's young people out there who still haven't played the game, afterall.

And consider the twelve year old who wants to play the game that all their other twelve-year-old friends are playing. What did their parents think the first time they saw the covers of those books and boxed sets when their child first asked them to buy this gift. This looks fun, safe, and non-threatening. Overall, I'd say this is a winner by that alone.

But that's never coming into my house. Even if I were interested in more D&D at this point, had a group that wanted to play, I wouldn't have it. And I'm a sucker for a good starter set with the neat stuff inside. But I'm not an adolescent, or play with any.

The aesthetics in this box really makes it hard to play the game with a dark or grittier tone, if that was how I wished to play it. It subconsciously pressures you to play in a fun, cheery manner, which probably suggests that's how WotC wants their new product to be presented at the tables for newcomers. Again, that's fair, and kinda brilliant strategy. But that just tells me this product has even less value for me, personally. I was probably more curious about this release than anything else in recent memory, because I always found great quality and value in starter sets. But this is going to be a hard pass just by the looks alone. My curiosity isn't even tickled for the actual content at this point anymore.

 

[Starmaster]

I wonder if WotC may be trying too hard to give this Starter Set a Candyland vibe. D&D has been around 50 years now and attitudes of the general public are a lot different than the Satanic Panic days that I had to live through. D&D is on TV and podcasts everywhere. For the parent who sees D&D in the store or whose child sees it and wants the parent to buy it for them, there's a good chance that the parent knows all about it already. Perhaps the parent already played the game, or perhaps their mom or uncle or grandparent or friends did. They've probably been exposed to the game somewhere and know that it's no threat.

Also, kids are more jaded now. Movies and TV are much darker now than they were decades ago. Some are awash with gore, violence, black magic, and sex. And, of course, there's the internet. Can completely block that out. Even if the child has been relatively shielded, his or her playmates probably haven't.

Bottom line is that I think a game with a more grim, edgy feel would probably sell just fine. Maybe even better, since kids generally like pushing the boundaries. It might also spike some adult appeal as well for those adults who may have a passing familiarity with D&D but have never tried it themselves because they don't know where to start. Games targeted at adults are growing in popularity now. Surely WotC does market research, so I could be wrong about this. Just my view, for whatever it's worth.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I’m intrigued. Is this keep on the borderlands

Kinda. I expect it to be quite different in the details and feel to more closely connect with modern sensibilities, maybe to the point of "in name only" (for any given individual). We'll just have to see.

 

[GreyLord]

Replayable?

That means character creation. No Character creation and I HIGHLY doubt that this thing is replayable "again and again" as it states.

Character creation is a game changer. It has it, it'll be a great set. It doesn't...it's probably a one and done.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I see on the map of the castle that gnolls are the new orcs, judging from the monster tokens.

Makes sense. Gnolls are exclusively NPCs in 5.5, so it's more acceptable to treat them universally as monsters to fight.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Now I'm wanting to make good gnolls. But more seriously, if gnolls are now fiends, there will not really be any incentive or perhaps even abity to negotiate. Any idea what other creatures are lurking in the caves?

That changes the character of the adventure considerably. Certainly it simplifies it (in keeping with WotC's goals for 5e and 5.5). Are there other creatures in the Caves of Chaos, or just gnolls in this version?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Generally speaking, I am pro starter sets. I think D&D has always benefited from cool, clear examples of play.

There's a bit in this video that feels locked in, but whatcha gonna do with 3 minutes? Hopefully, the end result I'd a cool product that emphasizes the broad, untethered possibilities that is D&D.

The last thing D&D needs is a starter product that limits possibilities.

I am also pro starter sets in general, but personally I haven't had any use for them since Phandelver at the beginning of 5e.

 

[Charlaquin]

Now I'm wanting to make good gnolls. But more seriously, if gnolls are now fiends, there will not really be any incentive or perhaps even abity to negotiate. Any idea what other creatures are lurking in the caves?

Don’t get me started lol

 

[Micah Sweet]

Replayable?

That means character creation. No Character creation and I HIGHLY doubt that this thing is replayable "again and again" as it states.

Character creation is a game changer. It has it, it'll be a great set. It doesn't...it's probably a one and done.

I don't know...boardgames are repayable, after all. You don't need a new character every play-through, you just need something different to do.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Replayable?

That means character creation. No Character creation and I HIGHLY doubt that this thing is replayable "again and again" as it states.

Character creation is a game changer. It has it, it'll be a great set. It doesn't...it's probably a one and done.

AFAIK it does have Character Creation!

It's just designed in a modular style (pick your species card, pick your class card, pick your background card...) It's a boardgame-ttrpg fusion. And board games are very replayable, even if nothing changes (and I doubt that's the case here).

It seems like a smart introductory product that could have legs. It's not what most of us would want, but what do we need a "starter" for, anyway? Most of us started years ago (sometimes decades!) So we only "need" starters as a teaching tool, or for our amusement (be that collecting or whatever).

This seems good to me for those purposes.