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.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I suppose what counts as "kid-focused" looks different now than it did then, at least from my point of view. I still have my red box materials (the "B" in BECMI), and this looks more flashy and "cute" to me than that did, despite both products being designed for the same age group.

There really IS a big difference between what was considered appropriate for 12 year olds "back then" and "now". And a big difference between what they enjoy. It was also, definitely, no matter how much we pretend otherwise, aimed at "boys". This style is more gender-neutral.

On top of THAT, there's a huge difference between what kids actually enjoy and can handle, and what their parents are comfortable with. I see this all the time at my Comic Store - where a kid will want Batman, Punisher, and Carnage, and their mom wants them to have Lilo & Stitch.

As silly as it might seem, it's actually important for publishers to try and thread the gap between the two of them, if they want to succeed.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Is this distinction meaningful? WotC makes D&D, of course D&D is marketed as what WotC sees it as. Seems like a strange distinction to draw unless we are using D&D as a pseudonym for the greater hobby.

I see D&D as more what the current IP holders want to currently market, so yes, I am generalizing the term to include more than 5.5 but to also include all previous editions of the game as well as games based on any of those editions in some significant way. That distinction means a great deal to me.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

I think all the starter sets have been designed this way, post Holmes. Certainly, B/X and BECMI were; I was around 12-13 when those came out myself. The original 5E strikes me as a bit "college level" but it's variants (Rick & Morty, Stranger Things) and the two follow-on seem aimed for younger folk - and I'm talking like 13-15.

Nothing really wrong with it, I'm just really hoping it measures up well against the "Phandelver" set - that was really the gold standard for me.

I agree, but this seems to be leaner further into that... we've been seeing this trend since, what? Tasha's? A kinder, gentler D&D has been growing. And I can't help but wonder if this wasn't a deliberate and intentional strategy to get themselves a new target audience, one that doesn't push back so hard every time they do something that blows up in their face, and keeps the older audience moving along to let them do whatever they want.

 

[Micah Sweet]

There really IS a big difference between what was considered appropriate for 12 year olds "back then" and "now". And a big difference between what they enjoy. It was also, definitely, no matter how much we pretend otherwise, aimed at "boys". This style is more gender-neutral.

On top of THAT, there's a huge difference between what kids actually enjoy and can handle, and what their parents are comfortable with. I see this all the time at my Comic Store - where a kid will want Batman, Punisher, and Carnage, and their mom wants them to have Lilo & Stitch.

As silly as it might seem, it's actually important for publishers to try and thread the gap between the two of them, if they want to succeed.

Absolutely. This whole thing is much more about marketing and business choices than it is about anything else. Looking at this product will really tell us quite a bit I think about what WotC sees as their consumer base and how they plan to sell to them. Should be fascinating.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

There really IS a big difference between what was considered appropriate for 12 year olds "back then" and "now". And a big difference between what they enjoy. It was also, definitely, no matter how much we pretend otherwise, aimed at "boys". This style is more gender-neutral.

On top of THAT, there's a huge difference between what kids actually enjoy and can handle, and what their parents are comfortable with. I see this all the time at my Comic Store - where a kid will want Batman, Punisher, and Carnage, and their mom wants them to have Lilo & Stitch.

As silly as it might seem, it's actually important for publishers to try and thread the gap between the two of them, if they want to succeed.

I was about to respond with this VERY SAME THING. But you've done it in a gentler and more rational tone that I would have.

 

[Arilyn]

There is something unsettling about the bright and cheery graphics, aiming at more family friendly vibes, and.. gnolls. Gnolls that need to be slaughtered because if the party goes down, they'll be torn apart and eaten. I'm not sure this is the way to modernize "Keep on the Borderlands."

 

[Von Ether]

On top of THAT, there's a huge difference between what kids actually enjoy and can handle, and what their parents are comfortable with. I see this all the time at my Comic Store - where a kid will want Batman, Punisher, and Carnage, and their mom wants them to have Lilo & Stitch.

I was about to respond with this VERY SAME THING. But you've done it in a gentler and more rational tone that I would have.

I was thinking the same thing that this has to sell to parents who are more involved with their kids as compared to how some parents were before warning labels were put on cassettes and the Satanic Panic drove a few sales towards TSR.

As silly as it might seem, it's actually important for publishers to try and thread the gap between the two of them, if they want to succeed.

Personally, I don't find it silly at all. I'm not a concerned parent anymore and I'm not getting introduced to a new hobby, so the product is not aimed at me.

That won't stop me from pillaging the set for do dads regardless of my game's tone. I've reskinned superhero games as generic systems for sci-fi and fantasy and then later written sci-fi adventures for the 5e engine.

A few cutesy pictures won't bother me if the dice are cheap enough.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

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.

If you want to play a fantasy RPG with a dark and gritty tone, I'm not sure 5E is the right choice to begin with, with its PCs that are hard to kill and harder to keep dead, powerful magic, etc.

5E is bright and heroic by default. You can start ripping parts out in an attempt to make it play differently, but you could also just play any of the other fantasy RPGs out there (of which there have never been more and never more support for non-D&D games in general) that are built around that.

If you want dark and gritty, Mork Borg, Blades in the Dark, Shadowdark and a host of other games are are right there and excellent at doing that sort of game, right out of the box.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

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.

Character creation is part of this. It's just card-based. Players pick the ancestry, class, background cards, etc., and then put the abilities for their character on their sheet. It's basically a physical version of doing this on D&D Beyond.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I agree, but this seems to be leaner further into that... we've been seeing this trend since, what? Tasha's? A kinder, gentler D&D has been growing. And I can't help but wonder if this wasn't a deliberate and intentional strategy to get themselves a new target audience, one that doesn't push back so hard every time they do something that blows up in their face, and keeps the older audience moving along to let them do whatever they want.

It is. This hasn't been kept a secret.

The overwhelming majority of D&D players who've ever existed are playing right now, and they have almost all started with 5E and are the age of the children and grandchildren of many of the posters here at ENWorld.

So, yes, Hasbro is going to sell to that audience, rather than to a much smaller audience that wants something different but who are likely hoarding books that they paid for decades ago and won't necessarily buy anything new anyway.