D&D General Who is this made for (Not Beginners) - the New D&D Starter Set

[Hussar]

I don't have the set, so, I decided to google the image of a the class boards. Came up with this one:

Seriously? You're claiming you couldn't find the spell save DC's on THAT? Ummm, how did you miss that? I'm color blind and even I can see the giant red (or possibly green) boxes, all three of which are going to be needed the second you start combat.

 

[Imaro]

What an odd goal to me. Do they state that in the product? Are they giving up on long campaign as a playstyle? What's the benefit of constantly changing GMs? Are they shifting to RPGs as short combat-filled sessions that get run by someone else next week? I'm really struggling to understand what they want D&D to be for new players and why.

Its a teaching product... why wouldn't they want to teach all aspects of the game to all involved? And yeah the product suggests a round robin style of play.

 

[Chaltab]

What an odd goal to me. Do they state that in the product? Are they giving up on long campaign as a playstyle? What's the benefit of constantly changing GMs? Are they shifting to RPGs as short combat-filled sessions that get run by someone else next week? I'm really struggling to understand what they want D&D to be for new players and why.

They want D&D be to be everything it's ever been. It's pretty clear to me, especially after recently reading the opening of the 2024 PHB, that Crawford and the team were really trying to preserve the essence of D&D across the years. That includes the casual dungeon delves with emergent stories, but it also includes the highly linear plots with clear endpoints, and everything in between.

Now you can dispute all you want whether the 2024 rules and this particular Starter Set are conducive to these goals and, if not, at what points they fail.

But I really don't see a mystery here.

 

[Selas]

Convention play-style also seems to have been taken into account: easy to understand short adventures that can be completed in 2-4 hrs and are run by multiple DMs. It's their approach to the Legends of Greyhawk Organized Play

 

[BruceWright]

Do they state that in the product?

In interviews with the lead designer.

Are they giving up on long campaign as a playstyle?

Why would you think that, from a teaching adventure?

What's the benefit of constantly changing GMs?

More people learn how to GM.

Are they shifting to RPGs as short combat-filled sessions that get run by someone else next week?

Why would you think from one adventure specifically designed to teach new players how to play the basics, that this signals a complete change to the game forever and long adventures and quests are now dead?

Really an overreaction.

I'm really struggling to understand what they want D&D to be for new players and why.

To get new players to try the game and set them up on a learning path for growth into the larger game.

They built a box of bite-sized encounters, resembling a board game.

To make a product that teaches the game in small bites rather than dropping 8.6 pounds of rulebooks on them and saying “have at it!”

 

[cranberry]

To make a product that teaches the game in small bites rather than dropping 8.6 pounds of rulebooks on them and saying “have at it!”

About 10 years ago, I joined a game where the DM literally dropped the Players Handbook in front of a newbie and stood there with his arms crossed as the newbie read it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Its a teaching product... why wouldn't they want to teach all aspects of the game to all involved? And yeah the product suggests a round robin style of play.

Any idea why? As in, what benefit does anyone derive from this new to a starter set idea they are replacing campaign play with in the eyes of new players?

 

[Micah Sweet]

They want D&D be to be everything it's ever been. It's pretty clear to me, especially after recently reading the opening of the 2024 PHB, that Crawford and the team were really trying to preserve the essence of D&D across the years. That includes the casual dungeon delves with emergent stories, but it also includes the highly linear plots with clear endpoints, and everything in between.

Now you can dispute all you want whether the 2024 rules and this particular Starter Set are conducive to these goals and, if not, at what points they fail.

But I really don't see a mystery here.

If you have a specific playstyle featured in your starter set, you are pushing that style for new players. That's just what's happening IMO. So I have to wonder, what benefit is gained (by players, GMs, WotC, whatever) by pushing this particular playstyle at new players?

 

[Micah Sweet]

In interviews with the lead designer.

So not in the product then? It is reasonable to assume then that they are fine with the new to D&D consumer thinking that what the boxed set offers is "basically" the way D&D is supposed to played, since they're not calling out their design goals or suggesting that what they offer isn't the only or even most common way to play.

Why would you think that, from a teaching adventure?

What you teach is what students learn and build from. What you don't teach...they may never find out about.

More people learn how to GM.

Fair enough, although what they're learning in little chunks like this is a very specific subset of D&D.

Why would you think from one adventure specifically designed to teach new players how to play the basics, that this signals a complete change to the game forever and long adventures and quests are now dead?

Really an overreaction.

I'm not thinking it for certain. I'm imagining why they would choose the entry point they want for any new players from now on to be this?

To get new players to try the game and set them up on a learning path for growth into the larger game.

They built a box of bite-sized encounters, resembling a board game.

To make a product that teaches the game in small bites rather than dropping 8.6 pounds of rulebooks on them and saying “have at it!”

 

[BruceWright]

If you have a specific playstyle featured in your starter set, you are pushing that style for new players. That's just what's happening IMO.

The starter set goes from level one to level three.

Is this the “style” they are “pushing for new players”?

Is Wizards now dropping tiers 2,3&4?

Oh only the Wizard, Cleric, Fighter and Rogue? Are they “pushing” the core four? Wither the Barbarian, the Paladin and the Bard?


It is a simplified learning set. A minor SUBSET of the game to teach new players, including children, how to play, in an hour or less.