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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 6305515" data-attributes="member: 6680772">Eh, I can see both sides of the argument.Basic D&D's chargen is largely random, and for the most part folks make characters based on how the dice roll, so I agree that there is little fundamental difference between rolling up a character in Moldvay or Mentzer and playing that compared to selecting among pre-gens.  Either way, the idea was get a character in the player's hand and get them to play.  This was particularly a feature of Mentzer, where you basically went through the Aleesa/Bargle intro and the solo adventure with your pre-gen fighter before you got into character generation.  And with the pre-gens of other classes, there was definitely an impulse to get you up and playing in the adventure before making a character.That said, the very randomness of chargen in the Basic set makes it distinct from pre-gens, IMO.  Particularly when melded with the option to choose a class relatively independently of ability scores.  And while the distinction may largely be a psychological one, the act of rolling a character up can create a stronger tie to a character than one gets from selecting a pre-gen, at least in the beginning.  Every action the player takes for that character, be it rolling dice to determine ability scores and hp, selecting equipment, or in-game actions, serves to strengthen the bond of "ownership" and investment in that character.Now, all that said, I think it's better to think of a Starter Set as being distinct from a Basic Set.  A Basic Set is a self-contained product that presents a complete, though simplified form of the game.  A Starter Set is basically the first 22 pages of the Mentzer Player's Book and the first 13 pages of the Mentzer DM's Rulebook expanded out to its own product, with the goal of taking the player(s) from zero to gaming is as short a time as possible.  And I think such a product should exist, distinct from a Basic Set!When comparing Moldvay to Mentzer, two things are commonly heard: Mentzer is better at getting new players up to speed on the game.  Moldvay is the better reference.  So I think it's beneficial to literally split the difference.  Put out a Starter Set, the sole purpose of which is to get players gaming as soon as possible, at the expense of chargen, and then put out a Basic Set that provides that same simplified ruleset, but in an easy to use format with no extraneous "intro" material.  Of course, it's still all speculation, but this seems to be the plan with 5th Edition, per Mearls' tweet:</blockquote>

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