Starter Set

After a few rounds of trying new editions of D&D when they came out and being disappointed with the results, I was a little dubious about purchasing 5th edition. This starter set seemed like a relatively cheap way to try it out without the time and cost commitment that comes with buying all the books and planning a whole campaign. Well after trying it out, I'm very pleased to say that this is by *far* the best starter set I've ever encountered in any tabletop RPG. It's more like a mini campaign setting that a starter adventure. We've logged 16 hours of game play with it, and aren't even half way through. Very robust descriptions and maps are provided of four large dungeons, and at least half a dozen substantial side quests, not to mentioned very well fleshed out NPCs at virtually every building in the thoroughly described and well-mapped town of Phandalin. The core rule book they provide with the set covers 90% of everything you need to know for the full game. I've since purchased the full Player's Handbook, which is also excellent, but it really just expands on race and class offerings and character creation. You really don't need it to play all the way the 8-10+ gaming sessions that this set will provide. A quick side note on 5th edition: I've been playing various incarnations of D&D for 20 years. I was a huge fan of AD&D 2nd edition, and haven't really liked any of the newer editions since. Until now. 5th edition may well be the best version of D&D ever made. The advantage/disadvantage system makes it really fast and easy for the DM to apply situational modifiers uniformly and without having to consult a whole litany of tables and charts. For that matter, the whole game seems to have been streamlined to encourage faster play, but they've managed to do it without sacrificing any of the depth of game play that more experienced players are accustomed to. It also seems to be a little more tilted in favor of keeping low-level players alive, which I consider to be a good thing. It's nice to be able to present the players with something other than small bands of goblins to fight for the first 2 levels without having to worry about losing a player, and having to spend time rolling up replacements. I think the only minor complaint I can come up with is that halflings don't have any dark vision, which strikes me as odd - the race that is best suited to play a thief or assassin should really be able to see in the dark without a torch. Overall, though, after about 4 gaming sessions, I'm absolutely in love with 5th edition, and so are my players. The only critique I can offer about this starter set is that the pre-fab character sheets they include with it provide background on the characters in ways that should impact the game play, but that's never really addressed in the campaign book. So the DM is left to make several split decisions about whether or not a character's history with a given NPC, group, or location should provide them insight above and beyond what is explained in the book. Most DMs with a bit of experience in rolling with the twists and turns that players always seem to throw at you shouldn't have much trouble with this, but first time DMs might find it a little frustrating. All-in-all, though, it's one relatively minor weakness among an otherwise great value, especially at the price point. Wizards seems to have realized that they have hit a home run with 5th edition, and are confident enough in their product to provide a very low barrier to entry for new players wanting to try it out. If you're a classic AD&D player curious about 5th edition, or a new player that has never tried D&D (or any RPG) before, this is the best way I can think of to get started.

I was a player years ago with the AD&D Rules and recently decided to get back into the game after one of my sons became interested. Remembering how costly the guide books used to be (at the time), I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money to get started in case we decided we didn't want to play the game long term. Mainly for that reason, I decided on this Starter Set since it seemed to have everything that was really necessary to play a campaign. After spending a few hours perusing this set, I was impressed with the detail. I was expecting something a lot more dumbed down. This goes in depth with four different types of character classes, several different races, the basic mechanics of the game, and even pointers on how to approach some of those aspects. If you are a beginner DM, it really takes you step-by-step through the entire Adventure even giving alternate paths that can be taken by the Player Characters. There are lots of tips on how to approach the many different encounters in the campaign. If you are thinking about playing Dungeons & Dragons, I highly recommend starting with this Starter Set. It's a very nominal investment that charges you right into battle so to speak. It spells out almost everything you need to determine whether the game is really for you. Even if you are already an experienced player I feel it's worth it for the Lost Mines of Phandelver campaign alone. UPDATE: 01/16/17 We started the Lost Mine of Phandelver campaign included in this Starter Set. The current party consists of my 10 year old son, my son's friend of the same age, my son's friend's Father who is my age, and a 13 year old whose family is friends with all of us. I am the DM which I was reluctant to do but realistically I always new this was best for the group. We have spent approximately 30 hours in game play and I estimate that we are 80% complete. So far everyone seems to be having a blast. Everyone created their own characters for this campaign rather than using the pre-generated ones that came with the set. We did however use the Rogue as a second PC for the other Father until the 13 year old joined us about half-way into the campaign. I have to admit that I am having more fun as the DM than I thought I would. It does take some preparation for each game session as you need to make sure you are fully knowledgeable of the relevant material so that everything runs smoothly and without lags. There are also some aspects of the campaign that you may feel you need to adjust or improvise from what is provided but I am learning that a good DM should be able to do that. Some of that is purposely left to the DM to fill in the gaps and some of it is that you simply can't always know what actions the players are going to take in any given situation. That's really part of the beauty of this game. Everyone has a part in telling the story. After a few game sessions, we all had purchased a copy of the Player's Handbook. Not because we felt the Starter Set didn't include enough information to play The Lost Mine of Phandelver , but because we had become so excited through playing it that we just wanted to be exposed to more. I have also purchased the Dungeon Master's Guide and the Monster's Manual so that we can continue playing beyond this campaign. I'm not suggesting that anyone do this before finishing this Starter Set campaign. I am simply warning you that you could get so excited once you start playing that you will want more. UPDATE 01/05/21: We had a blast with Lost Mine of Phandelver and ended up continuing the adventure with some supplements from the online DM's Guild that were created for a continuation of this short adventure. I still highly recommend this Starter's Set for anyone new to the D&D that only wants to make a token initial investment. The Essentials Kit is also worth a look for beginners at a slightly higher price point.

Considering the low price, this is a good deal. It could be better, but it's still good idea. As a long-time player since 1st edition, I remember buying the old Basic red box in the the early 80s and learning from that. So I have nostalgia for that idea of someone buying this as their first intro to D&D. This mostly fits that bill. Edition Itself: I've been playing this with my game group and love the 5th edition rules. They are more streamlined than previous editions, but still offer flexibility. I liked 1st and 4th editions, but now I think this edition has won me over as being the best. So if someone is interested in D&D, I would easily tell them to start here. It's as streamlined as the rules can get without getting in the way of a good time. Rules: The printed rules are mostly high-level but at least provide a list of spells. But it basically is everything you need to get started. I think this is where I wish WotC should've added a printed version of the 100+ page rules book available for free on their web site. The rules and adventure in this box are decent for getting started, but they could've added a little more bang for the buck by adding that other rule book. I wish they would put that in a future edition. (But it's always available for free for everyone. So it's out there. And it's not needed at all for this.) Adventure: The adventure included is quite long and worth the purchase. It'll keep your party busy for many sessions (which may be 30+ hours total). So it fits the bill for being standard enough for new players to get a feel for D&D, but with rich interactions that flex social abilities, communication, spells, many character skills, and combat in creative ways. It has the nice, glossy artwork, charts, and maps to make it fun to read and easy to follow. Nice work on this. Characters: It's a pretty good set of characters. I just wish they had a little graphical splash to them to make a player feel like "I want to play this" versus "hey here's a set of stats". I like how Encounters has those graphical cards with stats on them that just shout, "cool". But the sheets fit the bill. Everything is one them, and they are sturdier paper stock to be used several times. Dice & Box: You get a sturdy, attractive box with this, and some nice dice to start you out. It reminds me of the red box days of Basic where you have everything you need to get started from scratch. The splashy artwork is nice, and the box is large enough to carry all your future stuff and printouts. Overall, it's a nice set at a cheap price: dice, character sheets, a rule book, and a good adventure all in an attractive box. At the cheap Amazon price, you can't pass up on this if curious about the game or giving it as a gift. It's as cheap as a movie/book but will offer a lifetime of adventure.

I've been following the development of 5e (called D&D Next during development) off and on for a while, and I feel like they really captured what I want out of a role playing game, and did a good job of making it easy to start with something simple and only add as much complexity to your game as you want to. I've been looking for a good game to start playing with my kids -- my youngest is just now starting to be old enough for this to be workable -- and I think this is the ticket. It leaves out lots of extraneous things -- all the tactical-board-game complexity of 4e (which can be great if that's what you want), and the bonanza of multiclassing complexity 3e typically gets buried under. The starter set gives you a very limited set of mechanical options for your character -- it actually doesn't contain a full set of character creation rules at all, opting instead for some prebuilt characters that you can customize, so you can get started right away. (Note: there's a free set of rules on the Wizards of the Coast website that includes more character creation rules, so if you want a little more latitude to build your own character without buying all the handbooks, that might be something you want.) It includes a simple, well-explained set of rules that do a good job of covering the real breadth of different actions you can take in the game, which for what I want is a big improvement over 4e -- instead of a million rules covering combat tactics and limited guidance for what to do outside of battle, the 5e rules start by explaining how you can resolve all the different actions you might want to take, then add specifics for combat, exploration, etc. as needed. This box is designed to support playing without a game board and minis, where you can refer to a general map of the area, but take actions based on imagining the space and your position in it rather than dividing it into squares. This is how I grew up playing D&D back in the 80s, and I think it's great that Wizards is returning the game to its roots in this respect. In my opinion, it also lends itself to different kinds of creativity -- "I use my agility to jump up, grab the chandelier, and deliver a flying kick against the orc" -- as an alternative to mastering tactics based on the game's grid layout. On the other hand, if you definitely want a game that uses map squares and minis -- and there's certainly nothing wrong with that, if that's how you like playing -- you might prefer the Pathfinder Beginner Box, which costs more, but includes everything you need to get started with a grid-based game, including printed cardboard figures that stand on little bases and a dry-erase playmat for mapping the layout of an area. (4e is also oriented this way, so buying 4e books and accessories would be another alternative.) The bundled adventure seems like a solid offering, and a good way to get started with D&D for next to nothing and see if you want to invest more time and effort/

Short Review Pros: -Really well written and laid out material. -Adventure is varied, with lots of different combat and no combat encounters. -Premade characters are custom tailored to the adventure and have very rich and well written backgrounds. Cons: -No maps, this is pretty greedy of them. -No d100 dice; it must add maybe 20 cents at most to the cost of the product to include it in, I would have paid that gladly. -No marketing or promotional material explaining the free online resources and upcoming books. Long Review I am someone who has never played much D&D before (I played through the 4th edition red box but never actually finished it) so my review might be more relevant if you are a "noob" like me. I would say that this adventure is a good way of introducing one to the world of D&D. The adventure is well written and well laid out, It is quite varied, having combat encounters, RPG encounters, advice on how to roleplay all of the different NPCs, etc. The fact that the characters are pre-made is great since it lets new players ease into the experience instead of having to figure out how to make new characters, and my players still felt attached to their characters as they got to pick which one they wanted to play and named them. It was also nice that the characters had such rich backstories as it gave my players a lot of motivation. Since purchasing this I have begun reading more and more about D&D, and I am excited to play with the new classes of the Player's Handbook. That being said, I knocked a star off for 3 reasons: 1) No Maps: this is certainly the worst thing about this set. The adventure itself has 6 maps included in the adventure book, which they could definitely have included in 3 double-sided posters. Instead of including the lame space maker they should have saved the cost of that and just printed the maps. This certainly makes it feel as if Wizards of the Coast (the company behind D&D) was cutting corners on this one. At the very least they should sell the maps on their website as it would save me some time from having to draw all of the encounters. 2) No d100 dice. I know it doesn't matter much, but again it goes back to cutting corners. I bought a chessex set along with this and noticed that those sets have an extra d100 dice added in so now i feel kinda irked that I don't have that extra dice for the regular set. Is a d100 ever used in this? no. Would it be nice if they included it? Yes. 3) As a new player I would have like to see a promotional pamphlet leading me to the free basic rules and the downloadable copies of the premade characters included in this set. Not sure why they did not include it in the set, but it would certainly have been helpful. This also would have been a great opportunity for marketing this product: they could have presented it as "look at this free stuff we are providing you online!" which would have made me feel a bit better about the product and the company. Instead, it makes me feel as if their marketing team had a bit of an oversight. They could have included a simple booklet explaining what is or will be available for free online and what each upcoming book has. I know, its rare when a consumer ASKS for marketing, but I think it would have been educational in the context of a new set. That begin set, for this to be included they would have had to include at least the maps; otherwise it would be pretty terrible that they include marketing materials but not poster maps. Overall, I would say this is a great set. I can't compare it against any other current beginners set (besides the 4th edition red box which is now out of print) because I have never played one. I think that the set should have included the extra die and the 3 double sided poster maps, even if it brought the price up by 5 dollars or so, as I am sure that most people would be ok with that tradeoff. I will say one thing, I certainly wish that I had this set when I was in HS or even college :)

This set gives you everything you need for a few friends to take a dip into Dungeons and Dragons. At the current Black Friday price of under $12 it is a steal. It is definitely a great place for absolute beginners to start, as well as a good choice for experienced players who've never played fifth edition. The main elements are two handy things and one awesome thing, namely : 1. The awesome thing: The starting adventure it gives is actually one of the best published adventures for 5th edition. Even if you are an experienced player you might enjoy it, particularly if you're playing with newbies. It is very well calibrated to give people an introduction to the game and its most classic setting elements (dungeons, a dragon, orcs, a goblin fortress, a tavern, an evil wizard or two). Basically it's everything someone who hasn't played expects, which is what they should be given in their first outing. It also has handy tips along the way to help a first time Dungeon Master get through it. I'd estimate it provides about 20 hours of gameplay. The only major flaw is that the opening encounters are rather rough for 1st level characters run by new players, but this has the upside of teaching people used to computer games that in a tabletop games charging into battle is not always the best option. Also, to nitpick, at one point you meet a cadre of undead serving a necromancer who is not actually of high enough level to raise or control undead, and I hate when the game breaks its own rules. But seriously, on the whole its good stuff. 2. Handy thing: Some dice. If you're new and don't have a set of polyhedral dice this is vital. Otherwise of little consequence, they get the job done but they're nothing special. At one point in the early history of the game TSR couldn't actually source dice for their starter sets and instead included paper chits with numbers to be drawn from a bag, so be thankful for the dice. 3. A basic rulebook. This is, I believe, the same rules available free online, but it is handy to have a physical copy to pass around the table. Once you buy a players handbook it is superfluous, but still handy as a spare copy of condensed rules..

To begin with let me be clear about a few things. 1.) This is a STARTER SET. In the business world that means that it is intended to be used to get someone started with something. This makes the assumption that those starting are beginning for the first time. 2.) Gamer's know that doing anything for a hobby that is fantasy or board game related is typically not cheap. Those things being said. For Under $20 you get the following with this set: A 64-page adventure book with everything the Dungeon Master needs to get started, a 32-page rulebook for playing characters level 1 – 5, 5 pregenerated characters, each with a character sheet and supporting reference material, and 6 dice. When you receive this The Box may fool you. It is larger than it needs to be in order to house the contents, but I've found that to be a nice thing once my group started playing and we needed a little space to store pencils, extra dice, paper, etc.. I've read a lot of reviews complaining about this, but found most of their arguments pretty lame. After all in my opinion it's about the quality of the content, not the size of the packaging. Let me address #1 above. I've seen a lot of complaints about the Starter Set not having adequate content. To me that is ridiculous. What is inside the box is specifically geared to allow people who have never played DnD before to be able to open the box and start playing. For $12 you get exactly that. I purchased the set having never played DnD before with the intention of leading a group of friends through the campaign contained within. For the first two sessions of our campaign we survived solely on what was in the box. We didn't NEED anything else. (besides a few scraps of paper) I had all that I needed to run the adventure, and they had all that they needed to roleplay their characters. Many of the complaints I've seen about the contents of the box seem to come from seasoned campaigners who were hoping that this Starter Set would contain figurines, handbooks, dm guides, etc.. I would say that the issue with those complaints is that the product doesn't seem to be directed at hardened campaigners, but instead it is directed at new comers, and a new audience. I believe that Wizards of the Coast knows those wizened campaigners are the ones who will drop the $30+ on the new handbooks, and DM guides when they come out. so even though they might buy this product, it wouldn't keep them from trying out 5th edition at some point if it didn't exist. However, new players and campaigners are not as likely to spend $30+ on a handbook, and then more $$ on campaigns, etc.. So they made a product that does a great job of letting people get their feet wet in the DnD experience without breaking the bank. For $12(on amazon) you get just that. The Mines of Phandelver Campaign has given my friends and I at least 30-40 hours of time spent campaigning and learning how to DM and roleplay. The product did such a great job of sucking us in that Each person ended up getting their own players handbook. I've purchased all the 5th edition books out so far, with plans to play on beyond this campaign. It has been a lot of fun. I've seen a lot of complaints about the price which i simply don't get. For $12 you get all of what I spoke of above. A lot of the time you can't even get a mini for that cheap. I highly reccommend this set for anyone that is looking to get into Roleplaying for the first time. For those hardened campaigners, disgruntled with the set, i think you'll find $12 is a good bargain for the campaign that the set offers.

Long story short: The Lost Mine of Phandelver, which is included in this set, makes the entire kit worth it. For those just getting into D&D, The Lost Mines of Phandelver is an adventure that is included with this starter set, along with some prebuilt character sheets, a set of dice, and Dungeon Master and Player rulebooks. Even though you may be getting into the hobby to play adventures that you have designed yourself (commonly called "Homebrewed"), I, along with many other somewhat experienced Dungeon Masters, strongly recommend that you at least read through The Lost Mine of Phandelver and study it, as it has everything a good adventure has to offer (and is fairly short to boot!). Better yet, run the adventure before moving on to your own Homebrew-- what you learn by going through this adventure will make whatever you come up with so, so much better. As far as common complaints go, it is a bummer that the books included are staple-bound rather than hardcover, and I can see how some people have had their books fall apart--especially the rule books if they're being passed around often. That being said, compare this to the price of buying the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual, and one of the published adventures like Storm King's Thunder-- which all together would run you $60-$80 (and boy is it worth it, but that's a different story). Even with the lesser physical quality (understandable considering the price), the sheer narrative quality of The Lost Mine of Phandelver more than makes the whole kit worth it. There have also been some complaints about the included dice. Sure, they aren't of the highest quality, but again let's do some shopping and compare. Look up a good set of Chessex or WizDice-- I bet the best you can find is a single "good" set for not much less than this kit, or a bag of assorted dice from either brand with no guarantee of matching sets (which you may or may not care about), and those bulk dice will be of similar quality to those that are included here. All that matters is that the dice in this kit are readable, durable, and roll fairly. All-in-all, a must-buy. I bought it only for the included adventure and haven't even touched the other content (other than adding the dice to my existing pile), and it's still 110% worth it.