Review of the starter set of Borderlands heroes, New Dungeon & Dragons

I've been writing about magic for almost 15 years, but since 1994 I've been playing since 1994 after buying my dad an Ice Age Starter Deck for my brother and me, and bought it at the comic shop at Freehold Raceway Mall (it was called Zap! Comics. There's still a mall. There's no comic shop). However, before the magic there was another fantasy game. And like many before and after me, Heroquest became a gateway to another game and another world: Dungeons and Dragons. So when the incredibly beautiful and intelligent people dealing with shore PR wizards sent an explosion email announcing the New Dungeon and Dragons starter set for the 2024 update of the fifth edition of 2024, I quickly learned that I would review this if I waited for it. The Wizard sent me a completely free review set and very professional photos (much better than I could have taken with Flip 5), so I was able to write this for readers who might be interested in the new D&D products (also beautiful and clever). The Heroes of Borderlands Heroes are an introductory box set for dungeons and dragons. According to the developers, the product's goals are: An introductory experience for groups who have never played D&D before the educational tools used by longtime players to introduce the game to family, friends or students. Personally, I used it for goal #2 and introduced several parents from the 7-year-old class to the game. This has allowed damage to Gaming Hobby's budget for years, but has not shown the fun of D&D up until now (running games for 7 year olds and friends, that's another article). One Saturday evening we had our kids run amok in another parent's living room, and I introduced the other four parents to D&D for the first time. Reviews – 8.5/10 I hate reviews that make you scroll through 3 dozen ads by reading 5000 words before you convey their thoughts. So here is my final review. And then dive into some details for those interested. First, I will evaluate the overall group experience at around 8.5 out of 10 people. We had a lot of fun and at the end of the night everyone agreed that they wanted more to play. We spent about four hours exploring the wilderness outside the Keep, scratching the surface of its own and scarf down the Momo we had finally ordered for dinner, but didn't eat until we finished our final encounter. But while this is big (and I can't lie), I don't think I'd have thought the experience was that great if I'm not a veteran DM, but a savvy rule-savvy and very comfortable in leading new players to their first active role-playing interactions. I first performed the “tutorial” encounter, but didn't actually have any clues as to what a new player should do, based solely on reading the “This Read” text box in the adventure booklet. Without my tweaks and explanations about how “study” works mechanically, they might have spent four hours staring at the empty wagon on a trail just south of the big borderlands. But they went through it and exploded. The highlights included cheating convincing the cheating NPCs that they were infamous Dragon Slayers. He was then caught trying to make another NPC into Pitan, bringing a very troublesome experience at the Inn of Keep. Our wizard was the first murder of the campaign with a classic magic missile, and our fighter jets chopped the bandit leader in half with her Great Sword. The clergy filled her hand by knocking her hand out twice, not once. Despite the uncertainty and some missteps and confusion, everyone wanted to have a good time and play more. So, if you're an experienced player who wants to introduce you to your friends and family and are willing to reach the back of the screen, this is probably a great option. If you don't have experienced members in your playgroup, my advice is to spend time carefully reading the rules before you begin, and don't be afraid to explore them. As long as the game is a comprehensive resource for DMs, I think it's primarily about marketing. Anyone who has spent time in the TTRPG space at any time knows there are many companies that make products for D&D to help Dungeon Masters. I was able to write the entire series on that topic, but to put it quite well, I think a lot of DMs prefer the common dry erase products over the game pieces that come with this box set. So if you want to bring some people to D&D and introduce them, this is a great set from the start. There are many more ideas below, but these point more to more experienced D&D players. If you are wondering whether introducing your beloved game to friends is a good way to do it, the answer is a big yes. If you're wondering if a whole new group is a good way to learn D&D, I'd probably say, but it will depend heavily on whether your group has someone with the right mindset to sit in a DM chair. If you want to read more, go! So, you already know that the game is “fun”, but has there been anything else good about it? absolutely! This is a brief summary of what I thought Borderland Heroes were really right. First, it felt like a dungeon and a dragon. Keep, the wilderness, and the caves of Chaos are all very well fleshed out and detailed in detail with some level of motivation and almost every ordinary character who has encountered a real place in the world. At the same time, the settings are very open-ended. Players are free to explore the environment at their own pace. Most importantly, while the details are there, they are open enough that players can make their own marks and feel like their own settings. For me, this is the most important part of playing D&D, and takes a world handed over to you by the designer and making it your own. Secondly, although we have already mentioned preferences for third-party supplements to help with DMs, you will need to provide the wizard with the incredibly well-made maps, handouts, tokens and card credits that come with this box set. Tokens, cards, and character sheets (or play mats if necessary) were incredibly helpful in getting new players to get used to everything they need (I'll enter it later, but not without warning). Most importantly, both the Monster Card Deck and the NPC Card Deck were one of the most useful DM supplements we've got from the Wizard product. Not only was the design great, but the execution was perfect. It was phenomenal that I was able to pull out cards instead of continually turning the adventure book (and why I use similar supplementary products for monsters and NPCs when running my own games). Praise to WOTC for including these. Bad, but it wasn't all roses. The handouts were helpful, but some of them could be obstacles. Character sheets in particular play mats. I thought I could have used a little more ideas with their designs. They were clearly intended to mimic the general kind of character sheet experience, with all of us grouped together, skills, inventory and abilities. However, each of the four party members of our game missed something in their seats. One player was confused when he realized he had not read the recommended origins and later preferred other options. Most players didn't know where to find attack or damage roll info or spell DC. No one really knew which side of the card was looking up. The rules of D&D are extremely overwhelming. The game I run for a 7 year old uses a set of watered-down rules to keep things simpler. My table as a 40 year old parent has the mental ability of the rules of D&D, but was not presented in the most intuitive way on the character sheet. Also, what didn't exist often was when the parties were expected to play, and when they were expected to roleplay. Especially in early encounters, there was a considerable amount of handheld when it came to helping players guide them to make decisions. “You come across an abandoned wagon. There are no drivers, no horses.” Experienced players could trap fraudulent checks on the party. Have the fighter set up a boundary or scout for ambush. My new party was waiting for a bit more details. I told them to look at the character sheet, especially the abilities and skills, and see if it sounds like it could be applied. This led to productive discussion, but as such, I feel very strongly that this box set is not ideal for players in a completely new group. I would totally recommend it to experienced players who want to introduce it to a new game, but they have to have some hand. Brand new DMs may not be ready for that. Teaching someone how to become a dungeon master is probably the most steep challenge that dungeons & dragons face when trying to expand their player base. This boxed set may not do anything wizard in that respect. The way that the set tries to hold a DM's hand through the tutorial is to add a lot of information that only the DM is intended to read. But there is a big problem with that. DMs are sitting at the table in the middle of a board game night and reading short novels, but other players either sit a bit and put their thumbs up, or DMs have to spend a fair amount of time reading all the booklets that come with the Borderland heroes before they can actually play the game. The designer returned to the four goals, said I had emphasized earlier. An introductory experience for groups who have never played D&D before the educational tools used by longtime players to introduce the game to family, friends or students is a comprehensive resource for after-time dungeon masters. adventure. I think they almost failed at one. There is a complete chance that there will be a particularly ok group out there. I'm particularly hoping to play something like Pathfinder for some reason and now I want to get into D&D, but this might not work if I'm mainly playing something like Catan, Talisman or Commander Crew. They bumped into the park number 2. no doubt. Number 3 is another big mistake in my book. DM's guides are the best way for DM to hone your skills, and playing with experienced players is more useful than diving at a completely new player's table. Number 4 is probably. Again, this is a problem that has been solved primarily by third-party companies, but wizards can't help but try to make more money from maps, cards and tokens. I still recommend the product, but in reality, you can only hold everyone's hands through experience, even if they don't want a DM. Rich Stein (he/he) plays the game as long as he remembers when he gets a copy of the third edition of the Player Guide at a Cleveland mall while on his family vacation in late August 2000 before his junior year of high school. In his spare time, he runs this magical content site and writes a new BIOS at the end of every article, entertaining his business partner, Donnie.