Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set (Dungeons & Dragons Starter Kit): Fantasy Roleplaying Game Starter Set

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Whereas the strength of the Starter Set lies in the excellent Lost Mines of Phandelver adventure, it is here in the adventure that the Essentials Kit misses a step. The Yawning Portal, a famous tavern from the city of Waterdeep, as depicted by WizKids. Photo: Charlie Hall/Polygon I follow the basic principle that not every bandit or orc will be awake, sober, wearing their armor, and holding their sword at every moment of their lives, especially when they are in their hideouts. Just remember that a drunk enemy has disadvantage, a creature humanoid out of their armor has an AC of ten +their dex modifier, that some creatures might only have a dagger or whatever handy while off guard duty or whatever, and that you can let the party slit the occasional sleeping throat. This sort of thing makes for a flavorful if very inexact way to adjust difficulty, and when the enemy is in a room they haven't got to yet and the party hasn't done anything to alert them, do so on the fly. The Essentials Kit manages to edge the Starter Set out here. For around the same cost, the Essentials Kit provides slightly more value for your money spent because: Melee Mats Double-Sided Game Board offers everything to set up a fun tabletop gaming session. The mat has easy-to-clean 1" square/hex grids and a park of multicolor dry-erase markers. Other accessories include an eraser and dice. The biggest feature is cross-compatibility. You can use this board for all types of tabletop games, including all editions of D&D, pathfinder, Warhammer 40K, and Wargaming.

It provides the adventuring party an immediate access point into the story with the disappearance of a trusted ally. That choice is supported by a number of different paths the party can take to push the plot naturally forward. To prepare a situation that may occur where someone would be willing to give it a try, we would be 2-3 people at most.

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While you can pass around the dice provided in the set, the game flows much better if each player (plus the DM) has their own set. Playing Dungeons & Dragons for the first time is a daunting task, especially for a new Dungeon Master running their own game. But you don't need to know all of the rules of D&D or be a trained voice actor to get started, you just need a story to tell with friends.

In any case, this encounter is actually written with a specific recommendation for if the party goes down (goblins rob them and leave them for dead). Which leads me to the point of this anecdote, which is that sometimes even when the party fails because it is too difficult you can let them survive somehow. You might plan it ahead sometimes, but it is also a reasonable time to just say "I wasn't expecting this, let's take a break while I think through what happens next".Easier, in a situation where the party isn't doing so hot, maybe the enemies in one of the next encounters before they get rest simply aren't there. This is also the easiest time to throw in those unarmored, unarmed, etc. enemies I suggested above. When this is not appropriate you can just have the enemies use suboptimal tactics. Other than one very avoidable encounter with Hobgoblins they never run into anyone who is necessarily going to be a particularly skilled and sage tactician. Finally, the Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure provides the same quality starting town and region as in the Starter Set and adds in a series of bounty-board style areas and location-based adventures. The numerous and diverse locales featured in the adventure book provide a nice variety of tasks for your adventuring party to complete. Cons

If you know exactly what your players want, great! You can choose from our recommendations above. But it's OK if you don’t know your players’ tastes very well. Odds are, if your players are newbies also, they don’t know for sure what they want either. In situations like this, it’s a good idea for your first adventure to be a buffet of different playstyle options. That way, your players will probably find some part of the adventure they can latch onto. Just be sure to take note of when each player’s eyes light up—you’ll want to include more of that in future adventures. You can also use the lines-and-veils system (first developed by Ron Edwards for his book Sex and Sorcery), which suggests setting “lines” that will never be crossed and “veils” for subjects that can be briefly glimpsed or referenced but not dwelled upon. That will help ensure people aren’t upset by potential plot elements or descriptions of what can be at times visceral action. If you’re a new Dungeon Master, odds are you don’t know what your players want out of D&D. Some players want to go on an epic quest like in The Lord of the Rings, while others want to have an open-world sandbox to joke around with their friends, like a multiplayer version of Skyrim. Other players are wallflowers that just want to hang out with their friends and are content to swing their swords when their turn in combat comes around.You are looking to dip your toe into the waters of TTRPGs before investing too heavily with time, money, and brainpower.

The module features well-crafted combat scenarios, a dungeon crawl or two, and a town that isn’t too large, which all serve as awesome tools to get your party accustomed to the world of D&D.The SRD is the System Reference Document: basically, it’s the material Wizards has released to the public so you can get started for very little, even for free!) The Essentials Kit The overall construction makes the board durable, waterproof, and tearproof, and since it is waterproof, you can use wet-erase and dry-erase markers on it. The manufacturer says the board flattens out on its own. However, the mat might need some assistance to flatten evenly. Gamers can configure each board within this set to suit particular gaming encounters due to their universal fit. Combine the boards to fit your gameplay, and you're ready. The Starter Set comes with everything you need to run hours and hours of D&D with your friends. It includes: Dragon of Icespire Peak takes players to the small mining town of Phandalin, which is nestled on the foothills of the icy Sword Mountains. The adventure offers new players and DMs ample time to get settled into the rules of D&D. Side quests are aplenty in Dragon of Icespire Peak and necessary to advance in level. These side quests also help establish the threat of the adventure's key villain, the young white dragon Cryovain, who has moved into the area and threatens the town.