“Come, weary traveler. Your dusty robes speak of long-winded roads and cramped saddles. Put down your bags and take a rest. A few flagons of our Frosted Tempest and you’ll dream dreams of flower wreathed maidens and boundless treasures…”
A little fey told me the real life plane is fast becoming too plain for you! Outstanding news, for the Dungeons and Dragons Starter Set is here! There is a reason Dungeons and Dragons has been around for almost 50 years. You think movies and books are best ways to dive into a story? Think again! If you’ve got a shred of imagination in you, you’ll become hooked to this TTRPG (tabletop role-playing game) – I know me and my friends were.
How to get started with Dungeons and Dragons
Right, so you decided to play D&D, but don’t know how? Maybe you’re overwhelmed by the game and worry you’ll miss something? Well, for just $20 the D&D Starter Set has everything you need for your first game of 4-6 players.
Contents:
- the Starter Set rulebook
- Lost Mine of Phandelver(LMoP), a beginner D&D campaign for levels 1 through 5
- 5 pre-generated characters with backgrounds
- one set of dice
Contents in more detail:
The Starter Set rulebook is a 32-page set of compressed rules for playing D&D. It covers How to Play, Combat, Adventuring, Spellcasting and Conditions. It is an essential resource for players new to Dungeons and Dragons and the returning players new to 5e. You will find almost everything you need here.
While it does require a few hours of reading for new DMs, it is a pretty clean book. All the basics are covered and it’s great as a simple reference guide – we kept returning to it long after buying other resources.
Keep in mind, though, that these are only the basic rules – you can find a complete list in the PHB (link).
Lost Mine of Phandelver (LMoP) is your classic D&D campaign with heroes, villains and a whole world of adventure. In these 64 pages you will get the complete step-by-step guide of how this adventure unfolds. There are also helpful tips on how to actually DM for your party, with much more flavor text and useful sidebar information than other D&D campaign books.
Your party will get a chance to slay the likes of orcs and goblins, evil wizards, rogue bandits, and of course – dragons. How many of them will survive…well, that is for the dice to decide!
The 5 pre-generated character sheets printed on quality cardboard paper are such a great resource because you don’t have to waste time making your own. Every character is fully fleshed out with all their abilities, skills, class features and other bonuses.
The character backgrounds are a very nice touch. They often get overlooked when players make their own characters and that’s a huge waste for role-playing. These fit naturally into the campaign – every elf has its hometown and every halfling its history. This will really help you immerse yourself in the story and care about your character and party from the get-go. Who knows, maybe the DM gets inspired and uses your character’s background for a side quest!
The only thing missing is a blank character sheet for those who wanna make their own D&D character, but you can find those
You also get a set of 6 D&D dice – a d4 (four-sided), d6, d8, d10, d12, and the infamous d20.
And let’s not forget the sturdy cardboard box, which can serve as the container for any additional materials.
And there you go, you’ve got everything you need! So invite your friends over and you’ll start seeing through the eyes of your character in no time.
Advice for (new) DMs
Experienced DMs won’t have a lot of trouble with the campaign. It is a by-the-numbers story with a straightforward path, but there is also much freedom in the players’ choice of actions.
If this the first campaign you’re running, I advise you to read the whole rulebook and the campaign in advance. Otherwise, you’ll get overwhelmed and just ragequit when PCs start to bombard you with questions.
If you’re unsure of how to proceed, don’t get bogged down in forums and wikis… Just use your intuition! Imagine actually being in this world and guiding these characters. And if your players are newbies like you, just remember – they also don’t know the rules 😉
Conclusion
This starter set will satisfy all but the most demanding players. It is an ideal way to start playing Dungeons and Dragons because of its straighforwardness and ready-made materials. You don’t have to spend 100+ dollars on the full Player’s Handbook, DM Guide and Monster Manual because all the materials are here. It’s too affordable not to give it a chance, and if you end up not liking it, you won’t break the bank.