If you're enjoying the content here, check out our new site, Thoughtcrime Games. Thanks for visiting!
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The topic of RPG box sets and starter sets was raised on Twitter earlier today, which of course lead to discussion of the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Starter Set for fourth edition. (More information on Amazon.) The current 4e Starter set is a quality product, well worth the $17 cover price. But what if you were willing to spend a bit more on a Starter Set? What if you were willing to pay for a “Deluxe” version? Something around $50.
Here is what I would include in such a Deluxe Starter Set, and most of it comes from current Wizards of the Coast products.
Player Quickstart Rules
The first thing that needs to be included are rules for players. The six page booklet from the current Starter Set should work nicely. However, the Deluxe Starter Set must also include the rules for character generation. The easiest way to do this would be to simply grab Chapter 2 Making Characters right out of the Player’s Handbook and reprint it entirely.
Character Sheets
While I believe that the rules for character generation should be included with the Deluxe Starter Set, to help new players get into the game immediately five pre-generated characters should also come with the set. The character sheets for these pre-gen characters should be single sheets of laminated paper similar in style to this sheet, which will be the new format for Dungeon Night characters.
Hero Miniatures
To go along with the five pre-generated character sheets the players will also needs miniatures to represent their character. This should be easy enough, just pick five minis out of the Player’s Handbook Heroes Set 1 or the upcoming Set 2 (second link) and use them as the basis for the pre-generated characters.
Power Cards
To go along with the fancy new character sheet, develop some power cards for the pre-generated characters. Make them look as nice as the condition cards further down in that post with the character sheet, but still have them give the new player all the information that they need. Each card should explain what game term that is used upon it means. For example, encounter powers shouldn’t just say “Encounter” but instead they should state “Encounter power: This power may be used once each fight. After a short rest it may be used again.” Any conditions the powers cause should also be explained.
Player Tokens
The current Starter Set includes five tokens for its pre-generated characters. These tokens are made from the same material used to create Dungeon Tiles and they are printed double sided. One side if for one the character is healthy, the other for when the character is bloodied.
The Deluxe Starter Set should have 32 different tokens for player characters. Each race from the PHB and PHB2 should have a token for each gender, that would be 22 tokens. The other 10 tokens could be races from the Forgotten Realms and Eberron, or alternative images for the PHB races. These tokens could be used by the GM as townsfolk, as bandits or captives to be rescued. But more importantly these tokens could be used by players that choice to generate their own character. It may not be as nice as the mini that pre-generated characters get but its something. Note: 32 character tokens should take up half of a Dungeon Tile sheet.
Dice
Both players and DM will need dice. Just like the current Starter Set, the Deluxe Starter Set will include six dice. One each of the following: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20.
DM Quickstart Rules
The DM will need a quickstart rulebook just like the players did. However, the DM’s book should go into a bit more depth of how the game works and how to build a story. From what I hear the booklet in the current Starter Set does this well, so I would just reuse that book here including the short adventure.
Mini Monster Manual
Every DM needs some good monsters to confront their players. The current Starter Set has about 30 pages of monsters, but since this is the Deluxe version lets bump that up to 40 or 50 pages.
Mini Adventure
This Adventure would continue from where the adventure in the Quickstart rules ended, expanding upon it’s story. The size of this adventure should be somewhere between what comes in a standard WotC module (80-100pg), and what they give away as RPGA DM reward (22pg) and at Free RPG day (30pg). So something around 40 pages in length. The URL to download the free PDF of Keep on the Shadowfell should be included at the end of this adventure.
Adventure Map
Just like any adventure that WotC produces this one should include a map. Their standard double sided map should be fine.
Dungeon Tiles
One double-sided map will not be enough to support an adventure of 40 pages however. So in addition to the map, the Deluxe Starter Set should include some Dungeon Tiles just like the current Starter Set does. Since this is the Deluxe set lets include four pages of tiles, which is one more than the current set includes.
Monster Tokens
The DM needs tokens ever more than the players need tokens. So while the players got half a page of tokens, the DM should get one and a half pages of tokens. Tokens should be included for each of the monsters/enemies used in the Mini Adventure. Additionally, as many of the monsters from the Mini Monster Manual should be represented as possible.
Condition Markers
Fourth edition D&D uses lots of conditions. Dazed, Slowed, Bloodied… they all fly around the table and it can be difficult for the players and DM to keep track of who has which condition. One of the best solutions to this problem is to use some sort of condition marker on or under the minis on the battlefield. That way each time you look at the mini or token you can see that that creature is being affected by a condition.
The Deluxe Starter Set should include these markers to help new players. Make them from the same material as the Dungeon Tiles and creature tokens. Color code them and print the name of the condition along its edge. Square markers are probably the best, that way the corners can be seen sticking out from under the mini or round token. They can be double sided with different conditions on each side.
One Month Free DDI Subscription
You want to hook them on DDI as fast as you can. Including a free month code in the box set will allow players to use the Character Builder to generate their own characters. It will also show the new DM how much information there is out on DDI.
All that for under $50?
Yes, WotC should be able to put together a boxed set with all of this with a retail price of $49.95. I used the current price of WotC various products to come up with the following table:
Deluxe Starter Set
| Player Quickstart Rules Rules and Character Generation |
|
| Character sheets | |
| Player Minis (5) | $18.30 |
| Power cards (50) | $4.99 |
| 6 Dice | $7.77 |
| DM book DM rules and Monster stats |
$5.00 |
| Adventure w/ Map | $8.32 |
| Dungeon Tiles 4pg | $6.63 |
| Tokens 2pg 1.5pg NPC, 0.5pg PC |
$3.32 |
| Condition Markers 1pg | $1.66 |
| 1 Month Free DDI | |
| Total | $55.99 |
| Retail Price | $49.95 |
| Discount | 6.04 |
| Percent of Total | 10.8% |
Math is Fun
Here is a quick explanation of where my numbers come from.
The Suggested Retail Price for a pack of Player’s Handbook Heroes is $10.99. Three minis in a pack. $3.66 cost per mini. Five minis in the Deluxe Starter Set for $18.30.
MSRP for a pack of Power Cards is $9.99. A pack comes with roughly 100 cards. 50 cards should be enough for 5 level one characters, so $4.99.
WotC’s MSRP for Premium D&D Dice is $12.95. The Premium Dice have 10 dice total, or $1.295 per die. We only need 6 dice, so $7.77.
The price for the DM book I admit I pretty much pulled out of nowhere. This $5 includes the PC quickstart also. The Keep on the Shadowfell has a MSRP of $29.95, the other 4e modules MSRP at $24.95. Since the Keep also includes quickstart rules, I am attributing that extra $5 to the quickstart rules.
The MSRP for 4e modules is $24.95. Since the Mini adventure included in the Deluxe set is only 40 pages, I’m valuing it at 1/3 of a normal module, so $8.32.
A set of Dungeon Tiles comes with 6 sheets of tiles, for an MSRP of $9.95. Or $1.66 per sheet.
Four sheets of Tiles costs $6.63, and 2 sheets cost $3.32.
The month of DDI I list as free since no physical product is lost.
If you add all of that up, the total is $55.99. Which is $6.04 more than the $49.95 price I suggest, or 10.8% more.
I feel comfortable with this because of the chart below, which shows that the current Starter Set sells for $2.42 less than it should. (Or 12.5%) If WotC is willing to trim a little profit to sell the current Starter Set then they should be willing to do the same for a Deluxe version. They will also be re-using existing artwork and other products so won’t have the overhead of that development on this product. There will also be less packaging for this boxed set.
Current Starter Set
| 16pg Player Quickstart Rules 6pg of rules, 10pg pre-gens |
|
| 62pg DM book 33pg DM rules, 7pg adv, 29pg MM |
$5.00 |
| 6 Dice | $7.77 |
| Dungeon Tiles 3pg | $4.98 |
| PC & NPC Tokens 1pg 5 PC, 51 NPC |
$1.66 |
| Total | $19.41 |
| Retail Price | $16.99 |
| Discount | $2.42 |
| Percent of Total | 12.5% |
Conclusion
In the end I think I have put together a very good Deluxe Starter Set for 4e. Most of the contents for this new set already exist and it should be very easy to just combine them into one package.
Did I miss something that you think needs to be included in a starter set? Or perhaps you think $50 is too much for a Starter Set? Then let me know!
Similar Posts:
- Aquatic Adventures II: Encounters
- Time Stop, May 22nd
- Time Stop, June 8th: What the Wizards have been brewing
Milambus, aka Jake Fitch, has been a lifelong player of video games,card games, and board games. With the recent release of the Fourth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons he finally decided to start playing tabletop RPGs. He keeps informed on all the latest news from WotC, and RPG bloggers/podcasters and then shares that information with you. 
That’s an interesting proposition! You should pitch it to Wootsie, they love going on about how they listen to customers, don’t they? They should take this as an invitation to take our cash.
Even as a non-starter, I’d buy that just for the plethora of useful resources. Who couldn’t use some official condition tokens, dungeon tiles, and a level 1 dungeon?
This is a good post to pimp my stuff. I created a pdf version of what you are proposing. Monster tokens, condition tokens, scaled battle maps and an initiative/battle tracker for the adventure in the back of the DMG, “Kobold Hall”.
http://newbiedm.com/2009/05/15/new-dm-starter-kit-now-available/
Check it out! And sorry to use your comment box to shamelesly plug my site!
I think this is a really great idea! I suppose the reason it hasn’t been done yet (or before in previous editions of D&D?) is because the closer the price gets to the cost of the core books the less it is viewed as a feasible “starter” product. If that’s the case, I actually disagree, because of the variety presented in your set is a great resource for new DMs and would create a great experience to new players! Good job.
@Wyatt Perhaps I’ll forward a link to this article to a few of them today.
@NewbieDM Feel free to pimp. I thought about posting a link to your stuff, but lost it in one of the mental re-writes I was doing around 2am =)
@Bartoneus Thank you. I think the current Starter Set is great for a low cost entry point into the game. They need to keep it. Just add this Deluxe version for those looking for a bit more.
I think that would fail as a starter set. Remember, the whole point of a starter set is to attract people who are new to the hobby, and $50 is a lot of money to risk on something as intimidating as an RPG. In fact, I dare say that the only sales a $50 starter set would get would be current roleplayers buying it for themselves for the bits (in which case marketing it as a starter set would be suboptimal) or as gifts for others (and $50 is a lot for a gift).
I think this is a great idea.
Then again… I was the one who brought it up on Twitter. ;-D
even with increased cost, this bundle would be a great way for a starting GM or player to manage the complexity that is an RPG. You get all the tools you need to get started in the hobby and get going. The price seems high, but people buy video games as presents all the time, which clocks in at more.
I think its a really cool pack, but I have to ask: why would someone buy this instead of spending $50 on the core books? It seems there is a slim margin between the basic set and the core books – this would fill that margin, but if someone really got into it, they’d have to go spend another $60 – $70 on the core books anyway.
What about a set that complemented the core books? Something that included laminated pregen PCs, monster tokens, PC minis, dice, condition cards, a DM screen, poster maps, and an expanded set of generic dungeon tiles along with a deluxe double-length adventure for say $30. I guess the question is why they wouldn’t simply buy these things separately.
One thing I’d love to see that your article brought up would be laminated character cards along with the PC minis. I’m always in need of quality pregenerated character sheets for one-shots (I’m running one in 20 minutes).
Great article, a real thinker!
Mike
Sorry to rez this, but I was browsing for an idea for player tokens. I am currently running a 3.5 for my kids and this site popped up.
This would be a phenomial idea with one exception…Price. The $50 is a cheap, cheap investment in to the hobby (which I have been around since AD&D), but $50 is kinda’ high, DESPITE the nice-ities that come with it. I honestly see most people buying it for the extras that come with it. I know I would.
The major problem you run in to is that for a digital age, TT is going away more and more quickly. And yes, people do shovel out $50, $60 and even $100+ for VIDEO games, a tabletop that is more fun for people to be able to sit around and just learn what a TT is is way too high. Keep it more basic and you’ll attract more and more people. That’s just my $.02. Good luck all!