RPG Review: 5E D&D Essentials Review and Retrospective
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
- This week I review the brand new D&D Essentials Kit, but I also take a retrospective look back at 40 years of D&D beginner sets! Check it out!
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Hey Capt., I've seen 6 different reviews for this box set. By far, your reviews are deeper and more enjoyable to watch. Your D20 rating system makes it fun. Honestly Capt. you are a natural 20 { Critical Hit! }. Really blown away that you are going all the way back 1977 to do a original review.
Thanks Capt. & have a great day.
I had a feeling that adding a 'retrospective' to the review would be fun. I had fun getting stuff off my shelf and going through it. Thanks for the kind words!
There is a difference in the basic rules in this set, it includes 5 classes as you mention but each includes 2 subclasses which the basic rules on the website only include four classes and one subclass each. I quite dig this version of the basic rules more just because of that.
Like I mentioned in the comments of another video, I purchased this for my soon to be 11yr old son, thanks for your comprehensive review and comparison to older products. It was very helpful and I am much more confident that he will eventually get some use out of it!
I've seen other people mention that they wish pre-gen characters were included. Am I the only one that realizes you can just use the sidekicks as pre-gen characters if you really wanted to? There were 3 main factors that sold me on this set vs the Starter Set. One was the ability to play with just two people. Two was the ability to create your own characters. And three was that the dragon was the main focus of the story.
I have both now, but if you could only get one I would definitely recommend the Essentials Kit over the Starter Set. It has so many more tools that first time players and DMs will find useful. While it's not without its flaws, it's a great way to get introduced to the game.
If you get both sets, I highly suggest taking the Thundertree encounter out of Lost Mine of Phandelver (you can remove it completely without affecting the story) and inserting it into the Dragon of Icespire Peak as an extra sidequest. It can add so much more to the story and really open up some role playing possibilities
I hadn't recalled how many 20 sided were just like that in the early 80's. I had a buddy I didn't trust so I always found a way to make sure his dice. I caught him a couple times wearing of the marker on them.
What a fantastic review! I couldn't remember if I got my first Basic Set in 3rd grade or 4th. Knowing how frequently the Basic Sets were released helped me. I was, indeed, 10 or 11 years old (I had the 1981 Boxed Basic and Expert Sets) when I started playing the game. I had a long drought in between, like many people I assume. All of the information you shared was very interesting. I didn't know that Sharn: City of Towers was not the first publication to come with an audio CD. I wholeheartedly agree the sidekick and magic items cards are super to hand out to players.
I just want to say "thank you" from the bottom of my heart for all the videos you've created. They are fantastic. You've brought back wonderful memories of when I played many of the modules you've featured. I've been binge watching them all!
Wow.. thank you so much for the kind words. I try to create content that answers the questions I'm always asking and doesn't ever seem to get answered. :)
Such a good and in-depth review and an amazing retrospecrive, Cap. Another amazing video!
This sort of thing is why I love your channel Capt. I had never even seen those CD starters before!
Would love to see you do some Judges Guild products if you ever feel like it.
I learned on the Tom Moldvey set and still have those blue dice in my dice box. They weren't the only dice we had so they're in pretty good shape. The thing is, we never figured out why the heck they had included a black crayon in the box and the numbers on those dice are uncolored to this day. Oh, well.
Yeah, i remember back then wondering what the crayon was for. I got the jeweled gamescience dice not too long after.
You aren't alone. I still have my bright yellow set of dice from my Moldvay set... never colored them in. lol Reasonably quickly, I got some nicer dice, so they went into my dice box and truly were never used again. I feel like a nice personal dice set is sort of one of the first things you end up getting once you are truly invested in the game. :-) When you see that new player show up to your game with a fresh set of dice they bought and are excited to use... you probably got a lifer. ;-)
It's worth noting: when you redeem that D&D Beyond code for the digital copy of Dragons of Icespire Peak, it also comes with 3 more adventures designed as direct sequels to Icespire. I'm not a huge fan of the tutorial adventure, but I can't knock them for value.
You can easily find this set now for like 12 dollars on sale. That makes this excellent vslue even better
The Essentials Kit is far superior to the Starter Set for a few reasons.
The dice set is better, sidekick rules are a good idea for small groups and the modular nature of the adventure is great.
But the most important thing is CHARACTER CREATION! Using pre-gen characters is missing half of the experience. I started with the 1983 Basic Set and if I didn't get to create my character I may not have continued to play the game. Great to see a beginner set done right.
I loved your retrospective of other starter sets but STRONGLY disagree with a box set needing pre-gens. It is a plus that pre-gens are not included!
Well, certainly building characters is a key bit of the fun of the game. However, a pregenerated character SHOWS you what the finished thing is suppose to look like. Furthermore, it can get players right into the action with out spending hours beforehand on character creation.
Since, pregenerated characters are easy to provide, why not just provide them and let each group decide how they wish to proceed? That's all I was saying.
Ah! There are those horrid little blue box dice! Funny, now I want a set just for the nostalgia factor. 😀🙄😀
Yeah, right? I need a set of the crappy plastic dice from the Holmes Basic set to make my collection complete and they are like very expensive on ebay.
I got both Starter and Essentials and Stormwreck Isle. They are so cheap overall, it's worth it.
Amazing review and comprehensive historical survey - great stuff!!! :)
Funny. I use initative cards for ages already. Interesting that they picked up that concept too.
Please do the advanced dungeons and dragons battle system. If it's going to be done right, its only going to be done by you!!
How timely! I am running this for some new players tomorrow
Thanks for another in-depth review, engaging and informative as always! Looking forward to the Essentials kit's broader release in September, mainly for the module as a starter for some new players. Keep the videos coming!
Why wait? You can order it off Target's website!
I am really interested to see the reaction to this box in the future.
I think it will be long lasting IMHO.
This was a great review of a great product. I have similar feelings about this box set, particularly in comparison with the starter set. In fact, I think this is the best thing that Has come out for introducing D&D since The all new easy to master black box from 1991. On that note, can I just say that I die inside a little bit every time you just gloss over that one? When you started your retrospective section, I thought, “finally, he’s going to talk about the blackbox!“ Alas, it only got a superfluous mention as it flashed on the screen for a matter of 1.5 seconds. Seriously though, I love your videos, but I’d really love to hear your thoughts on the 1991 box and Zanzer’s dungeon...
I still have that map. That boxed set was a little past 'my time' really. The poster map with all the stand ups were cool. I remember buying it just for the paper minis. We were playing 2nd Edition AD&D though.
These videos sounds like a really cool idea
Just now noticed android has dice built in. Just ask the assistant to roll a specified die or dice and it does it. I've gotten playroom dice in the past but it's funny to me they built them in.
Great stuff as always Cap!
Hey Capt. Thanks for reviewing this! I've been interested in this for a few months now, and I think your review is very informative/helpful.
Do you think you could do some reviews for "Lost Laboratory of Kwalish", "Escape from Meenlock Prison", and/or "The Lost City"? I've heard some good things about them, but I'd like a second opinion.
Great box. Excellent video.
Love it, I didn't want it to end, I need more! =) Thank you so much, let us know if you ever want to live stream, I will super chat you lunch.
I've been wanting to get a live stream on for awhile, just the technical aspects of setting it all up seem rather daunting. And then there's the time. I have two 'at the table' games a week as it is. With work and trying to make videos finding the time is another hurdle. Thanks!!
Once again a great review! Always pleased with your videos... A critical hit on this one!
Thank you!!
Well done Cap! Also is there a chance you might do some how to videos for C&C like you did for 5E?
Actually yes. The new C&C Monster manual is out. I was in the kickstarter last year, so when the thing FINALLY arrives I'll definitely do a review on it. Meanwhile, if you haven't already, check my back library, i've already done two videos on C&C. :)
Great review capt.!
Posting this 3 years later, but I think you can now get the Phandelver adventure for free online. If you don't want, or need, the adventure in print, I think you can maybe skip the Starter Set completely and just get this Essentials Set. :-) Personally, I still got the Starter Set, because I like getting all of my stuff in print.
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you about the 3rd Edition Starter set (Adventure Game, year 2000).
I find the set to be very beginner friendly. Pre-generated character sheets are easy to understand. The sheets had really nice character portraits. When players see a character like "Regdar" they would know "yeah, he is Fighter". On top of that, it came with character/monster pogs and a play-mat, something these current set neglects to include.
Sure the adventures in the set were very basic and there was no character creation.
But there was a blank character sheet included and you could figure out how to create a basic character.
And sure the adventures were bland but a clever DM could/should be able to spice it up.
The set is one of my absolute favorite products the Dungeon and Dragons ever produced. I would really like what you had to say about the product in a video if you ever get the chance.
It wasn't 'bad'. I liked it for the miniatures and the nice cardstock geomorphs (that i still use to this day) but it lacked a solid dungeon scenario which prevents it from being among 'the greats'.
Holmes Basic came with just the rules, a module (B1, or B2) possibly even no dice.. yet it ranks among one of the 'greats.' Why? Because the sample dungeon was so good.
All the great artwork and all the 'toys' are kind of useless if there isn't a great story to go with them. IMHO. :)
Thanks for commenting!!
That 5e starter box was criminal lol
Yeah, I have to admit that I was rather disappointed with it. It got the job done. Honestly, I think there was probably as issue with Hasbro's confidence with the new edition at the time. I can't be sure, I'm only speculating, but I think expense was an issue. 5 years later, and 5E is a big hit, they went back and did it up they way they wanted to in the beginning.
Maybe it's not meant for us? Who else sells a playable RPG with this much content for a price kids with little money might possibly afford?
@@philalethes Actually the Pathfinder beginner box is the best.
5e started for $12? I guess I missed that. It's $37 now. :(
Hello ,
Thank you for this video... is it possible to play the adventures in the Adventure kit and then play The Mines Of Phandelver with the same characters I made in the essentials kit?
Review the new modules from 5 e bay beeeeeee
Good morning!
Just watched. I give you a natural 20. I'm glad I've found your channel. Great work!
@@goodtrubble9688 Thank you, and welcome!!
For 10 year old adults, love it. :)
Will Hasbro/WOTC be putting out a 5E beginner's boxset and 5E advanced boxset next?
5e villain is the BLACK Spider
My only complaint about the Essentials Kit is that the cards weren't pre-cut. So it's value wouldn't be 20 cause they cheated out on that component.
can you do gamma world?
Absolutely!!
Where is that City of Brass review?
Coming! Had to deal with a minor surgery, but its definitely in the works.
@@captcorajus well now I feel selfish. I hope the procedure was a success.
@@Johnny_Nitro Yes, everything was great. Thank you for asking!
first
5e and PF2 is a loss. Back to Old School 1e and 2e.
Couldn't disagree more. 5E is an awesome game, and very playable. Its current level of popularity eclipses all other editions. That must say something in regards to the robustness of the system, yes?
I loathe 5E and pretty much every lame product associated with it, but I still enjoy your reviews! It just seems like they've completely run out of creative steam. Most of the adventures are derivative and they've unfortunately "millenialized" the game to nerf all the wonder and danger right out of it. Luckily other companies still make cool games.