I agree with your ranking of the starter set as an 8.5 for newbies and a 6.0 for other players. But I most appreciate your suggestion for experienced DMs to run their own tailor made game for new players, instead of using this product. Still, the location can be memorable, and I found a way to use it as the stating point and ending point for a Tyranny of Dragons campaign for my players. If they survive the rise of the dragon queen next week, they are going to be very surprised to find themselves quested to return to Dragons' Rest to conclude the year long campaign they've played with me.
You describe stuff really well and make me lagu when you clown on stuff in the industries, Just got back into DnD I stopped Playing in 1990 , my first game was two week ago, it was aight haha
My DM ran this at our table of experienced players, and we had fun with it! (So I'd say you're right that it can work for new or veteran players - there are even a few things that you'd pick up on as someone who has been playing for a while that you might not as a newbie, just fun hints and such.) I noticed that you didn't mention the "Essentials Kit," Dragon of Icespear Peak. I dont know much about it other than its existence. Does it sort of occupy a different niche than the starter kits?
Dragon of Icespire Peak is a sandbox adventure, and it comes with blank character sheets and more rules for character creation, instead of pregenerated character sheets. I think if the game master and players have previous RPG experience, it's fine, and it's a better value for a starting kit. However, the 2014 starter set and, especially, the 2022 starter set are far easier to use for people completely new to DnD.
Very good job reviewing & missing d10 dice is agreeably aggravating & disappointing. Simple DMs screen would have been nice & IMO is required for a starter set to be considered complete.
IMO, D&D doesn't really need to use the percentile die all that much. There are some d100 tables in some books, but I don't think any were in the starter sets, so they were not needed in the starter sets. It's not like Call of Cthulhu which uses the percentile dice almost exclusively. That starter set didn't come with a d12!! So yes. YOU are spoiled. I am spoiled. That's why I buy your dice!
