Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit Game

A: This product comes with a custom made DM screen, full poster map of the local area it shares with the Starter Set's Phandelver adventure (the Phandalin map on one side and the regional map on the other), a whole mess of cards including magic items, condition effects (the mechanics for if you get frightened or charmed for example), numbered initiative tracking cards, quest cards giving a rundown of the objectives of different quests in game, and a page of NPC sidekick cards for other characters who might tag along with you on adventures with some nice color art. There's a set of transparent red dice with white numbers (with 4d6 for rolling stats and spell damage and two d20s for doing rolls with advantage or disadvantage). It includes a much nicer softbound mini rules book (rather than the magazine bound one in the Starter) that actually lets you make and equip characters of your own--with about half the races and classes available that you'd get in the full version of the game. Finally there's the adventure: Dragon of Icespire Peak which is more of a series of sidequest micro adventures posted on a bounty board in the town of Phandalin. There's nine in total, set out in groups of three and getting tougher as you complete each set--with the dragon of the module as a floating antagonist you're encouraged to throw in a few times to taunt the players before they finally fight it. All of the quests are essentially checking in on different people around the area, either to inform them about the dragon attacks or to see if you can find something to help out with eventually fighting it. Each one has only a couple of fights in it despite the fact that some of the maps provided are fairly sprawling and intricate. But yeah, I own both products and don't really feel like there's much overlap. You get another quick discussion of the local area of the sword coast where both adventures take place and another rundown of the different establishments in Phandalin--but they kind of have to do that for people that don't yet have the other box set. Overall it's mostly new stuff.

A: The starter set has only some dice and a rulebook, however this has everything, a Dungeon Master would want

A: Let's clarify, there are two "Starter Sets": the regular one with a dragon in the cover art, and the "Stranger Things" one the Target website is pushing pretty hard. So you've got three choices. The "Stranger Things" one contains a short adventure, very simplified rules, the needed dice, and five pregenerated characters, along with two figurines. If you are thinking "I want to experience playing D&D for a few hours, see what that's all about, but probably never play again," this is a good choice. It'll get you playing fast with low commitment. The regular "Starter Set" contains a moderately long adventure that puts in effort to teach the DM running it what to do, fairly simplified rules, the needed dice, and some pregenerated characters. If you want to learn how to play D&D, think you have a group of about 4-5 others who want to commit to playing for a while, but don't want to dump a bunch of money into it yet, this is a great pick. This set includes a different moderately long adventure, simplified rules (but a few more options including the new "sidekicks" for when you don't have many players), the needed dice plus a few extras, a DM screen (to hide the DM's notes from the players), and a bunch of reference cards. So, you're definitely getting more, but there's slightly more investment (both money and time) to get started. If you kind of know what you are doing, or have a lot of confidence, or you only have a couple of players and need the "sidekick" rules to put together a big enough group to tackle typical adventures, this is the set you want. Note that this set is the first place official "sidekick" rules have been published, and is the only source for some of these cards, so even experienced longtime players want to get their hands on it... that's why it's out of stock so often!

A: A Dungeon Master's Guide would need to be separately purchased. It comes with: (1) rulebook, (1) Dragon of Icespire Peak introductory adventure, (6) blank character sheets, (11 ) dice, (1) 8.5" Dungeon Master's screen, (81) cards for magic items, sidekicks and more, (1) 21" x 15" double-sided poster map for use with the adventure. It has everything you need to play the adventures in this kit.

A: This kit has everything you need for a single adventure.

A: Yes- 6 blank character sheets!

A: There's a set of transparent red dice with white numbers (with 4d6 for rolling stats and spell damage and two d20s for doing rolls with advantage or disadvantage)