Wizards of the Coast, the makers of Dungeons and Dragons, have previously offered a Starter Set centered around the well-loved adventure for newbies, Lost Mine of Phandelver. It's a set that has really embedded itself in Dungeons and Dragons culture, and so following it up is always going to be a tough sell.
Dragons of Stormwreck Isle is a new and modernised Starter Set aimed at giving players looking to get started with D&D everything they need to dive into the hit Tabletop Role Playing Game.
It comes with an adventure, aptly named "Dragons of Stormwreck Isle", a Starter Set Rulebook, a set of dice, and five premade characters. In total, this is everything you need to play, meaning you can open the box and get going right away.
In case you didn't know, Dungeons and Dragons has had many "Editions" over the years, and is currently in its Fifth Edition, with an update scheduled for 2024.
The Starter Set Rulebook then is a slimmed-down version of some of the rules according to the Fifth Edition ruleset. It's not as filled out as the Players Handbook, which includes more complete spell lists, character creation rules, and a more nuanced interpretation of the rules, but it is 27 pages (if you include the front and back cover) and includes everything that you might possibly need to know to run your first adventure.
It's not changed much since the first Starter Kit, and it is split into four main chapters - an introduction, which explains the basic outline of D&D, what the dice do, and the "rhythm of play", and three main chapters: Chapter 1 - Playing the Game, Chapter 2 - Equipment, and Chapter 3: Spells.
These three chapters cover everything you need and are easily skimmed through in the first instance. They include a lot of tables and bullet lists, which break down the more complex elements of the game into easily digestible chunks.
What's more, a contents page at the front makes it easy to refer to during play, with each of the sections being broken down into a tonne of subsections.
It won't give you everything that you need to become a master of D&D- you'll need the Players Handbook for that - but it is everything you need to get going, without a lot of the complicated parts that just don't apply to newer players.
The premade characters are fun, if a little basic. You get a Wizard, a Rogue, a Paladin, a Fighter, and a Cleric - all on standard Fifth Edition Character sheets.
This is great, but a little out of touch - a lot of players these days don't really use standard character sheets, instead opting for digital pdfs or online character builders. Additionally, the sheets are very dense, containing huge chunks of small font text.
The character sheets come with instructions on how to roleplay a character, as well as a little drawing of what they might look like. This is a nice touch and adds that little spark of D&D that players will be looking for on their first trip into the world of Tabletop Role Playing.
The adventure is where the Starter Set really shines. Not only is it themed with Dragons and magic, but it has everything a Dungeons and Dragons adventure needs.
There's combat, roleplaying, side quests, and an exploration element - parts of the story don't have to be done in a particular order, meaning players can feel like they're seeking the adventure, rather than it happening to them.
It's a good blend of everything that makes Dungeons and Dragons what it is, and the players will really feel like they've achieved something by the end of it.
The story is centered around Stormwreck Isle, a battleground for the two different types of dragons - metallic and chromatic. The island itself is flowing with magic from an old dragon buried there, and the players find themselves dragged into a conflict between a bronze adult dragon and a blue dragon wyrmling.
The adventure is delivered in a 48-page document, which is well laid out for new Dungeon Masters. The sections are clearly arranged, with some boxes designed to be read to the players and others designed just for the DM.
It also contains some general tips for new DMs, as well as a direction for them to go in while they look for their style - something that I suspect will appear to them pretty early on in their time DMing this adventure.
The players get to visit a shipwreck, an observatory, and some caves, and they get to solve a lot of problems and puzzles while doing it. They also get to find treasure and explore secrets, and what's more the whole adventure can be played in just a session or two.
The writers of the adventure have also been clever with the character creation - each of the characters has a backstory that ties them to the main adventure, giving the player the opportunity to really dive into the role-playing element of the game. This is something that has previously been missing from Starter Kits, and it's done really well.
The adventure plays from level 1 to level 3, with the book letting the DM know when players might gain a level. The character sheets make leveling up a bit easier, by detailing on the back of each of them what happens at each level up. I can also see the adventure easily expanding into other D&D stories if you so chose.
All-in-all, the adventure is great - it's epic, fun, and well-rounded, and although it's a controversial thing to say I think I might like it better than Lost Mine of Phandelver.
Verdict: 4/5
Dragons of Stormwreck Isle is a Starter Kit worthy of the name, especially when it's going up against a titan like Lost Mine of Phandelver. It really is a complete introduction to Dungeons and Dragons and should be the de facto starting point for anyone looking to get started with Dungeons and Dragons.
That said, it's important to remember that it is just an introduction, not a full experience. The Rulebook only contains rules relevant to the adventure, and there isn't much opportunity for the DM or the players to try to do anything outside of the confines of the adventure book.
In addition, the kit lacks anything physical to hook you in - the dice included are fairly standard, and only include one D20, D12, D10, D8, D6, and D4. This might be enough for this adventure, but at any higher levels players will need more dice. There also isn't an included percentile dice, which while used rarely, is generally considered a standard dice.
In the world of the internet, it's possibly a little naive for Wizards to try to compete outside of the digital platform, especially when players may be able to find other starting adventures and interpretations of the rules for free online.
With D&D One pushing hard for integration into the digital world of D&D, I would have liked to have seen the Starter Set contain a more digital element, even if it's just pushing players towards D&D Beyond - the online platform that Wizards recently acquired.
This might seem like a lot of criticism but in reality, it's a small set of minor gripes which really pale in comparison to the beauty of the Starter Set itself. What's more, the price is really reasonable, so it's hard not to recommend giving this a shot to anyone who wants to see if D&D is the game for them.
Starter Set: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle is available from October 4 2022 on Amazon for £24.40
