D&D Essentials Kit Review
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- čas přidán 10. 07. 2024
- Is the new box worth getting? Let's find out!
Essentials Kit - now on Amazon: amzn.to/2KEMGjd
Starter Set: amzn.to/300oRar
At Target: bit.ly/2J2oMNz
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Wish they’d sell kits with useful stuff for every adventure. With all the maps of the dungeons, magic items, monster stats, etc. I’d definitely buy it
Yeah agreed
Check dmsguild =)
Check Beadle and Grimm's, they have hefty box sets like that...
Ádám Ladányi thanks mate, I’ll check it out.
Or.....do it yourself...you want somebody to play for you too?
You people dont get what rpg gaming is about huh?
11:22 "for parties of 1 or LESS"... me and my imaginary friend playing dnd together
I have a whole group of imaginary players.
At least you have imaginary friends, I'm so boring and uncool that even my imagination doesn't want to talk to me.
I have both. Got Starter Kit back in November.....read it, but never got a group to run it. Saw the Essentials Kit was out and got it for the ability to run with just a single player if need be. Wound up getting my wife and two sons interested in playing, and we actually ran one of the first quests this past Sunday. Super easy to run as a first time DM, and my wife enjoyed her first time ever playing. I have two additional players that will be joining and at that time I will be running some of the Mines of Phandelver content form the starter kit.
I'm somewhat in the same seat as you. I want to play, my kids want to play and my wife probably wouldn't mind joining. Now.. I have never played DnD or any kind of Roleplaying game myself. Would you recommend getting the starter kit or can I start with the essential kit? (The starter kit is out of stock in the store I like to use, the essential kit is not)
.
Daniel Birath
The essentials kit is almost the same thing except with more stuff and you have to make the characters the started set all you do is make the name
Perfect timing. My gf and me are going to start playing dnd with a group from her job and I'm trying to get prepared and familiar with the game.
@Leo Kolotilenko 50 bucks on ebay.
Hope you enjoy the game, Ash! It can be so much fun!
gf and I*
Lol, my wife and I just started but we are doing the starter set. Shes running 2 separate characters and I have an NPC 3rd.
The starter kit is great for, well, starters... it'll teach you everything you need to know!
I bought the starter set but the bar of getting a group of friends together was too high, and being the only one who would want to DM seemed daunting. I picked up the essentials kit and played a quest with my g/f. It was fun and a GREAT trail run as DM, I realized quickly how much MORE I need to prepare and was glad I found this out with someone who has infinite patience with me haha.
Yeah, playing with my sisters (starter set) has showed me that I need to prepare, but I think that I can work with it for now.
Glad to see they finally ran out of those blue swirl dice.
The Essentials Kit is really great but combined with the Starter Set it’s beyond great. I’m going to start several new players and two with some experience using the starter set then combine Lost Mine of Phandelver along with Dragon of Icespire Peak once they have been in Phandalin for a few days in game.
I'd love to hear how that all turns out. I've run Phandelver a few times and will probably get Essentials in the near future. I like the idea of a job board like in the Borderlands video games, and I love sandbox style gaming. It seems like this is a callback to Village of Hommlet and Keep on the Borderlands. If you post campaign notes online, drop me a link. :)
Bump
Thank you so much for the discount on the Players Handbook, wanted to buy it for so long, but have the paper version, so didnt wanna pay full price for D&D Beyond version. Really appreciate it ! :)
I do understand it being pricey. However, do bear in mind Amazon sells it for a big discount: 15 to 20 dollars I think
@@ianhall3795 i wish... ood 20 to 30 in the uk on amazon
I've seen it down to 20 before, but in the U.S. it's usually around $30 on Amazon.
@psychotronik13 there really is one of you in every community huh? I guess even in dnd nothing changes🤔
psychotronik13 dude I’m smarter than you and I’m in 8th grade. What about people with no job? What about kids like me who want to play the game but can’t afford the price and just want a discount? You got to think about the people who want to play but can’t afford. You sound like a 5 year old. Also, what if people don’t want the maps from 1980! You sound so dumb saying that. 🤦
I got my first AD&D books at age 12, TSR!! LOL Its was so hard to learn but I eventually got it. When WotC bought D&D, the new books turned me off at first but after I learned the subtle changes, I fell in love with the new D&D. I am a die hard 3rd and 3.5 ed fan. I like 4th and 5th ed but 3rd had so much resource material that its almost unnecessary for me to get the newer editions. I totally would if I had the cash but Im very happy with my 30+ book 3rd and 3.5 edition collection. I can play without books, I have it all memorized as Ive been playing for over 30 years now!! LOL I love D&D.
i love 3.5,i play a group of friends.i have alot of books,3.5 books on bookself.i try get some 5th ed books
Bruh I didn’t even know this thing existed
Me neither
Let me guess, You play roblox.
Now you do my bruh
Rocky what
@@antimatterstudios8395 I'm not going to give an explanation until you confirm it
You nailed it Nate. Really, its like WOTC was listening to us when we complained about what we didn't like about the Starter Set. Thanks!
The kit looks really cool. Can't wait to get one of those. It looks like a major step forward from the starter set, and I think combining these two resources would be even cooler. It would probably take some work, but it would provide an over-arching storyline as well as tonns of secondary stuff to do around the region, which felt a little empty in the Lost Mines.
Thanks for the video, Nate!
Just bought the Essentials kit and it has definitely helped me as a new DM to start looking at character creation - I’m fortunate to have the starter set with pre-gen characters and it’s eased me into the new rules of 5e. Both products work so well together. Great video ad thanks for all the info.
I was a little bit sad that the Starter Kit was so bare. Also one blank character sheet wouldve been super helpful. This box can help alot I thibk. Definitly will buy it :)
Just got it for Christmas, playing it with my family, really fun! Thank you for the review! Really helpful!
Now how does one (as an adult) find these friends
Kidnapping.
@@Commie-Comrade LMAO😂😂
@@Commie-Comrade 🤣
If you live in the west, you'll find these friends in a game shop
I appreciate you for putting the chapter segments within your videos. This makes them both rewatchable and helps new players when looking for specific information. Thanks!
For sure! Good to know it’s appreciated and used.
Thank you so much for reviewing this. I am wanting to get back into D&D from(3.5) and thinking of getting these items. Your reviews and videos really help with me understanding more about fantasy worlds and games. They build my hype too!
I wish they published it in my language as well, i speak english well but many of my friends dont.
I even have a backstory ready for how to link this with the starter set:
After finishing the starter adventure the original heroes move to new places, the newly reopened mine brings wealth and prosperity to Phandalin, unfortunately it also brings new problems, indicated by the recently added 'Jobs charter' in the main square, but mostly the new riches caught the attention of a young White Dragon, who decided to build his lair nearby with the intention of taking the treasures for himself.
Yeah, that's what I thought too, it's only available in English :(
I like the variety offered by having two different intro kits. I've run LMoP for a few groups and had a ton of fun with it, but as you mentioned, having a ready-made sand-box game to play in the same area offers quite a lot more opportunity to actually explore the area. I'm really excited to pick this up, more so after your review.
I picked this up, excited to run my first D&D session with it.
Very good in depth review. Our group started playing with Player's Handbook only.
Yes we didn't grasp everything but it was doable. We had much more freedom with characters. I watched some videos and created an adventure of my own. Basically one town-one quest. Later we understood more rules and bought MM and DMG.
I started playing D&D a few years ago when I was in hospital(lung related shit), my brother saw this video and bought the essentials kit to play with me, it started rough, I wasn't able to focus a lot cause I was tired almost all the time, but when we got the hang of it, it became one of the best things that has ever happened to me. A few weeks ago we finished (with our group of friends) a 2 year campaign and the feeling of accomplishment and bonding was incredible. Now I'm about to start as a DM for the first time with the help of my brother and I'm going to start as he did, using this essentials kit.
Thank you very much for this video, as without this, I may have never discovered my passion for tabletop roleplaying.
Best regards from Spain!
Increible! Buena suerte! Que disfruten.
Way back in 1978 my buddy and I started with just us two and the red box basic D&D set. One DMed, the other ran a party of 5 or 6 characters, and we kept going into the included module, Descent into the Depths or Unknown or something. Good times.
Thanks, Nate. Once again you capture the true essence of the product. I just got this from family in the US (I live in Canada and don't want to pay the ridiculous shipping and import fees on Amazon) and just had an unboxing with my son. We can't wait until tomorrow when we play together. And that's what DNDs all about...getting together for an adventure. Happy adventuring!
After watching this, we felt like the dice and the adventure were enough to justify the price, and the other stuff was nice to have too.
My 15-year-old wanted to learn to run more sandbox-style adventures so he has been running it: Sometimes for his brothers, sometimes a friend, and sometimes for me. Sometimes we’re together and sometimes a part. He’s rub 2 solo adventures so far. We’ve all had good times.
The job board is right up there with starting in a Tavern. But it is simple and effective and makes for a really flexible campaign style it has been inclusive and fun.
So i bought this today in europe without watching a review. And i bought it solely for the adventure and the cool looking art on the DM Screen. I was severely disappointed by the DM screen since i was expecting a bit more then just a piece of plain paper. The rest is quite neat though.
Thank you very much for making this review!
I got this for a friend, but our schedules are pretty tight and the chances to gather more players are quite slim. This sounds like a great kit for getting into the hobby.
So i started running this for a veteran player group at the local AL group and they have been really liking it. They like how sandbox it is.
Thank you for making this video. As someone who wants to get into D&D, this was very helpful!
I'm still find of the 3.5 starter. It had minis and everything!
So ive been playing dd for like 2 months with a group of friends at college. I'm just a regular player but so far im really enjoying it. Apparently we're doing a beginners campaign and we're close to finishing and the semester ending as well. This game definitely helped me make friends and awesome memories. I hope we can play next semester. I saw this essential kit along with the starter kit at Target. I think it be great for me and my bf and my other friends who never played before to try out. I think it also help me get some DM experience as it would be my first time.
I am a first year dm and still having some hard times now and then mastering, sometimes I feel pretty sure I do enjoy watching your videos more than actually playing the game ahah great job!
Man, if this ever gets to the Netherlands I'll be the first... ah who am I kidding, there are loads more fanatical people of collecting this stuff... ahem! ... I will be among those who will be getting it!
The map of that region looks great and then blending it with the Starter Set would be amazing!
If you have a post office box I'll send you one
Greetings from Kentucky. USA. I dream to one day visit your beautiful country. I also want to see Sweden but Norway..man something about that place interests me to the core. I love European culture(as to the poor extent that I know of) and I want to experience it. One more thing. Your part of the world has a much better match for me politically. Living in the American south,I am surrounded by very right wing/neoconservative Republicans and I simply disagree with the majority of their views. They vote against there own interests in my country. People are very brainwashed by propaganda disguised as journalism and lobbying by huge corporations. Sorry for the tangent
Wife and I just picked both of these up for $12 each. Working our way through the Icespire adventure using the premade characters. Glad to see the review.
Crazy, I order this off amazon two days ago. When this was posted.
I recently got back into playing D&D and have introduced my kids to it with the starter kit which is perfect because I don't have any of the 5e books yet. I just started so we are only just past the first combat scenario but I found myself wanting a 1 or 2 player option. It's just me and my two daughters so I'm actually running the two of the pre-generated characters to be able to run the campaign which is a lot of work in hindsight because the roleplaying aspect is one of the best things about playing but I kinda just wanted to run the adventure. I may still be purchasing this after we have completed the lost mines of Phandelver. Great video.
I just bought a starter set to learn so that I can play D&D with my 11 year old. I have not played in about 25 years so I am looking to get into this again. Your videos, especially this one are so incredibly helpful. I'm doing my homework before I jump into DMing a game.
I can't wait for this to be released in the UK. This would be perfect for the games I run at the library.
I recently bought the starter set over the essentials kit because me and my group are first time DND players and the pre-made characters helped overcome that first overwhelming step for all of us.
I definitely plan on getting the Essentials kit as well though, especially seeing as how those maps would be very handy for the party to have.
Thanks for the review!
I think that's a great idea. Have fun!
As a young beginner, I always find your information incredibly useful
Just started dnd a few months back with a group of epic nice people that were playing a selfmade campaign and told my family about our sessions. They are excited to play it themselves and I think with this I could try to dm for them. So fun
i git my starter set last year and I want to add this to my collection because it gives me more ways to expand my adventure thanks
i just bought this set along with the starter set. 32yrs old and im going to run this game with my kids to give us something to do during lock-down then im hoping to use it once we can socialise properly again. but your videos have a been a great help to get used to the rules and how to practice being a good DM
Cool! Have fun.
My mom and I have been watching Harmonquest and now both of us want to get into pen and paper RPGs. I am thinking about getting this set as a gateway.
Excellent review and overall breakdown of this product. I picked this up as well and have found it highly useful and it has tons of replay value.
Thank you so much for this video. I was looking for something like this to play light with a friend. Unfortunately I live in Europe so I'll have to wait until September 3rd.
I bought this kit the day after it came out! (Completely on accident too haha) and as someone who isnt new to ttrpgs, but is new to 5e and DMing, I really like the kit! The adventure is very succinct and easy to follow and the character creation is brief and easy to follow for completely new players, took my group of 2 about an hour to get started and comfortable with higher level characters. It felt like a complete kit, and was a fun time to use!
Always love to see your d&d reviews nate!
Great video. I got recently interested in DnD again, years after I last played 3.5 edition. Gonna get this set once it's available around UK, looks like great addition to the starter set.
Just purchased this kit, thank you of mentioning it because I barely started getting into DND and I already love it. It does help cause I just played my first Game event with friends this month. But I did feel completely lost but enjoyed the set up with my character lol. But thank you for the insight review of this kit . Also love your channel
Thanks for this review. Totally new to this and this vid helped me to find the perfect product to get started. Cheers.
I just placed order for this!. I always wanted to try DnD, but never found group in my area. So now i can learn this with my friend. Awesome unboxing ❤
The wife has really been interested in learning and playing. Shes read some of the source material and we've watched some streams together. This is right up our alley for me to teach her without getting tons of people invovled
Sounds great!
Me and my friends are planning on starting the game, this will be really useful!
I think it's an improvement. I can't access it till September 2019, being in New Zealand.
I just got it on mighty ape. Its nice!
We finally got this in Peru, and I brought one home. Tha ks for this video.
Dude this,IMO covered most of what I found missing in the starter set and I’m super glad I now have both,the starter set and this essentials kit. They’re perfect in conjunction for starters/newbies.(I also have the Stranger things campaign lol(my kids like it and they’re my only players. I love the two figures in it and the way they actually put the kids campaign down for us to use.) ,the tiles which are really only somewhat useful.
I love that this just isn't a rehash of the starters kit, but it seems they really thought about this. There are some people I know that want to jump in to playing and this would be perfect. Only thing is I live in Europe and it's going to be a while before it's available here.
I recently got the essential kit for my birthday. The guy at the store recommend this one for new players.
Just got mine in yesterday, so my daughters will be teaching my wife and I the basics soon!
Thanks for the review. I've purchased this to play our first game with a couple of friends, and I'll try to be a decent DM. I live in Chile, so I'll have to wait a month for the kit to arrive, but I'm investigating how to play in the meantime. I'm suscribing to your channel to see more of your videos, keep it up!
Very helpful video, I played redbox back in the day and AD&D 2e, actually had an AD&D 2e campaign a few years back with friends, hello THAC0, but the kids are wanting to try D&D and I am planning on picking up the 5e Starter Set and/or Essentials Kit soon.
Thank you! This helped. A lot! I might still get the startes kit just for the mine as it would be a great next step for my gf who is just getting into DnD.
Definitely will have to pick this up
I wanted opinions and info on the 5e adventures I had overlooked, so I turned to your channel. Didn't even know what it was called but I did remember it being good. So here I am.
Thanks for the great video! Super helpful in making my decision.
I was gonna get the starter set, but I’m happy I watched this video.
This will be so great to jump in with! The map is so helpful too! The reference cards are s o helpful! The sidekicks would be super helpful to have when you do one on one or small groups. OMG I COULD ACTUALLY PLAY THIS WITH MY GRANDMA! this is so helpful and I need this so so so much.
My first time as DM was with the essentials kit and the initiative cards were really helpful when I was running multiple npcs in the same fight.
Totally got this for my birthday this week :D so excited
I bought it! Will probably use for my first DM session with my kids :D
Awesome. I’m using it with my kids too!
As you said the village of phandolin is common to both the Essentials and Starter kits.If you have both one can use them together, I love the 'get the characters to phandolin hook in the starter set and the whole redband issue the character can deal with. After running that I plan to switch over to the Icespire storyline. Also I found the paucity of bars, a school and about 1/2 as many churches to bars a little odd, So I added a few more of each, oh and a house of ladies of negotiable affections. Every frontier/growing mining town should have at least one. Great video thank you sharing your thought s about the two kits.
I have both the Essentials Kit and the Starter Set. They complement each other very well, without a lot of overlap - and I love that. The adventures combine near-seamlessly, so you can easily insert the quest board from Icespire Peak into the Lost Mines, or put stuff from Lost Mines on the questboard for Icespire Peak.
If you *can* pick up both boxes, they combine so well that you really should - but if I had to pick just one, I'd say the Essentials Kit is the better introductory kit just because it includes more useful tools. The lack of pre-generated characters hurts, but everything else makes up for it.
I bought the starter set last year and was so lost, i shelved it. Last week i was at target and saw the essentials kit and decided to pick it up. Soooo glad I did, so much better at explaining how things work. I've had to fill in with a few videos online, but otherwise the essentials kit is the way to go. But I've got both, so I'll be running both campaigns.
I've been looking for it everywhere, but every store is out of stock!! I'm crossing my fingers every time I click on a different store to try, aha
Feels a little like the original Red Box basic set. I am critical of some stuff Wotc does but I liked the Starter set a lot. Was well put together and a very nice beginning adventure. Way better than most starter adventures which usually suck.
I use index cards folded in half, numbered 1-10, and use those for initiative tracking.
I just started using a smaller dry erase board for initiative, monster HP, and conditions. It's really handy tbh. Got one that small enough to fit in this Essentials kit box.
Bought this a couple of months ago and am about halfway through running the adventure with my wife and three teens. We are all having a great time. A couple of notes:
- The books are a bit flimsy. Pages are already falling out of the rulebook
- The expanded dice set is great to have. Most important is having 2 D20's. Forget advantage roles and two handed combat. One is for the players, one for the DM. A second D8 would have been nice though.
- It includes online access to the quest and three follow up quests. Should keep us going for a long time.
- Things have changed a LOT from the 1983 red D&D Basic Set that I played as a teen.
This is a great review that seems to align with what I think based on the research I have done (It isn't available in Canada yet). I think the Essentials Kits was suppose to be the next step after the Starter Kit. You have brand new players play the Starter Kit to get the idea of how to play without the going over too many rules from the get go (a pick up and play set). The essentials was the next step after you have hooked them, and now they can explore how to run a campaign with expanded rules that build off of the Starter Set. I think this is best combined with the starter set to make a mega Starter Set. Have everything in one box so there are pre-gens and rules for basic character creation so that way the DM can use whatever suits the players preference. Now does that mean it is expensive to make it a two part starter set...yes but if this is a tool for new DM's then I think it is worth it.
I just bought this thanks for the review / heads up.
Just picked up this set at Target today for my kid who used to play with some friends. It's now the same price as the starter set, at least it was at my Target.
I was pretty happy with the Essentials kit. The screen and maps were a great addition. I much prefer having to create characters over pre-gen ones.
I’m thinking of either getting this or the starter kit just to look through. I’ve not played for over 35 years and wanting to try with my kids or one of. They’re 12,10 and 7 but not sure if to young. Plus I’m not that confident so would feel happier with them. I’ve never dm before. Unfortunately people I know aren’t interested in D&D
I think it would be great if some maps and dungeons (or other settings) could be included in book adventures that are removable for game play. The Forgotten Realms 3.5 book did this with the world map.
I've been playing D&D far longer than most and started before I could read. I never used minis, until the past 5 years. I think not using them can also help a DM understand the setup. I plan on purchasing this for something different and was thinking about running it for new players. I play at a local game shop and the owner asked me some time ago to run an adventure for new players. I created an adventure that my players played but honestly I don't care for their play stile. As they don't care about the substance just the treasure. For example they ended up at 3rd level they got the following magic items with (actual descriptions and hand outs): long sword+1, boots of elvenkind, robe of useful items, a scroll of raise dead. They also received restorative ointment, a scroll of haste, a scroll of disguise self, a scroll of misty step, an arrow +1, and several potions of healing.
Good Point. I played for 20 years (1ed/2ed) completely theater of the mind. Not until I just recently after 15 years off (work and move). I just started playing 5E about 2 months ago and that is the first time I ever saw a battle-mat, I always thought that was Warhammer thing, I enjoyed it so far, helps with painting a picture.
"I can absolutely see lots of parents running an adventure for their kid" this is exactly why I am here :) Great video.
I got this kit in minds of playing it with my wife or with other friends. My wife is completely new to D&D where I am a returning player but haven't played the game since early 2000's. Creating a character can be overwhelming but I think the limited classes it offers does help reduce the stresses of making a character since new players don't know what each one does. My wife already had a character sheet made from another adventure we played online so we just used that one as level 1.
So far it has been really useful in both of us in understanding what the game is all about. We do make some mistakes here and there since I am new at DMing but it isn't anything that killed her character or changed the course of the game too greatly. There are also a lot of fun locations that bring out interesting aspects of the game, which I believe helps break in your mind to be more flexible. The sidekicks is by far the best thing they did with this. All you have to do as the DM is pick which side kick would be the best helper for your player and the character is already made without needing to roll dice.
The best part is that this story isn't set in stone and you can change it to be fun, easier, funny at times, or spike up the difficulty. This isn't a one-shot adventure and you will be having a lot of different sessions. Another thing to note is that as the DM you can decide to honor the battle XP gain or allow your players to gain a level after they completed a quest. So far I am using the monster XP and this kit does work well with that since they have picked some monsters that do give you a good lot of it. I will say that this kit is very helpful for new players, think of it as a gateway into the game world so you can do some bigger adventures like Ghosts of Saltmarsh or Curse of Strahd.
Thank you for the video, one of my friends wanted to start DnD and since I've never been a DM or played it physically, I wanted to find something that would be good for beginners :)
I really wish I could get this now, however Target in non-existent in Sweden. Would have been great to during my vacation.
Well it does come out at Science fiction bokhandeln in September!
@@mayakubajimamattsson does it come in germany too?
@@LynSpoon @Magnus Lundberg maybe you guys already know, but you can get it on Amazon (last time I check it was 20 Eur with shipping to France.
I like that the starter kit exists. It's not for everyone, but it's an easy way to get into the game. Character creation can be overwhelming when you have no idea where to even start, so having characters completely ready straight out of the box is awesome. I just wish the box included more though. I wish it was pretty much just like the essentials kit and included better books and cards and stuff.
Or for them to make a deluxe starter kit that would combine the 2 boxes. It'd include all the things in the essentials kit, but also some pre-made character sheets as well.
Nice video as always, Nate!
Looks like a fine product.
I have been an AD&D player for years, but never went passed 2e and I have been thinking of trying 5e. Yet did not want to spend a lot of money to do so, it sounds like this might be a good way to try it without spending too much money. Good review!
This is the game I'm playing with my beginner group right now (on summer break). It plays hand in hand to broaden the adventure from/with the starter set. I'm using our break to help tie characters and stories from the starter set into this adventure, using this set (took liberty seeing as they're set in the same place). I'm super sold on this set. 💯 would buy again.
Small addition, I found out after starting that we were using 3, of 4 characters, pre- generated characters from the starters kit. So gonna take out a criminal group when we get back...
Personally, the Starter Set is a better first stop for people getting into the game (Or the Stranger Things one...), then following the Starter up with the Essentials Kit. They were designed to work together as a single thing with the location and possibilities for back and forth between them.
This is 2 years old but if anyone is wondering which to get I def. recomend the esentials kit. It comes with a condensed version of the player handbook and a DM screen.
I picked up 2 of these (one will remain sealed as a collectable) on pre-order for $16 including shipping, the 5th edition starter box was available for $13. It definitely feels nice and has some great items in the box.
Awesome!
I just purchased the Essentials Kit to get started, found it for sale on Amazon ($15-$16). I'll probably end up getting the Starter Kit later just to have the extra adventure to run, but I preferred the option of creating your own characters and the ability to play with just two people.
Nice review! I was checking out if I would buy it, but you helped me to decide that I will lol