Customer Reviews

Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game: The Adventure Begins Here!

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First- the New Dungeons and Dragons is a very different animal from previous editions. This little boxed set is sort of an introductory version for completely new or younger players. Older, more experienced players of roleplaying games may like it as well.

What you get: A set of polyhedral dice. A double sided map (one side of which is blank for creating your own maps and adventures on). 2 sheets of cardboard counters for characters, monsters, doors, treasure, etc. 6 pregenerated characters, and a blank character sheet. A rules summary which explains combat, exploration, and illustrates some of the various monsters. A 30 page rulebook (more of a rules booklet, actually) A 47 page Adventure Book (which contains 6 adventures of varying degrees of complexity and are designed to introduce the game) Anyhow. What this boxed set is good for is introducing the game to new players. You won't be able to create your own characters with the Adventure game so much as you will be able to try out some of the various rules of the new Dungeons and Dragons before you dive right into the Players Handbook.

Let me say that again- there aren't any rules for making up your own characters here. You need the Players Handbook for that.

In any case, I'm very happy that I bought it. It's an extremely lightweight, colorful game, in that you should be able to actually start playing it within about an hour of opening the box. Some of the mechanics of the game (such as initiative) have been simplified to facilitate ease of use. Although this boxed set focuses exclusively on Diablo-style dungeon-clearing, (run down into the dungeon, fight the goblins, rescue the unicorn..thats pretty much the first adventure in the Adventure Book) it can certainly be used to introduce some of the more creative and immersive aspects of roleplaying as well.

This is the kind of game I would play with my son, or with anyone who had never played D&D before. The visual appeal is stunning and the game aspects are a lot of fun. Sometimes a game is just a game.

For more advanced players, or experienced roleplayers, I would suggest starting right out with the Players handbook instead.

If you're a proficient player of Dungeons & Dragons, you'll want to get the Player's Handbook (3rd Edition) instead of this set. But if you're either (a) curious about role-playing, and have never tried it, or (b) eager to introduce your friends to your favorite hobby, this set is an absolute must-buy.

Why? There are several reasons. The first is the value. For one low price, you get a rulebook, 48 pages of unique adventures (all high quality and very playable), dice, 2 sheets of gorgeous full-color counters, a giant poster map, 8 pre-designed characters, and a set of quick-start rules that will have you ready to play in 30 minutes. And when you consider that there's enough material for the Dungeon Master (storyteller) to write his or her own adventures, you have a starter set that will keep you busy for at least a hundred hours of play. Compare that to the price of a movie!

Second is the graphics. The illustrations are stunning, evocative, and flat-out beautiful; not only do they give you a vivid idea of who populates this finest of all fantasy worlds, they also make you want to become a part of it. Wizards of the Coast have truly outdone themselves here.

Third is the "bridge factor." You will indeed need the Player's Handbook later on, but there's no better way to "ramp up" to that work than this set. You'll go from absolute novice to enthusiastic veteran in a matter of a few months, and it will all be because of this box.

Fourth is the production qualities. The books are very well-written, the adventures are cinematic and entertaining, the instructions are clear, and everything is explained cleanly and logically, with a minimum of confusion. (Anyone who remembers the "red dragon, blue book" basic set from the 70s will be pleasantly surprised. ;)

So... Is there anything wrong here? Yes. Rules are only provided for 1st and 2nd level characters. With an enthusiastic group, you might be able to plow through that much gameplay in just a couple weekends. There is enough play value here for many more game sessions; but with the "2nd level wall," you'll have to keep creating 1st-level characters if you don't buy the Player's Handbook. But this is a minor quibble; the Basic Set has always been intended as a starter product, leading to bigger and better things. And considering the replay value of the maps, counters, and dice, every veteran player should snag a copy of this as well. It's that good!

First, let me explain that I bought this game only because I couldn't find the 3rd Edition Player's Handbook at the time. I had really wanted to run a game for the first time, so I was very disappointed. My friend, who was also a player of D&D, pointed out that the store had a 3rd edition Adventure Game. I thought it over, realized that ten dollars was pretty cheap and picked it up.

Well, two days later, I was running the first adventure for two of my friends. Since then, I've gotten two people into D&D with this adventure set, and I plan on trying to get even more to enjoy it. It's great for people who have never DMed before or who have never played D&D before.

For the price, it was a great value! There was a lovely map, nice tokens, a rule book, an adventure book, some premade characters, and some dice. The eight premade characters included magic users, fighters, clerics, and rogues of different races. The adventure booklet gave complete rules for six different adventures which grew in complexity with each adventure. The rule book gave some basic rules and instructions on how to create more adventures.

This is really a great product to introduce people to D&D or for just some simple fun. I only wish there had been more adventures and a tiny bit more role-playing so that people could learn that D&D isn't always about combat and dungeons.

The 3rd Edition Adventure Game is an excellent purchase,

..both for novice D&D gamers to 20+ year vetrans, such as myself.

It is, by far, no replacement for the 3rd Edition Players Handbook but an excellent learning tool for those new to Dungeons and Dragons or for those new to the 3rd Edition system, as well as the d20 system.

It instructs you in the system of the game, the playability of the game, minatures rules, areas of affect (both combat and spells), as well as an excellent tutorial for fantasy role playing in general.

This is, out of the initial three products released, the second best in the lot; mainly because the Player's Handbook is still the best in actual, core rules need and usage, while the Adventure Game is an excellent resource for the novice to the expert in Dungeons and Dragons.

It'll teach you, or help you teach about 3rd Edition Dungeons and Dragons.

If you are new to the D&D roleplaying world this adventure is an excellent way to jump in. It simplifies the rules and provides a adventure and the dice you will need. It also has several predone characters ready to go. One of each character class. The rule book gives a quick and easy layout of the D&D rules, and the Adventure book for the DM gives a prebuilt adventure to get the campaigne rolling. A map and small cardboard cutouts are provided so that the players and DM can see exactly how this play out.

Those of us who are experienced players may want to pass on this, though the map and cuttouts come in handy form time to time. If you are new to D&D and want a way to jump right in this is perfect for you.

This box set provided me and my friends (a bunch of serious and expert gamers) with hours of entertainment. Sure, when we started out, I was DMing the first adventure (go into this room, beat the bad guys, and rescue the unicorn) and my friends chose their characters (and I quote, "I am Jo-zan the Cle-ric" and "Oooh! I will play the figh-tor."). We were all chuckling because of the ridiculous simplicity of this set. But as we got into it, a revelation came to us all: even with prefab characters and level limits and lack of complex rules (and perhaps *because* of all these things) it's fun to do some hack-n-slash gaming. Granted, we were at the low end of the plot scale. But we all had a good time. Even my friend's wife, who usually falls asleep during game play. So if you want to try out some 3e or just have fun, I'd say go for it.

This is a great item for those of you who are just starting out in the Dungeons and Dragons game. It starts you out with simple quests for you and your friends and then it gets progressively harder. It comes with an easy to use instruction guide which tells you the basic begginer rules. The game pieces are decent enough but they could have been metal or something. The board is very good and makes it easy to create planned or random dungeons but it is made of thin paper and rips/gets holes very easily. The only problem was that the included rules were simplified and occasionally changed from those found in the DM's Manual and the Player's Guide. Some of the particular things included the lack of feats of any kind as well as being able to choose which skills characters get when they level up. All in all i would recommend this to anyone who wants to learn how to play Dungeons and dragons and doesn't mind the simplification but it probably not for more advanced players

I bought this version for my son and went through the 6 adventures designed to bring the pre-made characters up to third level. The adventures were fun if not all that complex (perfect for a new player and dm) and it was easy to learn while playing. More ideas were presented in each successive adventure. Reccommend for young players and those new to the roleplaying genre but skip it if you have played before as the concepts are very basic and it does not go into depths of the new system.

Do you remember those old board games like Hero's Quest, where you pick one of four characters and fight in some dungeon trying to kill a villain and you get gold for it? Basically, that's what this set is. It simplifies the vast world of Dungeons and Dragons down to a board game.

Now, I loved Hero's Quest... when I was 12. But for an experienced or older gamer, we want more. D&D is so much more than what this set presents it as. And the new system is simple enough that anyone over 15 can learn it in an hour or so. There's no need to dumb it down.

I will agree with those that say it is a very good value. A set of dice alone will probably cost you half of what this set costs in most comic and game stores. Although I haven't used it yet, the map and character tokens may end up proving useful as well.

The greatest dissappointment is the Adventure Book. The quests consist of nothing more than the players being instantly thrown into a dungeon. I don't know about you, but I love D&D because I love roleplaying, and this system offers no opportunity for real roleplay. Not to mention, it only offers you three classes: the wizard, the rogue, and the fighter. How dreadful is that?

This set may have some use to any brand new, young player who will eventually step up to the real thing. But to anyone with half a brain and a smidgeon of imagination, you'd best buy the Player's Handbook.

I was curious about D&D 3rd Edition, so I tried this out, and let me tell you, it's great! It dives you right into the action with simple rules, and a dozen missions to choose from. The artwork is terrific, and gameplay is fun. The only gripe I have, is characters can't go past level 2. This can easily be overlooked, but it would have been better if it was around 5 or 6. All in all, this is a great set for beginners, and maybe even veterans who want to try out 3rd edition. I enjoyed it, and so will you!