Can Too Basic Be A Bad Thing? 1 Star Reviews of Dragons of Stormwreck Isle (D&D5e)
While Wizards of the Coast recently put out the Phandelver book to expand on the original 5th edition Starter Set, they also put out a new box in Summer 2022. Subtitled "Dragons of Stormwreck Isle", this box comes with many of the same things that the first box did: a handful of dice, some pre-printed character sheets, and intro to the 5th edition ruleset, and an adventure. With a new edition "set" of Dungeons and Dragons books slated to come out later this year, I figured it's good time to look back at how some people get their start with D&D.
Actually, let's be honest here. This box came out a year and a half ago and I've been staring at it since trying to figure out how to review it. Then I remembered by old "1 Star Review" videos that I did and realized that was perfect for looking at this box. So let's dig into some 1 Star Reviews I found* for this box set.
*Editor’s Note: See Disclaimers
It falls flat on its face…
I mean it really depends on which way you drop it. I dropped it and it landed on its back, not it's face. Maybe if you threw it up at an angle it might rotate onto it's face….? Also, are you sure you understand what "Starter Set" means? This isn't everything you need to play D&D - this is a box that some random person can see at Target and go "oh, I keep hearing about these Dungeons and/or dragons, I think I'd like to try that". Then, about half of them will leave it in shrink wrap on their shelf and never think about it again.
I'll talk about the adventure later, but I wouldn't call character advancement lackluster. Each of the pre-filled out character sheets are chock full of information. Not only do they have all of your stats & bonuses filled in, but they also have explanations for what it means to have "spell slots" and "prepared spells" and "proficiencies" in different things. When you flip over to the back, the sheet goes into detail about your ancestry/background to give each player and idea of how they could roleplay the character in a session. There's even sections that tell you what you get at level 2 & level 3 to expand your character. Granted, if you had the full player's handbook, you have more options, but we are just trying to get people hooked.
Having said all of that, the "Making the Character Yours" section does fall flat a bit, as the suggestions are "come up with a name!", "figure out what you look like!", and "flesh out your personality!". Like, no duh, I think even a beginner could figure those out genius. I would have used that section to drop a couple of questions players could answer to develop the character more ("Why did you decide to study magic?" or "Have you traveled much before?"). Those seem less obvious ways to make a character more personal.
Just above a coloring book…
Well, technically this is in a series. First there was the classic Starter Box (cars over 10 years old are considered classics, so technically that counts here too…), then when Target started really getting into board games there was the "Essentials Box". If we compare them to movies, judging from the talk I've seen online, the Essentials box was the "Terminator 2" of the series, as it's the best version of the format. Compared to that box, not many people understood why Wizards of the Coast would bother putting out another box.
Clearly, those people have never been in the position of not-so-subtlety trying to prod someone into trying D&D. When you've got pre-teen children, niece's/nephews, cousins, etc., you can't just keep buying them the same box set over and over again to get them to play. But, if they keep making box sets, then that's a NEW product you can buy and then give to them to try*. Also, putting out another product means that those of us with OCD will have to buy it just so we can leave it shrink-wrapped on our shelves to look pretty.
*Editor's Note: This is a joke. Don't try and force people to play D&D. Instead, just do what I did to get my kid interested in Magic: The Gathering - talk about it and mess around with stuff in the open around them, but not directly at them. Get them intrigued in by wanting to be involved in it with you. Maybe play Baldur's Gate 3 in front of them?
In terms of quality, yeah it's very lean. But at the time of me writing this, you can get the book on Amazon for like $13.99 (Affiliate link). That's a pretty good price to buy a bunch and then shove into every lending library near you*. The box does have filler in it to make it appear heavier, but if you take it out, then you've got a great carrying box for someone to carry their dice and character sheets in to D&D night! You could even use the box as a rolling tray.
*Editor's Note: Again, a joke, but actually not a bad idea…
If I didn't want it, I wouldn't order it…
First of all, hopefully no one held you hostage until you filled out the review. With that type of opinion, you make it sound like it was a life or death decision being forced on you. Secondly, not everyone has the coin to just throw around on products and then decide if they like them. Even in RPGs, there's a ton of different "Starter Sets" that you can find on Amazon (I know, I looked when I wrote up this article). You might not use reviews, but I'm sure someone out there is, otherwise every app I use wouldn't be insisting that I fill out a review for it.
Speaking of reviews, how good is the actual adventure inside? The adventure consists of 4 chapters, taking characters from Level 1 to Level 3 by the time they finish it. The premise is that there's a place where an long ongoing war between dragons has left lasting damage to a piece of the world. The players get put in the position to try and find a way to resolve the conflict, one way or another.
For a game that has "Dragons" in the name, it seems odd that the original Starter Set did not involve any dragons at all. This adventure seems to correct this error. There are both dungeons and there are dragons - the first city the players reach is called "Dragon's Rest" for example. Over the years, the dying remains of the dragons fighting has imbued magic into the ground of Stromwreck Isle. Legend claims that even the island itself was caused by the volcanic disruptions from one of the ancient dragons and its rampages.
Other than that, the adventure is very basic. It has to be, as the going assumption is that the person who is DM'ing the game may have never played the game before. I know for many people picking up this set, they are familiar with the game and are just wanting something simple to show newcomers. However, a "starter set" has to take into account everyone is starting from the ground up. On that front, the box seems to an okay job of - there's a couple of pages devoted to helping the DM understanding what they are signing up for. Obviously, there is plenty of other things that could be put in there to help guide someone, but for $20 I'll take the bare minimum 2 pages.
Conclusion
In all seriousness, it feels kind of weird to refresh the Starter Set at the same time you announce that you are going to be relaunching the brand in 2 years. Even if it doesn't come out initially, there's obviously going to be a new Starter Set at some point to follow.
What would you like to see in the "One D&D" Starter Set? It would be a horrible idea for getting people interested in the game, but wouldn't it be neat to see a "Tomb of Horrors" style dungeon designed around Level 1-3 players? Never will happen, but I can wonder (or is that the pitch for playing Dungeon Crawl Classics instead?)
That "put a bunch of Starter Sets in various lending libraries" idea is something I'm seriously considering.
Notes/Disclaimers: These reviews are all fake. Some have elements from other amazon products reviews I've found but I reworded/edited them for humor/relevance. This "review" is also based on the product itself, I have not had the chance to play this adventure. Also, I generally assume I know nothing. So if I've missed something, let me know in the comments. Or let me know on Facebook. If you like these types of posts, consider subscribing to our patreon. Lastly, thanks to Wizards of the Coast for providing a review copy of this box.