D&D (2024) Take A Deeper Look At The New D&D Starter Set's Card-Based Characters

Heroes of the Borderlands, the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons 2024 starter set due out in September, was on display at New York Toy Fair, and the YouTube channel Otakus & Geeks were given a brief demo. The way the cards, standees, and maps are presented it looks like they took some inspiration from 1989's boardgame HeroQuest!

• Character creation is card-based.
• Each player has a 'class board', such Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, and Warrior (it's not clear if the demonstrator misspoke and meant to say Rogue or not).
• Then you pick a species card and a background card and place them on your class board.
• Those components the tell you what equipment or spell cards to also pick up--for example, the Fighter takes the cards for chainmail. greatsword, a lantern, and one additional item.
• The class board and the equipment cards tell the players what dice to roll for attacks, etc.

• The DM has a small, 10-page guide.
• There's a big battlemap for each of the three main areas (presumably Keep, Caves, and Wilderness?), and a booklet for each.
• Monsters have tokens and corresponding monster cards for the DM.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's early for them to be promoting this right now, and they really want to promote other, higher-margin products to their core audience. The only reason they announced it online the other day is because they knew news like this would be our there once Toy Fair happened, and the reason they showcase at Toy Fair is, I believe, to get non -hobby retailers to order stock of this product and commit shelf space to it in the fall.

It wouldn't take a lot to clarify some of this -- a single paragraph on D&D Beyond and sent to their media distribution list -- and it would stop months of false expectations/confusion for when the real details are released and people deciding that WotC was "lying" earlier when it was likely just a communications breakdown at some point.

But yes, we're a long way out and it's certainly possible, maybe even likely, that we won't hear anything more about this until late summer or early fall, when the regular marketing cycle for the product spins up.

 

[Mark Craddock]

Move over, Daggerheart, top dog is back in the house. And I bet this set will outsell the core rulebook to many casual fans, especially people who want a simple game to take out and play without time consuming character generation or high level play. Yes, Daggerheart can do that, but it is not the most popular role playing game in the world.

I think you underestimate how important Critical Role was to 5E's success.

 

[sevenbastard]

Each player has a 'class board', such Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, and Warrior (it's not clear if the demonstrator misspoke and meant to say Rogue or not).

I'm going all in on the theory they wanted to say "Warlord" not "Warior". Start letting everyone know the Warlord is back.

 

[CrashFiend82]

I get people are comparing to Daggerheart since it releasing soon, but I feel it is far more similar to Gloomhaven, or more closely their "starter" set... Jaws of the Lion. Cards for characters and items that likely can be "upgraded" during advancement. It would be easy to do a level or four with two multi sided cards and additional cards for abilities. Stand tokens for monsters and battle mats that can be referenced in books. It does seem to be a crosspoint between Boardgame and TTRPG

 

[R_J_K75]

I get people are comparing to Daggerheart since it releasing soon, but I feel it is far more similar to Gloomhaven, or more closely their "starter" set... Jaws of the Lion. Cards for characters and items that likely can be "upgraded" during advancement. It would be easy to do a level or four with two multi sided cards and additional cards for abilities. Stand tokens for monsters and battle mats that can be referenced in books. It does seem to be a crosspoint between Boardgame and TTRPG

From my limited knowledge of RPG adjacent board games it reminded me of Arkham Horror by Edge Studio.

 

[Deaconhux]

Feels like they're trying to remake the "TTRPG meets booster pack cards" idea they first tried with Gamma World 7e.

 

[Clint_L]

From my limited knowledge of RPG adjacent board games it reminded me of Arkham Horror by Edge Studio.

They should be so lucky. That’s one of the best games ever made. Not really for kids, though.

 

[Sulicius]

I really like the visual design on it so far. If I can run 2-hr sessions for new players with this, I'll buy it and bring it to cons.

Let's hope we hear more soon!

 

[R_J_K75]

They should be so lucky. That’s one of the best games ever made. Not really for kids, though.

I played it maybe 7-8 times last year, and only because another player in my D&D group bought it. I found it to be pretty middle of the road, wasn't terrible but wasn't great either. It's a little more advanced than your average boardgame but not quite an RPG. After playing it the last few times I decided it really wasn't for me, and if I want to play a boardgame I play something simpler and if I want to play an RPG one I own. I personally wasn't a fan of mixing the two genres. I'll wait to see what the future previews reveal on the new starter set until I decide whether I'll buy it, but it's really not something I think I'd use, so it's unlikely I will.

 

[Dried]

I would have prefer to get full rules for the game like the 2014 starter set but I quite like the idea to create and track character progression on a class board. It seems a really intuitive way to teach the game to kids.
I can also imagine they could do a few other set to expand on this idea and and new boards and cards for higher levels etc.