Dungeons & Dragons has had many starter kits throughout the decades, and those looking into getting into the tabletop roleplaying game can currently do so with the D&D Starter Set: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle or D&D Essentials Kit. However, there is an upcoming premium starter kit that feels like it could belong in the board game section of a store, and it’s the Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set.

The starter set comes with tokens (monsters, HP, traps, player characters), cards (NPCs, equipment, spells, etc), 3 adventure booklets (Keep of the Borderlands, Wilderness, Caves of Chaos), maps, play guide, dice set, and more. It’s advertised as set up and play in minutes, but it’s going to take longer than that. However, it’s still one of the better ways to get into Dungeons & Dragons as a new player or dungeon master.

You can check out our video review below.

For players, they get to choose between four classes (cleric, rogue, fighter, wizard) that include premade class sheets starting at level 1. They then choose between the 4 different species (halfling, dwarf, elf, human) and 8 different backgrounds. Once those are chosen, the DM and the players prepare the items needed, including equipment, spells, gold pieces, HP tokens, and more. The DM will need to help set this up for each of the players, requiring more time than the advertised “set up and play in minutes.”

After that, the players are off to begin their adventures in the Borderlands. As for the dungeon master, it’s recommended to read through the adventure booklets, the play guide, and the quickstart guide to help prepare the session. With so many NPCs at the Keep and encounters in the world, it’s best to prepare as much as possible. With that said, the booklets and guides do help with teaching the DM on how to set up the world and encounters and help with NPC interactions.

Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Borderlands is the starter set for new players and DM. It costs $49.99 and includes tokens, cards, maps, booklets and a dice set, helping to create an immersive fantasy world filled with monsters and allies.