D&D Starter Set: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle

Having been hugely impressed with both the previous Starter Set and the Essentials Kit, I was very interested to see what was in WotC's new Starter Set, "Dragons of Stormwreck Isle". I therefore picked it up for Christmas, and have just finished working through it.

This set is a box the same size as both the previous sets, priced at $19.99 - the same as the previous Starter Set, though due to a VAT increase (thanks Rishi!) and a weak pound (thanks Kwasi!), it was slightly more expensive. On the other hand, eight years of inflation means that the original set 'should' be about $25.

For your money you get a set of dice, two booklets, five pregenerated characters, and a flyer adertising... something. Oh, and a cardboard insert designed to make the box look fuller than it actually is.

The dice are just dice. As with the previous Starter Set you get a set of 6 dice (no "d10 percentile"), and they're all the same colour. That's a little disappointing on both counts, but understandable. Besides, I have dice.

The five pregen characters are likewise fine. They're just example characters: a Fighter, a Paladin, a Rogue, a Cleric, and a Wizard. One nice touch is that here, unlike in the previous set, where a character has an explorer's kit, or similar, this has been itemised into specific items right on the character sheet - no need to check the rulebook. On the flip side, the characters have 'lost' the various traits (Ideal, Bond, Flaw), and are therefore much 'thinner' in role-playing terms than previously.

(Perhaps also of note, a lot of the artwork in this set uses the characters from the old D&D cartoon, and those names are used in the various examples in the book. That's an interesting touch, though I'm not sure why they went for a nostalgia play for a cartoon that aired 37 years ago. Plus, the pregens aren't all human, so that doesn't fit, and they've had to invent a new character, Nico, to be the cleric.)

The flyer is fine - it points to arious other products, including some "how to play" videos. That's probably a set up from the equivalent in the old set, though not really worth paying anything for.

The cardboard insert is, obviously, truly awesome and worth the price of admission alone. (Actually, there is one small possible value - if you remove it, that creates a bit of space in which you could fit your own notes or other materials. Again, not worth paying for, but not quite the embarrasment I previously thought.)

The first of the booklets is a 32-page rulebooks. This is essentially the same material as the previous Starter Set, providing a quick synopsis of the rules of the game as they relate to the adventure included. In particular, note that this does not include character creation rules.

It should be noted that while this book has the same page count as the equivalent in the previous set, the font is a good bit larger and there is more whitespace. There is therefore less material here - fewer spells, slightly less equipment, and the omission of the rules for Inspiration (hence the lack of Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws).

And thus far, there is absolutely nothing here to recommend this set - the flyer is advertising and the cardboard insert is of no values; the characters can be freely downloaded from Wizards' website, and the Basic Rules (and, even better, the Essentials Kit rulebook) are likewise freely available. The dice have some value, but better dice can be had easily enough.

As with the previous Starter Set, this one can only be recommended for the adventure, "Dragons of Stormwreck Isle" - the second, 48-page, booklet in the set.

And it's okay but, sadly, no more than that.

The booklet starts with an ultra-quick overview of the rules the DM needs for running the adventure. It then has a four-part adventure, a little section on what to do next, and then appendices detailing the magic items and monsters used in the adventure. There's basically nothing here about DMing in the wider sense - the book gives you what you need to run this adventure, and nothing more. Which is fair enough. Wizards were up-front about this being their strategy, it's the same as the previous Starter Set, and so not really a criticism.

Unfortunately, what is due to criticism is the nature of the adventure itself. "Lost Mine of Phandelver" actually had a very clever structure - a small dungeon to start, constraining the action tightly to be easy to run; then the starter town with various plots in there; then a wider sandbox area with several mini-quests; and then a final larger dungeon for the DM to really stretch their wings.

"Dragons of Stormwreck Isle" jumps straight to the starter location, with the DM being presented with a dozen characters to try to bring to life. And while there are things for the characters to do, there isn't the same constraint which means there also isn't the same clear objective.

Parts two and three then provide two mini-quests, much like those in part three of LMoP, except that these have to be pitched at parties who could be either 1st or 2nd level. Each is pretty much a 5-room dungeon (or slightly more... but not much). That's okay, but provides very limited scope for branches, loops, or other clever dungeon design. They're absolutely fine, but they're very basic.

And then part four gives a showdown with the mini-boss of the adventure. Again, this is little more than a 5-room dungeon with a couple of interesting features. And, again, it's fine but no more than that.

One other thing that is definitely worth noting is that while DoSI is designed for characters of levels 1-3 compared with LMoP's 1-5, and although the book is nominally three-quarters of the length, at 48 versus 64 pages, levels 1 and 2 in 5e are very much "training wheels" and so very short indeed. And because of the bigger font size and the increased whitespace, this book is actually a lot smaller than LMoP - I estimate it at little more than half the length.

The upshot of that is that, like the previous Starter Set, you should buy this set if and only if you plan to run this adventure. But where LMoP was very much worth the price of entry (indeed, it may be the single best adventure WotC have produced for any version of the game, ever), DoSI is no better than okay.

Looking at the comparison with previous sets, I would recommend the previous Starter Set over this one without hesitation - LMoP blows DoSI out of the water, and everything else is a wash. I'd probably also recommend the Essentials Kit over this one - in every regard than the adventure the EK is the better, and the adventure in DoSI is only marginally better than DoIP. And where LMoP dovetails really nicely with the adventure DoIP, the same is not true of DoSI, which happens in a fairly separate reason.

All in all, this set is something of a disappointment.

Victory!

Last night Wizards of the Coast backed down on their attempt to de-authorize the OGL 1.0a. They even placed the 5.1 SRD under a Creative Commons license (which is... interesting...). In short, we won!

It's fair to say that this is an unexpected development. It's also fair to say that it is a very welcome one.

Victory!

Two Addenda to "Spell Components and Item Crafting"

Two small things I should have mentioned in my previous post, except that I didn't think of them until later:

Spellbooks and Unique Spells: In addition to providing a source of Lore, some captured spellbooks may also contain the details of variant ("Level Up") or unique spells (which, in D&D, I would consider to be any spell not in the PHB). These spells may be learned the same as any other, using Lore, but should probably either be more powerful than other spells of their level (as befits their unique status) or have a slightly lower Lore cost.

That said, to ease book-keeping I'd argue that the option to buy them should be exercised at the next available opportunity or be lost.

Identifying Magic Items: Identifying a magic item becomes an exercise in expending Lore while examining the item. This returns some utility to the identify spell, in that casting this spell allows identification without Lore. Additionally, taking the item to a sage allows them to expend Lore on the character's behalf.

Spell Components and Item Crafting

I've put together a bunch of my thoughts on spell components and magic item crafting (and, actually, Wizards learning spells too). Here's what I've come up with:

Spell Components

• Expensive material components are removed from all spells. In theory, the spells should be rebalanced for their omission, but since spell balance is a joke, there's no point.
• Every spell has V, S, and M components. The material component can be anything thematically appropriate, either to the spell or to the caster. Casters are encouraged, but not required, to provide some description of how they cast their spells, just as martial characters are encouraged, but not required, to provide some description of their attacks.
• A character with a spell focus can omit any one of the three components. Most casters therefore cast spells with a flourish of their wand and a magic word.
• A character can use an action to pre-cast a spell, and thus omit any one of the three components. The pre-casting only lasts until the end of their next turn, and then fades without effect. This can be combined with the use of a focus to require only one component.
• A character can omit all three components by casting the spell with a slot one level higher. Doing so gives no additional effect (so is seldom worthwhile).
• There are four types of Power Components: Lore, Special Materials, Reagents, and Residuum. A character may choose to expend a quantity of Power Components (any type) when casting a spell. Doing so causes the spell to be treated as though cast with a slot one level higher than is actually used, to a maximum of the highest slot the character can cast normally. (So a 7th level caster could boost a fireball but not an ice storm.) The Power Component boost is always added last, and the quantity of components expended is the level of the final spell slot squared.

Lore, Special Materials, Reagents, Residuum

• Lore is an accumulation of mystic secrets. It can take the form of written lore, secret knowledge, or even just captured memories.
• Special Materials are things like meteorite iron, orichalcum, powdered unicorn horn, sacred artifacts, and similar - anything of mystic significance that is reasonably durable.
• Reagents are similar, but typically organic in nature. They are also prone to decay - reagents must be used during the adventure in which they are recovered, or by the end of the downtime period immediately thereafter, or they are lost.
• Residuum is raw, unprocessed magic.

Power Components cannot be bought. In general they can be accumulated as treasure. Additionally, when Wizards gain levels they gain enough Lore to learn two spells of the highest level they can cast. Artificers gain the same number of Power Components; these can be in any form the character prefers.

Crafting Magic Items

To craft a magic item, a character must meet three prerequisites:

1. They must be of the stated character level or above. (Class doesn't matter.)
2. They must purchase materials for crafting equal to a quarter of the base price of the item.
3. They must provide the required Power Components needed to construct the item (which will vary from item to item - scrolls require Lore, potions require Reagents, and almost everything else requires some combination).

That done, the character can spend a downtime period crafting the desired item.

Magic items can also be broken down into Power Components - doing so recovers half the components used in the construction of the item (with each component rounded down). The gold expended is lost.

Buying and Selling Magic Items

In any given settlement, one or more magic items can be found for sale - the specific items should be rolled if characters go looking. Items can be purchased at their modified base price. Magic items can be sold at their modified sale price.

A character can also commission an item construction (for instance, if they don't meet the level requirement). Doing so requires them to supply the Power Components. At the end of the next downtime period, they can then purchase the item at the base price (unmodified).

Learning Spells

A Wizard can no longer learn spells from captured spellbooks or scrolls. These items now provide a source of Lore that can be used for any applicable purpose.

Wizards instead learn spells by expending Lore. Learning a spell requires an expenditure of Lore depending on the level of the spell. At the end of the next period of downtime, the Wizard adds the spell to his spellbook.

OGL: Fallout

I'm currently running what is likely to be my final D&D campaign. That doesn't really have anything to do with the OGL - my group has fallen to the minimum size I'm happy with and is likely to lose another player before too long, our efforts to recruit anyone new have failed, and I have neither the time nor the inclination to try to put together a new 'home' group. Plus, I've been increasingly disenchanted with gaming for the past few years, so this looks like a good stepping off point.

But the reality is that if the OGL does get launched in the leaked form (which remains a big 'if', for now) then that 'probably' becomes a 'definitely'. If WotC take this action then I certainly won't be buying any of their new products, I won't be playing their game (any edition - as any engagement with D&D in any form helps them as a "lifestyle brand"), and I won't comment further on D&D in anything other than a disparaging manner.

I may continue gaming in some capacity, but it won't be D&D. And I'll obnoxiously correct anyone who does refer to "Level Up" or "Pathfinder" or whatever as "D&D".

Finally, while I would otherwise have been interested to see their new movie, and while the just-announced D&D tv show might have been the thing to finally tempt me to Paramount+, these will now serve as active disincentives to do so.

I'm really hoping they'll change their approach on this. But it is a weak and fading hope.

The End of the OGL?

Twenty-odd years ago Wizards of the Coast introduced the Open Game License (OGL) - a permanent, unalterable license to allow companies to produce third-party books compatible with the then-current 3e ruleset. Since then, there has been an explosion of materials using that license, including entirely separate games, and including Pathfinder.

(I should note at this point that the OGL was never intended to give rise to a significant competitor to D&D, but this was foreseen as a possibility. The then-management were relaxed about it, because in order for it to happen Wizards would have to make a complete mess of an edition change... which they then did.)

One of the clauses of the OGL states that Wizards have the right to issue new versions of the license, but that material could be published under any authorized version. This had the effect of preventing them from ever issuing a new version, as any changes they made would just be ignored.

Until now.

It seems that Wizards have decided to kill the OGL, and they've hit on a wheeze to do it - they're introducing a new version of the OGL (that is essentially unusable), and at the same time seem intent on declaring the older versions to be de-authorized.

I've seen a bunch of opinions on whether this actually holds any water or not - some lawyers have weighed in to say it works, others to say that it does not. There are, annoyingly, precedents both ways, though the closest seems to go against them. And Ryan Dancey, the originator of the OGL back in the day, doesn't think it can be done.

That said, I'm not sure the legal position matters.

The dominant source of funding for RPG products is now Kickstarter, and the dominant marketplace is One Book Shelf. WotC have strong, and very beneficial, agreements with both of these sites. So if WotC declare the license de-authorized, and if they can get KS and OBS to play along, that would effectively end a vast swathe of projects - sure, you can still publish, but good luck getting funding without KS, and good luck selling without your marketplace.

The other major effect of this is that a lot of the mid-sized companies are now looking at the OGL as no longer being the safe harbour it was always assumed to be. Many of them are now moving away from it, either entirely or at least for new products.

The upshot is that the OGL may well be effectively dead. 2023 has not started well for gaming.