Unboxing the new D&D Essentials Kit!

Bought this for my son's 10th birthday next month. I DM'd the starter kit, now it's his turn to find out if he's ready. Good luck boy!

I'm the teacher sponsor for the brand new D&D club at my school. Now known as Students and Swords! I need a copy of this for the club! This is the point where I wish I had all the money to set up an awesome resource library for my students. :)

My school is starting a DnD club

Thought about getting it, but went bananas and got the core rule set with DM screen. After my wallet recovers from the kidney shank I will get Xanatar and Volo.

I have not played D&D in 20 years, my son come across some of my OLD D&D books and has asked to learn how to play. So I do think I will pick this set up for him and to some me the newer rules and maybe even get my wife to try it out and make it a family nite type of thing. Like you two do here keep up the good work.

My first DM's screen was some cardboard me and my mom taped together

Only $12.55 on Amazon when I checked just now. For that price...definitely!

I just started playing D&D using Fantasy Grounds and I went ahead and adapted the Essentials Kit before they made it available in their online store. What I am doing is I combined the Starter Kit and Essentials Kit adventures together so there is a major storyline (Starter Kit) with a subplot (Essentials Kit) and an open world field with optional quests (quest board). My players are loving it so far because it feels more like the open world video games they play on their own like Assassins Creed Odyssey for example. Plus I tied their backstories and personal quests to both adventures so it is more personal and they feel more tied to the adventure, the region and each other. I would definitely recommend this method and it doesn’t take a lot of extra prep work on your part as an experienced DM to do. For beginning DMs I would stick to one or the other but the flavor of the Starter Kit is very linear and the Essentials Kit is more open world and progression based although there is a real threat in the background of whatever your players decide to do. Both are great and it just depends on whether you feel comfortable with the improv of an open world compared to the linear nature of the Starter Kit in making your decision. Personally I’d love to see how your group would handle the adventure in a stream or a video or how you would suggest handling or implementing the 1 player and 1 DM optional ruleset.

Sorry but did they just subtly say that the amazing Dungeon Dudes are from Canada? This is new information

First time DM that started playing the Starter Set. I got the Essentials kit for things like the extra dice and the cards in the box, but mainly so i can combine both adventures into a super quest

I bought the starter edition and the Essential kit and used the two to create this interesting dragon V dragon idea. Basically Wave Echo Cave was the lair for an adult green dragon who has been attacking the region until a powerful warrior woman killed her with the Dragon Slayer Sword that can be found it Essential Kit. This Sword was forged using the Spell Forge by the weaponsmith of Phandelain’s ancestor. After this dragon was killed, her baby has been forced to leave the area and becomes Venmonfang. After nearly a century, venomfang attacks and takes over Thundertree which was the site of an Orc Tribe. This leads to the orcs trying to summon a god to aid them in killing Venomfang. However if Venomfang is killed, this causes the deadly Cryovain to invade the area seeking to expand its territory as Venomfang was a powerful deterrent against it.

Great presentation dudes. :) Very detailed, step-by-step, showing the pieces of the kit. I particularly liked your honest opinion / idea / insight on each element, be it dices, magic item cards, the module itself, the DM screen, the map, etc. It was really helpful and very informative with pros and cons, thank you for that!

On that flimsy DM's screen, if someone had access to a laminator, one could make it into a more sturdy proper screen.

Just finished playing through this solo as a Bladesinging wizard; my wife DM'd for me and it was a blast! Now on to attempting to solo Dungeon of the Mad Mage...wish me luck :)

Always love your hot takes in these videos, and the work you put into your content <3 Thanks my dudes.

This is an awesome review and I'm so happy to see videos that are around the 20-minute mark! Keep up the good work dudes!

As a new player, I was VERY pleased with the essentials kit. I've been pouring over your videos for the past few weeks, getting pointers for new players, and suggestions. We made our characters tonight and we start on Tuesday, SO excited. LOVE your channel :)

I was seriously impressed with this set. It was well organized and really gave you so much more than I expected. You get a lot of bang for your buck. I started playing D&D in 1980 and I would have given a limb for a box set like this. Well done!

I got both sets for $21 total on Amazon. Since I'll be running Lost Mine for my kids soon. I've plundered all the fun extras from the essentials kit to augment the Starter Set. The dice, the map, the item and condition cards, etc. Makes for a nice little 1st time DM kit.

I'm gonna be that guy, the Essentials Kit introduction made a really good case for sidekicks. The sidekicks exist for the small party the one other person and gm where if you're trying to teach maybe younger children or someone that is a little shy about the whole thing but wants to give it a try without having to put themselves out there. So as someone that knows what that's like on both accounts, I for one have nothing but good things to say about the Sidekicks. If they aren't for you or your group they're a thing you can ignore, but they're nice to have as a way to more comfortably introduce more people to the hobby and I feel like that is always a good thing.