D&D is a tabletop roleplaying game, but the new Starter Set comes with so many goodies they're calling it a board game instead

...Though roleplaying is still involved.

Dungeons & Dragons releases the Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set on September 16. It's a doozy. At $49.99, it's the most expensive starter set we've seen in 5th Edition. A lot more is packed into the box than we're used to seeing on store shelves, too.

What's included:

• 40-60 hours of play featuring Combat, Exploration, and Roleplaying adventures. It's meant to be played in hour-long sessions for 3-5 players. ("No tabletop roleplaying experience needed!")

• A Quick-Start Guide to start playing in minutes—that means for players and Dungeon Masters.

• 1 play guide and 3 adventure booklets for Dungeon Masters.

• 4 iconic D&D classes for players to choose from: Cleric, Rogue, Wizard, and Fighter.

• Over 200 game cards for backgrounds, species, spells, equipment, magic items, monsters, NPCs, and more.

• 18 maps for the Caves of Chaos Valley, Keep on the Borderlands, and the Wilderness.

• Over 200 tokens, including resources, monsters, and terrain.

• Combat Tracker that teaches new Dungeon Masters how to track initiative effectively.

• Set of 11 dice. Probably a d4 (4-sided die), hopefully four d6's (for rolling up character abilities), d8, two d10's (for percentile rolls), d12, and maybe two d20's (when rolling with advantage or disadvantage).

The biggest problem (in my mind) with modern board games is that it can take literally hours of tutorial videos and instruction booklet reading before you can start playing. Heroes of the Borderlands must think that's bad, too, because it claims you can start playing in minutes. 

While the physical board game is $49.99, the digital version—playable on D&D Beyond—is only $14.99, which is a steal. I hope to acquire both. The digital for my online players, and the physical for at-home play with my family. Both will be a tough sell. Tough for my online players because a character's first three levels are their least favorite rungs on the ladder to level 20. And tough for my at-home players because, well, this will be their first introduction to D&D. 

Starter sets have an uphill battle to fight, and publisher Wizards of the Coast knows this. That's probably why they switched from multiple starter sets being just softcover booklets and dice, to softcover booklets and dice and character standees and background cards and monster cards and magic item cards and and...

This is the first starter set since the new D&D 2024 Core Rulebooks: Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual. You don't need the Core Rulebooks to play Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set—that's the whole point of the starter set. The starter set is just getting your foot in the door, getting your feet wet, while still letting you jump in with both feet. (So many feet metaphors.)

Again, the D&D Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set launches September 16. But unlike the past few years of D&D releases, there will be no early access for pre-ordering this one.