Miscellany: D&D RPG Starter Set

If I could change one thing about pen and paper roleplaying games, it would be to make them more accessible. Compare the initial tutorial experience in a well-designed MMORPG like "World of Warcraft" to the experience of learning D&D, and there's a stark difference in terms of player retention and understanding. It's not just D&D, either; learning the rules of most RPGs takes money and time, two things that people are loathe to spend.

The "Basic Set" has long been the official mechanism by which the current publisher of D&D tries to teach people how to play, with varying results. I picked up the newly released starter set for 4th Edition D&D so I could introduce a friend to the world of roleplaying, and found that while the new set does a competent job with the mechanics, it feels dry and sterile.

First, the contents. Included in the box is a brief rules primer along with a half-dozen pregenerated characters, a longer 64-page booklet intended for first-time DMs, a set of dice, and cardboard dungeon tiles and counters. I found the cardboard pieces to be the most useful - the tiles are straight out of the official D&D "Halls of the Giant Kings" tile set, so they'll be useful to a DM who decides to continue. The cardboard counters are made of the same stock; sturdy enough to be a useful alternative to standard miniatures.

The rules booklet for new players is hit and miss. The explanation of the core d20 mechanic is straightfoward enough, but I really would have liked some basic character creation rules (perhaps only covering levels 1-3, so as not to cannibalize the sales of the Player's Handbook). And there's almost no talk about how to roleplay a character - a transcript of an actual game session, with examples, would go a long way to resolving the confusion.

The DM booklet copies a lot from the 4E DMG, which is a good thing, since that DMG probably contains the best DMing advice ever seen in a DMG. There's also a mini adventure and a portion of the official Monster Manual appended to the end of the booklet, more than enough to get people started.

So what's the verdict? Is this set useful for teaching? I would say yes, but only if the new player is comfortable running a pregenerated character, and only if someone provides the requisite "how to play an RPG" spiel.