Wizards of the Coast revealed a brand new Starter Set coming soon for those wanting to dive into Dungeons & Dragons. Heroes of the Borderlands looks to be a significant step up in quality from previous Starter Sets, giving new role-players a nice onboarding experience for classic Fantasy adventures.

Heroes of the Borderlands // Dungeons & Dragons

The new Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set comes with a new Quick-Start Guide so you can get playing the game right out of the box. This is then joined by three Adventure Booklets for the Dungeon Master in your group, so they can plot out which way you're going to take your stories. As you can see above, you've got Keep on the Borderlands and Caves of Chaos that you can sink your teeth into.

Dungeon Masters will also get a set of cards that cover all of the Monsters and NPCs that your players will meet in-game, giving you quick reference material to consult on the fly.

Heroes of the Borderlands - Components // Dungeons & Dragons

The new Starter Set for Dungeons & Dragons also contains options for you to play as four iconic Classes. Players can choose from the Cleric, Rogue, Wizard and Fighter. These Classes are then backed up by more of the over 200 game cards, which cover your backgrounds, species, spells, equipment and magic items. A great way for you, as a player, to reference everything you need at the tabletop without having to flick through books.

Heroes of the Borderlands - Gameplay // Dungeons & Dragons

The contents don't stop there. You also get eighteen maps, which cover your various encounters and 200 tokens, which will give you ways to keep track of resources as well as place your monsters and terrain on battle maps. Talking of battles, there is even a Combat Tracker which teaches new Dungeon Masters how to track initiative values effectively and keep the game flowing. Oh, you also get plenty of dice!

Considering that previous Dungeons & Dragons Starter Sets have been rather lacklustre, it's great to see that Wizards of the Coast has seen what companies like Cubicle 7 and Free League have been doing for years and taken that on board. It feels like Heroes of the Borderlands now not only introduces you to the game but also lays the groundwork for you to go beyond those starting quests and explore the world in more detail.

I also like, as Wizards has noted, that it has been designed to be played in hour-long sessions for three to five players. This means that it's achievable to slot this in during an evening with friends or family. A great way to approach getting people into roleplaying.

A Next Step - Dragon Delves

Another new addition to the Dungeons & Dragons range that I wanted to talk about is Dragon Delves.

Dragon Delves // Dungeons & Dragons

Dragon Delves is a spiritual successor to the awesome Dungeon Delves that you might remember from 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. Inside, you'll find a collection of ten dragon-themed adventures for characters to dive into, covering levels one up to level twelve. There are never enough dragons in Dungeons & Dragons games, so it's good to see this being the focal point!

Your adventures will have you exploring mysterious dungeons, exploring strange locations and coming face-to-face with both chromatic and metallic dragons. This means that you might find both allies and enemies during your campaigns.

Each adventure has also been made play-ready, so you can slot it into a session if you don't have much time to plan and each adventure is then accompanied by gorgeous artwork, maps and more to help you when telling your tale to your players.

I really like the sound of this and whilst I am just wrapping up my current campaign (which features a lot of dragons), this could well be something I pick up for the future.

Could this tempt you back into the world of Dungeons & Dragons?