Red Vs Blue

Dungeons & Dragons & Brunch

The Beast Sleeps...

Last Sunday my sister and I continued our regularly scheduled game of Dungeons & Dragons. We have now left the dungeon where Tusenmaug the Blue Dragon wiped out the three former adventurers known as Lanin, Carn, and Regdar in a scenario that I retconned to wrap up the story. (If you recall, I had the dragon fly off to fight them another day, leaving a critically wounded Carn bleeding on the floor of his layer, and a near-dead Lanin and Regdar. Apparently, shortly after we stopped playing he returned and decimated everyone with his lightning breath. So it goes).

The Beast Wakes.

Once I got the new red box of Dungeons and Dragons I was excited to try it, and so were my players. Randi  whom had previously played Carn the Rogue, wanted to make a new character that was capable of healing, so she chose cleric for her class, since she perceived a need for the party to be able to heal themselves that wasn't  present before. She named her Tasee. My sister, Amanda, also wanted to create a new character so she chose to create a Rogue. Her husband at first wanted to keep his previous character but after seeing how beefed up Amanda and Randi were under the newest rules he, too, chose to reroll his character, though he kept the name Regdar.

The Adventurers Engage.

Since I had played both the basic set from 2006 (that I dubbed "the blue box" since it has a big blue dragon on the cover) and the new red box from 2010 (that seeks to replicate a box with the same exact art by Larry Elmore from 1983) , I thought it was time to write up a few of my comparisons between the two sets.

But the Beast is Not Phased.

First, I wanted to cover the character creation process, which I think is better in the new red box, although it still has some kinks that could be worked out. In the blue box, you create a character much the same way that you have for three decades in D & D; you pick a class and race and roll up some stats after reading some dry information in one of the many volumes of rules. In the newest attempt at streamlining the character creation process, Wizards of the Coast designed a stand alone scenario that lets players make choices which define their character in an adventure that's reminiscent of a Choose Your Own Adventure book. I was really engrossed with it at first, but after running it three times I was a little tired of it, even though my players all selected new classes the amount of choices available didn't provide enough versatility to make playing through it feasible more than a few times. Ultimately every choice shoehorns your players into the goblin caves where they will either get slaughtered or emerge victorious. Either way, the story continues with the text suggesting that they recruit some additional adventurers to help clear the caves of the creatures. It's an interesting take on something that hasn't really altered much over the years. I think if there were more branches of the story it would be even more interesting but for a basic entrance to the game it serves its purpose.

"Watch out! He's going to do something!"

The meat of the red box lays in the adventure where the party joins together to investigate the caves, searching for a stolen box and in pursuit of a mysterious rider. Another benefit of the red box over the blue box is the chances for roleplaying that are available with the first dragon encounter in the game. In the blue box, the players are assumed to want to vanquish Tusenmaug as he serves as the "boss" of the basic set. In the red box, a number of options are outlined for players who want to try diplomacy or bluffing the white dragon. In addition to those choices, they can agree to help the dragon by eliminating the goblins in the cave and bringing the stolen box back to the dragon instead of the merchant who originally hired them (which is the route my players chose). Since Tusenmaug pretty much brought my last game to a close by kicking my players' asses, I much prefer the new dragon who at least allows the players another option besides mortal combat. Yes, of course, you could always design your own scenarios in the blue box that allow for such possibilities, but the whole purpose of a basic/starter set is the pick-up-and-play ability of it. I used to design all of my own adventures, but I just don't have the time and dedication to do it like I used to. Also, I enjoy playing other peoples' stories.

The Beast Uses Kick...

One thing I like the blue box better (because this is no doubt seeming one-sided at the present moment) is the use of miniature figures to represent the players and the monsters. They are pre-painted plastic miniatures, so they are quite cheap, but they are leagues better than the cardboard tokens that shipped with the red box. I think it's a shame WotC retired their miniatures line. It was fun to buy them and get a random assortment of monsters and heroes.

I also don't like how the map in the red box is a) folded paper b)a reprint of something they had already created (the monster lair / crossroads map was included in the basic miniatures game set). The map in the blue box is made out of sturdy cardstock. My only complaint with it was that I don't have more of the nice 4 x 4 squares that came in the blue box. Tiles are okay (available separately from either set as a stand-alone product) but many of them are small and easily usable, or won't quite suit what you are trying to build. Plus, you have to build them instead of the ease of a map or the cardstock.

...It's Super Effective!

Another thing I like about the red box is the use of power cards which list what different abilities do. This allows you to have players pick new powers when they level up relatively easily instead of having to have them thumb through the Players' Handbook. I wish they were a little more sturdy when it came to their construction (like made out of the same material as the actual power cards you can buy in stores) but I understand why WotC skimped out. They wanted a product that wasn't too expensive that allowed players to jump into a game with minimal hassle. And I think the red box pulls that off. Does it live up to the 1983 version of D & D by the same name? Apparently not, if the critics are to be believed, but that doesn't mean it's not worth checking out.

I picked it up for $14 or so from Amazon, and I think I'll have gotten my money out of it once the time comes to set it aside in favor of D&D 5.0 or Pathfinder or whatever my group ends up playing next.

Once again I neglected to take pictures of the actual game. I hope you enjoyed these pictures of my cat, Grumpy, who remains un-vanquished to this day.