Category Archives: first look

first look

First impressions of the two-player starter set for Star Wars Unlimited

ccg/tcg, first look, game night, lcg/ccg/tcg game night, star wars, Star Wars Unlimited

Last night I got to play the two-player starter set for Star Wars Unlimited with Diego.

I have some mixed thoughts about the whole experience.

Let me just say up front I really like the game.

However I do have some issues with the quality of this product.

First up is the flimsy very thin card tokens included for tracking damage, first player, etc. That’s my issue they are so flimsy. I hate them. If you intend to get into the game you will want to upgrade these as a priority. Maybe that’s what the aim was. To “encourage” you to buy the GameGenic acrylic tokens. That’s if you can find anywhere that has them.

I was also very disappointed with the quality of the cards themselves. They too are very thin. You will be sleeving the cards. You have to. These are boarding on unusable. This means that opening boosters will be a bitter sweet experience. On one hand I’ll be excited about opening the packs, and the cards I pull. On the other repulsed by the poor quality of the card stock used.

The two folded paper playmats were as expected quality wise. I like they have the play areas on them. Plus act as a player aid with setup, what you can do on a turn, end of a round summary, plus keyword summary. All very handy for learning the game, and teaching it.

The quick start/learn to play booklet is nice and does the job well. We hardly had to refer to it.

The two cardboard deck boxes a nice touch that don’t need assembling. They are large enough to hold the cards sleeved.

Overall I think value wise this is a great starter set. However quality wise of the cards and tokens it feels cheap and that FFG are cutting corners to cut costs and maximise profit.

In another post I’ll talk more about the play experience of Star Wars Unlimited using this two-player starter set.

Dune Imperium Goes Digital

apps, first look, iOS

Last week Dire Wolf Digital released on Steam/iOS/Android the digital version of Dune Imperium.

I’ve been a fan of this worker placement and deck building hybrid ever since it came out in 2020. For me Dune Imperium was a better game than its “rival” with similar mechanics Lost Ruins of Arnak.

When the expansions came out they were instant buys for me. And like all good expansions they added new elements to the game with little overhead, and made the game more enjoyable.

Eventually once finances allowed I even splashed out for the deluxe upgrade that upgraded the components and a larger storage box for the core game and expansions.

Then once Dune Imperium Uprising aka Dune Imperium 2.0, was released it wasn’t if I would buy it but when.

So it’s pretty safe to say that I was pretty excited to be finally able to buy and download the digital version of the game.

At a penny short of a tenner it’s priced at what is standard pricing for a digital version of a boardgame these days.

Dune Imperium (the app) does allow cross platform gaming. So when you play an online game your opponents could be playing on any of the platforms the game is released on. It’s the way it should be. There is no excuse for not doing this.

However I do wish more developers with a game on multiple platforms followed Wise Wizard Games and Star Realms. Buy once and play on any platform.

Sadly Dire Wolf Digital prefer to make you pay for each copy on the various platforms, and games I assume don’t follow you. I say assume because I’m not going to buy the game a second time to find out. But I love that I can start a Star Realms game on my iPad, then later when out and about take a turn on my iPhone, then if at a computer take a turn there.

This is very much a digital version of a board game. I can see new players who have never played Dune Imperium before being a bit overwhelmed by the screen. But it is a fairly accurate representation of the physical board.

Obviously there are quality of life things playing a digital boardgame brings such as highlighting the spaces on the board you can go to. Or playing a solo game against AI opponents.

I’ve not played online yet. I don’t like playing against random opponents, and currently none of my friends have the game.

My solo plays against the AI opponents were fun, and challenging. It was kind of refreshing because I’ve not played the core game for a long time. I usually play with the expansions. Talking of which the first one Rise of Ix comes to the app in the Summer.

I do think Dire Wolf have done a pretty good job bringing Dune Imperium to the digital space. Definitely a must buy for fans of the game.

New Dice Bag

accessories, dice masters, Dicemasters, first look

At the start of December or it might have been mid December. Any way it was in December before Christmas I decided to treat myself to a new dice bag to use with Dice Masters.

I had been tempted by the handmade ones by Jocelyn. Who just happens to be one half of the rather great Dice Masters podcast A Double Double and Dice. You remember me mentioning them in the past. That’s the podcast that reads out my comments! So I’m not biased at all. Honest.

Anyway the dice bag I ordered from Jocelyn arrived this morning.

I really like this dice bag.

It’s very personal to me. The reason being when you order you select one of the many themed material patterns that Jocelyn has on her Etsy page for the outside (I went with the rather tasteful spider web pattern). Then I chose the what I refer to as lime green lining for the inside.

Once the order was placed Jocelyn contacted me to confirm my material choices. Which I confirmed.

I like that touch. Seeing images of the two materials next to each other gives you an idea if they work or not. Luckily for me I thought my choices did.

One design choice of these dice bags that I really like is the use of ribbon to close the dice bag over cord. I think it looks better and does the same job.

The included note was a nice touch. It’s little things like that, and the confirmation of materials that make great customer service, and have you ordering more.

I’m really happy with this dice bag. My only issue is I don’t have enough money to get all the various patterns of material I want. There are a lot of cool ones.

If you want to get your own dice bag from Jocelyn you can get it at Jocestitch on Etsy.

Your Turn! The Guide To Great Tabletop Game Design – a book by Scott Rogers

first look

I don’t usually buy books on board game design.

However I do own one or two on video game design (which is natural considering I taught the video game units on the now defunct BTEC National when I was teaching at local colleges). One of the books in that collection that I loved and used a lot to support my teaching was Level Up! by Scott Rogers.

I found Rogers style very accessible and informative.

So when I found out Rogers had a new book out on board game design I had to get it.

To be honest I hadn’t really thought about designing my own board game. I have play tested one or two games that friends have created and given honest constructive feedback (well I hope it has been). So I may not be the target audience for this book.

The book includes chapters on creating your game, writing a rule book, play testing, and selling your game.

If you work your way through the book from cover to cover, and create the games in the book. By the end you will have created as the book promises six board games. But you are encouraged by Rogers to make the designs your own.

Right from the go by the end of the first chapter you have created a simple game and modified it.

I like that Rogers wants you to learn by doing.

The chapters all have a similar format where the game mechanic is discussed, followed by creating and modifying a game based around that mechanic. With a recap of the main points wrapping up the chapter.

It’s that mix of “theory” and creation (with explanation) that makes Rogers approach within the book so effective. I think he’s got the balance just right.

I love the idea from the first appendix of creating a toolkit for prototyping games with. One that is portable, that can be carried with you.

The book finishes with a second appendix with example sell sheets.

Scott Rogers has written another great book that if I was running a game creation course that had a board game design element would be just as influential as his previous tome Level Up!

The book has also inspired me to not only put together a prototyping toolkit. But also to think about designing my own dice game!

Hive Mind

Fenland Gamers, first look, game night

After what can only be described as a disappointing month for gaming (I played a grand total of four games). I’m hoping November improves.

However this new month has got off to a good start with me able to attend my first club night for two months.

Sadly it wasn’t a well attended club night with only four of us making it. However that was the perfect number for a first play of my latest addition to the collection, Apiary from Stonemaier Games.

So not only were we playing the latest hotness (or one of them) but it was also a chance to play a game with Jonathan. Something we haven’t done for a long time.

Does it really need to be said about the production values of the game? I think by now it should be taken for granted that Stonemaier Games have produced yet another high quality game. For me considering the hive tiles and other tiles are cardboard a more durable solution to the hive mat and frames would have been nice. They seem too flimsy. I can see why they are this thin. And frankly I can’t think of a solution that’d work as well.

I love that included in the box is a new addition to a Stonemaier Games game a teach the game sheet. If I count the Swift pack included in Wingspan this is the second time such a thing has been included in the box. Granted they work differently. With the Swift pack taking players through their first few turns, and the teach sheet aimed at helping a player teach the game to new players. But it’s nice to see this sort of thing in the box.

The player aids are really useful as well, and hit the sweet spot with the amount of information on them.

We played using randomly chosen hive mats, and randomly chosen hive tiles from the marked starter hive tiles.

I love this game.

Apiary plays very fast. We learnt the game, and played the game in just short of two hours. A turn is amazingly fast.

The bump mechanic is great. I love how it increases the strength of the bumped bee.

You have a small bit of area majority going on with the hibernation mechanic and section of the board for end game scoring.

The various tiles you can add to your hive do allow some combos to kick off when you go to various spots on the board. For instance every time I did the grow action I got a free bee back from the pool (if I had any there) and a free frame.

I know there will be the usual criticism of this latest entry in the Stonemaier catalog of its “not balanced” blah blah blah. And to be fair to some of those making that comment depending on the game have a valid point. However Stonemaier Games actually listen and make adjustments based on player feedback, such as in Tapestry and the civilisation adjustments, or not allowing certain faction and mat combos in Scythe.

I’m not sure anyone can make that comment about Apiary at the moment because you’d have played a lot of games to see if that is the case. But I’m sure there will be a broken combo between the hive mats and faction tiles.

The handicap system used for getting over first player advantage is not bad with players getting a higher start on the score track.

The multi use seed cards are fun. Either being able to be discarded first one of the basic resources, played for the ability on it, or finally planted for an end of game scoring bonus.

Ok I didn’t do well on my final score coming in last. However I did do cool stuff (see my comment about tile combos above).

This is a fun game. Everyone enjoyed it. And that’s two players who coming into it had reservations about an aspect or two of the game.

I had a blast playing the game. It was a great game to share with Jonathan again. Oh and Marcin won.

Size of an elephant!

first look, Mario, nintendo, switch, video games

Super Mario Bros Wonder is the latest entry in the Mario franchise to hit the Switch.

I’m going to briefly summarise how I’m experiencing the game so that any first time readers will know where I’m coming from. Long time gluttons for punishment of this blog can skip this part as you will be very familiar with it by now.

How I’m Experiencing Super Mario Bros Wonder

I’m a Switch Lite owner so will naturally be playing the game on that.

When I’m playing the game at home I will be using the inbuilt speakers of the Switch Lite to listen to the audio. However any game play away from home will use my usual setup of VANKYO C750 Bluetooth active noise cancelling headphones. Which are over ear, Hi-Fi Stereo, and apparently deep bass.

I bought the physical version of the game, and there were no day one updates.

These days I’m not a spend hours in a single session playing a video game person. It’s more casual. Along the lines of pick up play for 30 minutes to an hour. Depending on how tired I am, and how much free time I have.

As the image below shows I’ll be playing a single player game as Mario.

I’m playing as Mario, naturally!

Mario and I go way way back…

Welcome back longtime sufferers…

I do get excited when new Mario games come out or are announced.

The maths might not be exact. But for approximately four fifths of my long lifetime I’ve been playing Mario games of one kind or another over the years. Starting with his supporting role as Jumpman in the game that started it all Donkey Kong.

That makes it sound like I’ve played a lot of Mario games. But in reality it’s more like I’ve dipped in and out of them. I think it’s best described as old friends that keep bumping into each other over the years. My main Mario gaming being his handheld outings. That was my Nintendo console of choice especially during my married years. Most of my gaming was handheld based on my daily commute on the train. I was aware of Mario’s transformation to 3D on the GameCube as my sons played the various releases and I saw them playing them.

However parental duties and any free time left after that gladly spent with my ex-wife meant I missed so many GameCube classics that also included Mario’s outings on the platform.

This was repeated for the Wii also.

I have played some of Mario’s outings on the Switch. Sadly they should be best described as brief visits. Although I did get pretty far in the Rabbids game.

But now I’m back with Super Mario Bros. Wonder on the Switch.

The devils in the details

Super Mario Bros Wonder is a 2D scrolling platform game. From my limited play so far it has all the things you’d expect in a Mario 2D platformer plus new twists. I love the mix of the familiar and the new.

Whilst playing a Mario game you can’t help but have a big wide grin on your face. It’s the little things that Nintendo put in to each level that are a delight and a pleasant surprise.

And Nintendo hit the ground running on that front. Whether it’s from changing Mario into elephant Mario so early on in the first level (amazing decision btw), to the musical blocks that play notes as you run across them, to the green pipes moving along like caterpillars. I adored the singing and walking Piranha Plants on the second level. Such Willy Wonka vibes. I didn’t want to leave the level.

I’m not sure what direction these posts about the game will take. They aren’t reviews, more this is my experience playing the game and past experiences that playing takes me back to. Like all my video game posts are. There are lots of great reviews out there for the game. I most definitely have nothing new to add to that space. Besides do you need a review to know if you are going to get the game? You already know if you are a Mario fan and enjoy 2D platformers. If that is the case you already have the game.

Finally did you get the reference in the posts title? It’s something Bez ,the Beast from the Arabian Knights cartoon (shown during the Banana Splits Show) said before changing into an elephant. Which I thought was apt for this new Mario game where he can become an elephant.

Martians for a night

first look, game night, new arrivals

It’s hard to remember when I backed something on Kickstarter without logging in and checking.

But I think it was the later half of last year that I backed the Kickstarter for Terraforming Mars the Dice Game.

I’d been tempted by the lure of a lighter version of the game that used dice. Who doesn’t love a game with dice? The Rahdo thoughts on it sold the game to me. My previous experiences with dice versions of board games (such as Roll for the Galaxy, Biblios the Dice Game, and Nations the Dice Game to name a handful in my collection) had also been good. Even when I hadn’t played the original version.

But that’s not the case when it comes to Terraforming Mars the Dice Game. I had at least played the original once before when it first came out.

If my memory isn’t playing tricks on me Chris, Jonathan, and myself played Chris’s copy during the initial hype that surrounded the game. And boy was it one of the hot games when it was released along side Great Western Trails. Everyone was talking about it. Supply was not able to keep up with demand for sure.

I did enjoy it. But not enough to add it to my collection. It was a fun engine builder that rewarded multiple plays, and knowing what the cards were. A noob playing for the first time against a more experienced player would definitely be thrashed.

I definitely hadn’t played any of the numerous expansions for the game. And despite owning the iOS app version of the game I’ve never actually got round to playing that either.

So why did I back the dice version again?

I wanted that lighter more accessible Terraforming Mars experience. Something that I was more likely to get to the table.

I should be better at keeping my pulse on what each of the Kickstarter projects I’ve backed are doing. I knew that Terraforming Mars the Dice Game was shipping in certain areas. But hadn’t twigged that it had started being sent out in the UK and EU. I was a week late to the party on that fact.

So at the start of the week I was hoping there might be a chance the game might be in my grubby mitts by Friday. But as the days passed it was looking more and more unlikely. Until I got the notice DPD were picking up from the shipping company yesterday. Even with that news I wasn’t convinced it’d be with me in time. I was thinking more realistically I’d get the game Saturday.

However I was very pleasantly surprised to get the DPD message to say the game would be delivered this morning. Phew the game session plan had been saved.

As the comment on the Instagram post shows I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened the packaging. Inside was not only the Kickstarter edition of the game (it has the promo cards) but also card sleeves and the playmat.

I really don’t remember adding them in the pledge manager. But I must have.

Naturally before leaving home to play the game I did sleeve all the cards. I had them.

This evening Ben, Harrison, Dave, and myself travelled across space to transform the red planet.

Before the others arrived I did set things up ready to teach and play. So I shuffled the decks, drew the randomly chosen awards and milestones from a dice bag, drew eight bonus cards, and obviously chose a side of the playmat to use.

Despite none of us having played the game before we had the corporate era expansion added in plus the promo cards. Or all in as it’s known.

I had the Interplanetary Cinematics as my corporation.

Watch as I live blog this post as WordPress lost everything I wrote below this point, and I now get the joy of rewriting it.

The bgstat chose me as the first player which meant Dave got an extra resource at my expense.

Although my corporation gave me lots of wild resources to start with, and an on going cost reduction (helps if you remember that part). When it came to doing a production action it was a lot weaker than the other corporations.

My actual production engine to get me dice and the necessary resources to play cards was pretty weak compared to the others. It only ever got me three dice.

My main incentive for doing the production action was to reset my cards with actions on, and refilling my hand. Almost the opposite to the others who were getting many more dice than me when doing production.

I was kinda forced into exploring other ways of getting more dice such as action cards or even instants.

Over three fifths of my points came from having focused on end game scoring. I won two of the three awards, got two of the three milestones. Plus the majority of the instants I played also gave me points. I really did out perform the others in these areas.

One reason for this I think was because they were resource aka dice rich and focused less on these areas.

It might also have helped that one milestone fitted in with the way I was building an end game points engine! And the second milestone was one of opportunity that I could grab it before the others got close.

I loved the bonus cards. Like Scythe and it’s factory cards the choice which to go with is hard because they are all good and it’s hard to decide.

Being able to cycle cards quickly looking for ones you want is a great mechanic.

This is a very easy game to teach. Which is what you want for this weight of game. The iconography is also quick to pick up. Not overly overwhelming like say Guilds of London.

I think there is a fair bit of variety in set up, corporations, bonuses etc that replay ability will be pretty good.

For me the evening was a double win. A victory at the table and time with my friends.

Oh and really happy I backed this. This is TM for me.

It’s the lean, green, ninja team

dice masters, Dicemasters, first look

“Not another Dice Masters related post. You’ve not even got it to the table yet!”

I know. Plans I had to get it to the table this bank holiday weekend (in England) have been blown out. However that doesn’t stop these first impressions of stuff that lands through the letterbox.

heroes in a half shell – my first impressions of the TMNT Dice Masters box

I like TMNT.

Back in the late eighties like an awful lot of people I got caught up in the whole heroes in a half shell craze.

I really liked the first movie, enjoyed the episodes of the cartoon I caught on tv. Played the video games, and even bought a couple of the graphic novels.

At best you could describe me as a casual fan.

So the fact Wizkids did a TMNT set does appeal to my inner fanboy.

The nice thing about this product is it’s “complete” and you don’t have to go off and buy any boosters to try and get the cards/dice you want.

The box claims it has everything for two to four players to play. And I wouldn’t disagree with that.

I liked the themed waxy paper dice bags. I actually prefer these paper playmats to the glossy ones in the Secret War origin packs. Although I’m not sure how long they’d last with frequent use.

I do like the rulebook a lot. Although the size does make it hard to read the cards in some of the diagrams. But that could just be my failing eyesight. Why is this an issue? Well in the quick start section at the front of the rulebook it tells you to use the cards in the diagram! Which for me was unreadable. Luckily they are actually named in the full rules section.

I do like that they give two learning game teams. However I think it would have been a great idea to include two eight card team lists for two players. Or even suggested four card teams for a four player game of the doubles format that they suggest players can use. Plus the rules for a doubles game.

The box also acts as a storage box for dice too. Ho

SIQUK Dice Storage Case Initial Impressions

I was looking on Amazon to see if I could find a second (all already have the official Dice Masters one) dice bag with a suitable pattern. When in the search results it threw up this dice storage case for £12.99.

It looked just what I needed for carrying around a team or two to an event or a game with Nathan or a friend. And at a price I really liked.

There was a slightly more expensive version that was deeper and had a second dice tray. Which I did come close to purchasing. However a rough guesstimate of the single tray version capacity looked like it’d do me.

Plus Amazon was able to deliver it to me the same day as ordering. Cool.

The case is more than enough to hold a dice masters team and dice. If I was going to a tournament/event or playing someone else with their own stuff I could easily fit two teams in the tray.

If I wanted to take two teams and everything for two players, ie me playing with a friend it’s short of space by four dice. But playing 18 dice each isn’t too much a hardship. And for me not enough to warrant getting the two tray version.

As the photos show above it can easily hold everything for two players to use two learning teams. I have the two Secret War origin packs and the TMNT suggested learning teams in the case photos above.

Removing the tray for dice allows you to use the bottom half as a dice tray. Which is pretty nice.

In the lid half there is more than enough space for your team cards, and basic action reminder cards. Plus a large zipped pocket. I have a rulebook, and couple of paper playmats in mine.

Overall my initial impressions are very positive and just what I was looking for.

I’m thinking I’m back

dice masters, Dicemasters, first look

Well I’d bloody hope so after the recent spat of posts about Dice Masters that I’ve written, and ordering some Dice Masters stuff.

I have been listening to a Dice Masters podcast called Double Double ‘n Dice. I think the hosts of the show are Canadian. In the latest episode where one of the hosts talks about their GenCon 23 experience they mention about a new VP at Wizkids. The host talks about their conversation with the VP and how the VP wants to revitalise Dice Masters, and is looking into what they can do.

I have some ideas that I will now share with you of products I’d like to see and think might help with that revitalisation of the game.

Just so we know where I am coming from if it wasn’t already clear, I am a returning player to the game. I haven’t played the game for nearly seven years.

So I am really out of the loop as to what the current meta is. There has been a rule change for the first player and their first turn of the game. Tokens have been introduced. And thats just stuff I’ve come across so far in the last week!

Which means I’m not in too dissimilar a situation to that of a new player wanting to get into the game.

Where do I start? Is it worth taking part in an event in a FLGS or online?

And thats the major issue any competitive collectible game that has been around for any length of time has.

I know that Wizkids do starter decks. And I have liked the ones that they did when I was really into the game when it first came out. Will I like the new ones when they arrive?

Starter decks have a real aim of being used by new players to learn the game. They should be fun to play with against each other. But they most definitely are not something you could play at a competitive event. I think Wizkids hit the nail perfectly here on pricing and the fun side for learning the game.

That’s where I think Wizkids could learn from WotC and the Challenger decks they do for MtG. The Challenger decks whether Standard or Pioneer are meant to be decks a player (new or established) can buy and be competitive at a Friday Night Magic. (FNM). They may not win the event but they will have fun, and not be a door mat for other players.

Usually these Challenger decks reflect popular deck archetypes such as burn or control that make up the current meta for the format.

I think that Wizkids could do a similar thing for Dice Masters. Create a team pack that is competitive and allow a new player to take part in competitive events and win one or two games. Think of all the new content content creators could make such as “the three best cards to replace for under $10”

Another precon Wizkids could copy the idea of from WotC is the Commander decks. Dice Masters has its golden age format which is basically the games version of Modern, Vintage, etc. Well I think Wizkids could look at previous World Series team lists and reprint them as something new players or even current players could buy and play. Although thinking of it this is more in line with the decks WotC used to print with gold borders of Grand Prix winner decks. However they could do decks that are golden age format recreating popular archetypes.

I know that there was mention of getting more IP outside of the Marvel/DC stuff they currently release around. I’d love to see LoTR, maybe The Witcher. But I can see these licenses being real expensive if they can even get them. I love the FFG Android setting. It’d be so cool to see that licence in Dice Masters but not sure if that would have mass appeal. I could see My Little Pony, maybe He-man and She-ra being very popular. Would Nintendo IPs work? Going by how many people backed the Last Airbender RPG on kickstarter I would think that would sell like hot cakes.

Going back to MtG I’d love Wizkids to expand on the formats for the game. They have the two most obvious ones. However it would be cool if they could come up with the Dice Masters version of Commander. I think a multiplayer free for all format would be cool. Would it work with all players starting with say 30 health? Would we still need the current first player first turn rule? It would need it’s own ban list? Are we just looking at a rules tweak for golden age to make it work as a multiplayer format?

I’d also like to see Wizkids push a Dice Masters version of the MtG fan created pauper format for both Golden Age and Modern. So basically versions of each format that only common rarity cards can be used for team building. Making it more accessible to new players.

Which brings me onto conventions like GenCon. At least I’d like to see more variety in the type of events being run. They can still do draft and the competitive modern. But I’d like to see Golden Age and pauper version events also being run.

That’s some early thoughts for Wizkids to consider, or I hope they would. I think they can learn a lot from WotC (although not the releasing too much product and milking the players like WotC are currently doing, no One Ring stunts please).

Will anyone in the Dice Masters community read these? Nah. That’d require me to become active in the community and share these thoughts. I’ll stick to my little corner of the internet shouting into the void.

A first look/initial impressions of the Secret Wars Origin Packs

Just got my grubby mitts on my first bits of new Dice Masters. I went with the two Secret Wars Origin Packs and a couple of draft packs. I’m not going to touch the draft packs until I have a chance to play a draft game with Nathan or a friend.

In the meantime I thought I’d give my initial impressions of the two Origin Packs.

To start with I was caught off guard with the size of the boxes (both the origin packs and the draft packs). They were a lot smaller than I was expecting.

Once I had got used to the size I actually like the fact they are more compact with very little wasted space. Heck you can very easily through them in a pocket.

So what about the contents?

I did like the “play mat” although I would have liked it to be a little bigger. The little rule book is nice as well.

I was rather disappointed that the Origin Packs only had two character cards and two basic action cards.

At the cost of the product I wasn’t expecting rare or super rare cards in the box. So it wasn’t a surprise that these are common versions. There seems to be some synergy between the four cards and looking at them the game plan for each team should be easy for an experience player to explain to a new player. A nice touch would have been to include a sheet or in the rulebook a little bit about how to play the team.

These packs are what I would equate to the free Welcome Decks that WotC used to give to FLGS to give to new players to learn to play MtG. These are clearly aimed at teaching the game and giving the new player the required sidekick dice for future plays.

I didn’t mention this in the earlier part of the post but if Wizkids were to do a similar thing to the Welcome Deck for stores to give to new players to learn to play with this is exactly the sort of thing I would have suggested.

Sadly these are too expensive for that to be the case. They are not even up to the old starter packs which I would have said are the Dice Masters equivalent to the MtG Starter kits.

Overall these look like fun little intro teams to teach the basics of Dice Masters. But I will say there is a large asterisk over the fun bit until I get a chance to get them to the table.

Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen A First Impressions

D&D, Dragonlance, first look, RPG

There is the proverb “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen very much reminds me of this. Not in a good way.

Fans had been calling on WotC to release a Dragonlance book for 5e for years.

And yes technically that is what WotC have delivered.

But is it the book that fans were asking for?

In my opinion it is not.

With Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen, WotC have decided to give the D&D fans a fish instead of teaching them to fish.

Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen is an adventure set in the Dragonlance world. More on that later.

If we are to compare it with previous WotC publications Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen sits on the shelf along side previous WotC adventures such as The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, etc.

The majority of Dragonlance fans were hoping that WotC would give the setting the same sort of love that Eberron got with the Eberron Rising from the Last War. Whilst avoiding the poorly thought out, content light Spelljammer effort.

Why did I get Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen?

For me Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen will provide me with fifth edition bits such as kender species details for players, classes, monster stats, magic items, etc. that I can then use with another recent arrival.

That recent arrival being the D&D 3.5 Dragonlance Campaign Setting book.

A combination of the two should allow me to run a homebrew Dragonlance campaign with a reduced work load running it in 5e.

Before ordering this edition of Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen I did watch and listen to some previews by those content creators deemed safe hands by WotC.

Yes I’d prefer the Lord Soth store exclusive cover. But not enough to warrant driving to my FLGS and the addition cost to get it.

But the major decision was between the adventure itself or all that comes in the (not cheap) deluxe edition.

Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen can be played in conjunction with the Dragonlance boardgame WotC have released at the same time. In the deluxe edition you get both the adventure (this has a third cover) and the boardgame, plus a DM screen exclusive to the deluxe edition.

At certain points in Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen you have the option to switch to the boardgame to play out the battle instead of taking part in a local level “skirmish” of the bigger battle.

Obviously the opinions about the boardgame were from those more into ttrpgs. However the overall consensus that I saw/listened to was that the boardgame didn’t add much, took too much time, and that the “skirmishes” were lots of fun.

The DM screen didn’t sweeten the deal, or seem attractive enough to tempt me. Hopefully WotC will see sense and release this separately in the future.

The adventure itself (see told you I’d do more later) is set at the start of the War of the Lance, in Solamnia. It will take a party of four to six adventurers from first level to eleventh as they get involved in trying to defeating the invading Dragon Armies of Takhisis the Dragon Queen.

The story/adventure is told over six chapters. Although if you want to get technical it’s really five chapters.

The first chapter is actually a pick and match from three encounters that are designed to introduce characters to the world of Krynn. Which ones you run really depends on the make up of your party playing the game.

I’m not going to describe the plot, I’ll let you discover that if you get the book. However I will tell you about the bits I plan to use in my homebrew stuff, and bits I like the look of.

In the first real chapter of the adventure is a fishing contest. It’s not complicated and something I think I can reuse not only as a competition but also as rules for fishing if a party want to fish for their dinner.

I like the look of the battlefield encounters (also introduced in the same chapter as the fishing contest). I like how the actual battle is abstracted out and the party are thrust into a potentially tide-turning encounter. The edge of the encounter map is called the fray and what happens if a character enters this zone changes depending on the encounter. Entering the fray is not good.

What would be great for this adventure is a map pack of the battle encounters that could be used with the players. The maps in the book are so small.

The regular dungeon maps are fine, and there are a few I can reuse in my own stuff for sure.

I like the hex crawl that’s introduced. It wouldn’t be too much effort to reuse this for my own purposes. Once again though, the map for this could be larger. Even the player friendly one is too small. I think this is going to be a general comment on the included maps. Especially the ones that show a lot of area. I find it hard this wasn’t picked up or commented on by an editor/reviewer.

There are the usual appendices, items, monsters, magic items, and now sidekicks. Plus a page or two of some concept art. Plus a couple of maps, and a pull out map.

Reading the adventure it feels epic in scope. I want to say Rogue One like. Hats off to WotC on trying something different by tying the adventure to the boardgame for that battlefield armies clashing experience. Although I’m disappointed they didn’t do something along the lines of MCDM’s Kingdoms and Warefare rules. Although the battlefield encounters are a nice compromise that give that cinematic feel to the battle where we are focusing on what our heroes are doing.

I hope this first look/initial impressions has helped anyone stumbling upon this post.