Picking Nits in the 4e Essentials Starter Box

First, it is what it is. It's not a basic set like old, but a starter set with limited options and theoretically a shorter learning curve. I'll try that learning curve out on my girlfriend at a later point.

Let's see...

Tokens. Not bad, surprisingly enough. Fairly thick, decent art... They will be reusable by the owner as / if they continue gaming.

Cards. Used to describe powers, magic items and such, the paper they are printed on is not going to withstand any amount of actual gaming. Reusability is next to nothing. Still, they are thicker then the covers of the rules booklets.

Dice. Full set of gaming dice, but they could have used an extra d10 for percentiles. They have come a long way since the "rounding with play" set from my First Edition of Gamma World. Nothing special but they are keepers. Black is a dull color for dice in my opinion.

Character sheets. Nothing special. Better then not being included.

Battlemaps. I hate them in general principle. A reusable battle MAT is my preference. I haven't even bothered to u fold it.

Coupon. Free downloadable adventure. I guess I should check it out at some point, not that I'll ever use more then the included solo tutorial, and even that is a big maybe.

Player's and DM's booklets. The covers suck, at they are paper thin and the same quality as the rest of the booklets' pages. I know the starter set isn't meant to get much reuse, but it might have been a nice gesture to quality to give them a little sturdiness.

Might try to give the solo a crack later tonight. I'd run a Tunnels & Trolls solo instead, but I don't have enough D6 in the Poconos.





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