Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set (2008)

Another board-game format introduction to the Dungeons & Dragons RPG. This is essentially a 4th Edition update to the previous "Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game (2000)", "Dungeons & Dragons Basic Game (2004)", and "Dungeons & Dragons Basic Game (2006)", with pre-generated characters, a Dungeon Tiles-based game board, complete set of standard polyhedral dice, monster and PC tokens, and a "Quick-Start Rules" book for players and a "Dungeon Master's Book" with advanced rules, short pre-generated adventures, and information for creating more adventures. From the back of the box and inside cover of the rule books:

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"Enter a World of Adventure and Imagination! Run the Game: build your own dungeons and pit your friends against monsters and villains! Play the Game: explore the dungeon with your friends, fight the monsters, and bring back the treasure!

Everything you need to start playing now!
- Over 50 full-colour character and monster tokens
- 3 sheets of double-sided D&D Dungeon Tiles
- 16-page 4th Edition Quick-Start Rules
- 64-page Dungeon Master's Book
- 6 dice

"Welcome to the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game! This is the 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set, your introduction to the worlds and adventures of D&D. The newest edition to the Dungeons & Dragons Rolpeplaying Game showcases an evolution to gameplay and puts an emphasis on fun. You, the Dungeon Master (DM), can build and populate dungeons so that your friends can explore fantastic locations, trade quips with terrible villains, and defeat vicious monsters. Together, you and the players (through their characters) tell amazing stories and have a great time."

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NOTES:

Another version of Wizards of the Coast's dungeon crawl board game-style introduction to D&D, inspired by boardgames like "HeroQuest" and "Advanced HeroQuest" (which in turn were inspired by the original Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games.) These basic/starter boxed sets attempt to bridge the gap between miniatures board games, miniatures war games, and role-playing games by using a board-and-counter/miniature format with simplified versions of the Dungeons & Dragons rules.

This entry returns to cardboard counters used in the 2000 "Adventure Game" version, after a couple "Basic Game" versions using miniatures released in 2004 and 2006; this version updates the rules set to D&D 4th Edition, and continues the tradition of including completely new adventures and selections of monsters and pre-generated player characters, but is otherwise virtually the same product as its predecessors, and this line of games would be joined in 2010 by yet another updated, "Red Box" 4th Edition Essentials basic/starter game version.

All these basic/starter games are direct fore-runners of the "Dungeons & Dragons Adventure System" boardgames ("Castle Ravenloft" and "Wrath of Ashardalon"), which are still simplified versions of the D&D rules set using tile-based game boards and miniatures.

The box cover of this version says "2-5 players", but there are enough included materials for 6 players (5 pre-generated Player-Characters, and one Dungeon Master.)

Dungeons & Dragons Starter Sets:
2nd Edition: The New Easy to Master Dungeons & Dragons and Introduction to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
3rd Edition/3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Basic Game
4th Edition: Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set

5th edition is an RPG item: Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set