Dungeons & Dragons Basic Game by Matthew Sernett (2006, Hardcover)

Especially for the price, I love this already. It supports 4 pcs and has ample material to fully prepare your friends for future playing. I haven't yet tested it, but as a veteran introducing the game of D&D to 3 new players, I've skimmed the module included and love how it basically summarizes and condenses the game to suit newbies. It even comes with little tokens to represent doors, chests, and such. Although I will not continue forth with the pregenerated players included, I am more than content to using this and would recommend it to anyone new to D&D or who would like to introduce compadres of their's.

If you're into getting a collection of miniatures going, this contains quite a variety. I have an absolute horde of minis, but for some strange reason had no minotaur. This came with one, for instance. A list would be, besides the basic 4: an orc, harpy, minotaur, gargoyle, skeleton, 2 goblins, and a blue dragon.

All in all, I might only get one use out of the material, but the game boards it comes with I could use in conjunction to what I already have, and the miniatures will be making a reappearance in future campaign endeavors. I like it, and would fully recommend it.

I like this game since I was little, and with this version you can feel more vivid the adventure...I think this box will help to realize wher you stand in the adventure...

The 2006 D & D Basic Game was a nice introduction to the world of D & D version 3.0/3.5 play. It includes some nice miniatures (12: 4 PCs, 8 monsters), 4 dungeon tiles (Static room layouts, not like the "Dungeon Tiles" sets from WOTC) , 6 dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20), some booklets that contain the six or so adventures, books describing each of the 4 player characters available, and one more advanced rulebook containing the final adventure. Wizards of the Coast often used this game when demoing Dungeons & Dragons at conventions.

At this point, version 4.0 of Dungeons and Dragons is out, so this game is no longer an introduction for currently available products. However, this game is a good source of minis that may be used in the 4.0 game. I personally purchased the game to scavenge the minis and dice. It was cheaper for me to do this than to buy the minis that come with the game individually.

A list of the minis that come with the 2006 version are:
1. Large Blue Dragon (Same as that from Deathknell minis)
2. Young Minotaur (Same as that from Archfiends minis)
3. Harpy (Same as that from Dragoneye minis)
4. Gargoyle (Same as that from Dragoneye minis)
5. Orc Mauler (Same as that from War Drums minis)
6. Skeleton (Same as Skeleton Warrior from Archfiends minis)
7. Goblin Warrior (Same as that from Dragoneye minis)
8. Goblin Archer (Same as Goblin Sneak from Harbinger minis)
9. Dothal, Dwarven Cleric (Same as Cleric of Moradin from Dragoneye minis)
10. Regdar, Human Fighter (Same as Regdar, Adventurer from Giants of Legend minis)
11. Lanin, Elf Wizard (Same as Evermeet Wizard from Archfiends minis - alternate paint: blue dress)
12. Carn, Human Rogue (Same as Graycloak Ranger from Archfiends minis)

As the title lists this item I thought it was a remake of the Basic D&D game from way back in the day. As it turns out this is a basic introduction to the Dungeons and Dragons 3.0 game. As an intro goes this kit is nice. I comes with adventure, rules, battlemap boards in full color, plastic figs for PCs and monsters and even a set of dice. The only thing I found to be missing from an intro set would be a small pack of blank character sheets. If you are looking to start playing D&D this is a nice set. If you are looking for a cool blue dragon this is a good set but if your looking for old school basic Dungeons and Dragons this is not it..
Rachael Strange.