August 29, 2023 • 10 mins
5e D&D has picked up its 4th official starter adventure kit, this time taking our fledgling heroes to an isolated island ravaged by the undead and the lingering curses of a long dead dragon. Players will have to investigate shipwrecks and sea caves, help the local kobolds and perhaps stop a young dragon before they tamper with something they can’t control. If you’re starting out is this the best option for a new playgroup? Is Stormwreck Isle worth playing for experienced groups? Grab a paddle and get rowing to that distant shore as we go through everything you need to know. Support our Content: Monthly Dice Subscription: https://www.skullsplitterdice.com/products/rpg-dice-subscription Amazing dice every month, no repeats. Andrar's Vault is Open - Over 100 Unique Magic Items: https://www.skullsplitterdice.com/products/andrars-vault Check out the Blog Post Here: https://www.skullsplitterdice.com/blogs/dnd/dragons-of-stormwreck-isle
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
D and D five V has pickedup its fourth official starter adventure kit,
this time taking our fledgling heroes toan isolated island ravaged by the undead and
the lingering curses of a long deaddragon. Players will have to investigate shipwrecks
and c caves, help the localcoal bolts, and perhaps stop a young
dragon before they tamper with something theycan't control. But if you're starting out,
is this really the best option foryour new playgroup? Well, let's
(00:23):
get into it. The timing onstorm Wreck Isle is odd, to say
the least. It was released inlate twenty twenty two and with what is
essentially a new addition coming soon.I know that's what they don't want to
call it, but that's what oneDND is. You can go watch my
(00:43):
thoughts on that one of our previousvideos anyway. But of the three official
five V starter sets, two werebranded tie ins, selling off the popularity
of Stranger Things and Rick and Mortyrespectively. The last non branded starter set
we had was the Lost Mines ofFendelver way back in twenty fourteen. I
still thought that Fendelver worked well enoughas a starter kit not to necessitate a
new one, but it turns outthere's a twist. The Lost Mind of
(01:07):
Fendelver is getting transformed into a fullfirst through twelfth adventure path, using the
original starter kit as appropriately enough astarting point for a much deeper adventure.
Fan Delver and below. The ShatteredObelisk is set to release sometime in late
twenty twenty three, and with VanDelver growing into a full book, Watsy
needs a new starter kit to takeits place. When it comes to what's
(01:27):
included, storm Wreck Isle is fairlybare bones compared to the previous starter sets,
but the price tag seems locked inat a low point. For twenty
bucks, you can get the boxstarter set and the PDF seemed to go
for the same price. This isten bucks lower than the branded starter kits
sold for, but you're also notgetting any extra goodies like minis or DM
screens. All told, it includesall the items listed here, and as
(01:51):
you can see, it's definitely astarter kit. Just like Fandelver, storm
Wreck Isle gives you five handouts withfully pre made characters, just missing the
names. Storm Wrecks sheets do abetter job of explaining how all their features
actually function, making for fewer delvesinto the rule book and faster comprehension.
They also pepper the background features withsome character motivations. Overall, the pregen
(02:13):
sheets are definitely an improvement on pastiterations. Also, just like Van Delver's,
storm Wreck gives a six not sevenpolyhedral dice. They're fine, but
it baffles me that they can't putin just one more D ten to give
new players a full normal set ofpolyhedral dice. I can't imagine it'd be
that much more expensive to put oneextra die in there so that players can
(02:35):
roll percentile, but okay. StormWreck Isle is technically one adventure that takes
players from first to fourth level,but functionally it's a starting hub area connected
to a final mission with a middlemade up of two small, unrelated dungeon
crawls, mostly unrelated dungeon crawls,and a few random encounters That might sound
(02:55):
like I'm being critical of it,but I actually really like the more episodic
nature of it. It's just probablygoing to hit a couple of people a
little bit strangely. The plot iscentered around the titular Dragons. The first
is a powerful dragon NPC that actsas a benevolent quest giver, and the
second is a long dead evil dragonwhose grave is slowly corrupting the island.
Two more opposed young dragons pop upat the end, one allied with your
(03:16):
quest giver that can aid the playersin their final fight, and one villain
trying to perform an evil draconic ritual. Before we get to the dragon filled
conclusion, we have too many dungeoncrawls that can interchangeably be run at either
first or second level, each endingwith a level up. The technically first
of these adventures takes place in ac cave, fighting sturges, fire,
(03:37):
serpents, and formally friendly corrupted mysnates. The second, he well technically second,
has players investigating a shipwreck infested withundead and harpies. In between these
adventures, we have a handful ofminor random encounters, and the players are
expected to return a dragon temple torest under the care of our benevolent Dragon
NPC. Each encounter is bite sizedin a way that I think will be
(03:58):
greatly appreciated by most new players.Each dungeon is only a handful of eventful
rooms rather than a slog, andwhile the encounters are only loosely connected,
it is one cohesive story, justin manageable chunks. It's also significantly shorter
than fan Delver, and you canexpect to finish up with storm Wrecking about
five to six sessions, with eachsession having a satisfying art completing a whole
(04:19):
distinct section. Compare that to fanDelver, which is more likely to closer.
I'd say around ten to twelve sessions, often ending sessions in the middle
of a dungeon crawl or a combat. I also need to quickly note the
advantages of always returning to a homebase, especially for new players. But
this is a tip I give toalmost every DM that asks me for advice
(04:39):
because it's just helpful in any kindof campaign setting, especially for larger groups.
I talk about that in my LargerGroups video, which you can go
check out. But anyway, theDragon Temple is populated with an assortment of
entertaining Cobold characters ready to cheer theparty on as they head out or arrive
back from their missions, giving theplayers great opportunities for role play. Ultimately,
(05:00):
this adventure is very simple, verystraightforward, but not boring. The
many dungeons are filled with interesting creaturesand encounters that would be entertaining even if
dropped into an adventure designed for moreexperienced players. At least in my opinion,
the conclusion is a fight against asmall but fearsome dragon that the players
should be invested in fighting. Andif this was my first experience with dungeons
and dragons, I don't think i'dbe disappointed. It might be a little
(05:26):
too exactly what I had expected,but I wouldn't be disappointed. Dungeons of
storm Wreck Isle seems like it wasgenuinely designed for new players, rather than
just being a shorter than normal adventurepath. The bite size nature of the
encounters gives you excellent odds on gettingfull and satisfying games even with shorter sessions.
The encounters themselves are varied and providea good mix of quick combats and
(05:46):
relatively simple role playing opportunities. Theplayer's story hooks are simple, but at
least tentatively hook into the plot andget the players to ask questions and involve
themselves in the story as much asthey want to be. The bite size
nature of the encounters is good,but it's a villedged sword. The players
can easily lose the thread and beleft wondering why they're doing anything if they
aren't paying enough attention, which isoften a problem with newer players in general.
(06:09):
But this doesn't do anything to assuagethat. Beyond that, I may
be spoiled, but I was disappointedto see just the weird minimum six dice
set and nothing else for the starterkit. That's just kind of weird.
This is probably a pricing limitation,and if they added any extras, they
might not be able to keep theprice at twenty dollars, but the thirty
dollars branded box set includes DM screens, extra dice, and even miniatures.
(06:33):
As a box set, it justfeels very slim and only the bare minimum
was included. I just wish wecould have had a good adventure path and
also get some extra dice in thebox. I don't think that's too much
to ask, and it's just weirdto not include it. To me personally,
that doesn't affect my rating or anything. I would never disparage any of
the hard work that went into theseadventure paths or anything like that just because
(06:57):
dice weren't included. That seems likemore of a corporate decision than a creative
one. But it is worth talkingabout With this being now the fourth D
and D five V starter set onthe market, choosing to recommend this product
really comes down to comparing it tothe other three, so let's do that.
The branded starter kits were bad fullstop. Rick and Morty Versus Dungeons
(07:17):
and Dragons was a very generic andunpleasant mega dungeon with copypaste Rick and Morty
art and a few burps. Thisisn't me coming down on Rick and Morty
or anything. In fact, I'mkind of surprised the creativity and all that
other stuff from that didn't make itsway into the book in some fashion.
The Stranger Things starter set was intentionallymade to be like a middle schoolers first
(07:38):
campaign, and the nostalgia was vastlyoutweighed by the terrible quality, and the
kit's only value was the Little Demigorgonmini. Sorry to be harsh for any
of you that enjoyed it, butI personally haven't met anyone that has,
so I feel kind of safe beingthat harsh. That leaves us with Fan
Delver, which is going to bea tough challenger to beat, mainly because
right now Van Delver is free rightnow on D and D Beyond, you
(08:01):
can get the Lost mind of fanDelver digitally for free, and zero dollars
is a hard price to be Thatbeing said, I do feel that Dungeons
of storm Wreck Isle is a betteradventure. Storm Wreck Isle is a bunch
of small encounters linked together, whichis perfect for players just starting out.
I've run players through fan Delver before, and many of the minds encounters start
blending together as they go through numerousgroups of goblins and advanced through much larger
(08:24):
dungeons. I don't think anybody isgoing to mistake their encounter with a fungus
octopus for any other encounter. Allthe fights and characters in storm Wreck just
feel much more memorable and genuinely funto play through. This also means that
while the encounters are fairly simple,experienced players can get some good fun out
of the starter adventure. To me, this makes storm Wreck the perfect starter
(08:45):
if you've got a mixed group ofplayers. Both newbies and veterans will enjoy
this adventure, and while the veteransmight find it a bit on the short
and simple side, I think you'llend up with a far superior experience.
Then, if you slog through aton of goblin fights, and fan Delver.
Bottom line, if you've got tobucks to spare and you don't mind
a single percentage dice missing, Ido think it'll be worth your money to
buy Shipwreck i'le rather than introducing playersto the game using fan Delver. The
(09:09):
quality is there and it seems likean overall better experience that'll be well worth
your money. Our final score fromeveryone here at calls Wither Dice was an
eight point five out of ten fornew players and a six out of ten
for pretty much everyone else. AndI will quickly add, if you are
the person that is the dungeon masterand you are putting together this group of
newbies to play dungeons and dragons forthe first time, and if you are
(09:31):
experienced, it might be better foryou to just make your own custom adventure
for these newbies that caters to theirspecific interests. But those ratings still stand.
Thank you guys so much for watching. I really appreciate it. Be
sure like and subscribe because we putout new content like this all the time.
And if you and your group aregoing to try out Dragons of storm
Wreck Iisle, please let me knowdown in the comments, and also let
me know down in the comments howmany times I accidentally called this shipwreck isisle
(09:54):
as opposed to storm wreck Aisle,Because I guarantee I did that and just
didn't notice till I started editing thisvideo. Thanks again for watching. My
name's Patrick Ferguson from skull Splitter Dice, and until next time, farewell
D and D five V has pickedup its fourth official starter adventure kit,
this time taking our fledgling heroes toan isolated island ravaged by the undead and
the lingering curses of a long deaddragon. Players will have to investigate shipwrecks
and c caves, help the localcoal bolts, and perhaps stop a young
dragon before they tamper with something theycan't control. But if you're starting out,
is this really the best option foryour new playgroup? Well, let's
(00:23):
get into it. The timing onstorm Wreck Isle is odd, to say
the least. It was released inlate twenty twenty two and with what is
essentially a new addition coming soon.I know that's what they don't want to
call it, but that's what oneDND is. You can go watch my
(00:43):
thoughts on that one of our previousvideos anyway. But of the three official
five V starter sets, two werebranded tie ins, selling off the popularity
of Stranger Things and Rick and Mortyrespectively. The last non branded starter set
we had was the Lost Mines ofFendelver way back in twenty fourteen. I
still thought that Fendelver worked well enoughas a starter kit not to necessitate a
new one, but it turns outthere's a twist. The Lost Mind of
(01:07):
Fendelver is getting transformed into a fullfirst through twelfth adventure path, using the
original starter kit as appropriately enough astarting point for a much deeper adventure.
Fan Delver and below. The ShatteredObelisk is set to release sometime in late
twenty twenty three, and with VanDelver growing into a full book, Watsy
needs a new starter kit to takeits place. When it comes to what's
(01:27):
included, storm Wreck Isle is fairlybare bones compared to the previous starter sets,
but the price tag seems locked inat a low point. For twenty
bucks, you can get the boxstarter set and the PDF seemed to go
for the same price. This isten bucks lower than the branded starter kits
sold for, but you're also notgetting any extra goodies like minis or DM
screens. All told, it includesall the items listed here, and as
(01:51):
you can see, it's definitely astarter kit. Just like Fandelver, storm
Wreck Isle gives you five handouts withfully pre made characters, just missing the
names. Storm Wrecks sheets do abetter job of explaining how all their features
actually function, making for fewer delvesinto the rule book and faster comprehension.
They also pepper the background features withsome character motivations. Overall, the pregen
(02:13):
sheets are definitely an improvement on pastiterations. Also, just like Van Delver's,
storm Wreck gives a six not sevenpolyhedral dice. They're fine, but
it baffles me that they can't putin just one more D ten to give
new players a full normal set ofpolyhedral dice. I can't imagine it'd be
that much more expensive to put oneextra die in there so that players can
(02:35):
roll percentile, but okay. StormWreck Isle is technically one adventure that takes
players from first to fourth level,but functionally it's a starting hub area connected
to a final mission with a middlemade up of two small, unrelated dungeon
crawls, mostly unrelated dungeon crawls,and a few random encounters That might sound
(02:55):
like I'm being critical of it,but I actually really like the more episodic
nature of it. It's just probablygoing to hit a couple of people a
little bit strangely. The plot iscentered around the titular Dragons. The first
is a powerful dragon NPC that actsas a benevolent quest giver, and the
second is a long dead evil dragonwhose grave is slowly corrupting the island.
Two more opposed young dragons pop upat the end, one allied with your
(03:16):
quest giver that can aid the playersin their final fight, and one villain
trying to perform an evil draconic ritual. Before we get to the dragon filled
conclusion, we have too many dungeoncrawls that can interchangeably be run at either
first or second level, each endingwith a level up. The technically first
of these adventures takes place in ac cave, fighting sturges, fire,
(03:37):
serpents, and formally friendly corrupted mysnates. The second, he well technically second,
has players investigating a shipwreck infested withundead and harpies. In between these
adventures, we have a handful ofminor random encounters, and the players are
expected to return a dragon temple torest under the care of our benevolent Dragon
NPC. Each encounter is bite sizedin a way that I think will be
(03:58):
greatly appreciated by most new players.Each dungeon is only a handful of eventful
rooms rather than a slog, andwhile the encounters are only loosely connected,
it is one cohesive story, justin manageable chunks. It's also significantly shorter
than fan Delver, and you canexpect to finish up with storm Wrecking about
five to six sessions, with eachsession having a satisfying art completing a whole
(04:19):
distinct section. Compare that to fanDelver, which is more likely to closer.
I'd say around ten to twelve sessions, often ending sessions in the middle
of a dungeon crawl or a combat. I also need to quickly note the
advantages of always returning to a homebase, especially for new players. But
this is a tip I give toalmost every DM that asks me for advice
(04:39):
because it's just helpful in any kindof campaign setting, especially for larger groups.
I talk about that in my LargerGroups video, which you can go
check out. But anyway, theDragon Temple is populated with an assortment of
entertaining Cobold characters ready to cheer theparty on as they head out or arrive
back from their missions, giving theplayers great opportunities for role play. Ultimately,
(05:00):
this adventure is very simple, verystraightforward, but not boring. The
many dungeons are filled with interesting creaturesand encounters that would be entertaining even if
dropped into an adventure designed for moreexperienced players. At least in my opinion,
the conclusion is a fight against asmall but fearsome dragon that the players
should be invested in fighting. Andif this was my first experience with dungeons
and dragons, I don't think i'dbe disappointed. It might be a little
(05:26):
too exactly what I had expected,but I wouldn't be disappointed. Dungeons of
storm Wreck Isle seems like it wasgenuinely designed for new players, rather than
just being a shorter than normal adventurepath. The bite size nature of the
encounters gives you excellent odds on gettingfull and satisfying games even with shorter sessions.
The encounters themselves are varied and providea good mix of quick combats and
(05:46):
relatively simple role playing opportunities. Theplayer's story hooks are simple, but at
least tentatively hook into the plot andget the players to ask questions and involve
themselves in the story as much asthey want to be. The bite size
nature of the encounters is good,but it's a villedged sword. The players
can easily lose the thread and beleft wondering why they're doing anything if they
aren't paying enough attention, which isoften a problem with newer players in general.
(06:09):
But this doesn't do anything to assuagethat. Beyond that, I may
be spoiled, but I was disappointedto see just the weird minimum six dice
set and nothing else for the starterkit. That's just kind of weird.
This is probably a pricing limitation,and if they added any extras, they
might not be able to keep theprice at twenty dollars, but the thirty
dollars branded box set includes DM screens, extra dice, and even miniatures.
(06:33):
As a box set, it justfeels very slim and only the bare minimum
was included. I just wish wecould have had a good adventure path and
also get some extra dice in thebox. I don't think that's too much
to ask, and it's just weirdto not include it. To me personally,
that doesn't affect my rating or anything. I would never disparage any of
the hard work that went into theseadventure paths or anything like that just because
(06:57):
dice weren't included. That seems likemore of a corporate decision than a creative
one. But it is worth talkingabout With this being now the fourth D
and D five V starter set onthe market, choosing to recommend this product
really comes down to comparing it tothe other three, so let's do that.
The branded starter kits were bad fullstop. Rick and Morty Versus Dungeons
(07:17):
and Dragons was a very generic andunpleasant mega dungeon with copypaste Rick and Morty
art and a few burps. Thisisn't me coming down on Rick and Morty
or anything. In fact, I'mkind of surprised the creativity and all that
other stuff from that didn't make itsway into the book in some fashion.
The Stranger Things starter set was intentionallymade to be like a middle schoolers first
(07:38):
campaign, and the nostalgia was vastlyoutweighed by the terrible quality, and the
kit's only value was the Little Demigorgonmini. Sorry to be harsh for any
of you that enjoyed it, butI personally haven't met anyone that has,
so I feel kind of safe beingthat harsh. That leaves us with Fan
Delver, which is going to bea tough challenger to beat, mainly because
right now Van Delver is free rightnow on D and D Beyond, you
(08:01):
can get the Lost mind of fanDelver digitally for free, and zero dollars
is a hard price to be Thatbeing said, I do feel that Dungeons
of storm Wreck Isle is a betteradventure. Storm Wreck Isle is a bunch
of small encounters linked together, whichis perfect for players just starting out.
I've run players through fan Delver before, and many of the minds encounters start
blending together as they go through numerousgroups of goblins and advanced through much larger
(08:24):
dungeons. I don't think anybody isgoing to mistake their encounter with a fungus
octopus for any other encounter. Allthe fights and characters in storm Wreck just
feel much more memorable and genuinely funto play through. This also means that
while the encounters are fairly simple,experienced players can get some good fun out
of the starter adventure. To me, this makes storm Wreck the perfect starter
(08:45):
if you've got a mixed group ofplayers. Both newbies and veterans will enjoy
this adventure, and while the veteransmight find it a bit on the short
and simple side, I think you'llend up with a far superior experience.
Then, if you slog through aton of goblin fights, and fan Delver.
Bottom line, if you've got tobucks to spare and you don't mind
a single percentage dice missing, Ido think it'll be worth your money to
buy Shipwreck i'le rather than introducing playersto the game using fan Delver. The
(09:09):
quality is there and it seems likean overall better experience that'll be well worth
your money. Our final score fromeveryone here at calls Wither Dice was an
eight point five out of ten fornew players and a six out of ten
for pretty much everyone else. AndI will quickly add, if you are
the person that is the dungeon masterand you are putting together this group of
newbies to play dungeons and dragons forthe first time, and if you are
(09:31):
experienced, it might be better foryou to just make your own custom adventure
for these newbies that caters to theirspecific interests. But those ratings still stand.
Thank you guys so much for watching. I really appreciate it. Be
sure like and subscribe because we putout new content like this all the time.
And if you and your group aregoing to try out Dragons of storm
Wreck Iisle, please let me knowdown in the comments, and also let
me know down in the comments howmany times I accidentally called this shipwreck isisle
(09:54):
as opposed to storm wreck Aisle,Because I guarantee I did that and just
didn't notice till I started editing thisvideo. Thanks again for watching. My
name's Patrick Ferguson from skull Splitter Dice, and until next time, farewell
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