D&D Kre-0 Sets - Pictures and Initial Thoughts

-
If you followed my previous posts about the upcoming Dungeons and Dragons Kre-o line (here and here), you know I am eagerly looking forward to their release next year. So you can image how glad I was to see preview images of some of the sets and details and prices on those products.


Unfortunately, after looking over the images and product descriptions in greater detail, I'm a little less enthused than I once was.

If you want to see more of the pictures and read the product information for yourself, check out the post here on battlegrip.com (the link will open in a new window, so you can look at the images and following along with my comments here).

First, a couple of things I like about the sets.
  1. Variety of sets for different budgets. They have simple figure packs as low as 2.99, up to sets running as high as 24.99, so there's something for everyone.
  2. For the minifigs (or Kreons as Kre-o calls them), there are a good variety of armors, helms, and weapons across the line. All the warriors and orcs are not the same.
  3. The green discs the figures stand on look like they might be approximately 1 inch, which would make them great for use on a traditional battle map.
Now, for some of the things I don't like, and unfortunately this list is longer.
  1. Blind Bags. Kre-o is referring to their random Kreon bags as "Blind Bags". There are two versions. One offers 36 different figures (way too many), and the other, just 10 figures (about right). Also, the bags only include one figure. I would have liked to see two figures per bag, one "good guy" and one "bad" for instant use right out of the bag.
         The Kre-o Cityville line does include two figs per blind bag in just this configuration.
  2. The sets are cluttered with cards and firing catapults turning what could have been a storytelling imagination play set in to a simple build and break game. For younger kids this may be a great hit, but for fans of D&D, which skews older, it comes off childish. If that was the case, why bother with the D&D brand?
  3. While there is variety in the warrior and orc figures, unfortunately, that's all you get, variations on human warriors, and variations on orcs; no elves or dwarves, or goblins.
  4. And while we're speaking of orcs, in my opinion, they look more like feral zombies with their light grey skin tone. How about a little green?
  5. The buildings in all the sets, from the top of the line to the most basic, are too simplistic. Again, this is due to the sets focusing on the build and break game and not as vehicle for imaginative play and storytelling.
  6. The sets appear under the Dungeons and Dragons brand name, but there are no Dungons, nor Dragons in any of the sets. Again, why bother with the license name, when the sets don't even superficially live up to the name.
  7. And lastly, of all the sets, only the Warriors sets seem to have anything related to the D&D IP, with "accessories to build iconic DUNGEONS & DRAGONS story vignettes". At $4.99 a pack of 30 pieces, I'm not expecting to see Drizzt vs Icingdeath or Sturm on the High Clerist Tower, and if you're not leveraging these great story scenes, I ask again, why bother using the D&D brand name?
Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing these products for myself, and maybe picking up a few sets (mostly fig packs), but clearly my enthusiasm for the product line is already dropping.

Popular posts from this blog

Character Sheet for New Players / Kid Players

-
Image
This sheet is great for a simple game where you've already decided to drop skills and feats out of the game (certainly doable in 5e). There is a small corner with a few helpful hints, but the white text on light purple background might be hard to read when printed. I was recently asked by a friend if I knew of any versions of the Character Sheet for D&D 5e geared toward kids. Seems he's teaching his children the game, and I applaud him for creating the next generation of D&D gamers. I've also been thinking of starting to teach my son, and maybe a few other kids the game, so I began looking around for alternate versions of the classic 5e Character Sheet that could be used with new players or kid players. I found a few that all seem to have some merit, so let me present my findings and you can decide for yourself. Some small, simplified sheets (not just for kids): The first is this nice simple sheet . The sheet has some color coding. It's a great she
Read more

A Different Keep on the Borderlands - Part 3

-
Image
After defeating the hobgoblins and draconian and securing their location (see part 2 for more details), the party took time to rest and heal from their wounds. With guards stationed on the roof, the night passed without incident. The early morning, however, was not as quiet. From the roof, the lookout could see several hobgoblins coming over to their tower, while a few others left the keep by way of the breach in the back wall. With the hobgoblins making their way over, inside the party made their preparations: * Hunter (the half-elven ranger) and Arterion (the elven mage) took secure positions on the roof with bow and arrow. * Meanwhile, Theodonis (the kender), Greybear (the druid), and Bergin (the minotaur cleric) took positions on the first floor, ready to strike should the tower door fall. From the roof, Hunter was able to kill one of the hobgoblins before they entered the tower. Once inside Theo, Bergin, and Greybear engaged the hobgoblins in melee combat. After a few minutes of
Read more

DM Tools: Graph Paper (The Right Tool for the Right Job)

-
Image
No other component of rpgs, from the earliest versions of Dungeons and Dragons to the latest Pathfinder or 13th Age releases, is more iconic or necessary to the game than The Map. The Map helps new and experienced DMs quickly describe a dungeon, lay out a town, or, in some cases, set up a temporal flowchart of actions and events. And the chief tool for setting any of these up is graph paper. Now graph paper is readily available in office supply stores and most retail stores. At 4 squares per inch, a single 8.5" x 11" sheet of typical graph paper yields 34 x 44 squares, which at 5ft per square (the de facto scale of modern maps) ends up being over 37,000 square feet of area to map. For most maps, this should be more than enough area, but what if you need something else? Maybe you want more area for a larger map, or to detail a major city, or what if you're like me, and you want extra area around the map to add all sorts of notes and legends? Then you might want to ch
Read more