Start Here: The Introductory Roleplaying Game (Box Set)
Publisher: Beach House RPGs
Release Date: August, 2024
MSRP: $60.00
Designer: Tim Beach
Number of Players: 2 or more
Product #: BHR30401
Age Rating: 8 and up
ICv2 Rating: 4 Stars out of 5
Tabletop roleplaying has never been more popular, at least in my memory; it seems everyone from the famous to the humble participates. But I know from personal conversations that it can be intimidating for new players, so it is no surprise that there are products geared toward easing people in, those Start Here refers to as “dice curious.”
Few are penned by a veteran like Tim Beach, who has more than 75 RPG titles and was a major contributor to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition.
Summary: Start Here is intended as a streamlined, easy-to-learn, easy-to-run roleplaying game that strips everything down to the core elements of roleplaying. It uses a simple, direct system in which characters are defined by six attributes that provide direct die-roll modifiers when a test is called for. Target numbers for those tests are also defined by a character’s attributes: Swinging a sword against a foe? Roll a d20, add your strength score and compare it to 10 plus the target’s dexterity score. Injuries are also handled directly through the attributes. If your sword hits, your foe will lose strength, in turn making it harder for them to hit back. The result is surprisingly elegant, intuitively handling character actions, combat, injury, and a variety of effects in the same way, without requiring special rules offering very few “edge cases.”
Start Here is a trio of books that present the basic tenets of roleplaying, but also help guide new players through more complex concepts in a progressive way. Book 1:Beginning Players, lays out the rules and concepts of Start Here, provides guidance for the first-time gamemaster, offers sample characters and a way for players to create their own, and presents the Serpents & Strongholds fantasy setting with an introductory adventure and a multi-part campaign.
Book 2: Experienced Players expands the rules with more character options and rules for “leveling up” and improving characters through play, one of the most comprehensive guides for new gamemasters I have read, and a science fiction game setting called Star Ex with its own mini-campaign and a number of ideas to help the GM create their own adventures.
The three-book set concludes with Book 3: Campaign Sampler, focusing on the ways that different settings can affect the experience while expanding the Serpents & Strongholds and Space Ex settings with more detail and adventure ideas and by introducing two additional settings: the zombie-survival Zombiesaurus Rex and the Western-themed Wizards & Wranglers.
Originality: Start Here boils down the elements of roleplaying to its most basic, bare bones form, while still offering different gameplay options. It allows a surprising amount of character customization without burdensome complexity and supports a variety of wildly different game settings. The result is a system that is easy to learn, easy to run, and easy to play without feeling like the experience is lacking.
Presentation: The books have a compact, trade paperback format ranging from 74 to 120 pages, with full-color interiors on glossy paper. They are well-constructed, and the print is clear and easy to read. For the boxed set, they are packaged in a sturdy box about two inches deep. The books fit a bit snugly in the box, and they only fill about half of the volume inside, however. The covers for the box and the individual books are exquisite artwork from renowned artists Todd Lockwood, Rob Carlos, and Larry Elmore. Numerous excellent interior illustrations support the text as well.
Quality: The writing is top-notch, and features such luminaries in the hobby as Ed Greenwood, Elisa Teague, Jamie Chambers, Jennell Jaquays, Misha Bushyager, Wes Nicholson, C.A. Suleiman, and Jayme Andrews. The style is very readable, presenting complex concepts in a way that is understandable without being condescending. I encountered few errors in the text, which I always find remarkable in any roleplaying book. The layout and graphics are good, and support the text well, but there are places where the text and graphics overlap in a way that makes it harder to read.
Marketability: Tim Beach and his fellow authors have enormous experience in hobby and genre writing, and the result is a surprisingly solid if simple game system. The presentation is excellent, and the price is reasonable for roleplaying books these days. The authors are reasonable about what they set out to accomplish, not only acknowledging that as players gain experience, they will want more sophisticated games, but actively encouraging them to seek them out.
Overall: I’ve tried my hand at a fair number of roleplaying games during my time in the hobby, though my experience pales next to Tim Beach and his fellow creators. I admire the unpretentious yet effective way that Start Here presents the concepts that make roleplaying special, and the supportive way it guides new players as they learn these concepts. In particular, I found the advice for gamemasters to be most valuable, even prizing a few gems to benefit my own style.
There are a few warts on the frog, though. I felt some elements could have used more fleshing out, the rules for character improvement being the most lacking. More extensive advice for players would also benefit the overall effectiveness of the work. The box is a bit too snug for my taste, making the books hard to get out, and something should have filled that empty space. Maybe character sheets or notepads or something? Even dice would have been a nice touch. But none of these minor quibbles are enough to undermine the end result, which is one of the best introductions to roleplaying that I have ever encountered. Not perfect, perhaps, but overall very well done.
And that’s why I’m giving this game 4 out of 5.
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Source: ICv2
