Welcome to the Hellfire Club is the new Stranger Things themed starter set for D&D 5.5E. But how do the retro charms hold up?
Welcome to Welcome to the Hellfire Club, a new D&D starter set that came out earlier this month as part of a collaboration between D&D and Stranger Things. It’s a relationship that is extremely symbiotic, as almost a full decade ago, Stranger Things helped catapult D&D back to the forefront of pop culture for a whole new generation. And coupled with the blossoming of Critical Role, D&D 5th edition became the biggest D&D yet.
And it all comes full circle with a new starter set intended to get you hyped for both D&D and the upcoming premiere of Season 5, the finale of Stranger Things. WotC shipped us a copy of the set, so let’s look through and see what awaits within.
Welcome to the Hellfire Club – Stranger Things, Not So Strange Starter Set
First of all, WotC has clearly leveled up their production value. The thing that grabs me most about this whole boxed set is the retro aesthetic. The vibes are immaculate here. If you ever played any classic D&D module, the covers of the booklets included, and especially the character sheets feel like they were plucked from the 80s.
And you even get a taste of the handout game. They’re designed to look like something a person would have done for their D&D game, giving them a sort of hand-made vibe. It’s a nice angle, they don’t look overproduced, and it really nails that 80s feel.
As far as what’s in the box? You get everything you’d expect. Here’s where it deviates a little from the ’80s fare. This has all the modern D&D sensibilities – including battle maps for all the areas and encounters you’ll find in the adventures, as well as a map of “Greyhawkins.”
It kind of leans in to the whole Stranger Things vibes. In the adventure you can see how the elements of the show have woven themselves into the adventures as they were designed by fan-favorite DM Eddie Munson.
After all, the premise of the adventure is that you’re continuing the legendary campaign of Eddie Munson. Which is the one sticking point here. Because, while the Welcome to the Hellfire Club starter set comes with a ton of high-quality bells and whistles, as a starter set, it only takes you through level 3.
It feels a little strange to say “this is the end of an epic high school campaign” and it’s just a few adventures that cap off at level 3. But, that’s a minor complaint, all things considered. It sticks in my craw, but that’s only because I was so echanted by the verisimilitude of it all.
But you will have an easy time playing this adventure. You’ll find a number of high-quality components – even though it’s not miniatures, there’s a lot of tokens and custom dice that, again, all capture that retro vibe perfectly.
And, of course, the screen that takes inspiration from the show and classic D&D art.
If you want a fun throwback to the good old days of D&D, if you want some of the excitement of Stranger Things, you’ll find it all here.
Stranger Things: Welcome to the Hellfire Club is available at 14% off right now!
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