Dungeons & Dragons - Laeral Silverhand's Explorer's Kit

You can buy this set right here.

Look what showed up in the mail! A new dice set, with all sorts of other stuff. Let's check it out.

Dice: I was initially wary of the dice, as they looked like that glossy kind that just keeps rolling forever. They're not, they roll just fine. If you hold these dice up to a light source, the light shines through. Very nice!

They actually went ahead and made the d20's bigger! Each one has a D&D ampersand in place of the number 20. These d20's aren't quite as big as my preferred giant gray d20, but these are very cool.

All in all, this is a really nice set of dice and I really appreciate some of the changes they made. I'd say if they make another set, the d20's should be even a little bigger. Or, perhaps make all of the dice in the set a larger size.

Dice Box: It's hard to describe this in a way that does it justice. The interior is lined with felt. The exterior has foil designs on it. I should note that even if you think the dice roll too far, you could roll them right in this box to eliminate the chance of your dice rolling right off the table (a phenomenon which I refer to as "sloppy dice").

I do wonder if the box might get scratched up if you threw it in a backpack with your D&D books? You probably need to be careful when transporting this thing if you want to keep it looking nice.

Map: A bit taller and wider than a regular sheet of paper, the map comes folded-up in the box. On one side, there is a map of the city of Waterdeep - handy if you are running Dragon Heist. It labels only the wards, gates, the market, and a few areas outside the city.

On the other side is a classic Mike Schley map of the Sword Coast, useful for running everything from Tyranny of Dragons to Descent into Avernus! It includes most of the Moonshae Isles and a portion of Icewind Dale.

Cards: The back of the box describes these: "Twenty illustrated, double-sided cards detailing Laeral's expert insights on key characters, locations, and lore from across the Forgotten Realms."

I really like the art by Shawn Wood on some of these cards, especially the Harper and Dagult Neverember. 

The cards have basic info on different NPCs, factions, and locations. Very handy for people trying to get familiar with the realms. There are cards on Drizzt, Halaster Blacksloak, The Xanathar, and more.

Candlekeep is the one that sticks out the most to me. I can remember, years ago, when I first took a stab at playing the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition game, being really impressed with the whole idea of Candlekeep - a library that you only gain access to if you donate a tome not already present in the library's collection. It seems like you could do a lot of cool things with that.

Overall: So is this worth getting? I guess it depends on the price. I am seeing that it is $15.00 right now on amazon, which in my opinion is a great price. To me, that's a no-brainer.

Honestly, this set and the Avernus set are really cool products, right up there with some of the best ancillary D&D items released in the past like the old Orcus/mini and the tiny versions of the 1e handbooks.

An easy thumbs up from me!