June 11th is International Day of Play, a holiday honoring the importance of games and play. Primarily geared at recognizing the importance of playtime for child development, the holiday has grown into an overall celebration of gaming. And that means big gaming companies like to find new ways to celebrate the holiday. This year, Wizards of the Coast is honoring International Day of Play with a new free Dungeons & Dragons adventure. The one-shot adventure is called Borderlands Quest: Goblin Trouble, and it’s perfect for new and younger players to learn the mechanics of the game.
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Like most D&D freebies, the new adventure is available on D&D Beyond. You’ll need a free account to claim the one-shot. Here’s everything that’s included in the new free one-shot from D&D Beyond:
- One-shot Borderlands Quest: Goblin Trouble adventure
- Overview of Dungeons & Dragons and key rules
- Guide text for new Dungeon Masters to read aloud, including text for play setup
- Guidance on running the adventure for the Dungeon Master, encouraging roleplay, and keeping the adventure moving
- 8 premade character sheets
- A map and stat blocks to limit the need to reference other D&D rulebook rules
Once you claim the adventure, the game files will be available in your Resources menu on D&D Beyond. From there, you can access the pre-made character options and all of the details the DM needs to run the adventure.
Is Borderlands Quest: Goblin Trouble A Good Beginner Adventure?
When choosing a beginner D&D adventure, gamers want a good blend of fun and ease. With Goblin Trouble, it looks like the one-shot is a solid old-school adventure that’s designed to be easy to jump into with little prep. The pre-made characters offer a variety of class options, with the following classes represented:
- Rogue
- Wizard
- Cleric
- Ranger
- Fighter
- Monk
- Barbarian
With just one caster option available, the starter adventure keeps things relatively straightforward. All of the premade characters are human, which is a little disappointing for getting to know all of the variety available for character creation. The characters start out at Level 1, so you’re really working the basics. That said, if you want to get a little more creative, you could also have your players draft their own Level 1 characters for the adventure.
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The one-shot is clearly designed to be easy on a beginner DM, with a clear script that takes you through every step of the journey. It’s color coded to help highlight info that’s just for the DM versus what can be shared with players, as well. This could be a bit wordy for more seasoned DMs, but it is easy enough to skim through thanks to easy section markers. The adventure does require access to the basic rules, but the free version on D&D Beyond should suffice.
For a quick, free adventure, Borderlands Quest: Goblin Trouble is a short and sweet intro to the basics of the game. It’s a little pared back, but still looks to be a solid 1-2 hour way to introduce newer and younger players to Dungeons & Dragons. You can claim the free adventure on D&D Beyond here.
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