Review – The Young Adventurer’s Collection: A Perfect Introduction to D&D For Kids

Are you a parent or guardian of a young adventurer who is eager to explore the world of Dungeons & Dragons? The Young Adventurer’s Collection is for you!

These books are perfect for younger players who want to get into D&D but don’t know how or where to start.

With this collection, there is no need to worry about memorizing arcane rules and charts- the emphasis here is on creativity, storytelling, and lore.

So today we’re going to take a closer look at the Young Adventurer’s Collection with this review.

Specifically, we’ll look at what it is, who it’s for, and what’s included!

What the D&D Young Adventurer’s Collection Is

The Young Adventurer’s Collection is a collection of books meant for younger players (around ages eight to twelve) as an introduction to D&D. It contains a set of books that can be used by Young Adventurers to tell their own stories instead of the possibly overwhelming D&D 5e books.

Compared to the standard books of D&D 5e, these books are simplified and reorganized for Young Adventurers.

The goal of these books is to kickstart young adventurers’ imaginations and introduce them to D&D’s classes, races, and more.

You won’t find stat blocks or character sheets here. Instead, the focus is on creativity and decision-making.

What These Books Are Not

The Young Adventurer’s Collection is a set of books that are meant to introduce younger players to the world of Dungeons & Dragons. These books are not for those who want to explore rules and mechanics, but rather they’re geared toward creative kids who enjoy storytelling.

The emphasis of these books is less on the rules of D&D and more on telling your own adventure.

The Young Adventurer’s Collection is not a collection of rules and mechanics as you have seen in the other 5e books. The goal of these books is not to teach Young Adventurers how to play D&D.

Instead, the goal is for Young Adventurers and their parents or guardians (who will be playing as Dungeon Masters) to work together in creating a character and then use that character as an avatar within a story-based campaign.

Inside, you’ll find some basic rules about what Young Adventurers can do in the D&D world and a wealth of wonderfully illustrated sections on all of the elements that make D&D what it is.

If you’re instead looking for adventure modules to run, I’d suggest checking out my list of the best adventures for new D&D players. You might need to tweak those a little bit depending on your players’ ages, but they don’t tend to be as complicated as some other adventure modules.

Who Is the D&D Young Adventurer’s Collection For?

As I mentioned, these books are generally for younger players (around ages eight to twelve or so) who have an interest in playing but don’t know how or where to start.

The Young Adventurer’s Collection also includes something that will be extremely useful to parents and Dungeon Masters: full-color compendiums of all the Young Adventurer’s character races, classes, spells, monsters, and more.

In these compendiums, you’ll find full-color illustrations of what is being shown along with descriptions that can help Dungeon Masters better understand what Young Adventurers are capable of doing. In this way, it’s also helpful for improving your own in-game descriptions!

If you’re looking for a fun way to raise the next generation of adventurers, the Young Adventurer’s Collection will be your best friend!

Deep Dive – The D&D Young Adventurer’s Collection

With the general overview of the Young Adventurer’s Collection out of the way, let’s look at more of the nuts and bolts.

As I mentioned, these books aren’t the typical releases that we’ve seen for D&D 5e.

However, they aren’t trying to be!

With that in mind, let’s take a bit of a deeper dive into what is included in the collection and just what makes these books so special.

What Books Are Included

The Young Adventurer’s Collection includes four books: Warriors & Weapons, Dungeons & Tombs, Wizards & Spells, and Monsters & Creatures. Bought together in this collection, it works out to about half the cost of buying the books separately.

Let’s start with the first book because it might be one of the more important ones for Young Adventures to learn about before they head off into a campaign!

Warriors & Weapons

Warriors & Weapons lays out a dozen of the various races in D&D such as humans, elves, dragonborn, and more.

It also features the 6 martial classes of 5e (Barbarians, Fighters, Monks, Paladins, Rangers, and Rogues) as well as famous/legendary examples of each class from D&D lore.

From there, Warriors & Weapons includes the various types of equipment that adventurers need on their journeys! Weapons, armor, and adventuring gear are all described and wonderfully illustrated.

I particularly like the sections of this book that help your young adventurer bring their character to life.

With prompts to help them imagine their character’s background and life, they build a character that is truly their own! There’s plenty of guidance here to help them build their first characters!

Additionally, the Class Flowchart makes for an easy way to discover a character’s class by answering just a few simple questions. (Truth be told, I like this idea so much that I wish it was included in the core D&D 5e books!)

Wizards & Spells

The next book, Wizards & Spells, similarly lays out the various spellcasting classes of D&D. Namely, young adventurers can learn about Bards, Clerics, Druids, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards and how each class’s magic works.

As with Warriors & Weapons, famous examples of each class (like Mordenkainen) from D&D’s lore are featured!

This book really shines with its features of different level spells. Each one is described in a way that’s exciting but approachable and includes tips for using the spells effectively. The art in this section is also my favorite in the entire Young Adventurer’s Collection!

There’s also a section about magical weapons, armor, and other wondrous items.

Like Warriors & Weapons, there’s also a Class Flowchart if your young adventurer wants to play a spellcaster but doesn’t know what kind to play.

Once again, I think this is such a great idea! It keeps the focus on building around the character themselves and not focusing on the class/mechanics so much.

Monsters & Creatures

Book three, Monsters & Creatures, quickly became my nephews’ favorite book.

Monsters are largely organized based on the environments that adventurers are most likely to find them in. Beholders and Goblins are found in the Caverns & Dark Places section while creatures like Owlbears and Treants are featured in the Forests section.

Some creatures get their own sections. Dragons and Giants are heavily featured but there’s also a special section about Vampires.

(Side note: watching my nephews get excited looking at the pictures of the different dragons made me the proudest uncle in the world!)

Each creature featured in this book has a ton of information. What kind of special abilities do they have? What are their lairs like?

I most enjoy that each creature has a section with tips on what to do and what not to do when you encounter them.

Dungeons & Tombs

The final book in the Young Adventurer’s Collection is Dungeons & Tombs. As the title suggests, this is the most adventure-oriented book in the collection.

The first section of Dungeons & Tombs gives six different dungeon examples and encounter scenarios within them. Each of these scenarios is meant to set the stage and prompt the young adventurer to make decisions based on what’s happening in the scene.

Next, Dungeons & Tombs includes more monsters in a style just like how they’re included in the Monsters & Creatures book.

With exciting lore, captivating artwork, and helpful tips, your young adventurer will have no problem taking on the various mimics, oozes, and more that lurk in dungeons!

Lastly, the section on building your own dungeon is wonderfully inspired.

Not only does it perfectly give young adventurers what they need to start building their own dungeons and stories, but it’s also just all-around great dungeon design advice!

I’m not exaggerating when I say that this should have been included in the 5e Dungeon Master’s Guide. In 15 pages, this goes over pretty much everything you need to take a dungeon from concept to ready-to-play.

What Makes These Books Special?

The thing that most clearly stands out about the Young Adventurer’s Collection is just how accessible they are. 

Whether you’re new to D&D or just new to the game, these books are a great way for young (and/or inexperienced) adventurers to learn about Dungeons & Dragons.

There’s so much good information in each book, and it’s presented in such an exciting way that even kids who have never read a fantasy novel before can enjoy them.

Let’s be honest: the Fantasy genre is potentially one of the most overwhelming genres to get into. To someone who is just starting to get into the genre, it can be like drinking water from a firehose!

Reading through these books and sharing that experience with my nephews brought me back to my younger days.

Seeing the excitement in their eyes as they kept asking questions about the different monsters (especially dragons) and then pretended to be Barbarians was simply incredible.

Not only did it remind me of what got me into D&D in the first place, but I think it also officially made me the coolest uncle ever.

Fit For All Ages

The Young Adventurer’s Collection is a fantastic way to introduce younger children (and even your young-at-heart friends) into the world of Dungeons & Dragons!

The audience here is definitely those who might be too young to really grasp all of the mechanics that come with “regular” D&D.

These books are meant to focus on the art of collaborative storytelling, making decisions, and working as a team. With no real rules and mechanics being provided here, it’s very free-form.

That might be a turn-off for some, but I think it’s the Young Adventurer’s Collection’s greatest strength. So many rules and mechanics can make D&D feel intimidating or overwhelming. This keeps it fun, collaborative, and light.

So while the audience is mostly kids, I think there’s more here than the name might imply.

I could very easily see this being the perfect framework to get all ages into the world of D&D.

Specifically, it can make for a fun and engaging hobby for seniors as well. It’s a great creative outlet that lets them focus on the storytelling and fantasy adventure elements.

You’re never too old to get into D&D and the Young Adventurer’s Collection is an excellent way to do so!

Excellent Lore and Artwork

I already mentioned the artwork, but I just have to rave about it again. It’s exactly how it should be given the books’ audience.

The artwork within the Young Adventurer’s Collection really helps add visualization to what’s being discussed. Most of the artwork is very action-oriented in a way that captures all of the excitement and adventure elements that make D&D what it is.

But we also have to talk about the lore in these books.

Seriously: color me impressed!

I expected something along the lines of: “Goblins are bad. They live in caves and attack people on the roads. The end.”

Instead, we get some very interesting and exciting lore for each entry in these books.

What is the creature? What kind of abilities do they have and what should adventurers know if they encounter one?

There’s enough lore for each entry in these books to make it fun and interesting without being overwhelming.

It sets the stage to learn more about whichever types of creatures your young adventurer is taking an interest in. By the time they’re ready to crack open the full 5e Monster Manual, they’ll already be an expert on multiple types of monsters!

Verdict – Is the D&D Young Adventurer’s Collection Worth It?

The D&D Young Adventurer’s Collection is the perfect start to a lifelong love of fantasy.

Pulling from my college days when I was studying to be a teacher, I see a lot of techniques in these books that echo what I learned about childhood development and learning.

It’s obvious that everyone involved in creating these books knew what they were doing. It’s all about capturing that spark and curiosity and then providing an outlet for kids to explore it.

The Young Adventurer’s Collection absolutely accomplishes this.

One of my favorite things about D&D is the memories that you’re able to make with friends while playing the game. This collection lets you start doing that with those in your life who might not be ready for the “full” D&D experience with all of its rules and mechanics.

Speaking for myself here, I’m not exactly the uncle who is clamoring to go outside and throw the football around. But now I know that I’m the uncle who can take my nephews on their first quest to slay a dragon and save the city!

(You gotta admit though… the second one sounds a lot cooler, right?)

You can pick up your copy of the D&D Young Adventurer’s Collection with the link below.

Conclusion – The D&D Young Adventurer’s Collection Review

The Young Adventurer’s Collection is a simple and fun way to introduce children of all ages to the world of D&D.

Whether you’re looking for an intro course or just want your child to have some new adventures in their downtime, this collection will provide hours of entertainment with friends and family.

And when they play these games together, it’ll help them build skills like decision-making and working in groups that will last long after they’ve forgotten about what spell can turn things into frogs!

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