While my video Buyer’s Guide has been extremely popular I thought it would be wise to have a text version of this guide here as well. I’ll do my best to keep this article updated as new products are released for 5th edition. Let’s get to it!

In this guide we’ll take a brief look at what has been released so far for D&D 5E, and then I’ll give some more detailed information about what I’d recommend people actually buy, depending on where they are with D&D.

Part I – The Product Line

1. Playing for Free!

Wizards of the Coast has made the D&D Basic Rules a completely free PDF that can be downloaded from their website. This is a great way to try D&D without needing to spend a dime, and it’s a wise first stop for anyone considering trying the game.

You’ll get the basic rules (obviously) as well as character creation information for Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, and Human races. For classes, you’ll get Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard. This provides fewer options than the Player’s Handbook, and there are also fewer backgrounds and spells in this document. Still, it definitely gives you enough variety to get started, and the classes and races are the most iconic in the game.

The PDF also includes a lot of tools for dungeon masters, including over 100 monsters and other creatures to populate your dungeons and towns.

The free PDFs can be downloaded here.

2. The Starter Set

“Everything you need to start playing the world’s greatest role-playing game”, is written on the box of this set and that claim holds true. Here’s what comes in the box:

• A rulebook for playing characters level 1-5
• A 64-page pre-written adventure (my favorite part)
• Five pre-made characters with character sheets
• One set of polyhedral dice

While the Basic Rules are good enough to get anyone going, the Starter Set is better for new players because of the inclusion of pre-made characters (character creation can be a bit daunting for new players) and especially the inclusion of the pre-written adventure module, entitled The Lost Mine of Phandelver. Coming up with an adventure and story is not out of the realm of possibility for a new DM, but people completely new to tabletop RPGs will benefit a lot from this high-quality pre-written module. When I was new to the hobby, pre-written adventures were the only way I was able to be confident enough to run a game.

3. The Player’s Handbook

The Player’s Handbook (PHB) is the first of the three core books and it is the complete rulebook for playing and DMing Dungeons & Dragons. New DMs might be misled by the title into thinking this book is just for players. Not true! It is THE core rule book and if you’re going to buy one of the books, this one should priority number one!

The PHB has several more options for character race than are found in the Basic Rules, adding Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Tiefling, Gnome, and Dragonborn. For character classes, it adds Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, and Warlock. There are more backgrounds for characters, twice as many spells, and a lot more information that DMs and players will find helpful.

4. The Monster Manual

The second core book, Monster Manual (MM) is a massive tome of frightening creatures DMs can use to populate their game worlds. While the Basic Rules and the PHB do have a decent selection of monster and creature stats, this book has the motherload. Coming in at 352 pages, the Monster Manual is full of great art, vivid descriptions, monster ecology and more. I’d only recommend getting this if you are planning to DM, and if you are running the Starter Set you won’t need this yet as monster stats are included in the pre-written adventure.

Still, this is one of my favorite books on the shelf. It’s a delight to page through!

5. The Dungeon Master’s Guide

The third and final core book to be released was the Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG). This book contains general considerations and tips for dungeon masters (DMs) as well as loads of tools to help DMs build their game own game world, create adventures and greater campaigns, and customize the rules to fit their own style and preferences. The book also contains about 75 pages worth of magic items for your game with detailed descriptions. While the DMG is likely the most optional of the three core books, I’ve found it invaluable, and as a fairly new DM I was glad I didn’t have to run games without it.

UPDATE: If you are interested in buying all 3 core books, here’s a gorgeous set of all of them! Price fluctuates, but it’s usually about the same price as buying them all separately, but you get case and DM Screen too.

6. Published Adventures

While I absolutely love building my own game world and adventures with the aid of the DMG, I also find it comforting to know that there are pre-written adventure books for D&D for those times when the DM wants a guide. These books contain everything you need to run an adventure: setting information, storyline and quests, maps, and more. A few of my favorites are:

Out of the Abyss – An Underdark delve adventure full of Duergar, Drow, and worse!

Curse of Strahd – An epic vampire-themed adventure set in the land of Barovia.

Waterdeep: Dragon Heist – An urban caper and mad treasure hunt!

Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage – A massive dungeon delve in one of the most iconic locations in Faerun: Undermountain.

Tomb of Annihilation – A run through the Junge island of Chult to uncover the mystery of a terrible curse.

There are about a dozen of these books now, but those are a few highlights. In order to run these, you will probably also want the Player’s Handbook and Monster Manual.

7. The Other Books

There are quite a few other books that don’t fit the above categories. I’ll describe them all briefly, but I’ll start with my two favorites!

Volo’s Guide to Monsters – If you have the Monster Manual and are hoping to further expand your collection of beasts and foes, this books is amazing. It provides further lore and stat-block variety for some of the most iconic creatures in D&D, and a whole lot of creatures that are totally new to 5E. It’s great!

Xanathar’s Guide to Everything – For players this book expands the character options significantly with new subclasses. For DMs it provides a host of new tools as well. It’s great for players, and for DMs I’d recommend it after the PHB and DMG.

Others:

Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes – Another monster book, this one focuses on cosmic struggles, and mainly extra-planar creatures and high-level stuff.

The Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide – Setting info for DMs and some character options for players.

The Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica – A book for those wanting an entirely new setting, Ravnica is actually a popular world from Magic the Gathering. It’s beautiful and well-produced.

Part II – Buying recommendations

For this section we will imagine a few possible scenarios.

The new player wanting to run a game – Let’s imagine you don’t know anyone who plays D&D and you want to get started with your friends or family. If this is the case, I highly recommend the Starter Set.  It’s cheap, and it has everything you need to get going in the game. Do you need it? No, you could just get the free Basic Rules, but then again, you would likely need a set of polyhedral dice and at that point you are already up to $5 (U.S.). In addition, the pre-written adventure will be very helpful for new DMs so that they can get a feel for how the game works before trying to write their own adventures. It’s a great adventure, and I think it will be a well-remembered classic in the not-to-distant future.

The new player wanting to join an experienced group  – Let’s imagine you know people who play and you want to join in. If this is the case, you don’t really need to buy anything at first. Check out the basic rules free PDF, and read up if you feel like it. You might want to buy a set of dice (see links below). But chances are other players will have some for you, and a good DM will help you learn the rules as you play.  Now let’s say you’ve played a couple times and you are liking it enough to know you are in. At that point I’d recommend buying the Player’s Handbook, so you can have all the rules and all the options in a nice glossy hardcover book with some great art.  You don’t need it, but it’s a high-quality book that I can’t imagine you’ll regret owning.

The more experienced player/DM – Now, let’s talk about scenarios in which you might want to buy some of this other stuff.  As I mentioned in the product description if you are going to be DMing (beyond the Starter Set, that is), you’re probably going to want the Monster Manual. The Basic Rules PDF has a decent amount of monsters already, well over 100 – but man I love my Monster Manual. While one could make a case that the DMG is a higher priority, I think it won’t be long before you’ll want more options for monsters than the free PDF gives you, so I think the Monster Manual makes the most logical sense for a second purchase after the PHB. The book is fascinating and a lot of fun to read or flip through. It’s a great coffee table book, if you don’t mind horrifying your guests with visage of a deadly Beholder.

As the has been stated above the Dungeon Master’s Guide is the most optional book of the core three. However, if you are feeling like you’d like more DM tools to help you build a world, run encounters, or want some of those optional rules, the DMG is full of practical advice and inspiration that I have found well worth the money.

What about the adventure books?   These books are great fun, but if you have the Starter Set, I run the Lost Mine of Phandelver first. However, if one of the hardcovers draws you in and you have the money for it, go for it! Don’t forget that many (most?) DMs run adventure and campaigns of their own creation. It’s a lot of fun! It’s also worth noting that even if you don’t ever run the adventure within, I know many DMs who enjoy having the books simply for the ideas and inspiration they can give for their homebrew campaigns. I’ve heard mostly positive things about them, and hey, it’s another pretty hardcover book to add to the collection. I know it’s a matter of taste, but I’d recommend buying most of the other books before getting these.

HONORABLE MENTION – Related products you might want to check out.

• • Polyhedral Dice

• • D&D Spellbook Cards from Galeforce Nine

• • The Dungeon Master’s Screen

• • Miniatures

• A battlemat/map –
  
  Or see my version here

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