New player/GM with limited budget

[Dragons_Ire]

Hello forum! I'm a relatively new player and have been a lurker for a while, but joined the forums recently. I'm pretty new to RPGs in general, but I've really enjoyed the few sessions of 5e-based Middle-Earth RPG that I have played. I've read through the player and DM basic rules several times, and I like 5e. I am planning to purchase some 5e sourcebooks, but being a high school student, I have limited disposable income. So, I am looking for advice on which sourcebooks to prioritize, and which ones you, the Playground, prefer. Here are my impressions:

Player's Handbook: Absolutely necessary. Contains a ton of classes, spells, feats, and races.

Dungeon Master's Guide: Probably necessary? I'm thinking of getting this as well, but I don't have a clear idea of what it contains - DM tips? Elaboration on the DM basic rules? Magic items? Monsters?

Monster Manual: The local library has this, so I was able to check it out and get a good look at the contents. I don't think I'd ever run at least half of these. Maybe 20 really excite or interest me. Definitely a pass for now, I might get it down the road.

Volo's Guide to Monsters: More monsters. Oh, and monster player races that me and my friends would rarely use, if ever. Pass.

Xanathar's Guide to Everything: Not really sure what this contains. Some of everything? Player options, monsters, magic stuff? Probably a pass for now.

Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide: This is hard. On the one hand, this contains fun subclasses and some fantastic spells (Booming Blade, Green Flame Blade, and probably more). On the other hand, I'd never use the Ghostwise Halfling. I'm not sure about the other races, I don't really recall what they were. Also, the book seems really tiny to cost 80% as much as the main three books.

So, Playground, which of these do you recommend? Am I missing any sourcebooks? What all do these contain? Are there any you would avoid? Any advice is much appreciated!

[bid]

The system reference document is good enough to understand the basics.
http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd

For players, the PHB, Xan and SCAG are mostly if you "must have that archetype" and the UA version isn't enough.

You can get surprising good mileage out of very little, but the confort will be lacking.

[Grear Bylls]

I would certainly pick up PHB, as it is the most core book. DMG is good to have, but if you know what you're doing it's not necessary. I wouldn't pick up Monster Manual if you can get it from Library, but it's a must get, eventually. Xanathars is one of my favorites, so I'd grab. Volos is not necessary, especially if you have MM. SCaG is a pass, as you can get some things from it in XGTE. I think that's it so...
1. PHB
2. MM
3. XGTE
4. DMG
5. Volos
6. SCaG
My list

[Ninja_Prawn]

Isn't the 5e PHB available legally for free online? How about the other books?

The SRD (free online) is not the same as the PHB. For one thing, it's missing a bunch of spells. Notably hex. It's okay to get you started, but the PHB is definitely better. I also find it easier to look things up in a paper book.

Of the six books mentioned, my priorities would be PHB, MM and DMG, in that order. The others are definitely optional. You can run the game with the PHB only, but I'd invest in the MM and DMG as soon as you can afford to.

Beyond that, if you're going to DM, you'll need other things. Dice, mainly, but also possibly mats, minis, screen, etc. So remember to budget for those.

[strangebloke]

The SRD (free online) is not the same as the PHB. For one thing, it's missing a bunch of spells. Notably hex. It's okay to get you started, but the PHB is definitely better. I also find it easier to look things up in a paper book.

Of the six books mentioned, my priorities would be PHB, MM and DMG, in that order. The others are definitely optional. You can run the game with the PHB only, but I'd invest in the MM and DMG as soon as you can afford to.

Beyond that, if you're going to DM, you'll need other things. Dice, mainly, but also possibly mats, minis, screen, etc. So remember to budget for those.

I find the best way to quick-start your game is to pull up Roll20 on your TV screen. It has the SRD all loaded in there, you don't need dice, you don't need to print character sheets... If you want to get a really solid start for cheap, and especially if you're DMing for the first time, spend 20 bucks on Lost Mines of Pandelvr through roll20. You get a reasonably good adventure for cheap, with pre-generated characters and math-simplifying rules. I'm playing in a game with a first-time DM and five brand-new players, and it's going pretty darn smoothly, even given the DM's tenuous grasp of the rules.

I mean, there is value to rolling physical dice and having miniatures/battle map, as well as physical books, but the cost can add up very quickly.

ALSO: look up the free Unearthed Arcana, Elemental Evil Player's Companion, and the SRD. These are all very useful free resources. HINT: look what classes ended up being published in Xanathar's, then look up the unearthed arcana relevant to that.

As to the value of the books....

#1: PHB: Most important book, although the critical parts are all online. Still, you'll be referencing this book a lot during play, so it is nice to have a physical copy. If you don't have this or Xanathar's, you'll really only have one archetype per class. (excluding the unearthed arcana, some of which is quite good.)

#2: Dungeon Master's Guide: Nothing essential. Lots of useful stuff. You're probably going to want this or the Monster Manual, and of the two, I'd definitely prefer the DMG. The DMG gives you good rules for creating encounters and monsters, whereas the Monster Manual gives you lots of example monsters... which don't follow the DMG rules.

#3: Xanathar's: If you had to get one book... I would actually suggest this. It's got fewer DM tools than the DMG and fewer Player options than the PHB, but a huge part of the PHB content is free online, so I think technically Xanathar's adds more than the PHB does. (although UA steals a lot of Xanathar's thunder as well...)

#4: Monster Manual: Monsters. If you have the DMG, the priority of this one drops like a stone, at least for me. The best part here is the higher-level monsters, which can be difficult to homebrew on the fly. (in comparison to low level threats, which are dead simple)

#5: Sword Coast: A little bit of everything, like Xanathar's, but the subclasses are pretty poorly designed and a lot of the pages are just fluff. The blade cantrips are cool, but really not worth a whole book. Just homebrew something vaguely like the blade cantrips if you want them that bad.

#6: Volo's: Monster Manual Supplement. It's good for what it is. Very useful for a high-level campaign, as the book is full of high-level NPC statblocks and Boss Monsters that are the bosses of the Monster Manual's boss monsters.

[Dankus Memakus]

Volo's Guide to Monsters: More monsters. Oh, and monster player races that me and my friends would rarely use, if ever. Pass.

Xanathar's Guide to Everything: Not really sure what this contains. Some of everything? Player options, monsters, magic stuff? Probably a pass for now.


Okay as a fellow highschool dm I'd like to make some points on these two books because i think you are undervaluing them.
Volos guide to monsters gave my table a HUGE amount of valuable lore. It made everything deeper and more complex.
It gave my tables druid alot more fey to summon and warlock more fiends always remember some players can summon things.
The races made some very very VERY memorable characters at my table. Ones I will remember forever.
Don't get this book first but I highly recommend it at some point.

Xanathars has a whole bunch of spells, character building points and I believe it's 25 subclasses. It is awesome. It also has tables for random encounters and can make your life easier. I also highly recommend this.

Also the SCAG is meh. Alot of its material is in the other books and I don't think I've ever seen anyone use it's classes at my table or any of the AL games seen. I'd buy this last.

[Monster Manuel]

The DMG is really not essential, but it is a great book. If you are creating your own homebrew setting, or if you're using a published adventure but playing a little loose with the plotline, there is a lot of really helpful detail around generic setting and background stuff that is helpful (tables that let you quickly and randomly generate an interesting town for the players to stumble across while veering off on some side-quest you didn't plan for. Villain design guidelines. That kind of thing). I'd recommend picking it up eventually, but it can wait.

As an aside, whipping up your own homebrew is certainly the cheaper option, when compared against buying published adventures...

The content that you'll really see a lot of repeated use from the DMG is the magic items. The SRD that has been mentioned is a single PDF that includes content from the PHB, DMG and MM, it just doesn't include ALL of it. The list of Magic Items in the SRD gives you plenty to work with, but there are more (and some more fun) ones in the DMG. Same with the Monsters...there's stuff in the MM you won't find in the SRD, but there's enough there to go a long way.

Another thing that has worked wonders for me is papercraft terrain. You can download and print out patterns onto cardstock, and have a 3D map of a house, a field, etc. Print out inch-high character portraits onto card stock , fold over, glue to a penny, and you've got miniatures. Sometimes it's fun to have a set-piece battle played out with minis on the 3D map, but minis and Dwarven Forge terrain is expensive. Card stock is cheap. Did this for a campaign with my kids and they loved it.

Have fun running D&D on the cheap...it can be done!

[DMThac0]

I'm going to come at the question from a slightly different angle:

Get the 3 core books, PHB, DMG, and MM (in that order). Every other supplement is optional and not necessary for what you have described.

As you have confessed to being newer to the RPG family the three core books are going to be your stepping stones. I have close to 28 years of D&D background, I'm to the point where I barely look at a book, and a quarter of the rolls are never made at the table as I narrate my way through the night. You are taking your first steps into this world, having read about it and wiggled your feet in the water. There is a learning curve as both player and DM, a much steeper curve as a DM. Grabbing the supplement books will, undoubtedly, give you a lot more to work with, will give you a lot more customization, and will give you various inspirations. However, if you're not familiar with the basics, you may find yourself stumbling over the intricacies of some of the things these books offer.

[Quoxis]

Okay as a fellow highschool dm I'd like to make some points on these two books because i think you are undervaluing them.
Volos guide to monsters gave my table a HUGE amount of valuable lore. It made everything deeper and more complex.
It gave my tables druid alot more fey to summon and warlock more fiends always remember some players can summon things.
The races made some very very VERY memorable characters at my table. Ones I will remember forever.
Don't get this book first but I highly recommend it at some point.

Xanathars has a whole bunch of spells, character building points and I believe it's 25 subclasses. It is awesome. It also has tables for random encounters and can make your life easier. I also highly recommend this.

Also the SCAG is meh. Alot of its material is in the other books and I don't think I've ever seen anyone use it's classes at my table or any of the AL games seen. I'd buy this last.

Scag is mostly good for two spells: green flame blade and booming blade.
It‘s also neat for clerics as it names dozens of deities sorted by races that venerate them and explains some.
Otherwise it’s some subclasses that got reprinted in Xgte anyway (except long death monk, crown paladin, banneret fighter, so not the classes you’ll often see in play) and tons of lore for the sword coast (which i wholeheartedly advise you to skip).

Volo‘s and Xanathar’s guide are awesome, but far from being needed to enjoy the game. As far as i‘ve seen the subclasses are well liked, but no must have for a player, and for GMs keen on implementing lore there are websites like forgottenrealms.wikia.com and the likes if you’re on a tight budget.

[Dragons_Ire]

The SRD (free online) is not the same as the PHB. For one thing, it's missing a bunch of spells. Notably hex. It's okay to get you started, but the PHB is definitely better. I also find it easier to look things up in a paper book.

Of the six books mentioned, my priorities would be PHB, MM and DMG, in that order. The others are definitely optional. You can run the game with the PHB only, but I'd invest in the MM and DMG as soon as you can afford to.

Beyond that, if you're going to DM, you'll need other things. Dice, mainly, but also possibly mats, minis, screen, etc. So remember to budget for those.Oh, good point. I do already have a decent amount of dice (5 full sets of Q-Workshop dice, I love those things. Now I actually have a good use for them), but the screen especially is something that I would probably need and do not have.


I find the best way to quick-start your game is to pull up Roll20 on your TV screen. It has the SRD all loaded in there, you don't need dice, you don't need to print character sheets... If you want to get a really solid start for cheap, and especially if you're DMing for the first time, spend 20 bucks on Lost Mines of Pandelvr through roll20. You get a reasonably good adventure for cheap, with pre-generated characters and math-simplifying rules. I'm playing in a game with a first-time DM and five brand-new players, and it's going pretty darn smoothly, even given the DM's tenuous grasp of the rules.

I mean, there is value to rolling physical dice and having miniatures/battle map, as well as physical books, but the cost can add up very quickly.

ALSO: look up the free Unearthed Arcana, Elemental Evil Player's Companion, and the SRD. These are all very useful free resources. HINT: look what classes ended up being published in Xanathar's, then look up the unearthed arcana relevant to that.

As to the value of the books....

#1: PHB: Most important book, although the critical parts are all online. Still, you'll be referencing this book a lot during play, so it is nice to have a physical copy. If you don't have this or Xanathar's, you'll really only have one archetype per class. (excluding the unearthed arcana, some of which is quite good.)

#2: Dungeon Master's Guide: Nothing essential. Lots of useful stuff. You're probably going to want this or the Monster Manual, and of the two, I'd definitely prefer the DMG. The DMG gives you good rules for creating encounters and monsters, whereas the Monster Manual gives you lots of example monsters... which don't follow the DMG rules.

#3: Xanathar's: If you had to get one book... I would actually suggest this. It's got fewer DM tools than the DMG and fewer Player options than the PHB, but a huge part of the PHB content is free online, so I think technically Xanathar's adds more than the PHB does. (although UA steals a lot of Xanathar's thunder as well...)

#4: Monster Manual: Monsters. If you have the DMG, the priority of this one drops like a stone, at least for me. The best part here is the higher-level monsters, which can be difficult to homebrew on the fly. (in comparison to low level threats, which are dead simple)

#5: Sword Coast: A little bit of everything, like Xanathar's, but the subclasses are pretty poorly designed and a lot of the pages are just fluff. The blade cantrips are cool, but really not worth a whole book. Just homebrew something vaguely like the blade cantrips if you want them that bad.

#6: Volo's: Monster Manual Supplement. It's good for what it is. Very useful for a high-level campaign, as the book is full of high-level NPC statblocks and Boss Monsters that are the bosses of the Monster Manual's boss monsters.Very interesting points! Roll20 does look interesting, but I already have dice and a decent (I think) grasp of the rules. I will consider getting an adventure module though. I also wanted to specifically thank you for the detailed breakdown of your opinion on the sourcebooks.


Okay as a fellow highschool dm I'd like to make some points on these two books because i think you are undervaluing them.
Volos guide to monsters gave my table a HUGE amount of valuable lore. It made everything deeper and more complex.
It gave my tables druid alot more fey to summon and warlock more fiends always remember some players can summon things.
The races made some very very VERY memorable characters at my table. Ones I will remember forever.
Don't get this book first but I highly recommend it at some point.

Xanathars has a whole bunch of spells, character building points and I believe it's 25 subclasses. It is awesome. It also has tables for random encounters and can make your life easier. I also highly recommend this.

Also the SCAG is meh. Alot of its material is in the other books and I don't think I've ever seen anyone use it's classes at my table or any of the AL games seen. I'd buy this last.Very good point about the summoning! I will keep that in mind, I do seem to have underestimated Volo's and overestimated the SCAG.


The DMG is really not essential, but it is a great book. If you are creating your own homebrew setting, or if you're using a published adventure but playing a little loose with the plotline, there is a lot of really helpful detail around generic setting and background stuff that is helpful (tables that let you quickly and randomly generate an interesting town for the players to stumble across while veering off on some side-quest you didn't plan for. Villain design guidelines. That kind of thing). I'd recommend picking it up eventually, but it can wait.

As an aside, whipping up your own homebrew is certainly the cheaper option, when compared against buying published adventures...

The content that you'll really see a lot of repeated use from the DMG is the magic items. The SRD that has been mentioned is a single PDF that includes content from the PHB, DMG and MM, it just doesn't include ALL of it. The list of Magic Items in the SRD gives you plenty to work with, but there are more (and some more fun) ones in the DMG. Same with the Monsters...there's stuff in the MM you won't find in the SRD, but there's enough there to go a long way.

Another thing that has worked wonders for me is papercraft terrain. You can download and print out patterns onto cardstock, and have a 3D map of a house, a field, etc. Print out inch-high character portraits onto card stock , fold over, glue to a penny, and you've got miniatures. Sometimes it's fun to have a set-piece battle played out with minis on the 3D map, but minis and Dwarven Forge terrain is expensive. Card stock is cheap. Did this for a campaign with my kids and they loved it.

Have fun running D&D on the cheap...it can be done!Wow, that is certainly a glowing review for the DMG, at least in my eyes! Magic items would be a huge help, both to use and as a guideline to craft my own. I am also very interested in homebrewing a setting or three (or four or five). Monster creation rules are another point in the DMG's favor. I will also keep the cardstock in mind. In the Middle-Earth campaign I am playing in right now, we are using 'theater of the mind' combat, in tandem with a large whiteboard and markers.

@Everyone who I didn't quote: Thank you for your input!

So: I'm still leaning towards starting with the PHB and the DMG, but after the advice in this thread, and reading a guide to Xanathar's Guide on these forums, XGtE is definitely #3 on my list. The MM and Volo's are not ones I'm likely to get right away, but I probably will down the road. SCAG seems like a pass. Also to be considered are a published adventure module, a DM screen, and tools for terrain.

[FelineArchmage]

Oh, good point. I do already have a decent amount of dice (5 full sets of Q-Workshop dice, I love those things. Now I actually have a good use for them), but the screen especially is something that I would probably need and do not have.


You don't even have to purchase a DM screen - you can always go a little DIY and make one.

[2D8HP]

Get the Starter Set and use the
free Basic rules (http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules),

and the

Systems Reference Document (http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd)

which are enough for a great game, read 'em, run Lost Mine of Phandelver from the Starter Set, and your pretty good to go!

[DnDegenerates]

Just Google the monsters you want to use. MM is nice to have if you really don't have the time. But you can index card the monsters you actually use. I own the MM and still have small index cards for quick reference/table space when traveling to different venues to run games.

PHB is probably the most solid book to have. It has all of the basic information and useful item / character creation /level advancement you will need to play.

XGTE has a bunch of player options as far as classes go. So it gives some variety if that's what you're looking for. AKA not being limited to PHB class archetypes. The other features of the book are okay. Racial feats and some items, as well as some more optional rules.

DMG is mostly rule clarifications or optional rules, which all whittle down to"dungeon master discretion". 5e is meant to be easy for a table to adjust to their preferences, not rules lawyering. Unless you're doing organized play. Also useful are the magical items/examples. Again, you can just Google these or make up your own.

Many groups get by with just a PHB.

Keep in mind that this edition is fairly balanced and simple. Look at the dragons for example. Armor class doesn't go incredibly high and there aren't health pools in the thousands anymore. Most monsters rarely break into triple digits. So giving players ridiculous magical items can be a pretty big deal if you aren't tossing multiple or enhanced baddies against them.

[clash]

Players handbook is a nice reference to have. Other than that you don't really need anything else. A site like http://www.improved-initiative.com/e/a34dyviv is great for tracking combat initiative/hp and has all of the common monster stats. DMG has some cool stuff, but it's a solid pass for me. Anything in it I can either look up online or is content I can create myself(ie magic items). Xanathars has some cool player option. You can buy just the classes/subclasses online for cheap if that is alll you want though and it includes the content from SCAG so that book is not necessary.

So my advise:
Players handbook
Xanathars class content if players want more options.

the rest are unnecessary.

[KorvinStarmast]

You are on a budget: My recommendation.
1. Buy the Players Handbook.

2. If you can afford, buy the Dungeon Masters Guide. If not immediately, make this your next purchase.

3. Download the SRD Version 5.1 from WoTC. It has loads of monsters and is a good digital resource.

4. Use the MM from the library (do some research) when you need to take notes or introduce another monster.

Running the Starter Set/Lost Mines of Phandelver is a good way to work your way into being a DM. The guidance from the DMG on how to build encounters is something you need to play with a bit.

Also download form WoTC:
Errata for PHB (http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/PH-Errata-V1.pdf)

http://dnd.wizards.com/sites/default/files/media/MM-Errata_0.pdfhttp://dnd.wizards.com/sites/default/files/media/MM-Errata_0.pdf
Errata for DMG (http://dnd.wizards.com/sites/default/files/media/DMG-Errata.pdf)

Spell List (http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/DnD_SpellLists_1.01.pdf)
Monsters by CR (http://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/DnDMonsterLists.pdf)
Magic item list (http://media.wizards.com/2014/downloads/dnd/MagicItemsRarity_printerfriendly.pdf)

Lastly, I suggest also that you download the pregenerated character files from WoTC. It gives you a load of pre made characters of each class that you can plug in as NPC's at the appropriate level.

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/character_sheets

The above are free and very much useful. The Errata provide corrections to the rules.

Sage Advice:
Download the latest Sage Advice Compendium from WoTC (also free (http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/SA-Compendium.pdf)). You don't have to follow or agree with all of the rulings, but it gives you some good insights into the ideas behind the various rules, and how to resolve some of the rules interactions that sometimes crop up.

Best wishes.

[Lord8Ball]

I found a website with pdf from many games including D&D everything you need; however, if you are an honest person and do not want to cheat the creators by getting the pdf free the choice is yours. Since I believe I could get into legal trouble for spreading it publically I can message you the link if you want. If you want to use it anyways click the dungeons and dragons-> 5e->core rulebooks. There are also supplements. Remember to check your direct messages.

[ImproperJustice]

You also may want to take a look at the D&D 5e spell book app available for iPhone and Android.

It has all the spells from all the available spurcebooks, a quick search feature, and you can set up custom spell books for your PCs for quick reference.

It is one of the preferred reaources of our group. It has a free and paid for version with more bells and whistles.

There are some other great apps out there too.
Our GM uses the Campaign Planner that really helps cut down on his prep time.

[opaopajr]

Get the Starter Set and use the
free Basic rules (http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules),

and the

Systems Reference Document (http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd)

which are enough for a great game, read 'em, run Lost Mine of Phandelver from the Starter Set, and your pretty good to go!

Seconded. Basic 5e & SRD, has plenty of stuff for gaming, along with Basic's DMG/MM, EEC, MtG Plane Shifts, and UAs.

It also has less nobs and widgets to manage, which matters for new GMs. Feats and Multiclassing is optional, and leaving them out curtails system mastery overhead headache. This helps getting your table playing faster, which matters more than perfectly tailiored PCs.

The important thing is playing so as to learn the GM arts of juggling content creation, improvisation, time management, active listening, and fair judgment. Players may want everything on, but you are the table's "Master of Ceremonies" and should only bite off what you feel you can chew until you are ready. Don't let players bully you into running your game their way, for that leads down an unhappy road.

[Temperjoke]

I would put on a priority list:

1. PHB
2. DMG
3. XGtE = Volo's
4. MM
5. SCAG

The reason I consider XGtE and Volo's on par with each other is that XGtE has a lot of things that can help a DM with creating a dungeon and running a game. Volo's does a great job of providing information to help you flesh out your campaign and world. But both of them are less important than the PHB which provides lots of rules for actions, lots of information and tables.

Technically, you could run a bare minimum game with just the PHB. The DMG allows you to take that bare minimum and flesh it out more, helping to create more to your world, with information on plots, styles of games, world-building, massive amounts of treasure. XGtE/Volo's helps with that even further, with more guides and world information. The MM just provides more monsters that are useful when working on building dungeons and campaigns, and occasionally to refer to, but I think it's the least useful of them on it's own overall. SCAG is probably the least useful "general" book unless you want to campaign in the current Sword Coast. It's very campaign specific, but doesn't help a lot otherwise, besides providing other classes.

[Raphite1]

Monster Manual is BY FAR my most used book as a DM.

On page 80 or 81 (somewhere in there) of the DMG, there’s a table for building combat encounters, and you can just take a photo of the one table and be good to go. Lots of other very useful stuff in the DMG, but you can get by without it.

If your players want combat in the game, then you will be severely, severely hobbled without the MM.

[SirGraystone]

I found a website with pdf from many games including D&D everything you need; however, if you are an honest person and do not want to cheat the creators by getting the pdf free the choice is yours. Since I believe I could get into legal trouble for spreading it publically I can message you the link if you want. If you want to use it anyways click the dungeons and dragons-> 5e->core rulebooks. There are also supplements. Remember to check your direct messages.

The problem with doing this (other that it's breaking the law) is that if everyones get content for free, publisher won't be able to have the money to produce more content.

[2D8HP]

How I first got 5e D&D rules for "free":


1) Had a Library card

2) Checked out the PHB, DMG, MM, and the Princes of the Apocalypse adventure to show my than ten-years-old son (the same age I was when I first read D&D rules)

3) Read them myself (yes I later bought them, I'm not that much of a tightwad!)


If you're in the United States (especially California), if your local public library doesn't have them, I'd be surprised if you can't get an inter-library loan.

Public libraries are AWESOME!

[the_brazenburn]

How I first got 5e D&D rules for "free":


1) Had a Library card

2) Checked out the PHB, DMG, MM, and the Princes of the Apocalypse adventure to show my than ten-years-old son (the same age I was when I first read D&D rules)

3) Read them myself (yes I later bought them, I'm not that much of a tightwad!)


If you're in the United States (especially California), if your local public library doesn't have them, I'd be surprised if you can't get an inter-library loan.

Public libraries are AWESOME!

True that. Although I now own most of the necessary "core Manuals", I still use library resources for any adventure I feel like running. One of the ones near me has OotA, PotC, HotDQ and RoT, plus a bunch of 3.5 manuals I use for adventure inspiration.

It's a lot cheaper than buying ten or so shiny new $50 manuals if you are only going to use them once or twice a year.

[Quoxis]

How I first got 5e D&D rules for "free":


1) Had a Library card

2) Checked out the PHB, DMG, MM, and the Princes of the Apocalypse adventure to show my than ten-years-old son (the same age I was when I first read D&D rules)

3) Read them myself (yes I later bought them, I'm not that much of a tightwad!)


If you're in the United States (especially California), if your local public library doesn't have them, I'd be surprised if you can't get an inter-library loan.

Public libraries are AWESOME!

Lib-rar-y? What’s that you speak of? Some kind of old world rental store for the physical copies of e-books?

[Sjappo]

Ok, let's chip in. Are you going to play with a regular group? If so, you can spread the pain around a bit. No need for the DM to buy all books.

PHB required, as been established. Eventually most players will want to own one. See if you can get one or two regulars to buy one.
DMG depends on if you are going to home brew or play modules. If the latter you don't need it. If they former you'll get a lot of milage out of the magic item table, encounter building rules etc.
MM same story. Lower priority because availability in the library. Copy the s..t out of it.
Modules are a high priority if you're going to play them, obviously.
XGtE etc. is something you could have your players buy. If one of them want something out of one of these book they can buy it for you to borrow.

In short, I'd buy a module or DMG depending on what kind of campaigno was going to run. I'd let one or more players chip in for a PHB. Player options are for the players who want them. After that I'd get my own PHB and add books when budget allows depending on what's missing in my groups collection or my own preference.

Good luck, and welcome to the hobby.

[Jama7301]

I've been using the SRD monster list for planning an adventure/campaign, but since I've been at lower levels, I haven't run into anything that I feel like I'm really lacking.

Because of this, I put the Monster Manual a bit below my PHB and DMG. The PHB is probably the best book you can the out of the gates, because of the player options and general rules of the game, which helps everybody.

[Dragons_Ire]

Good news! All of the D&D stuff was on sale on Amazon, so I was able to purchase more than I thought I'd be able to!
I purchased the PHB, DMG, and XGtE.

[the_brazenburn]

Good news! All of the D&D stuff was on sale on Amazon, so I was able to purchase more than I thought I'd be able to!
I purchased the PHB, DMG, and XGtE.

Congratulations!

[BLC1975]

Being in a similar position I reckon there should be enough for you to run an enjoyable game and plan adventures with the 3 main books. The only thing I woud add is perhaps buy something like Tomb of Annihilation for the simple reason you can pinch loads of scenarios/maps from it and build them into your campaign. Or just run it as is...it really is a superb resource either way...after that just hoover up other free maps and stuff from Pinterest.

[Laserlight]

The order in which I'd get things:
1. Dice
2. Battlemat and wet erase markers, or whiteboard and dry erase, or whatever you're going to use for combat maps. Tokens / pawns / minis--if you have a printer and cardstock, you can make these easily enough.
3. PHB

You could stop here, if you had to.

4. Monster Manual
5/6. XGtE / DMG or vice versa. The most important parts of the DMG, to me, are the magic items (and I'm pretty sure many are SRD and available online) and how to figure the difficulty of encounters (which you can calculate from Kobold Fight Club or donjon.bin.sh/5e ); however, a new DM might find the rest of the content useful.

You don't need SCAG (although you might want to get the free download from it), or a DM screen (although you'll probably want a reference sheet that lists the status effects such as Blinded, Grappled, Restrained, etc).

I'd also suggest reading The Angry DM's articles. He tends to be rather long winded but has excellent insight on designing encounters.

[Toadkiller]

As was said above - it is valid to spread purchases across the group as well. By this point I have several, but as DM my rule is if they want to play with something from a book I don’t have then they need to bring it with them each game. Hasn’t been a problem, since if they want to play it they typically already have the book too. If it is UA then they have to print it out and bring it.

[Sigreid]

Glad OP was able to get the books he felt he needed most. My experience is it's pretty normal for everyone to wind up with most or all rulebooks eventually.