Which D&D Books Should You BUY?? (2024)

There are a TON of D&D 5e books, but which books (and boxes) are actually worth buying? This video is your Dungeons & Dragons 5e buyer's guide for 2024, covering EVERYTHING published for D&D 5e since 2014! ▶️ More below! ⏬

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00:00 how many dnd 5e books are there??
02:20 best "dnd" books for beginners
06:55 how to get the most fun out of dnd
08:55 the ONLY dnd book you "need"
11:30 everyone's favorite dnd books
17:28 dnd books you don't need
19:24 cool dnd setting books for players & DMs
24:58 okay dnd anthology books for DMs
29:04 big dumb dnd adventure books
34:49 the dnd book I have a personal vendetta against

#dnd #dungeonsanddragons

[Enn-]

If I recall... the last time you put out a video like this, a couple weeks later, you asked for Christmas Ideas, and I said you have enough D&D books, and suggested a nice, comfortable poncho.

[techie]

I won't say Fizban's is my favorite, but it's definitely the only time I opened a book, read through and saw a singular table that made me think, "man am I glad I bought this". The dragon name phonemes table is a life saver.

[pipechair_DnD]

My personal favorite 5e non-core book is Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master, followed by Arcana of the Ancients. I love playing with the steampunk/magicpunk setting of Eberron, so I often "divert" data from the sci-fi settings that work in 5e. It's something that's not in the "official" books.

[TreantmonksTemple]

The official setting of the 2024 PHB will actually be "The Multiverse" including Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, and all other D&D settings including your homebrew settings.
The 2024 DMG will include some information about Greyhawk and a 2 sided map (campaign world/main city) with the suggestion that DM's may wish to use Greyhawk as a setting due to it being less fleshed out than other official settings.

[BrenoAngelotti]

Honestly, I love these videos since D&D books are quite expensive in Brazil and I don't want to "waste" my money figuring out which books are good. BUT the section showing alternatives to D&D is always even better, reminding me other systems can but as much fun (maybe even more fun) without giving money to what has become a really shady corporation. Thanks Bob!

[davidjennings]

Can confirm the roll under is better with kids. They understand what they're aiming for right off the bat (rather than a seemingly arbitrary number chosen by the GM) and it's clear how things come down to a dice roll.

With a few tweaks I ran a call of cthulu game for my nephew and a few of his friends. The setting was based on five nights at Freddie's (apparently a big hit with kids). It works on a d100 roll under with a couple of divisions for harder checks/better success.

[Brik]

as an old time fan of Dragonlance, Shadow of the Dragon Queen was a fantastic Campain to run, and while i had no idea what planescape was about that campain was amazing too,

[Matthimeo]

“Dungeons Of Drakenhiem” and “Call From The Deep” are amazing 3rd party campaigns, I highly recommend them

[spacerx]

I like that the first recommendation is actually Shadowdark. The second and last could well be the full version of that game.

[Sortiara]

I was just searching 'this' video up because I wanted to rewatch the 2022(?) version and then I see that this was uploaded 40 minutes ago. Perfect timing lol

Obviously, I've not yet watched the video yet, but either way, thank you again for what is sure to be usful advice!!

[christopherscholl]

My only problem with DCC for new players, is that it assumes a certain level of familiarity. It was the first TTRPG that I bought, and I did a lot of cross-referencing with second-hand D&D 3.0 books that I bought from a thift store right after acquiring DCC. I appreciate your recommendation of DCC as a progression after learning D&D from other sources.

[captainkiwi]

That essentials kit is amazing. The material stuff they give you is so much, and nothing loops the party in like getting a physical quest card (and I didn’t have to spend 30 min browning paper) and the magic items are great. The map stays on the table during the session unless we need the space, makes phandalin feel like home, and the north sword coast region becomes visible and conceivable to them.
Most importantly that adventure, if itself a little light on compelling plot lines, is perfectly bite sized to fit in various campaigns. I pull the individual quests apart to use in lost mines of phandelver, and a prequel campaign my party asked for.

[andrewstraight]

Amazing vid, Bob! Equal parts history, community/internet reception, and book categorization all with your classic chill, even-handed approach. I look forward to these vids every year!

[toddpickens]

Good stuff. Thank you for not sugar coating WotC treatment of spelljammer, planescape, and dragonlance.

Polite, professional, and accurate.

[PiiskaJesusFreak]

Surprised of no recommendation of buying Shadowdark, just using the free ruleset. Shadowdark is awesome value if you decide to buy it. Very complete, concise and easy to use.

[darrenlodge]

An awesome video! As a gamer (99% of the time as a GM) who started in 1980, onboarding new players is something I've done too many times to remember - and this advice you lay out for the current game is fantastic. Starting with Shadowdark's free basic rules is a perfect approach to enable an understanding of the baseline game mechanics and terms and the style of these types of games. Well done Bob. Love this.

[louis]

I like Books with lore. In terms of rules/system, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the DC20 Kickstarter, mentioned at 7:39 which launches June 4th.

[bradwilcox]

Commenting not just for the algorithm, but to say you rock Bob! Thanks for all your wonderful videos!

[SilverBolt]

My personal recs for 3rd party supplements are the Lazy DM series, and the Griffon's Saddlebag series!
Lazy DM made the process of putting together my homebrew game far more manageable, and has so much great advice packed in.
Griffon's Saddlebag is perfect for magic item lovers; there's nearly 1000 magic items across both volumes, plus subclasses, plug-n-play settings, monsters, loot tables, and a few races.

For other systems, I'm very excited for the Tales from the Myriad. The beta is looking so good, I adore the way it's managed to incorporate skill trees into class progression! Most of it is close enough to 5e that I should be able to get my table to at least try it.

[AwesomeWookiee]

The Planescape set is actually VERY, VERY good. But Eberron: RftLW is definitely the goat for 5e books.