What D&D Books Should You BUY? (2023)

There are even more D&D 5e books since last year's complete D&D book review, not to mention a shift in the industry! So which books (and boxes) are actually worth buying? This video is your Dungeons & Dragons 5e buyer's guide for 2023! ▶️ More below! ⏬

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00:00 dnd 5e has too many books!
01:07 you don't "need" any dnd books
02:11 the best dnd* book for beginners
03:39 comparing the dnd box sets
05:05 get some fantasy art! (sponsor)
06:14 the dnd 5e core rules are FREE now
07:44 when to explore other RPGs
08:48 comparing dnd rulebooks for PLAYERS
10:07 the BEST books for game masters
11:10 best type of book for diy GMs
13:13 overview of all dnd 5e SETTINGS
18:39 overview of all dnd 5e CAMPAIGNS
24:56 my favorite type of dnd 5e book!

#dnd #dungeonsanddragons #dnd5ebooks

[BobWorldBuilder]

*save 20% on 1-2, or 30% on 3+ Displates with this link!

[DungeonMasterpiece]

Smashing together all 3 starter sets into one sandbox, and running it in Cairn is an EPIC campaign.

[chasunity]

Return of the Lazy DM is probably the single best thing I used when learning to DM the game. It's also system agnostic and will work with almost anything.

[adamvolk]

Of course he donated his old D&D books to his high school. Just an absolute class act. You rock, Bob.

[chasunity]

Can confirm, the Eberron book is well laid out and easy to use.

[garwynrosser]

The best thing about strahd is the roleplaying possibilities. Being able to used your villan and his home as many times as you like is a really refreshing experience.

[lunamoth]

I was sad to not see Fizban's Treasury of Dragons mentioned at all here. Definitely one of my favorite books as a DM, giving me a ton of ideas for how different types of dragons work within the world. Also the new dragonborns.

[Skoozi]

Tell Displate they should be printing battle maps for different combat environments.

[joshs_boxes]

I think all the shoutouts to third party content really made this video a great one for people of all different familiarity leveled. Well done!

[SlyFlourish]

The two books currently helping me the most are the Midgard Worldbook by Kobold Press and from a couple of years ago Eberron Rising from the Last War. Big thick setting books with lots of places and lots of details seem to let me fill out campaigns forever. They build this rich tapestry I can come back to again and again.

[SlyFlourish]

For the Tome of Beasts, Kobold Press just released a new updated version of the Tome of Beasts 1. All four of the books are great but I'd probably start with that one if you don't have any of the Tomes of Beastes.

[Malkuth-Gaming]

I would also like to add that Xanathars backstory tables are really fun to roll on if you have no idea what kind of character you want to play. Or just want some inspiration, and I do agree that Tashas, while having some really powerful character options (Bladesinger and Twilight/Peace domain clerics, we're mainly looking at you), they dont really add much else to the table. Van Richtens is a good guide on how to make a villain.

[ntune]

Cairn + The Perilous Wilds make for a fantastic, low cost and low page count combo.

[TobiasJohansenMusic]

Genuinely i think Griffon's Saddelbag has been one of the best additions to my game. I know it's just magic items, but the inspiration I've gotten from that book, both for adventures, npcs and artifacts are immense.

[FattyMcFox]

A friend and i came up with a concept called a " Game grimoire " in which each person make their own collection of rules that they use, drawn from official materials and supplements. It is best to get a bunch of people who all have different supplementary materials and you spend a few days and order the rules in the way you want them. the down side is collating them and coppying them into your notebooks takes a long time. But at the end, you reduce a stack of books into a smaller stack of books with the rules and classes / subclasses you use most.
This is also a great way to collect all the spells scattered through out the offical book, and have the rules or items. These game grimoires are very useful for DMs with rotating players who have characters from everywhere.

[MennoNate]

I'm really excited about looking into the Agnostic: TTRPG Prep Method booklet by Map Crow.

It's designed to help people, with too many books, use those books to create a 1-3 session adventure. They could be RPG books or just like any random book. It looks super cool.

[shadomain]

I think you're absolutely right about Witchlight. If you write/run any homebrew adventures, it's worth the read even if you never run it, to get some insight into encounter design that might be different than the traditional styles

[msarsur]

Really appreciate your input, Bob. Give Ravnica a try; I've been in love with it ever since the first Magic expansion on the plane, been running a campaign in Ravnica since early 2023, and my players (most of them non-Magic players) love it as well. It's a great setting for urban adventures and faction intrigues.

[mirrikybird]

If you find yourself playing dnd and keep asking yourself "how can I do X" or trying to bend the rules into when you want to play (like a scifi setting, trying to run a heist, political intrigue, owning a business, low magic, swashbuckling, etc) there is a 100% change there is a different TRPG system that does exactly what you want and sooo much better.

dnd is as modular as a rube goldberg machine. It's possible if you don't value your time and enjoyment, and it rarely works how you imagine it will.

[ericpeterson]

For 5th edition, it's the PHB. For D&D overall, my most used book was a 3rd edition splat book called Sword & Fist. It had player options for monks and fighters as well as a sample combat for different playstyles. Besides that, it had awesome artwork that I still find inspiring.