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Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > Buyers Guide- 5E D&D for Dungeons and Dragons for Beginners
5th edition

Buyers Guide- 5E D&D for Dungeons and Dragons for Beginners

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5th editionNerdarchy has been asked many times what do I need to play Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.  Before I get into that last week we covered non combat encounters.

Dungeons and Dragons RPG has been around for a long time.  For as long as it has been around to be a player all you need is a players handbook and a set of polyhedral dice.  You can grab the products here.

The players handbook has all the rules you need to play the game with loads of race and class options.  With the many different races and a dozen classes there are more options then a person can play over the years.

So lets actually talk some numbers.  If you count subraces you can technically play 24 different races.  That is a ton of options.  While there are 12 different classes in 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons they have options within each class giving you even more options and flavor. If you count all the archetypes available you actually have 40 choices in classes.  So if you want to count alignment out of the equation that is potentially 960 mechanically different race class combinations.  If you do add alignment into it is over 8500 possible combinations.

All of this leaves back ground and role playing options aside.  So now you can clearly see my point that there are more playable options then you actually have time to play.

So if you are a player getting the PHB is all you want.  Now if you are one of those willing and able to step up and run adventures as a Dungeon Master you are going to need your Dungeon Master Guide and dungeons and dragonsYour Monster Manual.  The MOST important rule that you need as a DM is that if you disagree with something change it.  It IS within your power.

You can also get your DM screen.  It has a cool scene on the front to help immerse your players into the game while separating your notes from their view.  On your side it has lots of very useful information, some not included in the DMG.

So if you purchase these books at your Friendly Local Gaming Store, or FLGS, you can be a dungeon master for around $170.  Not a bad investment for years worth of entertainment and fun.

Now if this is too much of an investment there is the SRD for 5e and contains most of the rules and is completely free.  You can see the SRD here.

5th editionNow there are lots of other books that you can get but are not necessary to run your own created adventures, but should you want to run preplanned adventures you have several options.  You can get Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Rise of Tiamant, Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, and Curse of Strahd.  All of these are a campaign and are chocked full of awesome content that you can either use as is and play the games as they are written or you can pull bits and pieces out and use the parts you want.  Monsters, magic items locations and NPCs as well as other useful content.  You can use as much or as little as you like.

Lastly you can get the only single Splat book, Sword Coast Adventures Guide.  It has some new player options for you as a player and a GM.  So with all of these books should you pay full retail price it is going to be about $420.  Now that might be a lot but it is enough info there to run and play games until Armageddon takes us.

Now you can also get that for around half price off of Amazon.  As a reminder if you only want to be a player you can do so for under $30.  So there you have the Buyers Guide for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.

As always thanks for reading.  Until Next Time Stay Nerdy!

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Ted Adams

The nerd is strong in this one. I received my bachelors degree in communication with a specialization in Radio/TV/Film. I have been a table op role player for about 20 years 17 of which with the current group. I have played several itterations of D&D, Mutants and Masterminds 2nd and 3rd editions, Star wars RPG, Shadowrun and World of Darkness. I am an avid fan of books and follow a few authors reading all they write. Favorite author is Jim Butcher I have been an on/off larper for around 15 years even doing a stretch of running my own for a while. I have played a number of Miniature games including Warhammer 40K, Warhammer Fantasy, Heroscape, Mage Knight, Dreamblade and D&D Miniatures. I have practiced with the art of the German long sword with an ARMA group for over 7 years studying the German long sword, sword and buckler, dagger, axe and polearm. By no strecth of the imagination am I an expert but good enough to last longer than the average person if the Zombie apocalypse ever happens. I am an avid fan of board games and dice games with my current favorite being Quarrios.

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