As a general user (no specific games or goals for my books/collection at the moment), and with limited funds, I need to figure out what to buy first. What should I buy first? Assume these are the only books I don't have right now. My goal would be to have a well rounded collection. I don't have a particular affinity for dragons or MtG, for example, but if these would get me closer to a well rounded, broadly appealing, and diverse storytelling experience, then that's what I would like to have. Assume, adventures and sourcebooks have same importance, if they broaden the collection most, that's what I am looking for. Thanks for your input.
If you are going to play with other people, and dont want to create your own adventure, get an adventure book. That's really their only purpose. Personally, my favorite adventure is Candlekeep Mysteries.
Books like Fizbans treasury of dragons and M3 are very good in the sense that they add monsters and lore to your collection. However, the only current way to get M3 is in a bundle, and if you already have Tashas and Xanathars, then it's probably not worth it.
The Spelljammer books and Van Richtens are just adding certain elements to your game and you should probably only get them if you want to do space adventures or horror D&D. Unless you just like seeing what books have in them for almost no other reason, like me.
Long story short, it depends on your personal interests and campaign themes, hopefully I helped you understand which book is important for which.
Roll high and good luck with choosing the right book!
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The thing is, it depends on your priorities, your tastes and methods.
Are you looking to homebrew? Then a setting book or Monsters of the Multiverse will get you very far. If you're looking to just do published adventures, then they will be basically useless to you.
What genre do you like? What kind of environment?
I'd stay away from Spelljammer for now. It's expensive for the amount of content you get, the adventure is really short (L5-8) and only a limited amount of setting information. Unless you are really interested in going into space and the genre in general, I wouldn't get it just yet - least bang for your buck.
Radiant Citadel and Candlekeep are anthologies of short adventures, so those are more for a collection of backup quests if you need one quickly. They can be played as an adventure, but due to their anthology nature they lack narrative, which isna significant loss in my opinion. I'd recommend that you leave them for that reason. They're good in their own way, but are nice extras rather than part of the core experience, in my opinion.
The adventures highly.depend on taste. We're enjoying Rime of the Frostmaiden, but it depends on what you like.
I'd say Fitzbans is too focused. If you really want to do dragons and get in depth with them, great. But if you're limited in what you can buy, then you want to be able to do more than just create dragons and dragon themed stuff.
I don't own setting.guides like the Ravnica one, so I can't make a judgement on that, whether it's useful, worth it, etc.
Monsters of the Multiverse would really good, if you're homebrewing. A nice companion to the monster manual, it also gives 30 playable races (revisits found in other books, so depends on what others you have).
So, yeah, more info needed.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Novice DM, fair bit more time as player. One objective is to get a fairly wide collection of D&D and RPG/Fantasy concepts, tropes, and foundational components. Exploring a fairly broadly defined (or undefined, more likely) story idea; I guess you could say I'm working on a homebrew or just got a worldbuilding jones but trying to expand my knowledge of fantasy ideas, starting with the D&D universe and expanding after digesting a portion of what 5e can give.
If, as you instruct in the OP, we are to assume you already own the major supplements (like Xanathar's, MToF, Tasha's, etc.), I'd skip Monsters of the Multiverse for now. The book is mostly a handy compilation of existing content with some variations on stat blocks and player races. Instead, I'd go for Van Richten.
The Domains of Dread are a unique setting, and the book has a lot of fun lore and inspiration for DMs interested in exploring different kinds of horror. It's a how-to for homebrewing campaigns/encounters with creepy elements, it's chock full of sample settings and NPCs, has a fun Tier 1 adventure, provides you the Ravenloft lineages (dhampir, hexblood and reborn) and some subclasses, and includes a dozen or so interesting monsters of varying CRs. Better bang for a DM's buck, in my opinion.
If, as you instruct in the OP, we are to assume you already own the major supplements (like Xanathar's, MToF, Tasha's, etc.), I'd skip Monsters of the Multiverse for now. The book is mostly a handy compilation of existing content with some variations on stat blocks and player races. Instead, I'd go for Van Richten.
The Domains of Dread are a unique setting, and the book has a lot of fun lore and inspiration for DMs interested in exploring different kinds of horror. It's a how-to for homebrewing campaigns/encounters with creepy elements, it's chock full of sample settings and NPCs, has a fun Tier 1 adventure, provides you the Ravenloft lineages (dhampir, hexblood and reborn) and some subclasses, and includes a dozen or so interesting monsters of varying CRs. Better bang for a DM's buck, in my opinion.
Again though, Van Richtens is mostly for horror campaigns or making monsters scary.
It does have a lot of Ravenloft plane ideas, which could inspire a campaign, but it suggests a rather different style than the way most people play D&D.
But if horror or horror tropes is of any interest to you, then as TheolegyofBagels said, go Van Richtens.
Monsters of the Multiverse strikes me as the “right” option - it is going to have a bunch of races for your players to utilise, a bunch of streamlined monsters that will be easier to run as DM, and just a fair bit of content overall that is generally applicable to all stages of gameplay, including both homebrew and fleshing out adventures.
That said, I also LOVE Candlekeep Mysteries. It’s not great for “rounding out your collection”, but it is a really useful tool for those days when you are a little too busy to do DM prep and need a quick, easy quest that can be finished in a session or two. The “library” theme makes it a little targeted in how you can use it, but the adventures are super easy to adapt into any homebrew or existing adventure. I am glad Wizards is making more of these mini, transplantable adventures with Radiant Citadel and am rather looking forward to that book’s release as well.
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As a general user (no specific games or goals for my books/collection at the moment), and with limited funds, I need to figure out what to buy first. What should I buy first? Assume these are the only books I don't have right now. My goal would be to have a well rounded collection. I don't have a particular affinity for dragons or MtG, for example, but if these would get me closer to a well rounded, broadly appealing, and diverse storytelling experience, then that's what I would like to have. Assume, adventures and sourcebooks have same importance, if they broaden the collection most, that's what I am looking for. Thanks for your input.
If you are going to play with other people, and dont want to create your own adventure, get an adventure book. That's really their only purpose. Personally, my favorite adventure is Candlekeep Mysteries.
Books like Fizbans treasury of dragons and M3 are very good in the sense that they add monsters and lore to your collection. However, the only current way to get M3 is in a bundle, and if you already have Tashas and Xanathars, then it's probably not worth it.
The Spelljammer books and Van Richtens are just adding certain elements to your game and you should probably only get them if you want to do space adventures or horror D&D. Unless you just like seeing what books have in them for almost no other reason, like me.
Long story short, it depends on your personal interests and campaign themes, hopefully I helped you understand which book is important for which.
Roll high and good luck with choosing the right book!
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.I recommend reading the buyer's guide forum post that will break down what's in each for you. I have it linked in my signature.
Buyers Guide for D&D Beyond - Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You - How/What is Toggled Content?
Everything you need to know about Homebrew - Homebrew FAQ - Digital Book on D&D Beyond Vs Physical Books
Can't find the content you are supposed to have access to? Read this FAQ.
"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
The thing is, it depends on your priorities, your tastes and methods.
Are you looking to homebrew? Then a setting book or Monsters of the Multiverse will get you very far. If you're looking to just do published adventures, then they will be basically useless to you.
What genre do you like? What kind of environment?
I'd stay away from Spelljammer for now. It's expensive for the amount of content you get, the adventure is really short (L5-8) and only a limited amount of setting information. Unless you are really interested in going into space and the genre in general, I wouldn't get it just yet - least bang for your buck.
Radiant Citadel and Candlekeep are anthologies of short adventures, so those are more for a collection of backup quests if you need one quickly. They can be played as an adventure, but due to their anthology nature they lack narrative, which isna significant loss in my opinion. I'd recommend that you leave them for that reason. They're good in their own way, but are nice extras rather than part of the core experience, in my opinion.
The adventures highly.depend on taste. We're enjoying Rime of the Frostmaiden, but it depends on what you like.
I'd say Fitzbans is too focused. If you really want to do dragons and get in depth with them, great. But if you're limited in what you can buy, then you want to be able to do more than just create dragons and dragon themed stuff.
I don't own setting.guides like the Ravnica one, so I can't make a judgement on that, whether it's useful, worth it, etc.
Monsters of the Multiverse would really good, if you're homebrewing. A nice companion to the monster manual, it also gives 30 playable races (revisits found in other books, so depends on what others you have).
So, yeah, more info needed.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
To add to linklite's (good) questions: are you DM or a player?
Novice DM, fair bit more time as player. One objective is to get a fairly wide collection of D&D and RPG/Fantasy concepts, tropes, and foundational components. Exploring a fairly broadly defined (or undefined, more likely) story idea; I guess you could say I'm working on a homebrew or just got a worldbuilding jones but trying to expand my knowledge of fantasy ideas, starting with the D&D universe and expanding after digesting a portion of what 5e can give.
If, as you instruct in the OP, we are to assume you already own the major supplements (like Xanathar's, MToF, Tasha's, etc.), I'd skip Monsters of the Multiverse for now. The book is mostly a handy compilation of existing content with some variations on stat blocks and player races. Instead, I'd go for Van Richten.
The Domains of Dread are a unique setting, and the book has a lot of fun lore and inspiration for DMs interested in exploring different kinds of horror. It's a how-to for homebrewing campaigns/encounters with creepy elements, it's chock full of sample settings and NPCs, has a fun Tier 1 adventure, provides you the Ravenloft lineages (dhampir, hexblood and reborn) and some subclasses, and includes a dozen or so interesting monsters of varying CRs. Better bang for a DM's buck, in my opinion.
Again though, Van Richtens is mostly for horror campaigns or making monsters scary.
It does have a lot of Ravenloft plane ideas, which could inspire a campaign, but it suggests a rather different style than the way most people play D&D.
But if horror or horror tropes is of any interest to you, then as TheolegyofBagels said, go Van Richtens.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.Monsters of the Multiverse strikes me as the “right” option - it is going to have a bunch of races for your players to utilise, a bunch of streamlined monsters that will be easier to run as DM, and just a fair bit of content overall that is generally applicable to all stages of gameplay, including both homebrew and fleshing out adventures.
That said, I also LOVE Candlekeep Mysteries. It’s not great for “rounding out your collection”, but it is a really useful tool for those days when you are a little too busy to do DM prep and need a quick, easy quest that can be finished in a session or two. The “library” theme makes it a little targeted in how you can use it, but the adventures are super easy to adapt into any homebrew or existing adventure. I am glad Wizards is making more of these mini, transplantable adventures with Radiant Citadel and am rather looking forward to that book’s release as well.