I have been starting out playing DnD and so far I have loved it. But I have one problem, 

WHAT DND BOOKS SHOULD I BUY.

I don't really know which ones are really crucial and needed to play a good campign. I have been scouring the internet for books and it seems there are so many books and additions to the game. I really need some advice and help with this. I appreciate all answers. Thank you!

1 - The Basic Rules - they are FREE

2 - The Player's Handbook - with one caveat. D&D is undergoing a series of changes which may make the current PHB obsolete in a year or so. That being said, the PHB is quite a good resource in general for all players and GMs.

So, the classic big 3 are:

Players hand book (PHB): this is something that should be in every players repertoire because it covers most of the classes, playable races, rules, spell lists, equipment and backgrounds. I've been playing 5th since it started and I still read through it on a routine basis.

Dungeon masters guide (DMG): another must for a potential new GM; this book gives you a better idea of how to go about setting up a campaign and/or building worlds for players to engage with along with ways to reward them and keep them occupied between adventures.

Monster Manual (MM): Heroes need monsters to crump and this book will give you a broad variety of them along with explanations of their history, behavior and motivations.

From there it can get a bit fuzzy as a player and/or GM since a lot of it comes down to taste; Setting books will give you broad overviews of different established campaign settings (IE Forgotten Realms (where the recent D&D movie was set), Ebberon (Kind of a steam punk setting), Mythic Theros (Think greek mythology) or Ravenloft (Gothic horror)) while Player boosters  (IE Volo's, Tasha's, Xanathar's) tend to offer up more player options (IE subclasses, backgrounds, spells and races).

Also as has been previously noted a new PHB, DMG and MM are on the horizon as the game transitions towards a bit of an update, but based on what I've heard it's more like an update patch that is intended to be compatable with 5e then a true new edition.

If you're a player the PHB (Player's Handbook) is nice. It's got quite a few options for classes that'll give you a lot of variety in and of itself. It's got some fun subclasses in it. It's also on sale for 50% off right now which is a pretty good deal. (As others mentioned there's One D&D around the corner coming, but that's a judgement call you'll have to make for yourself.)

But you can also get by with the Basic Rules depending on how much variety you're looking for.

I guess the big question is: What is it you're thinking you need in order to play a good campaign? Since that might help us direct your queries more. And perhaps what you're looking for doesn't require purchasing books but rather reading free articles or watching YouTube videos for advice. Are you looking for how to design things? How to run things? Examples of adventurers? Since there's a lot of options out there on how to tackle things.

I would disagree about the DMG. I hardly look at the thing. Same with the MM. 

How to play and how to GM is both in the Basic Rules which also happens to contain monsters. More details and also expanded rules set can be found in the PHB.

players handbook (most important), dungeon master guide and monster manual is classic, if you want specifiically increase options go for tasha, xanathar and monsters of  the multiverse

if you want some kind of wotc finished product which lead your party from start to ending of specific story, you need buy adventure, which one depends from your taste and need some info from you about what kind of setting would you like, you can just join campaign with shared content to make a look at book content (or find them at third party site)

if you want just most simply adventure go for lost mine

PHB, Xanathars, Tasha's would be my recommendation.

With the current sale the PHB, DMG, and Monster Manual are a pretty good bargain in my opinion.

I do agree that the DMG is not only unnecessary and rarely used, it does have some good information and at $15 I think it is worth consideration since the 2014 core 3 will allow you to get by until the new 2024 versions are available(some will not be available until 2025)  and possibly on sale before you want/need to upgrade.

Just my 2 coppers. 

IMO the DMG and MM are musts for a fairly fresh DM; yes, hands on experience can be a good substitute for their material, but not everyone is going to have that experience or be comfortable trying to just wing it. The DMG offers a lot of good streamlined information for larger elements of the typical D&D setting like the various Planes, suggestions for some alternate rewards (which are really underrated imo), and worldbuilding prompts. And, as noted, there's a lot of material in the MM so you're playing creatures with their own vibes and motivations rather than just generic "rarr, I'm the monster at the end of this tunnel" encounters. Sure, you can dig around for most of that on the internet, but imo there's a lot of chaff out there to sift through.

Even if you only read the DMG once, it's a super useful book... for DMs. As a DM who started playing with AD&D, this edition of the DMG introduces a lot of new content to use in games:

• Ideas for designing cities and kingdoms, using factions, and creating engaging events for campaigns
• Explanations of how the multiverse and planes work in D&D
• Tips for creating adventures, encounters, NPCs, villains, and tracking campaigns
• More downtime activities, including selling magical items
• Ideas for creating dungeons, wilderness survival and other environments, as well as ideas for traps and rules on how to detect and disable them
• A vast amount of magic items, artifacts, and other kinds of rewards
• And the most important part. A fundamental chapter to read if you are a Dungeon Master in 5e -- Chapter 8: How to Run a Game
  • Tips on how and when using ability scores, ability checks and saving throws
  • Inspiration
  • Movement, travel pace and visibility
  • Social interactions (this is really important, even if you don't want to use these rules in your games)
  • Statistic for objects
  • Combat: rules for critical hits, improvising damage, Areas of Effect with or without grids, handling miniatures and tactical maps, line of sight, cover, flanking, optional rule for diagonals or facing, and more (diseases, poisons, XP & milestones...)

Probably it might not be the kind of book you read very often, and for many as you see in this thread, it's optional. However, for me, it is a core book and totally worth it.

Dip your toes in with the free Basic Rules or even a D&D Starter Set on sale (if you don't have a local gaming store to purchase from), and once you've established you like this game enough to invest into it then you can think about books to purchase.

My recommended purchasing order: Player's Handbook > Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything > Xanathar’s Guide to Everything > Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons (if you like dragons) > Anything else you might fancy

For DM'ing you can add the Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual to your collection. For lore, Forgotten Realms Wiki is a great free resource.

If you're playing exclusively using DnDBeyond, be sure to also check out the links in my signature for some of the free content available here. Ultimately, you can get surprisingly far into D&D without having to spend anything.

Quote from MJ16499 >>

I have been starting out playing DnD and so far I have loved it. But I have one problem, 

WHAT DND BOOKS SHOULD I BUY.

I don't really know which ones are really crucial and needed to play a good campign. I have been scouring the internet for books and it seems there are so many books and additions to the game. I really need some advice and help with this. I appreciate all answers. Thank you!

 You are entering the game at an "interesting" time, with the switchover to 6e starting very soon. The wisest thing you can do is not buy anything, for now. Just use the free SRD and other free sources made available by wotc. That is more than enough for new players to learn the game, and enjoy it. If you are still enjoying it 4-6 months from now, there will be new source material available for purchase. And as player, all you ever need is the PHB. Players should never, ever look at the MM or DMG. Those are the purview of the DM. So for now, use the free 5e source material to learn the game. 6e will be on us very soon.

If you are going to buy books, you should know that the core (PHB, DMG, MM) books are 50% off on digital until June 9th, I think.

There's a "Buyer's Guide" thread pinned at the top of this forum, which will probably help. But I'll put in my two cents anyway:

• If you just want a rules reference, the free basic rules are fine, though if you prefer print, you'll want the PHB.
• If you want to have character options for playing, definitely the PHB, with Xanathar's and Tasha's if you want still more.
• If you want to DM, you'll need the PHB/Basic rules for the rules, and the MM and DMG are useful, but not 100% mandatory. (It is also perfectly fine to read them as a player, but there's not a lot of point.) Monsters of the Multiverse gives you even more monsters, and also extra player species, but it's optional.

If you're playing or DMing on D&D Beyond, there's also content sharing: if somebody with a Master subscription turns it on for a campaign, everyone has access to everybody else's books within that campaign -- you get the character builder options always, and can read the book unless the DM turns that off.

With the updated PHB coming in September, and the DMG and MM at intervals after that, there's an argument for waiting, but if you're playing now, that won't help.

Here's a guide I wrote elsewhere:

1. The Player's Handbook. This has the full set of "normal" rules, which you'll probably want to read and understand after a couple of sessions so you know how things are done. It also has several additional subclasses for each class as well as additional playable races, allowing for greater variety and choice. You also get extra spells, equipment and so forth. For most players, I'd recommend this and then to stop. You don't need anything else really. Please note that a new edition is being reeased.in September 2024, so you will probably want to hold until then rather than having to buy twice.
2. If you have the itch for more, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is a good book. More subclasses, more spells, more ways to customise your player. It also has an additional class, the Artificer, and four subclasses for it. It's more focused on the player in my opinion, so I'd put it ahead of its sister book, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, but if there's something specific to XGtE that you want, you could easily get that instead.
3. Xanathar's Guide to Everything again has more subclasses etc, but is more focused on the DM, but again, it has enough player stuff (and the DM stuff is largely optional rules that won't harm for you to learn anyway) that it's a valid purchase instead of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything if you see something you like (like a specific subclass you want to play).

Honestly, I'd really stop there. The only other book that has a real draw would Monsters of the Multiverse, with 33 playable races. However, it's mostly a collection of monster statblocks (other than the playable races) which are virtually useless for players, so I'd speak to your DM, and maybe see if they want it or to go splits or something. 

There is a smattering of player options elsewhere, but it's all mostly DM stuff with a couple of player options sprinkled in, so not worth buying entire books for them.

If you're looking to DM, the priorities are different:

1. Get the Player's Handbook, you'll need the rules. Bear in mind that it will be replaced in September 2024, so you may want to hold off until then rather than buying twice.
2. You'll need monster statblocks. If you're looking to run official adventures, then you'll need the Monster Manual (this will be replaced in February 2025, so be aware). If you're looking to homebrew your adventures instead, then you can pick between the Monster Manual and Monsters of the Multiverse (the second book is not being replaced, so you can comfortably buy that now if you wished), or both. I don't think you'd need both straightaway, there are plenty of statblocks to work with. Personally, I'd go with the Monster Manual since it has a lot more of the "standard" creatures that you'd probably want, then get MotM later if you feel the need.
3. Onto the optional purchases. The Dungeon Master's Guide has a lot of good advice and guidance on things. I wouldn't call it necessary, but there's good stuff in there.
4. If you're home-brewing your adventures, Monsters of the Multiverse has a lot of new monsters you can add as well as 33 playable races for your players. It's good.
5. If you're wanting to run an official adventure, you'll need to buy one. Which one depends on your taste. Each one is dependent on taste - each one has people who love it fanatically and other who despise it. It's all about taste and what the strengths and weaknesses of the DM are. Research each one, find one that suits the genre you think you'd like, then ask around. Bear in mind that that people will state their opinion as fact though, so don't be too swayed by their opinions of it, but it might help you understand the style and layout of the adventure.
6. There are setting and deep dive books books, which can be really good. See which ones are applicable to the game you want to run. They're not necessary in any shape or form, they just might help develop things out a bit. For example, I personally found Fizban's Treasury of Dragons a brilliant book for expanding on dragons and dragon related stuff. I wouldn't (personally) buy Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, not because it's bad (to the contrary, I've heard it's really good), but because my players would never want to play a horror game. 

So that's my guide to what to buy.

As others have mentioned, take advantage of all the free resources first. I would not spend any money on this hobby until you have finished at least one or two campaigns first. Basic Rules and Standard Reference Document are free, and so is the Elemental Evil Player Companion. Unearthed Arcana is also free, and while it is not official published content, it is still made by Wizards as the playtest beta versions of the published stuff, and there is a lot of free stuff.

If you are really sure that you are ready to spend money, keep in mind that there will be a new set of core rule books, and that may cause the old core books to be obsolete. Based on how Wizards treats old books and content, Beyond may discontinue the sale of the current version of the PHB, DMG, and MM. If you are prone to FOMO, you may want to get the current core books now. If you are not prone to FOMO, then I advise you to wait until the new set of core books come out.

If you are a player, the first book to spend money on would be the PHB. The second book should be XGTE or TCOE; you cannot go wrong with either book, as both provide a lot of subclasses and other player options. The third book will be XGTE or TCOE (whichever one you did not purchase for the second); alternatively, you may also want to consider purchasing MP:MOTM (gives you lots of fun species options) as your third book. Those four books will give you the bulk of player options.

If you are a GM, be prepared to deal with the urge to spend a lot of money on this hobby, and you are likely to spend more than all your players combined. As a GM, I would also prioritize getting the same four books mentioned above, so you can give your players the most amount of options for a relatively reasonable price. However, I would not rush to buy the DMG nor MM. In my opinion, they simply are not great tools, and not very practical either. The DMG is not a good guide to onboard new GMs, and you are better off getting your GM education for free from the forums, Reddit, Matt Colville's GMing videos, or even simply shadow and/or play with your local GM. The DMG is good for optional and variant rules though, so if you are an experienced GM needing some inspiration from time to time, that is when I would turn to the DMG for help. MM is not necessary either, as the BR/SRD gives you more than enough basic monsters to run, and the vast ocean of free homebrew monsters on the internet provides limitless variety to spice things up. If you are running adventures with Beyond, you do not need MM since the adventure books also provides all the necessary stat blocks. Even if you are running adventures with physical books, I would still advise against purchasing the physical MM book, as it takes up way too much space at the table and it is super clunky requiring you to flip pages back and forth; if you are running adventures with physical books, I recommend getting MM in its digital format and/or get the physical monster cards. MM as physical monster cards or as digital database are way more compact and are a lot easier to use in my opinion. MM as a physical book is good for inspirational reading at home, but it is a horrible tool at the table when you are trying to run the game, so I would only get the book if you are a more experienced GM reading for inspiration or want it for collection's sake.

The DMG and MM are good books to have down the line eventually, but there are better things to spend your money on if you are a new GM. Get fancy dice, mats, minis, and trinkets to really elevate your experience at the table. Go buy that videogame, boardgame, book, LEGO set, Netflix sub, concert ticket, movie ticket, or even plane ticket that you want; while they might seem unrelated to D&D, in my experience, your best inspirations as a GM comes from experiencing all the fun things in life outside of D&D and other TTRPGs. I would even argue spending money on food and drinks for the gaming sessions right now is a more worthwhile expense so you know how to be comfortable when you run long sessions, and being comfortable helps lessen burnout.

Thanks so much for this information. I didn't really realize that 6e was coming out soon because I had just really discovered my interest for DnD. Thank you guys so much!

Quote from MJ16499 >>

Thanks so much for this information. I didn't really realize that 6e was coming out soon because I had just really discovered my interest for DnD. Thank you guys so much!

 
6e is not coming out. The update is something like 5.5e. If a whole new edition was about to come out, people would either be waving you off the current stuff altogether since it’d be unsupported by future content, or telling you to jump into 5e while you can because the wrong sacred cows were made into hamburger for the new edition.