Welcome to this side of the table! We have cookies. At least, there will be cookies if those pesky players know what's good for them…
My advice is: don't get any more books.
Yet.
Wait until you are happy you want to spend more time on this side of the DM Screen (we have cookies!) before spending money on more resources. And of course look for cheap and free advice online, there's no shortage of that. Some of it is even good. :-)
In terms of Wizard's books, if you are GMing in the Forgotten Realms then Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide is a good buy. Xanathar's and Tasha's are definite maybes - you may want to wait a while and get good at the core game before introducing those books to your table.
In terms of adventures, Lost Mine of Phandelver is the best intro module to D&D. I quite like Dragon of Icespire Peak and its three sequels, but I know opinion on that is quite divided. I've GMed Princes of the Apocalypse and really like it. I've played through Out of the Abyss and Curse of Strahd, and I have mixed feelings. They are good adventures, but both have a certain tone and theme (, and if you don't buy-in to the theme, they suck as adventures.
Good luck, relax, have fun, don't stress, and above all - play the game.
If the only book you have is the Dungeon Master's Guide then I would highly recommend getting the Player's Handbook as well. The Player's Handbook contains most of the rules for actually playing the game. You could manage with the free basic rules but if you already have the DMG then I'd get the PHB as well. I'd also suggest keeping your investment small until you've tried it out a bit - "small" depends a lot on what you can afford.
The DMG has some tips for DMing and world building along with magic item descriptions. In my opinion, it is more of a supplement than a requirement for running a game but it will have useful insights for a new DM.
The third book that is most useful for running a game is the Monster Manual. Again, you can probably manage using creature stat blocks that are freely available but the Monster Manual provides a lot more choice.
The three books - DMG, PHB and MM are the core ones for running a game.
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Beyond that, you just need players and a plan for an adventure.
If you want to start with your own adventure, the best way is usually to avoid being super ambitious with the first one. Choose a typical story or fantasy trope - protect the town, rescue someone, capture a thief, stop a group of marauding bandits or other creatures (wolves, orcs, goblins).
Solving the problem doesn't necessarily mean killing them - decide how those NPCs will respond if the players ask them to leave. Do they have demands or will they just laugh at the characters? What are the NPC motivations for what they are doing. If it is a pack of wolves attacking farm animals then the characters may have less choice in how to deal with the issue - but if there is an animal loving druid in the party, be prepared for them to try to convince the wolves to go back to the wilds. As DM, you create the environment, the world, the events and people that populate that world and then you adjudicate the interactions of the PCs with the rest of the world. The DM gives the players information, the players decide what their characters will do with that information (what they will say, what actions they will take, what else they might do) and then the DM decides how the world/NPCs react to those actions. \
There are also some free adventures you could use to start with available on the internet.
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Finally, if you are interested, some of the starter modules are fairly good. Lost Mines of Phandelver from the Starter Kit, Dragon of Ice Spire Peak from the Essentials Kit, Ghosts of Saltmarsh mentioned above could all be good as first adventures to run. You can also use them as the basis of your own campaign.
As an example, I am currently running a campaign initially based in Saltmarsh. I combined the adventures from Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Tales from the Yawning Portal and put them together into a series of adventures for a group of characters that came to Saltmarsh on a ship (they met on the ship) - the ship was attacked by Sahaugen on the way to Saltmarsh and the party started to bond with each other after helping to defend the ship. I've since added some of the adventure content from Dragon of Ice Spire Peak, Candlekeep Mysteries and some other content I have created to establish a few hidden plot lines that the characters are only vaguely aware of so far. (They are level 9 - the campaign has been running about 2 years so far - leveling has been a bit slower than the modules would indicate because the folks I am running it for started with earlier editions of the game where advancement wasn't as fast).
If you have the DMG, the next book I would recommend is the Monstrous Manual at some point in the future, but not right away. The free Basic Rules & SRD has most everything else you need for now. I recommend reading chapters 7, 9, & 10 as the vast majority of the rules that come up every session are in those three chapters. (Like, 90% of them.) But eventually you’ll run out of free monsters that you haven’t used and will want the MM.
The number 1 book I recommend is the Player's Handbook. You can pretty much run the game from just that book alone.
For DMs, the second I recommend is the DM's Guide. That has some nice tools (okay, mostly for magic items/treasure) and world building information.
Next would be the Monster Manual. Variety is a good thing.
After that, it really depends if you are homebrewing your campaign/world or want to use the published adventures.
Seconded on this selection. I jumped right into DMing, skipping over playing so I was completely unfamiliar with classes, races, monsters, etc. I still have weird questions that crop up in-session that I jot down for later research. But, these 3 books really helped me understand the game from not only the players side of things but the DMs as well. Pretty neato.
You kind of need the Player's Handbook and Monster Manual to run the basic game. You can access the basic rules online, but more options for monsters and player characters will go a long way.
If there's one more book you need, it's Xanathar's Guide to Everything. When I bought it, my game became infinitely better. The subclasses, the rules clarifications, the helpful new light it sheds on tool proficiencies, traps, and character backstories, and most of all AMAZING spells that it has to offer make it well worth your money. The rest of the books are okay, but Xanathar's is the best by a long shot.
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Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair
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I'm a first time DM and i have the DM's guidebook what other books should i get?
Welcome to this side of the table! We have cookies. At least, there will be cookies if those pesky players know what's good for them…
My advice is: don't get any more books.
Yet.
Wait until you are happy you want to spend more time on this side of the DM Screen (we have cookies!) before spending money on more resources. And of course look for cheap and free advice online, there's no shortage of that. Some of it is even good. :-)
I recommend anything by Sly Flourish (videos here, books there, particularly the book The Lazy Dungeonmaster) and by the Angry GM (warning, Angry's acerbic style is not for everyone). Also a shoutout to a fellow Kiwi, Fred Wheeler at https://www.youtube.com/c/HowtoDD.
I have spent money on many books, including XDM, The various KOBOLD Guides, Never Unprepared.
In terms of Wizard's books, if you are GMing in the Forgotten Realms then Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide is a good buy. Xanathar's and Tasha's are definite maybes - you may want to wait a while and get good at the core game before introducing those books to your table.
In terms of adventures, Lost Mine of Phandelver is the best intro module to D&D. I quite like Dragon of Icespire Peak and its three sequels, but I know opinion on that is quite divided. I've GMed Princes of the Apocalypse and really like it. I've played through Out of the Abyss and Curse of Strahd, and I have mixed feelings. They are good adventures, but both have a certain tone and theme (, and if you don't buy-in to the theme, they suck as adventures.
Good luck, relax, have fun, don't stress, and above all - play the game.
Thank you :)
Welcome to being a DM :)
If the only book you have is the Dungeon Master's Guide then I would highly recommend getting the Player's Handbook as well. The Player's Handbook contains most of the rules for actually playing the game. You could manage with the free basic rules but if you already have the DMG then I'd get the PHB as well. I'd also suggest keeping your investment small until you've tried it out a bit - "small" depends a lot on what you can afford.
The DMG has some tips for DMing and world building along with magic item descriptions. In my opinion, it is more of a supplement than a requirement for running a game but it will have useful insights for a new DM.
The third book that is most useful for running a game is the Monster Manual. Again, you can probably manage using creature stat blocks that are freely available but the Monster Manual provides a lot more choice.
The three books - DMG, PHB and MM are the core ones for running a game.
----
Beyond that, you just need players and a plan for an adventure.
If you want to start with your own adventure, the best way is usually to avoid being super ambitious with the first one. Choose a typical story or fantasy trope - protect the town, rescue someone, capture a thief, stop a group of marauding bandits or other creatures (wolves, orcs, goblins).
Solving the problem doesn't necessarily mean killing them - decide how those NPCs will respond if the players ask them to leave. Do they have demands or will they just laugh at the characters? What are the NPC motivations for what they are doing. If it is a pack of wolves attacking farm animals then the characters may have less choice in how to deal with the issue - but if there is an animal loving druid in the party, be prepared for them to try to convince the wolves to go back to the wilds. As DM, you create the environment, the world, the events and people that populate that world and then you adjudicate the interactions of the PCs with the rest of the world. The DM gives the players information, the players decide what their characters will do with that information (what they will say, what actions they will take, what else they might do) and then the DM decides how the world/NPCs react to those actions. \
There are also some free adventures you could use to start with available on the internet.
------
Finally, if you are interested, some of the starter modules are fairly good. Lost Mines of Phandelver from the Starter Kit, Dragon of Ice Spire Peak from the Essentials Kit, Ghosts of Saltmarsh mentioned above could all be good as first adventures to run. You can also use them as the basis of your own campaign.
As an example, I am currently running a campaign initially based in Saltmarsh. I combined the adventures from Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Tales from the Yawning Portal and put them together into a series of adventures for a group of characters that came to Saltmarsh on a ship (they met on the ship) - the ship was attacked by Sahaugen on the way to Saltmarsh and the party started to bond with each other after helping to defend the ship. I've since added some of the adventure content from Dragon of Ice Spire Peak, Candlekeep Mysteries and some other content I have created to establish a few hidden plot lines that the characters are only vaguely aware of so far. (They are level 9 - the campaign has been running about 2 years so far - leveling has been a bit slower than the modules would indicate because the folks I am running it for started with earlier editions of the game where advancement wasn't as fast).
Good luck! Hope you have a great time!
Players tend to get Xanthers and Tashas. But as others said, do not buy until you need.
If you have the DMG, the next book I would recommend is the Monstrous Manual at some point in the future, but not right away. The free Basic Rules & SRD has most everything else you need for now. I recommend reading chapters 7, 9, & 10 as the vast majority of the rules that come up every session are in those three chapters. (Like, 90% of them.) But eventually you’ll run out of free monsters that you haven’t used and will want the MM.
Welcome to the other side of the DM’s Screen!!
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The number 1 book I recommend is the Player's Handbook. You can pretty much run the game from just that book alone.
For DMs, the second I recommend is the DM's Guide. That has some nice tools (okay, mostly for magic items/treasure) and world building information.
Next would be the Monster Manual. Variety is a good thing.
After that, it really depends if you are homebrewing your campaign/world or want to use the published adventures.
Seconded on this selection. I jumped right into DMing, skipping over playing so I was completely unfamiliar with classes, races, monsters, etc. I still have weird questions that crop up in-session that I jot down for later research. But, these 3 books really helped me understand the game from not only the players side of things but the DMs as well. Pretty neato.
Best of luck behind the screen!
You kind of need the Player's Handbook and Monster Manual to run the basic game. You can access the basic rules online, but more options for monsters and player characters will go a long way.
If there's one more book you need, it's Xanathar's Guide to Everything. When I bought it, my game became infinitely better. The subclasses, the rules clarifications, the helpful new light it sheds on tool proficiencies, traps, and character backstories, and most of all AMAZING spells that it has to offer make it well worth your money. The rest of the books are okay, but Xanathar's is the best by a long shot.
Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair