I'm wondering what sourcebook is the best for me to read/buy next? So far I had read all of the players handbook, the LMoP adventure, and most of the class pages on DNDBeyond. I'm in a shared campaign on DNDBeyond so i have access to most of the source material. I'm nearing the end of it and will run another adventure afterwards (storm king's thunder). I often see the Dungeon Masters guide and Monster Manual as the next 2 reads but I don't plan on homebrewing anything so i wasn't sure if that would make a difference. 

You definitely want the monster manual, because monsters, and the dungeon master's guide is great too. Get it all. All of it. Every last thing. But those two first. After that get everything.

Xanathar’s guide to everything. 
If you’re a player, stop there so you don’t metagame. If you’re a DM, the DMG. 

Sage Advice Compendium

Since this is in the DM forum, I assume you want to take on the role of DM. If that is the case, you 100% need the DMG. The DMG is not about homebrewing. It's about how to run the game from the level of the cosmos to the level of the individual adventure. It tells you how to adjudicate traps, skill rolls, etc. (though frustratingly, far less thoroughly than a reference book like DMG should). But perhaps most importantly DMG has a list of all the magic items, and you are going to need this whether you homebrew or not (especially if not -- because if you use published materials you will find tons of the DMG magic items cropping up).

Reread chapters 7, 9, and 10 from the PHB.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I wasn't sure how much of the DMG was aimed towards homebrew and how much was towards general DMing. I'll check it, the Sage Advice, and those chapters in the PHB.

As a DM you need the Monster Manual. As both a player and a dm, Xanathar's is recommended since it has a lot of extra rules and ideas that are useful. The DM's Guide is mostly optional, containing a lot of tips on how to run your own games and rules on the various magic items, but ultimately not required to run a game.

Ninja_Viktor :  What to read after PHB ???

Me : Prepare the Vodka, honey !!!!

The DMG is a must-have. There are lots of tips on running your game, as well as less mechanic-related tips. Plus all the magic items and variant rules.

DMG:

If you are not planning on being a dungeon master you don't need this. Assuming you are or plan ot be a DM this is your next purchase. If you are only DMing published adventures you can possibly get away without it, most of the DMG is based on running your own adventures, so things like who to create a world and a dungeon, details on magic items and things like that. There is also some adviser onb things like ensuring the game runs smotthly and is fun for all which is useful whatever campaign you are doing. Even if you are are doing a published campaign, ity will be MUCH better if you don't do it completely "by the book", this can be as simple as changing a dropped item for something useful to your party ("You find what looks like a spell scroll but as none of you are wizards you can't read it" can really annoy your group) to doing side quests based on the parties backstory. Some of the published adventures expect you to fill in the details and for that the DMG is a real help as is situations where the players are creative and you end up in a situation the book didn't anticipate.

MM / VGtM:

Limiting yourself to the SRD monsters will soon get boring getting either (or both) of these will enable you to provide your players with a wider variety of monsters (without homebrew) and give details of lore to embellish your adventures

SCAG

Is more player focussed with new sub-classes, races and backgrounds.  As a DM if your players are using this content you should have access to it yourself, though this could be through campaign share or buying just the bits that are being used.

XGtE:

Has both character options (like SCAG) and DM tools so is a bit of a mix.

What to read next depends on what your goals are ...

1) If you want to DM and are new to it then the DMG has some useful sections on how to run things and put things together. It also has a reference for magic items and tips/instructions on putting together encounters and balancing them. I'd strongly suggest this as the next source to read if you are new to DMing and want to DM a game.

However, from the perspective of someone who has DMed for a while in previous versions of the game, the DMG is mostly a magic item reference for me and is not essential reading. (I've read through it and that was main take away). Online tools like "Kobold fight club" implement the encounter creation tools from from the DMG and I would say it is a much better starting point for creating encounters than the material in the DMG.

2) If you want to DM then you will need a Monster manual. However, other than the first chapter which covers the basics of the monster stat blocks, the MM is a reference book. It isn't something you read, it is something you refer to when you need the stats for a specific monster. This is needed even when running pre-created content (like LMoP or SKT) because these do not include all of the monsters that appear in the adventure. They require the MM for the DM to get the stat blocks.

3) If you want to read some more player character content, some optional rules and additional spells then Xanathar's Guide to Everything is worth reading through. It contains material that supplements the PHB and provides additional character options. This is not essential for DMing UNLESS you plan to allow the content in a game you are running in which it is important for the DM to read it and be aware of the options that players will be bringing to the table.

4) There are various supplemental source books.

SCAG: Sword coast adventurers guide. Background material along with some additional class/race/archetype options focused on sword coast area of the forgotten realms.

Volos Guide to Monsters: Background material on "monstrous" races and a selection of options for player's to create characters from a number of these races.

Guildmasters Guide to Ravnica: D&D options for the Magic the Gathering Ravnica setting

Explorers Guide to Wildemount: Wildemount game world setting with character options for the setting. I think this is the setting used in critical role.

Acquisitions Incorporated: Adventuring companies ... I'm not sure what else ... I think it is based on the online game of the same name.

Eberron: Rising from the Last War: Class/race and setting information for running a campaign in Eberron. (An alternative to Forgotten Realms).

5) There are all of the adventure source books ...

LMoP, Essentials Kit (Dragon of Ice Spire Peak+), Out of the Abyss, Rise of Tiamat, Princes of the Apocalypse, Curse of Strahd, Tales from the Yawning Portal, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Storm King's Thunder, Waterdeep: Dragonheist, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Descent into Avernus, Tomb of Annihilation.

These are all adventure source books mostly running from level 1+. Some run until level 20. Most run at least to the level 10-14 range. Tales from the Yawning Portal and Ghosts of Saltmarsh include shorter adventures that can be linked together into a campaign. The others are essentially campaign source books with varying story lines. You would read these if you plan to run it or if you want to get some ideas for encounter designs - though don't read something you might play later ... adventures are more fun if you don't know what is coming.

Quote from David42 >>

What to read next depends on what your goals are ...

1) If you want to DM and are new to it then the DMG has some useful sections on how to run things and put things together. It also has a reference for magic items and tips/instructions on putting together encounters and balancing them. I'd strongly suggest this as the next source to read if you are new to DMing and want to DM a game.

However, from the perspective of someone who has DMed for a while in previous versions of the game, the DMG is mostly a magic item reference for me and is not essential reading. (I've read through it and that was main take away). Online tools like "Kobold fight club" implement the encounter creation tools from from the DMG and I would say it is a much better starting point for creating encounters than the material in the DMG.

2) If you want to DM then you will need a Monster manual. However, other than the first chapter which covers the basics of the monster stat blocks, the MM is a reference book. It isn't something you read, it is something you refer to when you need the stats for a specific monster. This is needed even when running pre-created content (like LMoP or SKT) because these do not include all of the monsters that appear in the adventure. They require the MM for the DM to get the stat blocks.

3) If you want to read some more player character content, some optional rules and additional spells then Xanathar's Guide to Everything is worth reading through. It contains material that supplements the PHB and provides additional character options. This is not essential for DMing UNLESS you plan to allow the content in a game you are running in which it is important for the DM to read it and be aware of the options that players will be bringing to the table.

4) There are various supplemental source books.

SCAG: Sword coast adventurers guide. Background material along with some additional class/race/archetype options focused on sword coast area of the forgotten realms.

Volos Guide to Monsters: Background material on "monstrous" races and a selection of options for player's to create characters from a number of these races.

Guildmasters Guide to Ravnica: D&D options for the Magic the Gathering Ravnica setting

Explorers Guide to Wildemount: Wildemount game world setting with character options for the setting. I think this is the setting used in critical role.

Acquisitions Incorporated: Adventuring companies ... I'm not sure what else ... I think it is based on the online game of the same name.

Eberron: Rising from the Last War: Class/race and setting information for running a campaign in Eberron. (An alternative to Forgotten Realms).

5) There are all of the adventure source books ...

LMoP, Essentials Kit (Dragon of Ice Spire Peak+), Out of the Abyss, Rise of Tiamat, Princes of the Apocalypse, Curse of Strahd, Tales from the Yawning Portal, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Storm King's Thunder, Waterdeep: Dragonheist, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Descent into Avernus, Tomb of Annihilation.

These are all adventure source books mostly running from level 1+. Some run until level 20. Most run at least to the level 10-14 range. Tales from the Yawning Portal and Ghosts of Saltmarsh include shorter adventures that can be linked together into a campaign. The others are essentially campaign source books with varying story lines. You would read these if you plan to run it or if you want to get some ideas for encounter designs - though don't read something you might play later ... adventures are more fun if you don't know what is coming.

 

 

 

 ......................................... and, if Ninja_Viktor dosen't get enough sources to read, I'll add the DragonLance saga there.