Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Books: Difference between revisions

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|-
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| '''The Rise of Tiamat'''
| '''The Rise of [[Tiamat]]'''
| style="text-align:left" | Sequel to Hoard of the Dragon Queen, a certain dragon goddess is moving upwards and the players must stomp on all five of her heads.
| style="text-align:left" | Sequel to Hoard of the Dragon Queen, a certain dragon goddess is moving upwards and the players must stomp on all five of her heads.
| style="text-align:center" | October 21, 2014
| style="text-align:center" | October 21, 2014
Line 53: Line 53:
|-
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| '''[[Dungeon Master's Guide]]'''
| '''[[Dungeon Master's Guide]]'''
| style="text-align:left" | How to be an evil overlord, version 5.0. Has all the treasures, a new subclass, guides to how to do anything from making settings, running encounters, creating adventures and much more.
| style="text-align:left" | How to be an evil overlord, version 5.0. Has all the treasures, two new subclasses, guides to how to do anything from making settings, running encounters, creating adventures and much more.
| style="text-align:center" | December 9, 2014
| style="text-align:center" | December 9, 2014
| style="text-align:center" | 320
| style="text-align:center" | 320
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|-
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| '''Out of the Abyss'''
| '''Out of the [[Abyss]]'''
| style="text-align:left" | The players find themselves in the [[Underdark]], where a city will be invaded by demons soon enough. Filled with cool details about playing in the [[Underdark]].
| style="text-align:left" | The players find themselves in the [[Underdark]], where a city will be invaded by demons soon enough. Filled with cool details about playing in the Underdark.
| style="text-align:center" | September 15, 2015
| style="text-align:center" | September 15, 2015
| style="text-align:center" | 254
| style="text-align:center" | 254
Line 81: Line 81:
|-
|-
| '''Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide'''
| '''Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide'''
| style="text-align:left" | Adds a whole shitton of new subclasses, subraces and backgrounds susable in all settings, though the book focuses on the Sword Coast of the Forgotten Realms.
| style="text-align:left" | Adds a whole shitton of new subclasses, subraces and backgrounds usable in all settings, though the book focuses on the Sword Coast of the [[Forgotten Realms]].
| style="text-align:center" | November 3, 2015
| style="text-align:center" | November 3, 2015
| style="text-align:center" | 159
| style="text-align:center" | 159
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|-
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| '''[[Tomb of Annihilation]]'''
| '''[[Tomb of Annihilation]]'''
| style="text-align:left" | Tomb of Horror but not quite as horrible. It will still kill you if you relax.
| style="text-align:left" | [[Tomb of Horrors]] but not quite as horrible. It will still kill you if you relax.
| style="text-align:center" | September 19, 2017
| style="text-align:center" | September 19, 2017
| style="text-align:center" | 256
| style="text-align:center" | 256
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|-
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| '''Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes'''
| '''[[Mordenkainen]]'s Tome of Foes'''
| style="text-align:left" | A lot of monsters. Like, a lot. Also variant [[tieflings]]. And [[shadar-kai]].
| style="text-align:left" | A lot of monsters. Like, a lot. Also variant [[tieflings]]. And [[shadar-kai]].
| style="text-align:center" | May 29, 2018
| style="text-align:center" | May 29, 2018
Line 136: Line 136:


|-
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| '''Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron'''
| '''Wayfinder's Guide to [[Eberron]]'''
| style="text-align:left" | First book on Eberron; gives some information on how to go have Indiana Jones adventures as a wooden robot.
| style="text-align:left" | First book on Eberron; gives some information on how to go have Indiana Jones adventures as a wooden robot.
| style="text-align:center" | July 23, 2018
| style="text-align:center" | July 23, 2018
Line 143: Line 143:


|-
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| '''Waterdeep: Dragon Heist'''
| '''[[Waterdeep]]: Dragon Heist'''
| style="text-align:left" | The players wanna carry out a heist while the big movers of Waterdeep moves to snatch it from them. Unique in that it has four "seasons", which decides what group is trying to stop the players.
| style="text-align:left" | The players wanna carry out a heist while the big movers of Waterdeep moves to snatch it from them. Unique in that it has four "seasons", which decides what group is trying to stop the players.
| style="text-align:center" | September 18, 2018
| style="text-align:center" | September 18, 2018
Line 157: Line 157:


|-
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| '''Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica'''
| '''Guildmaster's Guide to [[Ravnica]]'''
| style="text-align:left" | Ever wanted to play DnD in the Magic: The Gathering universe? Na, me neither but hey it's an option.
| style="text-align:left" | Ever wanted to play DnD in the Magic: The Gathering universe? Na, me neither but hey it's an option.
| style="text-align:center" | November 20, 2018
| style="text-align:center" | November 20, 2018
Line 192: Line 192:


|-
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| '''Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus'''
| '''[[Baldur's Gate]]: Descent Into Avernus'''
| style="text-align:left" | Zariel literally yeeted <s>Baldur's Gate</s> Elturel into the top level of the Nine Hells, and the players went with it.
| style="text-align:left" | Zariel literally yeeted <s>Baldur's Gate</s> Elturel into the top level of the Nine Hells, and the players went with it.
| style="text-align:center" | September 17, 2019
| style="text-align:center" | September 17, 2019
Line 265: Line 265:
| style="text-align:left" | Every eight years the Witchlight Carnival arrives to your world, and through it comes a way to the [[Feywild]] domain of Prismeer, which is in need of heroes.
| style="text-align:left" | Every eight years the Witchlight Carnival arrives to your world, and through it comes a way to the [[Feywild]] domain of Prismeer, which is in need of heroes.
| style="text-align:center" | September 21, 2021
| style="text-align:center" | September 21, 2021
| style="text-align:center" | Unknown
| style="text-align:center" | 252
| style="text-align:center" | Adventure Module (Levels 1-8)
| style="text-align:center" | Adventure Module (Levels 1-8)



Revision as of 00:22, 22 September 2021

As Wizards of the Coast learned their lessons with the 3.5 and 4th editions of Dungeons and Dragons, the release rate of books for the fifth edition has been substantially slower. This has had three benefits and one drawback of concern to the players who aren't obsessives who hoover up every single product of their favorite flavor of RPG like an air recirculator on a nuclear submarine.

The first benefit is that Wizards' senior editorial staff and game designers, namely Mike Mearls, Christopher Perkins, Jeremy Crawford, and the editorial core of the Seattle office of Wizards of the Coast, write every major publication themselves after the mess of Princes of the Apocalypse. That, in turn, means that the people who wrote each and every rule have final veto on whether or not material enters the canon of tabletop rulings and stats, and so it doesn't feel like it was designed by committee like later 3.5 materials clearly were. The second is that the financial cost of keeping current on the adventures, splats, rules, and optional setting material is far lower than with 3.5's torrent of material. The third is that the rules of the core game do not change, and that therefore there are rarely, if ever, causes for DMs and players to argue over the contents and design of the rules, since the rules aren't spread over a dozen books and fifty errata articles (looking at you, 4th edition).

The obvious drawback is that groups that chew through official material have got a LONG time to wait between modules. The release schedule of official 5e adventures, especially Adventurers' League canon adventure paths, is easily outpaced by a brisk group. There are a few exceptions, like how Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage can easily run a campaign for well over a year even with rapid levelling, given the sheer SIZE of Undermountain, but that is scarce. There are alternatives, of course, like homebrew material, and of course the expansions to the official modules sold on DM's Guild, but the near-total lack of replaybility on every 5e hardback except the aforementioned Dragon Heist (thanks to having four mutually-exclusive villains you can plug into the campaign to compete with the party) means that homebrewing filler adventures is all but mandatory for parties.

Here is a list of all hard-copy publications of Fifth Edition. There are well over a hundred smaller adventure bundles on DM's Guild, plus the CCC-x modules that are only runnable at conventions, which we're not going to even try listing here.

Title Description Date Pages Type
Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set A set of basic rules, some dice, five basic characters and the campaign Lost Mine of Phandelver, a, well, basic adventure that teaches new players the game. July 15, 2014 32 / 64 Starter Set (Lost Mine of Phandelver, Levels 1-5)
Player's Handbook Classes, Races, Equipment, Backgrounds, oh my! You know what this is. August 19, 2014 316 Core Rulebook
Hoard of the Dragon Queen A tour-de-force through the Sword Coast of the Forgotten Realms, attempting to stop a widespread dragon cult. August 19, 2014 96 Adventure Module (Levels 1-7)
Monster Manual How to manually manipulate monstrous menaces. Notably, DnD Beyond has quite a few of the most common monster available for free, so you may not even need this one. September 17, 2014 352 Core Rulebook
The Rise of Tiamat Sequel to Hoard of the Dragon Queen, a certain dragon goddess is moving upwards and the players must stomp on all five of her heads. October 21, 2014 94 Adventure Module (Levels 8-15)
Dungeon Master's Guide How to be an evil overlord, version 5.0. Has all the treasures, two new subclasses, guides to how to do anything from making settings, running encounters, creating adventures and much more. December 9, 2014 320 Core Rulebook
Elemental Evil Player's Companion Contains the Genasi, Aarakocra and Goliath races. March 10, 2015 24 Free PDF only Splatbook
Princes of the Apocalypse A primordial threat is emerging, plunging existence into peril. The world is ending and I'm not fine. April 7, 2015 256 Adventure Module (Levels 1-15)
Out of the Abyss The players find themselves in the Underdark, where a city will be invaded by demons soon enough. Filled with cool details about playing in the Underdark. September 15, 2015 254 Adventure Module (Levels 1-15)
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide Adds a whole shitton of new subclasses, subraces and backgrounds usable in all settings, though the book focuses on the Sword Coast of the Forgotten Realms. November 3, 2015 159 Splatbook/Setting Guide
Curse of Strahd Dark, gothic horror adventure in the dread realm of Mr. Strahd, Cruel Overlord and Middling Romantic of much renown. One of the most popular modules in this edition. March 15, 2016 256 Adventure module (Levels 1-10)
Storm King's Thunder FEE FI FOH FUM, GIANTS COME KILL EVERYONE. Kind of needs you to know about the Forgotten Realms to work. September 6, 2016 256 Adventure module (Levels 1-11)
Volo's Guide to Monsters Monster PC options everywhere and a whole load of new monsters for your games. November 15, 2016 224 Splatbook related to monsters
Tales From the Yawning Portal Seven old school dungeons updated to 5th edition, with a token plot connecting them - though only just. April 4, 2017 248 Adventure Module (Levels 1-11+)
Tomb of Annihilation Tomb of Horrors but not quite as horrible. It will still kill you if you relax. September 19, 2017 256 Adventure Module (Levels 1-11)
Xanathar's Guide to Everything More subclasses, feats, magic items and spells, along with a bunch of additional cool stuff for the DM. November 21, 2017 192 Splatbook related to characters and DM tactics
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes A lot of monsters. Like, a lot. Also variant tieflings. And shadar-kai. May 29, 2018 256 Splatbook related to villains
Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron First book on Eberron; gives some information on how to go have Indiana Jones adventures as a wooden robot. July 23, 2018 175 Splatbook/Setting Guide
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist The players wanna carry out a heist while the big movers of Waterdeep moves to snatch it from them. Unique in that it has four "seasons", which decides what group is trying to stop the players. September 18, 2018 256 Adventure Module (Levels 1-5)
Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage A huge fucking dungeon crawl for those among us that miss the days of trucking through graph-paper complexes for days on end. November 20, 2018 320 Adventure Module (Levels 5-20)
Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica Ever wanted to play DnD in the Magic: The Gathering universe? Na, me neither but hey it's an option. November 20, 2018 256 Splatbook/Setting Guide
Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set Cashing in on the popularity of DnD coming from Stranger Things. May 1, 2019 44 / 32 Boxed Set (Hunt For The Thessalhydra, Levels 1-3)
Ghosts of Saltmarsh A combined, nautically themed adventure made from old dungeons and adventures, set in Greyhawk of all places. May 21, 2019 256 Adventure Module (Levels 1-12)
Acquisitions Incorporated Created by Penny Arcade, this is a goofy compilation of magic items, spells, backgrounds and more. June 16, 2019 224 Splatbook related to setting up an AI franchise/Adventure Module (Levels 1-6)
Essentials Kit A new starter set plus a DM screen and a new campaign also set in the area around Phandelver, where players attempt to save the countryside from a roaming white dragon. September 17, 2019 64 / 64 Boxed Set (Dragon of Icespire Peak, Levels 1-6)
Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus Zariel literally yeeted Baldur's Gate Elturel into the top level of the Nine Hells, and the players went with it. September 17, 2019 256 Adventure Module (Levels 1-13)
Dungeons & Dragons vs Rick and Morty Because of course there's an official Rick and Morty DnD product. November 19, 2019 64 / 44 Boxed Set (The Lost Dungeon of Rickedness: Big Rick Energy, Levels 1-3)
Eberron: Rising from the Last War The Eberron splatbook, attempt nr. 2. Adds the Artificer class and a bunch of unique races to the Eberron setting. November 19, 2019 320 Splatbook/Setting Guide
Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio, Volume 1: Monsters Malevolent and Benign A few monsters for your DnD Beyond account. December 03, 2019 21 Splatbook related to monsters
Explorer's Guide to Wildemount Matt Mercer's five year pilgrimage to become a part of the DnD pantheon finally pays off. Splatbook for playing in Mercer's own setting, though only on the continent of Wildemount. March 17, 2020 304 Splatbook/Setting Guide
Mythic Odysseys of Theros Is it Greek Myth time? I think it's Greek Myth time! Adds Legendary + 1 mobs, a few races, subclasses and options to have divine connections. June 2, 2020 180 Splatbook/Setting Guide
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden It's about to get cold in here. Seemingly permanent winter has settled around the Icewind Dale area, and it's your job to find out what's causing it and how to bring it to an end. September 15, 2020 320 Adventure Module (Levels 1-12)
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything More stuff for players and DMs alike. November 17, 2020 192 Splatbook related to expanded character character rules and DM tactics
Candlekeep Mysteries A compilation of 17 mystery-themed adventures for levels 1-16 all set in the Forgotten Realms. March 16, 2021 224 Adventure Module (levels 1-16)
Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft Splatbook re-envisioning several of the Domains of Dread as well as several smaller adventures set in Ravenloft. May 18, 2021 256 Splatbook/Setting Guide
The Wild Beyond the Witchlight Every eight years the Witchlight Carnival arrives to your world, and through it comes a way to the Feywild domain of Prismeer, which is in need of heroes. September 21, 2021 252 Adventure Module (Levels 1-8)
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons 5th edition's version of the Draconomicon. Based on the title it may also have some Dragonlance content. October 19, 2021 Unknown Splatbook related to dragons.
Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos Because WotC wants more MtG crossovers. November 16, 2021 Unknown Splatbook/Setting Guide