What D&D Books Do You Actually Need? A Beginner’s Guide to Building Your Dungeons & Dragons Library

If you've ever walked into a game store and looked at the Dungeons & Dragons section, you may have had the same thought:

"Okay... but which of these do I actually need?"

There are rulebooks. There are adventure books. There are campaign settings. There are books filled with monsters, character options, magic items, and worlds you could spend years exploring.

The good news is that you don't need all of them.

Whether you're completely new to D&D, building your first character, preparing to become a Dungeon Master, or looking for your next campaign, there is a much simpler way to think about the D&D library:

Start with the books that help you play. Then add the books that help you play the kind of game you want.

At Monkey Llama Games, our Dungeons & Dragons selection includes everything from the current 2024 core rulebooks to ready-to-run adventures and classic 5E campaign books. Here's how to figure out where to start.

What D&D books do you need to play?

For someone starting with the current rules, the two most important books are the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide.

The Player's Handbook is the book players will use most often. It contains the rules for creating and advancing characters, choosing character options, equipment, spells, exploration, and combat.

The Dungeons & Dragons: Player's Handbook 2024 is Monkey Llama Games' current Player's Handbook and is the natural starting point for someone who wants to learn the updated rules and build a character.

For the person running the game, the Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Master's Guide 2024 provides the tools and guidance for actually running the adventure.

The important distinction is simple:

Players need to know how to play a character. DMs need to know how to run the world around those characters.

You don't need to buy every D&D book before your first session.

What D&D book should a new player buy first?

If you're a new player and somebody has invited you to a D&D game, start with the Player's Handbook.

You can learn the basic rules, create a character, understand your abilities, and reference the rules during play.

But there's another option if you don't even know whether you're ready to commit to a campaign.

A starter set can be a much easier entry point.

D&D Starter Set: Heroes of the Borderlands

The Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set: Heroes of the Borderlands is designed around getting a group playing rather than asking a brand-new group to assemble an entire library first.

For a family, a group of friends, or someone asking, "How do we even start playing D&D?", a starter set can remove a lot of that initial friction.

You don't have to understand the entire D&D universe before you sit down at the table.

You just need a reason to roll the first die.

What D&D books does a Dungeon Master need?

This is where the answer gets more interesting.

A new DM often assumes they need to own every rulebook, monster book, adventure, and supplement before they can run a game.

You don't.

A good Dungeon Master needs enough information to answer three questions:

1. What can the characters do?

2. What can the world do in response?

3. What happens next?

The 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide is built around helping DMs answer those questions, with tools for running games, building adventures, creating worlds, and managing the many situations that come up around a D&D table.

If you're preparing to run your first campaign, the D&D Dungeon Master's Guide 2024 is the logical foundation.

From there, you can decide whether you want to build your own campaign or use a published adventure.

Should a new DM run a published D&D adventure or make a homebrew campaign?

There isn't one correct answer.

A published adventure gives you a framework. You still make the decisions, portray the characters, respond to unexpected player choices, and bring the world to life—but you don't have to invent every town, villain, encounter, and plot thread from scratch.

Homebrew gives you complete creative control.

For a first-time DM, a published adventure can be particularly useful because it gives you something concrete to prepare for your next session.

Monkey Llama Games carries several very different kinds of D&D adventures.

Dragon Delves: D&D adventures built around dragons

If your players want dragons, Dungeons & Dragons: Dragon Delves is an obvious place to look.

Dragon Delves contains ten dragon-themed adventures covering characters from levels 1 through 12, with different adventures offering different styles of fantasy adventure.

It's particularly useful for a group that wants the classic D&D experience:

Heroes. Dungeons. Dragons.

And lots of reasons to say, "Okay, maybe we shouldn't have opened that door."

Eberron: Forge of the Artificer for players who want more character options

Not every D&D player is looking for another adventure.

Sometimes what they really want is a character they've never played before.

Dungeons & Dragons Eberron: Forge of the Artificer is a great example of a D&D book that expands the possibilities available to players and DMs.

If your group has already played several characters and someone says, "I want to try something completely different," this is the kind of book worth exploring.

Which D&D campaign book should you choose?

Once you've got the basic rules, campaign books become less about "Which one is best?" and more about:

"What kind of adventure does our group want?"

That's a much better question.

Here are some of the campaign worlds and adventures currently available at Monkey Llama Games.

Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

D&D 5E: Dragonlance – Shadow of the Dragon Queen is for groups interested in the legendary Dragonlance setting and a campaign built around a larger-scale fantasy conflict.

If your group wants epic fantasy and the feeling that their characters are becoming part of something much bigger than themselves, Dragonlance is an obvious direction to explore.

Tyranny of Dragons

If the words "an ancient dragon threatens the world" are enough to get your players excited, D&D 5E: Tyranny of Dragons belongs on your list.

It's a classic choice for groups that want dragons to be more than something they occasionally fight at the end of a dungeon.

Tomb of Annihilation

Some adventuring parties want a cozy mystery.

Others want to walk into a jungle where absolutely everything is trying to kill them.

For the latter group, there's D&D 5E: Tomb of Annihilation.

This is the kind of campaign that can give a party exploration, dangerous environments, strange locations, puzzles, and plenty of reasons to carefully consider whether that mysterious object is actually worth touching.

Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

If your ideal D&D campaign involves snow-covered wilderness, isolation, mysteries, survival, and a very different atmosphere from traditional high-fantasy adventure, look at D&D 5E: Icewind Dale – Rime of the Frostmaiden.

The setting itself can dramatically change how a campaign feels.

Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft

For groups that prefer horror, gothic fantasy, cursed locations, and adventures where the atmosphere is just as important as the combat, D&D 5E: Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft is worth exploring.

This is less about "What monster are we fighting?" and more about asking:

"What kind of story do we want to tell?"

What if your D&D group doesn't want one giant campaign?

That's where adventure collections can be especially useful.

Not every group wants to commit to a year-long campaign.

Maybe your group only meets occasionally. Maybe your DM likes changing settings. Maybe you have several players who rotate in and out.

In that case, shorter adventures can be a great way to keep D&D flexible.

Candlekeep Mysteries

D&D 5E: Candlekeep Mysteries gives a DM a collection of adventures that can be used individually or incorporated into a larger campaign.

That makes it particularly useful for groups that like variety.

You can run an adventure, finish the story, and then decide where the party goes next.

You don't have to know what the characters will be doing six months from now.

Sometimes it's enough to know what they're doing next Saturday.

What D&D book helps players build more interesting characters?

Once players understand the basics, the next question often becomes:

"What else can my character do?"

That's where expansion books start becoming useful.

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

D&D 5E: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is designed for players and DMs who want to expand their D&D options.

It's the sort of book that becomes increasingly interesting as your group gains experience and players start thinking less about "How do I play D&D?" and more about "What kind of character do I want to create?"

What D&D book should I get if my group loves dragons?

You have options.

That's actually one of the fun things about D&D.

If you want adventures specifically built around dragons, Dragon Delves gives you ready-to-play dragon adventures.

If you want to explore dragons, dragon lore, and additional options for incorporating them into your game, Fizban's Treasury of Dragons is another book worth looking at.

And if your group wants an entire campaign involving dragons, Tyranny of Dragons and Dragonlance take the idea in very different directions.

The best book depends on what you want your table to feel like.

Do I need the Monster Manual to start playing D&D?

If you're running D&D, you'll eventually want access to a substantial collection of monsters.

But once again, eventually doesn't mean before your first game.

You can start small.

Learn the rules.

Run an adventure.

Pay attention to what your players enjoy.

Then expand your library based on the kind of game you're actually running.

That's one of the easiest mistakes for new DMs to make: buying books because they might need them instead of buying books that solve a problem they actually have.

Your D&D library should grow with your table.

What about the old 5E D&D books?

This is an important question for anyone shopping for D&D books right now.

The 2024 rules update is often referred to as 5.5e, and it is compatible with Fifth Edition. That means the existence of the newer core books doesn't suddenly make every older D&D book useless.

That's particularly important when you're looking at adventures and supplements.

A book can still be valuable because of its adventure, setting, characters, ideas, monsters, or storytelling tools, even if you're playing with the newer core rules.

That's why a D&D shelf can contain both current books and older 5E releases.

You're not necessarily choosing between "old" and "new."

You're choosing which tools will help you tell the story your group wants to tell.

The easiest way to build your D&D collection

If you're staring at a shelf full of D&D books and don't know where to begin, here's a simple roadmap.

If you're a new player:

Start with the D&D Player's Handbook 2024.

If you're a new Dungeon Master:

Start with the D&D Dungeon Master's Guide 2024 and a starter set or published adventure.

If you want an easy way to start a group:

Look at the D&D Starter Set: Heroes of the Borderlands.

If you want dragons:

Explore Dragon Delves and Fizban's Treasury of Dragons.

If you want character-building options:

Look at Eberron: Forge of the Artificer and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

If you want a ready-made campaign:

Choose the setting that sounds like the kind of story your group wants to experience: Dragonlance, Tomb of Annihilation, Icewind Dale, Ravenloft, or Tyranny of Dragons.

If you want flexible adventures:

Try Candlekeep Mysteries.

You don't need to know everything before you start

That's probably the most important D&D rule that isn't actually written in a rulebook.

You don't have to memorize the Player's Handbook.

You don't have to own every supplement.

You don't have to know every monster.

You don't even have to be an experienced Dungeon Master.

You just need a group of people who want to tell a story together.

The books are there to help.

The people around the table are what make the adventure.

If you're building your first D&D collection, expanding an existing campaign, or trying to find the next adventure for your group, take a look through the Dungeons & Dragons selection at Monkey Llama Games.

And if you aren't sure which book makes sense for your table, come see us in Portland.

We'll help you figure out where your next adventure starts.