Books Review: The Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Core Rule Books: Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual

The Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Core Rule Books: Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, Monster Manual
by various authors/editors (all 793.93 Dun)

The very first version of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) came out in primitive form in 1974. I first started playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) with a small group of friends in 1981, using what is now known as 1st Edition rules — the first “core rulebooks” were released between 1977 and 1979. My group’s “campaign” world grew in size and complexity, and my group of players played together until around 2003, with new players joining and old players dropping out…until we all eventually drifted away from the game due to time constraints related to families and jobs. But even when we were still actively playing, we had decided not to embrace the 2nd (1989) and 3rd (2000) Editions of the core rule books.

 

Now, over 20 years later, the opportunity to lead a new group, comprised mainly of players who are new to the game, has lately had me refreshing my knowledge of the current rules and mechanics of how the game is played. Dungeons & Dragons is currently using 5th Edition rulebooks, and much has changed since the 1st Edition version of the game I played back in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the changes are aimed at streamlining gameplay and giving players more variety in the choices of characters they can create.

 

The three core rule books remain the same though — the Player’s Handbook gives new (and veteran) players the basics of what they need to know about creating original characters and how to play the game; the Dungeon Master’s Guide is designed for the person who is going to run the game, giving them far more information than the basic Players need, including more rule explanations, tables and charts, and suggestions on how to design a game campaign or an entire world. And the Monster Manual is an encyclopedia of all the creatures (mostly magical or imaginary) that the Players may encounter in their various adventures, with detailed backgrounds and statistics for how they behave and how helpful or dangerous they may be. Together, these three hardback volumes, in the hands of a dedicated DM (Dungeon Master) and a group of regular game players, are more than enough for an interested group to start their own game of D&D. But, there have been dozens of additional books put out by Wizards of the Coast since the 2014 release of the 5th Edition rules, offering new rules, new magic items, and new world-building backgrounds.

 

If you’re interested in starting to play Dungeons & Dragons, you’ll find the three core rule books to be essential reading. And check with the libraries — various branches offer opportunity for new and intermediate players to learn how to play the game, or to join a beginners group for some fun and imagination-challenging adventures.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to watch the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, released in 2023.)

 

( official Dungeons & Dragons web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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