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

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

DVD Review: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
(DVD Dungeons)

This 2023 film was a fun-filled live-action adventure set in the Forgotten Realms world of Dungeons & Dragons, the role playing game system introduced back in 1974. That game has gone through multiple generations of rule changes (currently players are using the 5th Edition of the core game rules), and has had layer upon layer of world-building in the 50 years that players have been playing this game.

 

This is far from the first movie or TV series to be based on D&D. From 1983-1985, there was a 3-season animated TV series (whose characters make a cameo appearance in the new 2023 film). And between 2000 and 2012, a trilogy of live-action films set the universe of D&D was released. Those films had a notably darker tone than the 2023 film.

 

And that, in a nutshell, is the main appeal of Honor Among Thieves. In addition to an absolutely terrific cast, headlined by Chris Pine, this new film has fun with its world…which is what most D&D RPG players are looking for — a fun adventure, with in-jokes and snarky back-and-forth between the people playing the game.

Pine plays Edgin Darvis, a thieving bard, with a heart of gold. Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga Kilgore, a barbarian warrior woman. Justice Smith plays Simon Aumar, an amateur wizard with a serious lack of self confidence. Sophia Lillis plays Doric, a shape-shifting druid. Rege-Jean Page plays Xank Yander, a slightly smarmy paladin who assists the heroes. Hugh Grant is Forge, a con-artist rogue, who teams up with some forces of darkness and opposes the heroes in their quest.

 

As with any good D&D campaign, the group of loosely-associated heroes gather to take on a quest, and must face multiple challenges before a final confrontation with their main enemies. The special effects are great, especially the embodiment of so many classic “monsters” from D&D lore. And the performances from the entire cast are terrific, particularly in the humor they pull out of every single character and situation. My favorite part of the film is when Edgin and company are digging up corpses in a graveyard to make use of a spell that allows them to ask five questions of each dead body — only their ineptitude causes them to waste most of their questions.

 

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves quite literally felt like one of my old D&D group’s sessions (from the 1990s) brought to life. I had a blast with this film, and I think any other D&D player will as well. But it should also appeal to non-gamers, who may not get all the jokes, but will appreciate what a fun, funny, action-packed ride it is!

 

(If you enjoy this, and you can find them, you may also wish to try all the previous iterations of D&D on TV and film.)

 

(As of the writing of this review, in the summer of 2023, the Bennett Martin Public Library has a librarian-run D&D group for teens, Troll For Initiative, which meets on the second and fourth Mondays of each month from 4:30 to 6:00. This group is meant for beginner and intermediate level D&D players. Registration is required. If you have questions, please contact Caitlin at 402-441-8575.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

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

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!