Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Books
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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 | Basic rules, 6 dice, five basic characters and the campaign Lost Mine of Phandelver, an adventure for teaching the game to new players. | 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. Often lauded as one of the better books of 5th Ed., and good with experienced and new 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 |
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 help the locals, explore the Dales and eventually put a stop to the nonsense. Exploration, survival and Lovecraftian horror takes front seats for this adventure. | September 15, 2020 | 320 | Adventure Module (Levels 1-12) |
| Tasha's Cauldron of Everything | More stuff for players and DMs alike. | US: November 17, 2020 / EU : July 12th, 2022 | 192 | Splatbook related to expanded character character rules and DM tactics |
| Candlekeep Mysteries | A compilation of 17 mystery-themed adventures which are contained in books within the Candlekeep in the Sword Coast. | 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. You travel here to find something lost to you last time you went to the carnival, such as your ability to write or your sense of wonder. Leans into classic fairytales as a theme and into being tricksy rather than violent. | September 21, 2021 | 252 | Adventure Module (Levels 1-8) |
| Fizban's Treasury of Dragons | 5th edition's version of the Draconomicon. Chock full of new statblocks, including two new Mythic CR30 monsters, as well as massive amounts of lore on the original world of the Prime Material Plane, The First World. | October 26, 2021 | 224 | Splatbook related to dragons. |
| Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos | Because WotC wants more MtG crossovers. Especially one that involves a Wizarding School where players do things other than adventuring. Includes a level 1-10 campaign with very little fighting. | December 7, 2021 | 224 | Splatbook/Setting Guide/Campaign |
| Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse | A collection of monsters and playable races that previously appeared in other products collected into one book with updated stats and artwork. It will initially be released as part of a gift set before being released as a single book. | January 25, 2022 as part of the gift set; May 17, 2022 standalone in the US, September 13th 2022 in Europe | 145 | Splatbook |
| Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep | Another Critical Role book, set in Exandria. An old hero from the Calamity calls out for heroes to come save them - but the players aren't the only adventuring party that answers the call. Underwater-based and has a unique set of "rivals" who are trying to achieve the same as the players. | US: March 15, 2022 / EU: April 5th, 2022 | 224 | Adventure Module (Levels 3-12) |
| Journeys through the Radiant Citadel | 13 adventures tied to the Radiant Citadel, a location on the Ethereal Plane. Each adventure is written by a community member of color and reflects that by striding away from Western-style fantasy locales and cultures. | June 21, 2022 | 145 | Adventure Module (Levels 1-14) |
| Astral Adventurer's Guide | Part of the Spelljammer: Adventures In Space book set. Splatbook on the Astral Plane. | August 16th, 2022 | 64 | Splatbook |
| Boo's Astral Menagerie | Part of the Spelljammer: Adventures In Space book set. Monster Guide about the Astral Plane. | August 16th, 2022 | 64 | Splatbook related to Astral Plane monsters |
| Light of Xaryxis | Part of the Spelljammer: Adventures In Space book set. | August 16th, 2022 | 64 | Adventure Module |
| Dragons of Stormwreck Isle | New starter set: set of 6 dice, 5 premade characters. | October 4th, 2022 | 32 (rulebook) / 48 (adventure) | Starter set (Levels 1-3) |
| Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen | Adventure path, brief setting update. | December 6th, 2022 | 226 | Adventure Module |
| Keys from the Golden Vault | 13 heist-themed adventures, where your characters work for the titular Golden Vault. | February 21, 2023 | 208 | Adventure Module (Levels 1-11) |