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I am looking at adding D&D to my roster of games but I am curious and a bit baffled by what I need to play.

So I know I can get a starter set from Amazon for £15 or so - all well and good but what else do I need? Do I need additional books, dice etc? Any other resources?

What about miniatures? Any good links to suitable sites/vendors? I realise you can play D&D entirely in one's head/on paper but do people go to the trouble of getting hold of dungeon tiles etc?

Basically looking for any and all help/tips/tricks/links to get me set up and ready to go with a good base line.

Cheers all!

I mean are you getting this for the sake of collecting? Or do you have a group to play with?

If you are just joining a group. Use their stuff until you can buy your own.

If you are starting a group from scratch. Then you want the Players Hand Book, Monster Manual, and DM guide.

Optional accessories include: DM screen, Minis, grid mat.

Putting my TL,DR advice up here:
Basics: Get either the basic rules and some dice or the starter set and a dry erase battlemat (I think this is the one I use)
https://www.amazon.de/Paizo-Publishing-PZOSQW30024-Pathfinder-Flip-Mat/dp/1601255381

Longer advice:
You can download the Basic Rules for free online. Those rules only give rules for the early levels of the game and present slightly limited options, but for new players they are fine. If you start with those, you will need to buy some dice. The character sheets are downloadable from the Wizards of the Coast website.
So the Starter Set comes with the dice, but you might want to get some more - one set for each of your players and a good few extra six sided dice for certain stuff like fireball spells and rolling stats.
I think when you start off it is better to get different coloured twenty sided dice (d20) because it is the main dice players use and it helps them to quickly identify it when a roll is called for.
The starter set also comes with a very serviceable starter adventure. Some people prefer to come up with their own adventures, others like to use pre written ones, or adapt stuff from pre writtens to their own world.

If you like the game, there are a lot of books you can buy. The core 3 (Players Handbook, Dungeons Masters Guide and Monster Manual) are great and pretty much give you everything you need.
Further optional books are generally just nice to have, but not required at all. I would not recommend getting them at first, but rather see if you like the game a lot first. There are books with extra monsters, books with extra options for player characters, and books with adventures in them.

A very useful tool is a dry erase battlemat, this lets you draw battlefields and dungeons, and record initiatives and hit points. I find this to be the most useful thing in my arsenal when using minis, and if you dont use minis you can still use this to draw the maps in battle situations and show where monsters and player characters are standing. Generally, I only use minis and the mat if there is a fight going on, rather than for exploration sections, though I am working on ways to incorporate that stuff into dungeon exploration. The battlemat will be a very useful tool for you no matter what, even if you do not decide to use minis.

If you plan on using miniatures, the official Dungeons and Dragons line is pretty good and gives you a lot of the classics. The Dungeons and Dragons board games are also really good sources of minis, Expedition to Castle Ravenloft gives you lots of Undead, Wrath of Ashardalon gives you a lot of classic monsters and an awesome Dragon, and Legend of Drizzt gives you a lot of nice underdark monsters. All of those sets come with a variety of hero minis as well, and are fun board games in their own right.
Descent, Journeys in the Dark also has a lot of cool hero miniatures and monsters, and their Hero and Monster expansion sets are great too. Descent is also a great board game.
The advantage of all of these minis is they are single piece plastic minis that will deal well with a lot of wear and tear and are pretty much indestructable. With D&D your minis are likely to get handled a lot and these ones will stand up to the odd clumsy or ignorant player better than GW plastics or metals, though I use those as well in my games. I would also say that having some counters to represent stuff is totally fine, you don't always need to have the right mini for every scenario, and counters and the like are often better than a proxy mini because proxies actually cause more confusion as players stop using their imaginations.

For dungeon tiles, my experience is that the card ones look great but are a bit impractical in play. A battlemat is much quicker and smoother to work with. The tiles have the issue of needing to root through to find the ones you want and also slipping and sliding around a lot in play. I have loads, but really rarely use them because of those difficulties.
I made a set of magnetic tiles out of resin, which is not really something I would recommend a new player going through the bother of doing, but they do work and look awesome and I like them because they are totally modular which means I don't have to faff around looking for a particular tile and they click magnetically together so they do not slip and slide. There are tonnes of cool crafting channels on youtube looking at making their own dungeon tiles, I like Black Magic Craft. I would say that most of the time though a simple dry erase mat does the job.
If you are interested here is the building process for my tiles:
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/270/670478.page#10391952

I run with minis and it is helpful to have some sort of sorted storage solution, I use transparent plastic jewelry boxes that clip together with labels stuck on the side so I can quickly find stuff. I ran without minis for over a decade though so it is absolutely not required, I just like using them now because it encourages me to paint stuff.

Oh and if you are gonna be the DM, here is a great youtube series about being a dungeon master that I really love:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8&list=PLlUk42GiU2guNzWBzxn7hs8MaV7ELLCP_

Da Boss has pretty much covered all you need, but to offer some alternative (and potentially cheaper, in some cases) solutions:

I'd say that for anyone starting these days, checking out DnDBeyond is a must:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/

It has a very robust character creator/interactive character sheet which can help get you past the fiddliest bit of starting with a lot less hassle, as well as all the core rules and standard classes (each with a basic subclass) available for free. From there, you can purchase the books outright in digital form, buy specific parts of them (for instance, all the Class options from one of the expansions that you don't fancy the rest of) or even pick and choose the classes and races you want individually.

It also has a function whereby one player in a group can share all the content they own with other players in their campaign, so if you're going in with an existing group then this might be a great idea as buying one set of digital books and having one person take out the basic few-quid-a-month subscription is going to work out much cheaper than everyone buying their own copies. I think you're entitled to share up in to 3 separate campaigns with up to 12 accounts in each, so there's longevity there even if you end up starting or joining new groups.


In terms of other resources, especially on the GM side Youtube is a godsend. There's a lot of stuff out there and not all of it is necessary good advice, but anything with Matt Colville (linked above) or Matt Mercer is a great starting point. For players, that's a bit more thin on the ground, but there's still some good stuff out there. If you check the first post of the general D&D thread there's a great long list of resources under a spoiler tag, which might point you in the right direction.


Dice can be got dirt cheap on Amazon, we're talking 5 or 6 sets of what you'll need (d4, d6, d8, d10, d100 and d20) for about a tenner if you happen to catch a deal (and there's usually one or two at any given time). Of course, given time you may decide you want fancier dice, in which case there's some lovely metal ones that can be had for around £20 a set (which is pricey, but we all know more expensive dice roll higher! )


For starting out, I'd say use miniatures if you have them from Warhammer or whatever, but if budget is a concern a great substitute is to create 2d tokens. Even now, I tend to reserve minis for major character and use these for the rest. This is a good site for making them, just drag and drop the image of the thing you want in, download, size appropriately and then print, laminate and cut them out. You'll quickly build up a good collection for a fraction of the cost of having minis for everything.
http://rolladvantage.com/tokenstamp/

When it does come to minis, Reaper are usually my first port of call, followed by the official WizKids D&D Marvellous Miniatures/Pathfinder Deep Cuts range. The latter can be tricky to get in the UK, but Chaos Cards usually has at least some of the range in stock and for my money they're significantly better than Reaper Bones (and pre-primed so you can get them painted up nice and quick).
https://www.chaoscards.co.uk/miniature-games-c487/d-d-nolzur-s-marvelous-miniatures-wizkids-deep-cuts-c1151/wizkids-m70

In terms of terrain, a simple wipe-clean grid and some pens will work just fine, but if you want to up it a notch then I can't recommend Loke's battle mats enough. Very reasonably priced for the quality, and they come with plenty of variety. I'd start with the regular one, and get the A3 one if you like them (and have space, it's pretty huge). They also have a set coming out that are more focused on interiors, it was just on Kickstarter and I think is meant to hit retail by the end of the year.
http://lokebattlemats.com/

I'd say there is also a strong argument in favour of playing entirely in what's called 'theatre of the mind'. Requires everyone to be a bit more on the ball perhaps, but equally I find it can encourage a bit more creative play than the wargame-light that board-based combat can sometimes descend into... on the whole I'd advocate for a healthy balance; sometimes you'll want the grid and minis out to stay on top of things, sometimes you want to go a bit more freeform and that's where Theatre of the Mind comes in.

One last thing on the minis and terrain front is this set from Mantic Games, it's a collection of terrain pieces and minis from their various board games and you've got a range of Orcs/Goblins, Undead and a few Devil/demon types, some minis for PCs or allied character, a dragon as a boss and plenty of furniture. There's easily a lot of fun to be had with those basics, it seems like a very good place to start if you do want minis.
https://elementgames.co.uk/wargames-and-miniatures/wargames-and-miniatures-by-manufacturer/mantic-games/terraincrate/gms-dungeon-starter-set

Oh yeah the Dungeon Saga stuff is quite nice for Dungeons and Dragons too, nice shout! I like their Infernals set and you can never have too many undead.

I would also say theatre of the mind should not be discounted in lots of situations. It is how I ran for years and years and we had plenty of exciting, tactical combat in those days too. I only use minis now because I am not wargaming as much but still want to use my collection.

The battle mat and minis are wholly optional imo and I have personally had much more fun running and being in games that did not use them. Theater of the Mind as others have mentioned. Back in the day we used minis and I have drifted farther and farther away from their use. I don't like how it gets players thinking about a combat or a room or a dungeon in game terms instead of as people in a building. Squares and hexes with rules will inherently do that. But different strokes for different folks.

I think the 3 core books are basically must haves. Dungeon Master Guide, Players Handbook, Monster Manual. Whoever is DMing should be given the time they need to read through both the entire DMG and the bulk of the players handbook before your first session.

The starter kits are nice.

Each player should get their own full set of dice and the DM probably wants at least 2. That is 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d%, 1d12, 1d20.

 Paradigm wrote:


I'd say that for anyone starting these days, checking out DnDBeyond is a must:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/

This. I own every DnD book twice. One physical, one digital on DnD Beyond. Depending on how things go I may be purchasing a third time on fantasy grounds in the near future.

Useful info, cheers all.

I am better off skipping the starter set then and simply buying the 3 books as mentioned above? It seems the 5e starter set has had some disappointing reviews on Amazon.

 filbert wrote:
Useful info, cheers all.

I am better off skipping the starter set then and simply buying the 3 books as mentioned above? It seems the 5e starter set has had some disappointing reviews on Amazon.

kind of depends on the starter set. but the main one is basically a short adventure and some pre-made characters designed specifically to teach the game.

My friends and I just bought the stranger things themed box on a whim the other day and are having a blast with it. though how much of that is module and how much is our DM is kind of up in the air.

 filbert wrote:
Useful info, cheers all.

I am better off skipping the starter set then and simply buying the 3 books as mentioned above? It seems the 5e starter set has had some disappointing reviews on Amazon.

The starter set comes with a prebuilt adventure with a lot of little side quests and options built around a small quest hub town or whatever. Like most dnd adventures the problem is it's kind of linear and on rails and it sort of requires either the players to make specific choices and head in certain directions on their own volition or the DM needs to be good enough to REALLY plant the hooks and get players going where they want them to go (which even the best DMs cannot do all the time because the players are a heard of cats doing whatever the feth they want). Luckily people new to DnD don't often realize how much freedom they actually have and play it like a video game where when the NPC says "There is trouble over x" they just go do the quest. So I guess the starter box has that going for it.

The nice thing about it is how it condenses some of the advice of the DMG into a brief book to make the first few sessions more easily digestible. For a new DM the amount of information can be daunting. So having that to get you started is good for the DM if not the players. But if new players can get a DM with a few sessions under their belt then the starter is wholly unnecessary. The players will learn just the same no matter what the DM has planned.

The starter set is definitely not a required purchase.

If you know for sure you are gonna play the game, then the 3 books are always gonna be a good purchase.

The starter set is good for trying the game out in a simpler format with pregenned characters and so on, and comes with dice.

It also has a pre-written adventure that I think is a pretty classic starting adventure that a lot of people use starting off, but if you have ideas for your own world and adventures I would say the major benefit of the Starter Set over the three main books is nullified.

You could play for quite a while with just the starter set, but if you are really into the game eventually you are gonna want the three core books.
The players handbook gives all the options for players for up to level 20 along with some optional rules, equipment and a complete list of all the spells.
The monster manual is jam packed full of monsters with gorgeous art and a nice slice of background info for each one. I love fantasy bestiaries so that is definitely my favourite of the three.
The Dungeon Masters guide is full of good advice for a starting dungeon master, explains ways to adapt the rules to suit yourself and gives lists of all the treasure and magic items.

You can play the game for ages without NEEDING any of those books but I think they are well produced and nice books that you will get a lot of use out of. The starter set is a bit more of a disposable product - you will no doubt use the dice for a long time, but if you do not want the pre written adventure it is probably not worth it.

 filbert wrote:
Useful info, cheers all.

I am better off skipping the starter set then and simply buying the 3 books as mentioned above? It seems the 5e starter set has had some disappointing reviews on Amazon.

Yeah, that's what I'd recommend. Because if you buy the starter then you're going to need to buy the other stuff (either physically or digitally) anyway once you move beyond the fairly limited content it provides, so it's only really worthwhile if you're not actually sure about getting into the game and want the cheapest possible way to get the very basics. If you're fairly confident you're going to like the game, go straight for the books as you'll get way, way more use out of them.


However, one thing I will say (and this is entirely from my own experience) is that I'd consider the DMG a far more optional purchase than the PHB or MM. A small portion of the DMG actually deals with the rules you'll be using 99% of the time, and the rest is, to me at least, somewhat irrelevant. I've certainly never read it cover to cover. A lot of it deals with stuff that is either common sense (like how to structure a narrative, distribute treasure, designing encounters), somewhat optional rules (sanity mechanics, crafting, downtime activities, alternate mechanics) or lore that can just as easily be had from the wealth of wikis and such out there,or stuff that can be gleaned simply from watching an hour or two of the multitude of games that you can find on Youtube or Twitch or, likewise, the various how-to videos mentioned before.

YMMV, of course, but for me at least it's by far the least useful of the three core books, and the parts that are useful are easily covered by the free rules. It's probably worth having at some point, but if money is tight and you can't afford the investment in all 3, it's definitely the one I'd drop. I learned more about DMing from watching people actually play the game than the DMG ever taught me.

And if you are going the DnDBeyond content sharing route, this possibly goes double, as the amount of 'stuff' you get from the DMG is negligible compared to the MM and PHB that will give you a ton of classes, spells, races ect. The DMG by comparison gives you a few magic items and that's basically it in terms of content that's of use to everyone.

Id make one more suggestion.

If you decide to keep playing track down Pathfinders Pocket Edition of the Ultimate Equipment book.

It doesn't matter that it's for pathfinder and not DnD. Having a smaller format book thats jam packed with equipment and prices and is well organized for easy finding is great. You don't need the rules from it. You want it so when players go to a town and want to buy something you can look it up and give them a price. Including a large variety of specific and exotic drinks for inns/taverns, different foods, clothes, armors, weapons, trade goods, wagons, horses, etc etc...

Ultimate Equipment is invaluable to me and the PF Pocket version is the least cumbersome one to carry around.

 Lance845 wrote:
Id make one more suggestion.

If you decide to keep playing track down Pathfinders Pocket Edition of the Ultimate Equipment book.

It doesn't matter that it's for pathfinder and not DnD. Having a smaller format book thats jam packed with equipment and prices and is well organized for easy finding is great. You don't need the rules from it. You want it so when players go to a town and want to buy something you can look it up and give them a price. Including a large variety of specific and exotic drinks for inns/taverns, different foods, clothes, armors, weapons, trade goods, wagons, horses, etc etc...

Ultimate Equipment is invaluable to me and the PF Pocket version is the least cumbersome one to carry around.

It reminds me of the old Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora%27s_Whole_Realms_Catalog

It was an indispensable and fun resource.

Are you planning on playing or gming the game? If the former, I'd recommend just getting the Player's Handbook, a single mini for your player character, and whatever dice you need it you don't already have a smattering of the various d4-20 dice. If you actually like the game then expand the collection with various splat books and more minis. YMMV.

Thanks all for replies, suggestions and links.

I have the DM and Monster bestiary book - just waiting on my Player's Handbook. Have got the A3 Loke book and pre-ordered the dungeon ones when they release. What else? Oh yes, the Mantic terrain/miniatures bundle is on the way.

One other thing - I also bought the Mythic GM emulator book from Amazon. I am a complete novice at GM'ing so the plan is to run some solo campaigns and get the hang of it all before unleashing it for real.