Anytime someone new to a hobby dips their toes in the water, they should know how much it will cost. This is no different for roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons.
I have good news. You can play Dungeons and Dragons absolutely for free! That’s right, with the Fifth Edition of Dungeons and Dragons, there is the Basic Rules. They have everything you need to start playing. For the dice, there are free dice roller apps. Next print off a free character sheet or volunteer to be the DM and you’re ready to start playing!
With the Basic Rules, a free dice app, and the character sheets, you will have enough to play an entire campaign from beginning to end. The Basic Rules are limited for player choices: a limited selection of player races and classes. For the Dungeon Master, it has all of the rules needed to run the game and a curated selection of monsters. The Dungeon Master is the player who is the narrator, the lead storyteller, and the arbiter of the rules during play.
This article references a lot of different products that you can purchase. While I provide some links in the article, let’s not go wild with a bunch of annoying links. Instead, visit my Resources Page that has links for Dungeons & Dragons and painting products.
What if I want to spend less than $30?
For those on a budget or can only finagle a $30 Amazon Gift card from Grandma for their birthday, you’re still in luck. Dungeons and Dragons has released two starter boxes. Both come with pre-generated characters, a set of dice, a rule book, and an adventure! This has enough material to last your game group many months of play.
The first is simply called The Starter Set. This box was released right after the start of the Fifth Edition ruleset. The Adventure takes place around the small mining town of Phandalin. The heroes have been hired to help dwarven brothers explore the Lost Mine of Phandalver. I have run this for my gaming group, who were all new players. It was great.
The second is called The Essentials Kit. Like the Starter set, it comes with a rule book, a set of dice, and an adventure book. While this Kit has character sheets, they are not pre-generated like in the Starter Set. The adventure is also set around Phandalin, but it is almost an alternate universe where the events of the Starter Set adventure didn’t happen.
But the innovation of the Essentials Kit are rules for one-on-one play. That’s right. While Dungeons and Dragons assumes there is a DM and at least three to four players, this Kit can you start with just one other person. It does it through, what it calls, Sidekick Rules.
Whether it is the Starter Set or the Essentials Kit, both can be purchased for less than $25. With the money left over, you can still buy a second set of dice.
What if I want to spend $100 or less?
After the Starter Set or Essentials Kit, the next price point is jump up. I recommend that you buy the three core rulebooks: The Player’s Handbook (PHB), The Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG), and The Monster’s Manual (MM). The last two are only necessary if you plan on being a dungeon master. But sometimes we have to be completionists and get all three.
These three books will give you and your fellow players everything you need for years of play. The Players Handbook has everything you need to create a wide variety of characters. It has all of the rules needed for everyone to play the game. It has basic equipment for your heroes and lists of mighty spells.
The Dungeon Master’s Guide teaches you how to be a Dungeon Master and gives pages of inspiration for experienced Dungeon Masters. It goes beyond the basic rules and gives the Dungeon Master a full toolbox of optional rules. It also shows you how to run adventures in various fantastical locales, like under the ocean, the plane of shadow, or even the Nine Hells! Finally, it has pages and pages of magic items for you to give to your players.
Finally, there is the Monster Manual. Its pages are full of lavish art, stories, and statistics for the monsters and foes opposing your heroes. Again, reading its pages will inspire new and experienced Dungeon Masters alike for encounters and entire campaigns.
Shut Up and Take My Money!
Dungeons and Dragons is no different than many hobbies: there is no end to the things you can buy. This hobby has many different accessaries and playing aids. But some are more central to the play experience than others.
There are many official Dungeon and Dragon products. These include the dice sets like Laeral Silverhand’s Explorer Guide or Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus. Speaking of Descent Into Avernus, that is Dungeon and Dragon’s most recent published, hardcover adventure that will give you months of play. Other published, hardcover adventures are Curse of Strahd, Tomb of Annihilation, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, or Out of the Abyss and several more.
If your players or your Dungeon Master wants more options there are yet more products you can buy. Volo’s Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes have more monsters and lore to inspire the Dungeon Master. Xanathar’s Guide to Everything has expanded player options, optional game rules, and more magic items. It really does have everything!
Next there are several official setting products. These are shared worlds with their own lore, myths, gods and monsters. These books will describe entire worlds or specific regions, but will also have player options, more monsters, and even more magic items. Setting books include the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide and Acquisition’s Incorporated, which are set in the Forgotten Realms.
If you are a fan of Magic: The Gathering, there are two settings taken from that universe: The Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica and Mythic Odysseys of Theros. If you’re a Critical Role Fan, there is the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount and the Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting. The Eberron setting combines high fantasy with pulp fiction adventures like Indiana Jones movies.
What if I want a more hands-on tactical experience?
While you can play Dungeons and Dragons using its Theater of the Mind rules, many prefer a more tactical play style in combat. This means maps. I recommend that if you are going to get a map, start with a good generic map. Its important the map have 1-inch squares as that is the standard for Dungeons and Dragons. Please double check whether it is a wet erase or dry erase marker compatible. Definitely do no use permanent markers on them. Another option are various generic, laminated maps that will accept either dry or wet erase markers.
If you’re going to get maps, then you’ll need to put something on them: Miniatures. If you want pre-painted miniatures, then you either need to go to Ebay for used, individual purchases or the official blind-box set for Dungeons and Dargons. These official blind-boxes have five figures each, which includes a guaranteed larger model. Since the release of Fifth Edition, the official blind-boxes have had several different set themes to match the official published adventure released at the same time.
Not all of the pre-painted sets are random. Dungeons and Dragon’s official miniature partner WizKids have some sets featuring monsters and heroes you can see. They have the Classic Creatures, heroes of various types, or Cave Defenders. They even have what’s called dungeon dressing sets to up the realism at the table.
From there, you can buy pre-painted spell effects, like walls of fire or water. Spell effects for various arcane and divine spells. Or even mighty conjurations. Finally, there are the spell templates that mark our the areas of effects for battle-altering spells.
A completely different rabbit hole are the unpainted miniatures. Again Wizkids has an official Dungeons and Dragons line of unpainted Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures. The number of monsters and heroes that you can buy are too numerous to list here. There are miniatures for the Young White, Black, Green, Blue, and Red dragons. These miniatures are pre-primed and can be painted right out of the box. You’ll need some paint brushes and acrylic paints.
Most of the pictures on this site are of miniatures that I have painted myself. Some are pre-painted miniatures that I have purchased. The painting of miniatures is almost its own hobby in its own right.
Dungeons and Dragons is a hobby that allows you to spend what you want to play. From free products to even a $30 or less purchase, you can enjoy many months of play.
If you want to read more of my posts about Dungeons and Dragons, then click away here! If you want to start to learn on how to paint miniatures, click already! Or maybe you want to explore the wilder (and wider) world of tabletop roleplaying games!
