The Player’s Handbook – What’s Inside

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Whether you’re a seasoned adventurer or a newcomer to the realms of fantasy, the Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook is your essential companion, unlocking the game’s mysteries and providing everything needed to embark on epic quests and weave captivating tales. Learn how to play Dungeons & Dragons with this first of three core rulebooks, alongside the Dungeon Master’s Guide and the Monster Manual.

Book Overview

The ultimate guide for Dungeons & Dragons enthusiasts, the Player’s Handbook contains a collection of rules designed to guide players and GMs through every aspect of gameplay. From the basics of character creation to the intricacies of leveling up, this definitive player’s reference provides a deep delve into the vast expanse of the D&D universe. Explore the details behind backgrounds, skills, exploration, combat, equipment, spells, and more.

While the first edition of the Players Handbook, written by Gary Gygax, was released for the 1st edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in 1980, 2014’s fifth edition – the version referenced most often today – contains the basic rules of the modern 5e system, including base classes, races, and character customization options.

A multiple-award winner of Best Role Playing Game, Game of the Year, Best Artwork and Presentation, Product of the Year, Best Rules, and Best Writing from the Origins Awards, Golden Geek, and Ennies, this title stands out as the cornerstone of foundational knowledge for anyone hoping to learn to play Dungeons & Dragons.

Playing on Roll20

Roll20’s Players Handbook has been fully converted to digital to aid in your in-person and online games, and is designed to make your D&D journey as accessible and customizable as possible! While there are Free Basic Rules available on Roll20 to allow for simple campaigns, purchasing the PHB unlocks all Backgrounds including Criminal, Entertainer, Noble, Pirate, Spy, and more, plus expansive Class and Sub-Class details, over 40 Feats including Dueld Wielder, Healer, Lucky, Shield Master, and Tavern Brawler! You’ll also find magical Items, additional Lore, a complete set of Proficiencies, every Spell, and everything needed to master character creation and advancement.

The digital Compendium allows you to drag and drop directly into your Games and onto your Character Sheets:

• Equipment and spells can instantly populate Character Sheets with essential information such as item weight and spell details
• Combat and exploration rules can be dragged and dropped in-game for easy reference during play

You can access all of the rules, items, and creatures from the Player’s Handbook in and out of the virtual tabletop:

Your purchase also includes an Art Pack containing nearly 120 Bordered Tokens and art handouts to be used in-game. You can also drag and drop these pieces onto a Character Sheet for extra customization!

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The other two core Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks that best supplement the Player’s Handbook are the Dungeon Master’s Guide and Monster Manual. You can purchase both, along with the Players Handbook and the Essentials Kit in Roll20’s D&D DM Starter Bundle to save 15%.

• The Dungeon Master’s Guide provides the inspiration and guidance you need to spark your imagination and create worlds of adventure for your players to explore and enjoy.
• The Monster Manual presents a horde of classic Dungeons & Dragons creatures, including dragons, giants, mind flayers, and beholders—a monstrous feast for Dungeon Masters ready to challenge their players and populate their adventures.

If you aren’t interested in being a Dungeon Master, but want to learn everything you can about playing D&D, you might enjoy the D&D Player Bundle, which contains the Players Handbook, along with these two essential players resources (and also offers 15% off when purchased together!):

• In Xanathar’s Guide to Everything You’ll also encounter dozens of new spells to drag and drop directly onto your character sheet. A collection of racial feats, and a system to give your character a randomized backstory and more! Not to mention a variety of quips from Waterdeep’s most infamous crime lord, Xanathar!
• In Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything you will find more rules options and subclasses as well as a dash of added artifacts, spellbook options, spells for both player characters and monsters, magical tattoos, group patrons, and other tasty goodies.

To support independent creators who publish through the Dungeon Masters’ Guild program, check out the following titles:

• Epic Characters
  This 68-page handbook contains progression from 20th to 30th level for all character options found in the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica, and Eberron: Rising from the Last War. It also includes epic racial bonuses for all races found in the aforementioned titles, in addition to those found in Elemental Evil Player’s Companion, Volo’s Guide to Monsters, the Tortle Package, Locathah Rising, and Acquisitions Incorporated.
• The Ultimate Adventurer’s Handbook
  The Ultimate Adventurer’s Handbook is the ultimate resource for creating new characters to play in your next Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Within this book you’ll find new races, subclasses, feats, spells, magic items, and more. In addition to new options available to every class published by Wizards of the Coast, as well as Matt Mercer’s Blood Hunter, this book features updated and expanded versions of two popular DMsGuild classes: the Accursed and the Pugilist.
• Hamund’s Harvesting Handbook: A Complete Guide to Harvesting and Crafting in D&D 5e
  This book aims to act as a handy reference for DM’s with loot hungry players that just want to carve up anything they have killed. It provides a monster harvesting loot table for every single unique monster in the 5th Edition Monster Manual. These loot tables are easy to reference and contain every piece of information your players could need when they tear their fresh kills apart. It also possesses over 200 new and unique craftable items to be made from your harvesting adventures, and all the information you would need for them. There are of course rules for both the harvesting and the crafting, and a few extra bonuses strewn in here too.
• The Armorer’s Handbook: Equipment Upgrade and Rune Magic System
  This supplement is a comprehensive modular framework that allows characters to improve their equipment as they see fit by seeking out craftsmen and spending some coin! Chapter 1 covers nonmagical upgrades, which approximate the basic +1-3 progression of magic items in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Chapter 2 introduces rune magic as a means to imbue your equipment with magical properties, including a fully-realized crafting system for characters wishing to create their own runestones using simple gemstones.
• Blackstaff’s Tome of Wizardry
  Explore the versitile applications of magic in the Forgotten Realms with two of the greatest wizards on Toril as your guides! Blackstaff’s Tome of Wizardry presents 31 new archetypes for the wizard class, each with tailored spells to add depth and flavor to you game experience – for a total of 139 new spells. Included are 10 new creatures to create or summon.
• Otto’s Irresponsible Upcasting
  Dive into a world where spells evolve and become even more formidable as you cast them at higher levels. Rediscover the thrill of spellcasting with this groundbreaking supplement. Transform your spellcasters into true masters of magic, expanding your upcasting options to include every spell in the Player’s Handbook. Unearth a treasure trove of over 210 spells and 15 cantrips from the Player’s Handbook, each now with clear, labeled instructions for what happens when cast At Higher Levels. Perfect for both veterans and newcomers, this supplement levels out spellcasting in 5th Edition, adding depth and versatility to your gaming experience.
• Backgrounds & Subclasses for Roll20
  Inside, you will find 2 Backgrounds: The Knight of Myth Drannor and Member of the Elemental Tribes. Enjoy 2 Subclasses: The Oath of Eradication for paladins and Path of the Earthlord. Additionally, a One Page Encounter side quest—special task connecting this volume to other related products.
• Drizzt’s Travelogue of Everything Volume 1
  Drizzt’s Travelogue of Everything is a massive, two-volume collaboration of DMsGuild creators that expands on the options found in the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual. It includes 26 new subclasses for every class, including artificer, a brand new class with 4 new subclasses, 2 remastered subclasses, over 50 new magic items to suit any tier of play, sentient magic weapons with unique personalities and awesome powers, guides on running intrigue and mystery, animal domestication, and more. Plus, enjoy a revised guide to shopping, guidelines for running a business, and complex narrative traps with instructions for modification!

Conclusion

If you’ve ever been curious about Dungeons & Dragons, the Player’s Handbook serves as an essential resource for both beginners and experienced players, providing comprehensive guidance on character creation, game mechanics, spellcasting, and world-building elements, making it indispensable for anyone interested in playing or running games.

If you haven’t already, now is the perfect time to sign up for a FREE Roll20 account and experience the ultimate platform for online tabletop gaming:

• Roll20 runs in your browser, eliminating the need to run a server
• Inviting your friends to play is only a click away
• Play D&D anywhere! Access your rules, character sheets, and one-click rolls online and in person
• Build and manage unlimited D&D characters on Roll20 Characters

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