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Player's Handbook (Dungeons & Dragons) Hardcover – Illustrated, August 19, 2014
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Wizards RPG Team
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Reading age12 years and up
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Print length320 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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Dimensions8.53 x 0.73 x 11.12 inches
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PublisherWizards of the Coast
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Publication dateAugust 19, 2014
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ISBN-100786965606
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ISBN-13978-0786965601
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From the Publisher
Player's Handbook
Welcome to the World of Dungeons & Dragons
The Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game is about storytelling in worlds of swords and sorcery. Like games of make-believe, D&D is driven by imagination. It’s about picturing a crumbling castle in a darkening forest and imagining how a fantasy adventurer might react to the challenges that scene presents.
This book will be your guide to character creation and advancement, your reference for spells and equipment, and a constant companion at your table for looking up just how many beams of eldritch blast you can shoot this time.
Explore ancient ruins and deadly dungeons. Battle monsters while searching for legendary treasures. Gain experience and power as you trek across uncharted lands with your companions.
The world needs heroes. Will you answer the call?
Arm Yourself for Adventure
Learn How to Play
Dungeons & Dragons immerses you in a world of stories. The rules give structure to those stories, determining the consequences of an adventurers’ actions. Will your fireball finish off that vicious troll? Will you see the trap door before falling to your doom? Roll the dice and see.
The Player's Handbook is the essential D&D rulebook for both players and Dungeon Masters. Whether you're pulling off a thrilling heist or trying to charm a surly troll, this book will teach you everything you need to know for a lifetime of playing and running D&D games.
Bring Your Character to Life
Create a Character
The Player's Handbook will guide you through the process of creating a character. Choose from the most iconic D&D races and classes. Give your adventurer a personality and background. Equip them with armor, weapons, and all the adventuring gear they'll need to succeed. And dive into a game of magic and monsters, brave warriors and spectacular adventures.
As your character's experience and power grows, this book will also be your guide for leveling up, with handy reference charts and a variety of customization options.
Enter a World of Magic
Fill in Your Spellbook
Learn to resurrect your allies with the touch of your hand or punish enemies with blazing orbs of fire. The Player's Handbook will teach you the rules for spellcasting, the nature of magic in the D&D multiverse, and serve as your personal spellbook—who needs to go to wizard school?
Choose your spells from a huge A–Z directory, with full descriptions of over 350 of D&D's most beloved spells.
Playing Dungeons & Dragons
Become an Adventurer
Adventurers come in all shapes and sizes. Find one that’s fun for you.
An elvish cleric, driven from society for trespassing on tradition. A dwarven paladin, atoning for an ignominious past. The Player’s Handbook provides the skeleton for your characters. Flesh them out however you choose.
Join the Party
D&D brings people together and forges new friendships. Silly moments spawn inside jokes; moving battles leave treasured memories—whether in the heat of battle, embroiled in social intrigue, or solving clever puzzles, your party has your back.
Choose Your Own Path
The woods are growing dark. Behind a mass of ivy, you see the stones of a crumbling castle. What do you do?
In D&D, your options are limitless. Because the Dungeon Master, as narrator of your tale, can improvise in reaction to any choice you make, what happens next is entirely flexible. Do you dare go on?
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Product details
- Publisher : Wizards of the Coast; Illustrated edition (August 19, 2014)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0786965606
- ISBN-13 : 978-0786965601
- Reading age : 12 years and up
- Item Weight : 1 pounds
- Dimensions : 8.53 x 0.73 x 11.12 inches
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Best Sellers Rank:
#71 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Puzzle & Game Reference (Books)
- #1 in Dungeons & Dragons Game
- #16 in Reference (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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I have to admit that I completely steered clear of the earlier play test versions, and was more than a little skeptical of the approach taken in getting feedback from so many play testers. I was worried that we would end up with a "too many cooks spoil the stew" situation; a game that was a convoluted mish-mash of everyone's "favorite rules" creating an incoherent and largely unplayable mess. I am pleasantly surprised to say that I was 100% wrong about the effectiveness of the play test process and the finished product. Contrary to the opinions in some of the lower star reviews, what I am holding in my hands and have read cover to cover is a very "tight," comprehensive, elegant, and fun set of rules.
Who is likely to like these rules? I think both the veteran player who cut his or her teeth on any version before 3.0, and a brand new player will like them. The mechanics most definitely have a "return to the basics that made the game great in the 70's and 80's" feel, while at the same time keeping a more elegant version of the more modern mechanics, like feats, attacks of opportunity, etc., that people generally love from 3.0 and later editions. For the most part, all of these things have been streamlined and made more elegant in application, but they are there.
I will end with my favorite thing about this book. A little background first to provide some context for my opinion. And let me say that this is just my opinion and some will disagree with me. For me, D&D started to trend downward in my enjoyment of the game at 2nd edition, and then it really did so at 3.0 and 3.5. For me, although I did not have the strong dislike for 4.0 that many people did, it just was not D&D to me anymore, I think primary because I had cut my teeth so much on 1st edition and the Basic and Expert sets in particular. D&D 5th edition has produced a steep positive trend for me for I think one general reason. When playing even 2nd edition, but very much so for 3.0, 3.5, and even 4.0, I found myself interacting with my character in the game more as a playing piece than a character in a story. Concerns about where to put skill points, and if a particular collection and order of choice for Feats began to dominate my thoughts and game choices. It was almost as if my character, and my decisions about playing the character, began to be dominated more by my interface with the rules in the book, rather than with my ideas about my character and my interaction with the game world. As my character advanced in level, I found that my focus on the book and what was written therein became more pronounced, not less as it did with earlier editions. As I reflected while playing these later editions, I found that I was not really playing a character, but instead was playing a set of rules. So far, the gift that 5th edition has given to me is a change in focus. My character has again become a protagonist in an adventure story, rather than a playing piece. I worry now more about the choices and decisions I make while interacting with the game world, and those choices making the character fun to play, rather than fretting over whether or not I have chosen the right Feats or if my modifier for a particular skill is as high as I want it to be. The way that races, and even classes, are discussed, the used of a character's background and the ideals, personality characteristics, etc. that are randomly determined from the background choice, and the lack of mathematical modifiers except for the familiar ability modifier, and the soon to be ubiquitous global proficiency modifier, instead using the elegant advantage/disadvantage mechanic all have worked to focus my attention back on my character as protagonist. For that I want to thank the play testers and writers of 5th edition. For me this has been the most nostalgic aspect of the rules, not so much the mechanics per se.
Do I like all of the rules? Absolutely not. Frankly, I think that is impossible to attain and do not expect that from any set of rpg rules. To me that's not fair to expect that of the writers. And frankly, I am not even looking for that in a set of rules anymore. As I start down the path of the twilight of my gaming career given my age, I want a set of rules that provides enough structure that a DM can make consistent rulings on the fly that fit in with the general mechanics used in the game, and that foster my appreciation as a player of the development of my character in a game world where playing the game is smooth and produces memories of an interesting character who is the protagonist in an interesting story line. Most importantly, I want a set of rules that stays out of the way of that process, and helps me to focus on the game aspects that will produce those kinds of memories.
For me, D&D 5th edition, although not perfect, will accomplish this just fine.
Looking through other reviews of not just the Player’s Handbook, but also the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the Monster Manual, apparently this is a common issue with 5e books. Pages are warped, binding is off center, and in the case of the DM guide, a lot of people are getting copies that have the cover attached upside down.
I’d love to give this a higher rating, because I love 5e, but until they can fix whatever is causing all of these books to be garbage quality, I just can’t.
By R. McKinney on March 12, 2018
Looking through other reviews of not just the Player’s Handbook, but also the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the Monster Manual, apparently this is a common issue with 5e books. Pages are warped, binding is off center, and in the case of the DM guide, a lot of people are getting copies that have the cover attached upside down.
I’d love to give this a higher rating, because I love 5e, but until they can fix whatever is causing all of these books to be garbage quality, I just can’t.
First, the book quality is top-notch. The hardcover and binding are not cheap and can withstand a nice amount of passing around( which you will do alot). The artwork is also highly detailed throughout the entire book.
Second, as far as learning the game goes, it will require a few dedicated hours of reading, but shouldn't be seen as a daunting task (if I learned to play this, then you definitely can as well). Regardless of that though, this book makes everything very easy to learn and thoroughly details everything you need to know, including amazing examples where necessary. My party and I were able to get at least all the basics down and begin playing within a few days of reading most of the rules (Check out the basic rules online first; you only need half to most of them, the rest of the rules will come with experience). Its very helpful to try it out with someone who has played before, but its not at all necessary.
Lastly, this game is as fun, challenging, complex, and immersive as you make it. You can literally do anything you can think of (within reason of the rules), it really just depends how good your character is at certain things.
The attitudes your players bring in to it will affect the game in all aspects, so its best to have people who are ready and willing to role play and really get into the thick of the game. My group and I were very excited about getting into DnD, and it surpassed all of our expectations. It is highly addictive, and requires every player to use their creativity, strategy, and imagination in different ways.
UPDATE 9/30/15:
I thought that I would share my experience with obtaining a replacement book from the manufacturer after my initial review. I contacted Wizards via phone and email to report a defective product. The info to do so may be found here: [...]
After explaining my situation to the customer service rep, they promptly scheduled a pick up via FedEx of my defective book and when it was received, I was sent email notification that a replacement was in route. Fast forward to today, 9/30 and my replacement book has arrived and is in perfect condition. Time will only tell if this one holds up, but for now, I am optimistic. So for those out there that have had issues with the pages coming free of the binding, there is hope! Contact Wizards and explain the situation to them, they have been more than fair in my case. Just a word of advice, be persistent and patient and your replacement book will come.
By Bruce Stephens on September 6, 2015
UPDATE 9/30/15:
I thought that I would share my experience with obtaining a replacement book from the manufacturer after my initial review. I contacted Wizards via phone and email to report a defective product. The info to do so may be found here: [...]
After explaining my situation to the customer service rep, they promptly scheduled a pick up via FedEx of my defective book and when it was received, I was sent email notification that a replacement was in route. Fast forward to today, 9/30 and my replacement book has arrived and is in perfect condition. Time will only tell if this one holds up, but for now, I am optimistic. So for those out there that have had issues with the pages coming free of the binding, there is hope! Contact Wizards and explain the situation to them, they have been more than fair in my case. Just a word of advice, be persistent and patient and your replacement book will come.
Top reviews from other countries
If you don't know how D&D works, know that you cannot play it effectively without at least one person in the group understanding the game well.
This is mainly a reference book, but it has quite a bit of lore on the races, classes and deities.
It plays much looser than earlier editions, with more power in the DM's hands for on-the-fly decision making about how rules are applied and how to enforce them. Where you'd find systems like Pathfinder that have page after page of situation-specific rules (often complete with tables and appropriate modifiers) 5e has lost most of that bulk and bloat. Provided your DM has a solid grasp of the situation and how it relates to the rules that are there, you shouldn't find yourself checking the rule book in the middle of play very often at all.
This streamlined version is much more approachable for new players, which is fantastic, while still holding onto the depth that makes Dungeons and Dragons so enduring.
Fortunately - if a looser system, with more subjectivity, just isn't for you - 5e is incredibly malleable. Homebrewing, tweaking, and making additions to the game is easier than ever. If there's a rule you love from older systems, it shouldn't take much work to adapt it to fit 5e's structure.
I can't recommend trying out 5e enough, especially if you're new to RPGs. There's never been a better time to get started!
This is the most important of all the books, despite it being the same base principles, it has all the current rules and base game mechanisms you will need to play.
There are some significant changes though, it seems that many of the existing rules have been simplified while new rules have been added. A universal "Proficiency Bonus" based on level (and regardless of class) is used for just about everything including attack rolls, saving throws and skill checks. Skills have also been reduced in number and simplified to either proficient or not proficient. There are likewise few Feats to choose from now and are used as an optional alternative rather than in addition to other special abilities.
Character classes have been greatly reduced in power from some earlier editions. For most classes it is not until 3rd level that they get some of the traditional powers of the class. This reduction in power should help new players learn the game more easily and speed up gameplay for all groups.
More thought has gone into character background in this edition than ever before. Players can choose from a number of different backgrounds, each with a simple choice of options to describe their characters personality traits and goals. A larger variety of starting equipment also helps to make more colourful interesting characters.
Not everything is good news though. For a start I found the artwork in this edition to be very drab and uninspiring ( I suppose its a matter of taste). Also some rules have been simplified that don't need to be simplified such as weapon statistics. Weapon speeds and critical hit ranges were never a real chore before, and reducing weapons to just one statistic for damage makes it hard to tell the difference between them. In a similar way simplifying many of the character creation rules does lead to less choice and its hard to differentiate one Rogue from another, or one Paladin from another, except by their choice of race.
Overall though this set of rules is definitely a welcome return to the old style of Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards of the Coast have understood this time round what it is players love about the game. This is a well polished and well presented set of rules which is easily accessible to players old and new. Hopefully there will be many more editions to come!




