The books every table starts from: the player rules, the Dungeon Master's toolkit, a boxed first adventure and a full campaign.
Official2024 (5.5e)
Player's Handbook (2024)
The revised core rules for players.
Covers how to play, building a character from class, background and species, every class and its subclasses, feats, equipment and the full spell list. Backgrounds now grant the ability score increases and an Origin feat.
Reach for it: Players building and levelling characters; anyone checking a rule mid-session.
New player guide
What you're actually doing
Dungeons & Dragons is a story you tell together. One person, the Dungeon Master (DM), plays the world: every villager, monster and locked door. Everyone else plays one hero each. There's no board and nobody 'wins'. The DM describes a scene, you say what your hero tries, and the dice decide anything uncertain. The fun is in the choices and in what happens next.
Building your first hero in five steps
1. Choose a class — your hero's job and fighting style. Fighter, Barbarian and Rogue are simple to start with. Cleric and Wizard are for players who want spells.
2. Choose an origin — a background (what you did before adventuring) and a species (human, elf, dwarf, halfling, orc and others). Your background gives you two skills, a tool, a starting feat, equipment and your ability boosts. You also know Common plus two other languages of your choice.
3. Set your six ability scores — use the standard set 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 and place them where your class needs them most. Then add your background's bonus: +2 to one of its three abilities and +1 to another, or +1 to all three, to a maximum of 20. (You can also buy scores with 27 points or roll 4d6 and drop the lowest die.)
4. Pick an alignment and personality — a quick guide to how your hero behaves, plus a goal, a flaw and someone they care about.
5. Fill in the numbers — Hit Points, Armour Class, attacks and spells. Your class tells you where each number comes from.
Ability
What it covers
Strength
Lifting, climbing, hitting hard with heavy weapons
Dexterity
Agility, stealth, bows and light blades, dodging
Constitution
Toughness and stamina; adds to your Hit Points
Intelligence
Memory, reasoning, arcane knowledge; Wizard magic
Wisdom
Perception, insight, survival; Cleric and Druid magic
Charisma
Persuasion, deception, force of personality; Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock and Paladin magic
Each score gives a modifier, and that modifier is what you actually add to rolls: 10–11 is +0, 12–13 is +1, 14–15 is +2, 16–17 is +3, and 8–9 is −1.
The one roll that runs the game
Almost everything uses a d20 Test: roll the twenty-sided die, add the matching ability modifier, and add your Proficiency Bonus if you're trained in what you're doing. Meet or beat the target number and you succeed.
Kind of test
When it happens
Target number
Ability check
You try something tricky: pick a lock, spot a trap, calm a guard
A Difficulty Class (DC) set by the DM
Saving throw
Something tries to harm you: a fireball, poison, a mind spell
The DC of the effect
Attack roll
You swing a sword, fire a bow or hurl a spell at a target
The target's Armour Class (AC)
Proficiency Bonus is +2 at levels 1–4 and rises to +6 by level 17.
Advantage: roll two d20s and keep the higher. Disadvantage: roll two and keep the lower. If you have both, they cancel out, and several sources of Advantage don't stack.
A natural 20 on an attack is a Critical Hit: roll the damage dice twice. A natural 1 on an attack always misses.
Heroic Inspiration lets you reroll any one die and use the new result. The DM hands it out for great play, and some features grant it.
Your turn in a fight
When combat starts, everyone rolls Initiative (a d20 plus Dexterity modifier) to set the turn order. A round is about six seconds of action. On your turn you can do all of these, in any order:
Move up to your Speed, usually 30 feet. You can split it before and after your action.
Take one action: Attack, Magic (cast a spell), Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Influence, Ready, Search, Study or Utilize.
Take a bonus action, but only if a spell or feature gives you one.
Interact with one object for free, such as drawing a sword or opening a door.
Once per round, even on someone else's turn, take a reaction, for example an Opportunity Attack when an enemy walks out of your reach.
Getting hurt, dying and resting
Damage comes off your Hit Points. At 0 you fall Unconscious.
At the start of each of your turns at 0 HP, make a Death Saving Throw: roll a d20 with no bonuses. 10 or higher is a success. Three successes and you stabilise. Three failures and your hero dies.
A natural 20 on a death save brings you back with 1 HP. A natural 1 counts as two failures. Any healing gets you back up immediately.
Taking damage while at 0 HP counts as a failed death save, or two failures from a Critical Hit. If one hit's leftover damage equals your Hit Point maximum, you die outright.
Short Rest (one hour): spend Hit Point Dice to heal, and some abilities recharge.
Long Rest (eight hours, mostly sleeping): regain all Hit Points, spent Hit Point Dice and spell slots.
Casting spells
Cantrips are minor spells you can cast as often as you like.
Levelled spells use a spell slot of that level or higher, and slots come back on a Long Rest. Casting with a higher slot often makes the spell stronger.
Concentration: some spells last only while you focus on them. You can concentrate on one at a time. Taking damage forces a Constitution save to keep the spell going.
On one turn you can spend only one spell slot, so no casting a levelled spell with both your action and your Bonus Action.
A spell with the Ritual tag that you have prepared can be cast without a slot if you take ten extra minutes.
Your spell save DC is 8 + your spellcasting modifier + Proficiency Bonus. Enemies roll against it.
Growing stronger
Heroes run from level 1 to 20. Some groups level up through experience points from defeating foes and finishing quests. Others level up at story milestones. Every class picks its subclass, its specialised path, at level 3. Martial classes also learn Weapon Mastery tricks such as pushing or slowing a target with their favourite weapons. The 2024 rules are designed to work with older 5e adventures, so the other books on this shelf still work with them.
Chapter by chapter
The 2024 Player’s Handbook is the revised fifth-edition player rulebook for Dungeons & Dragons, covering both first sessions and character advancement through level 20. It teaches the basic play loop, walks through character creation, and presents twelve classes with forty-eight subclasses, sixteen backgrounds and ten species. Later chapters collect feats, equipment and spells, while three appendices explain the multiverse, provide player-relevant creatures and define rules terminology. Start with Chapters 1–2, then read your class and origin before using the remaining chapters as references during play. All page ranges in this guide use the book’s printed pagination.
27 sections
▸Introduction: Welcome to Adventurep. 4–5
This introduction presents D&D as a shared imaginative adventure rather than a contest with a single winner. Players each portray an adventurer, while the Dungeon Master describes the world, plays its other inhabitants and adjudicates uncertain outcomes. It identifies the books, dice and character records needed to begin, with optional aids such as miniatures and a screen. It also explains the organisation of this revised fifth-edition handbook and highlights its redesigned origins, classes, feats, weapons and spells.
A typical group has a DM and several players; supporting everyone’s enjoyment matters more than defeating the DM.
Use this handbook for player rules, the Dungeon Master’s Guide for running adventures and the Monster Manual for a broader bestiary.
The Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance and Eberron are examples of settings, not restrictions on where a campaign can take place.
Start here to understand the conversation that drives play: the DM describes a situation, players describe their characters’ intentions, and the DM resolves the results. The chapter introduces the six abilities and the three kinds of D20 Test: ability checks, saving throws and attack rolls. It explains proficiency, Advantage and Disadvantage before showing how social interaction, exploration and combat use those foundations. Exploration covers light, hiding, objects, hazards and travel, while the combat section follows initiative, turns, movement and attacks. Damage, healing, death saves and conditions explain what happens when danger has lasting consequences. Worked scenes show how rules support decisions rather than replacing the players’ descriptions.
Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma describe different capabilities; add the appropriate modifier and any applicable proficiency to a D20 Test.
Advantage means rolling two d20s and keeping the higher; Disadvantage keeps the lower, and opposing sources cancel rather than accumulating.
Actions include Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Influence, Magic, Ready, Search, Study and Utilize; Bonus Actions require a feature that grants one.
A reaction responds to a specified trigger, such as an Opportunity Attack; you regain your reaction at the start of your turn.
Friendly, Indifferent and Hostile attitudes help frame social encounters; knowing an NPC’s goals can matter as much as a Charisma check.
Combat distinguishes movement, cover, melee and ranged attacks, mounted fighting and underwater limitations.
At 0 Hit Points you fall Unconscious and start making Death Saving Throws at the start of each of your turns (three successes stabilise you, three failures kill you), unless massive damage kills you outright; temporary Hit Points form a separate buffer rather than healing.
This chapter turns a character idea into a playable adventurer through an ordered creation process. Choose a class, establish background and species, determine ability scores, choose an alignment and fill in the remaining details. It explains standard scores, random generation and point-buy so the group can use its preferred method. Background, rather than species, supplies the ability-score increases in this book. Later sections explain gaining levels, beginning above level 1 and mixing classes. The trinket collection offers small personal objects that can suggest memories, questions or roleplaying hooks without providing major mechanical power.
Discuss the campaign and party with the DM before choosing your concept; write down proficiencies, equipment, attacks, spells and feature uses.
The standard array is 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8 before background adjustments; point-buy is another supported method.
A background lets you increase one of its three listed abilities by 2 and another by 1, or increase all three by 1.
Record starting Hit Points, Armor Class, Initiative, Speed, saving throws and skill bonuses rather than relying on your ability scores alone.
Level advancement grants the features on your class table; character level and class level differ when you multiclass.
Multiclassing has ability prerequisites and special proficiency and spell-slot rules; Extra Attack and similarly named resources do not simply stack.
Higher-level starts require choices for every intervening level and agreement about additional equipment.
The twelve classes supply the core abilities that distinguish adventurers in combat and beyond. Each class has a progression through level 20, starting training and equipment, and four subclasses. All of this book’s subclasses begin at class level 3, though their later feature levels vary by class. Spellcasting classes also provide their own spell lists and preparation or spell-learning rules. Read the base class alongside its subclass: a subclass expands the class rather than replacing its progression.
The classes are Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock and Wizard.
Ability Score Improvement choices and later Epic Boons appear in class progression; check prerequisites before choosing an alternative feat.
Weapon Mastery, spellcasting, Expertise and class-specific resources are separate systems with different recovery schedules.
The entries below identify every subclass and the major decisions for each class.
The Barbarian is a strong choice for a character built around Strength and Constitution. Rage adds damage to weapon attacks and Unarmed Strikes that use Strength and grants Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing and Slashing damage, while Unarmored Defense offers an alternative to armour. Reckless Attack trades defensive safety for reliable attacks, and Danger Sense improves survival against many Dexterity saves. Extra Attack and Fast Movement develop the frontline role, while Primal Knowledge broadens the usefulness of Rage outside combat. Brutal Strike later lets you exchange part of Reckless Attack’s benefit for forceful tactical effects.
Path of the Berserker adds Frenzy damage, protection against mental interference and retaliation.
Path of the Wild Heart draws on animal aspects for Rage defences, mobility and communion with nature.
Path of the World Tree distributes vitality, relocates creatures and eventually transports the party through supernatural roots.
Path of the Zealot adds divine damage, easier restoration to life, rerolls and late-game divine transformation.
The Bard is a strong choice for a character built around Charisma. Bardic Inspiration gives allies a die they can use to turn failure into success. Bard spellcasting mixes support, healing, enchantment and illusion, while Expertise and Jack of All Trades reinforce the versatile problem-solver role. Font of Inspiration improves the recovery and flexibility of inspiration, and Magical Secrets later widens spell access. Countercharm helps the party resist charm and fear.
College of Dance uses unarmoured agility, unarmed strikes and inspiration-driven movement to protect the group.
College of Glamour combines beguiling magic, temporary Hit Points and coordinated ally movement.
College of Lore adds skills, Cutting Words and earlier access to spells beyond the Bard list.
College of Valor adds martial equipment, Combat Inspiration and weapon attacks integrated with spellcasting.
The Cleric is a strong choice for a character built around Wisdom. Clerics prepare divine spells for healing, protection, damage and utility. Divine Order offers a martial Protector route or a spell-and-knowledge-oriented Thaumaturge route. Channel Divinity powers Divine Spark, Turn Undead and domain abilities; later features improve cantrip or weapon damage. Divine Intervention allows a powerful appeal to divine magic, with an exceptional upgrade at the highest level.
Life Domain improves healing, restores a group with Preserve Life and strengthens self-sustain.
Light Domain provides fire and radiance, Warding Flare and light-based area control.
Trickery Domain uses a divine duplicate, stealth assistance and illusion or deception magic.
War Domain emphasises weapons, War Priest attacks, Guided Strike and combat-supporting divine magic.
The Druid is a strong choice for a character built around Wisdom. Druids prepare nature spells and use Wild Shape for animal forms and other class or subclass effects. Primal Order distinguishes the martial Warden from the spell-focused Magician, while Druidic provides a secret language and a connection to nature. Wild Companion lets a Wild Shape use produce a familiar, giving scouting and support another route. Higher-level features reinforce spellcasting or attacks and eventually allow spell use in beast form.
Circle of the Land links spell options to terrain and adds restorative natural magic and protected ground.
Circle of the Moon specialises in combat Wild Shape, improved defences and lunar spellcasting.
Circle of the Sea surrounds the Druid with storm power that batters nearby foes and later supports flight.
Circle of the Stars spends Wild Shape on a Starry Form with Archer, Chalice or Dragon benefits, plus cosmic omens.
The Fighter is a strong choice for a character built around Strength or Dexterity. Fighters combine Fighting Style, Weapon Mastery and a broad range of armour and weapons. Second Wind restores Hit Points, and Action Surge supplies an additional action subject to its restrictions. Tactical Mind can turn Second Wind into help with failed ability checks, while Tactical Shift adds movement when you heal. Extra Attack grows beyond the two attacks typical of many martial classes, and Indomitable helps recover from failed saves.
Battle Master spends Superiority Dice on manoeuvres such as Trip Attack, Precision Attack and Rally.
Champion improves critical-hit frequency, athletic reliability and later Heroic Inspiration and survival.
Eldritch Knight combines Wizard spells, bonded weapons and features that blend cantrips or spells with attacks.
Psi Warrior uses Psionic Energy Dice for protective fields, extra force damage, telekinetic movement and mobility.
The Monk is a strong choice for a character built around Dexterity and Wisdom. Monks fight through Martial Arts, Unarmored Defense and exceptional mobility rather than heavy equipment. Focus Points power Flurry of Blows, Patient Defense and Step of the Wind, while some basic movement or defensive options remain available without spending points. Deflect Attacks uses a Reaction to reduce damage from a hit by an attack roll that includes Bludgeoning, Piercing or Slashing damage; reducing it to 0 allows you to spend a Focus Point to redirect the attack. Stunning Strike, Extra Attack and later improvements to Focus expenditure make resource timing central to the class.
Warrior of Mercy delivers healing or necrotic punishment through unarmed techniques and eventually restores life.
Warrior of Shadow uses darkness, stealth and teleportation between shadowed locations.
Warrior of the Elements extends reach with elemental strikes and develops flight and elemental protection.
Warrior of the Open Hand manipulates enemies with Flurry of Blows, restores personal health and culminates in Quivering Palm.
The Paladin is a strong choice for a character built around Strength and Charisma. Paladins combine martial training with prepared divine spells from level 1. Lay On Hands spends a healing pool, Weapon Mastery shapes attacks and Fighting Style supports a chosen combat role. Paladin’s Smite supplies Divine Smite with a limited free use; the revised spell uses a Bonus Action, so timing matters. Channel Divinity expresses an oath, while Aura of Protection grants the Paladin and allies within 10 feet a saving throw bonus equal to the Paladin’s Charisma modifier, with a minimum of +1. The aura is inactive while the Paladin is Incapacitated and expands to 30 feet at level 18.
Oath of Devotion offers Sacred Weapon and protection against charm, expressing honour and reliability.
Oath of Glory supports athletic heroics, inspiring allies and moving decisively through battle.
Oath of the Ancients restrains enemies and protects life with nature-themed magic and defensive auras.
Oath of Vengeance focuses on pursuing a chosen foe through Vow of Enmity, movement and retaliation.
The Ranger is a strong choice for a character built around Dexterity and Wisdom. Rangers blend weapons, nature spells, exploration training and Weapon Mastery. Favored Enemy keeps Hunter’s Mark prepared and provides limited free castings, making target selection and Concentration important. Deft Explorer supplies Expertise and languages, and later exploration features improve movement and endurance. Higher-level features strengthen the interaction with Hunter’s Mark, stealth and supernatural awareness.
Beast Master provides a primal companion with land, sea or sky options and coordinated actions.
Fey Wanderer adds psychic Dreadful Strikes, social skill, charm-and-fear manipulation and fey summoning.
Gloom Stalker specialises in darkness, enhanced ambushes, Dread Ambusher and uncanny defensive movement.
Hunter reads a marked foe’s strengths and weaknesses and chooses adaptable offensive and defensive techniques.
The Rogue is a strong choice for a character built around Dexterity. Rogues rely on Expertise, positioning and once-per-turn Sneak Attack rather than repeated attacks. Cunning Action makes hiding, disengaging or dashing a Bonus Action, and Steady Aim can improve attack reliability at the cost of mobility. Cunning Strike exchanges Sneak Attack dice for tactical effects such as poisoning, tripping or withdrawal. Uncanny Dodge, Evasion and Reliable Talent improve durability and consistency as levels rise.
Arcane Trickster adds Wizard spells, enhanced Mage Hand tricks and spell-assisted ambushes.
Assassin improves the opening round, disguises, infiltration and poison-based attacks.
Soulknife creates Psychic Blades and uses Psionic Energy Dice for skills, communication, accuracy and teleportation.
Thief uses Fast Hands, climbing, later magic-item flexibility and exceptional first-round activity.
The Sorcerer is a strong choice for a character built around Charisma. Sorcerers wield innate magic, preparing a limited spell repertoire and using Sorcery Points to reshape it. Innate Sorcery temporarily improves spell attacks and makes spells harder to resist. Font of Magic converts between spell slots and points, while Metamagic modifies how particular spells work. Later features allow more flexible Innate Sorcery and stronger combinations of Metamagic.
Metamagic options include Careful, Distant, Empowered, Extended, Heightened, Quickened, Seeking, Subtle, Transmuted and Twinned Spell; check each option’s exact eligible spells.
The Warlock is a strong choice for a character built around Charisma. Warlocks obtain magic through a patron relationship and customise their power with Eldritch Invocations. Pact Magic uses a small number of slots that return on a Short Rest, unlike the usual long-rest spellcasting progression. Magical Cunning offers an additional limited recovery method, while Mystic Arcanum later provides powerful spells outside ordinary Pact Magic slots. Pact of the Blade, Pact of the Chain and Pact of the Tome are invocation choices rather than a separate mandatory pact selection.
Archfey Patron develops Misty Step into a package of teleportation tricks, deception and fey protection.
Celestial Patron provides Healing Light, radiant support and resilience against defeat.
Fiend Patron rewards bringing enemies down, improves luck and eventually hurls a foe through a hellish ordeal.
Great Old One Patron develops psychic spellcasting, telepathy, mental protection and eldritch domination.
The Wizard is a strong choice for a character built around Intelligence. Wizards use a spellbook to build the widest flexible arcane repertoire in this chapter. They prepare spells from that book, can expand it by copying eligible spells and can cast suitable rituals recorded there. Arcane Recovery restores some spent slots, while Scholar adds Expertise in an appropriate knowledge skill. Memorize Spell later improves preparation flexibility, and Spell Mastery and Signature Spells make selected magic easier to use repeatedly.
Abjurer specialises in protective magic, an Arcane Ward, shielding allies and improved dispelling or countering.
Diviner uses Portent rolls to influence outcomes, recovers resources through divinations and gains special senses.
Evoker improves damaging magic, protects allies with Sculpt Spells and eventually pushes damage with Overchannel.
Illusionist improves illusions, supports illusory creatures and eventually makes elements of illusions temporarily real.
Origins describe the life and inherited traits a character brings to their class. A background supplies three eligible abilities, an Origin feat, two skills, a tool proficiency and starting equipment choices. Species supplies traits such as movement, senses, magical gifts or resilience, not the background’s ability increases. The sixteen backgrounds and ten species can be combined freely unless your campaign imposes a particular restriction. Choose a combination that creates useful capabilities and an interesting history rather than assuming that any species must follow one profession.
Backgrounds on pp. 178–185: Acolyte, Artisan, Charlatan, Criminal, Entertainer, Farmer, Guard, Guide, Hermit, Merchant, Noble, Sage, Sailor, Scribe, Soldier and Wayfarer.
Magic-oriented backgrounds include Acolyte with Magic Initiate (Cleric), Guide with Magic Initiate (Druid), and Sage with Magic Initiate (Wizard).
Other pairings include Artisan–Crafter, Entertainer–Musician, Farmer–Tough, Guard–Alert, Hermit–Healer, Sailor–Tavern Brawler and Soldier–Savage Attacker.
Charlatan, Noble and Scribe grant Skilled; Criminal grants Alert; Merchant and Wayfarer grant Lucky.
Species on pp. 186–197: Aasimar, Dragonborn, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Goliath, Halfling, Human, Orc and Tiefling.
Aasimar channel celestial transformation; Dragonborn use breath and later flight; Dwarves offer toughness and stone-linked perception; Elves select drow, high elf or wood elf lineage.
Gnomes choose forest or rock gifts; Goliaths choose giant ancestry and can grow larger; Halflings bring luck and nimbleness; Humans gain versatility and an extra Origin feat.
Orcs combine bursts of movement with endurance; Tieflings choose abyssal, chthonic or infernal legacies with different magic and resistances.
Feats describe training and exceptional talents beyond the basic class package. Their categories determine which selections a background or class feature can grant. Each entry identifies prerequisites, benefits and whether taking it repeatedly is permitted. Origin feats generally establish a starting speciality, General feats develop a character after early levels, Fighting Style feats refine weapon use, and Epic Boons support very high-level play. Most General feats include a modest ability increase as well as their specialised benefits.
Read prerequisites before planning a build: level, ability scores, training or spellcasting requirements can restrict a choice.
A feat cannot normally be selected again unless it explicitly allows repetition.
An unrestricted feat choice still requires you to qualify; it does not automatically waive category-related prerequisites.
Origin feats provide a practical starting identity without needing a long class progression. Some improve reliability, while others add magic, healing, tools or social support. Your background grants its named feat, and certain other features can grant additional Origin selections. Compare these benefits with what your class already provides so that you understand which new options you are actually gaining.
Alert improves Initiative and can exchange your place with a willing ally; Lucky spends Luck Points to influence D20 Tests.
Crafter adds tool training, discounts and temporary fast-crafted gear; Musician grants allies Heroic Inspiration after a rest.
Healer improves healing with a Healer’s Kit and healing-roll reliability; Tough increases Hit Points.
Magic Initiate grants cantrips and a level 1 spell from Cleric, Druid or Wizard; Skilled grants additional skill or tool proficiencies.
Savage Attacker improves a weapon damage roll once per turn; Tavern Brawler improves unarmed fighting, improvised weapons and pushing.
General feats require level 4 or higher, and many also need a minimum ability score (often 13) or a type of training. They let martial characters specialise in particular weapons, defensive techniques or manoeuvres, and let spellcasters improve Concentration, reach or magical versatility. Others focus on awareness, communication, movement and skills. Ability Score Improvement remains the straightforward option when improving core numbers matters more than gaining a new trick. The names below are the complete General category, grouped by the sort of decision they help you make rather than reproducing the book’s benefits as a rules table.
Core development and skills: Ability Score Improvement, Actor, Athlete, Chef, Durable, Inspiring Leader, Keen Mind, Observant, Resilient, Skill Expert and Speedy.
Equipment training: Heavily Armored, Heavy Armor Master, Lightly Armored, Martial Weapon Training, Medium Armor Master and Moderately Armored.
Magic and supernatural talents: Elemental Adept, Fey-Touched, Ritual Caster, Shadow-Touched, Spell Sniper, Telekinetic, Telepathic and War Caster.
Examples of build direction: War Caster supports casting under pressure; Grappler lets you combine damage and a grapple with one Unarmed Strike once per turn during your Attack action, improves attacks against creatures you grapple and helps you move them; Weapon Master introduces a mastery property without requiring a new class.
These feats represent focused combat training rather than an entire new class. They require a feature that supplies Fighting Style training, so a starting background does not simply grant access to them. Some improve personal offence or defence, while others protect companions. Pick a style that matches the weapons and armour you expect to use regularly.
Archery supports ranged weapon accuracy; Dueling supports a single one-handed melee weapon; Great Weapon Fighting supports heavier weapon damage.
Epic Boons are exceptional rewards for characters of level 19 or higher. They include an ability increase with a higher ceiling than ordinary advancement and a substantial supernatural benefit. Some strengthen an established combat role, while others unlock movement, perception or recovery that ordinary training cannot match. A class’s late-level feat feature is the usual point at which a player considers these options.
Boon of Combat Prowess improves hit reliability; Boon of Irresistible Offense helps overcome resistance and rewards exceptional attacks.
Boon of Dimensional Travel adds teleportation to your action economy; Boon of Speed dramatically improves movement and escape.
Boon of Energy Resistance supplies adaptable protection; Boon of Fortitude improves staying power; Boon of Recovery provides emergency healing.
Boon of Fate alters a nearby D20 Test; Boon of Skill greatly broadens skills; Boon of Spell Recall can preserve spell slots.
Boon of the Night Spirit grants darkness-related supernatural advantages; Boon of Truesight reveals things that ordinary vision misses.
This chapter covers buying, carrying and using the practical tools of adventure. Weapons are described through damage, properties and mastery effects, while armour trades protection against training requirements, weight or stealth limitations. Tool entries connect proficiencies with useful tasks rather than treating tools as mere decorations on a character sheet. Adventuring gear, mounts, vehicles and paid services cover the expedition’s broader needs. The closing sections explain magic-item basics and how characters craft ordinary equipment, Potions of Healing and spell scrolls.
Coins use copper, silver, electrum, gold and platinum denominations; starting equipment can come from both class and background.
Weapon properties include Finesse, Heavy, Light, Loading, Reach, Thrown, Two-Handed and Versatile; properties are not the same thing as mastery.
The eight mastery properties are Cleave, Graze, Nick, Push, Sap, Slow, Topple and Vex; you need the appropriate feature to exploit them.
Light, Medium and Heavy armour use Dexterity differently; shields improve Armor Class but occupy a hand.
Tools include Alchemist’s Supplies, Smith’s Tools, Thieves’ Tools, Musical Instruments and Gaming Sets; matching a skill and tool proficiency can improve checks.
Rope, torches, lanterns, Caltrops, Ball Bearings, Healer’s Kits, Holy Water, Acid and Alchemist’s Fire solve different exploration or combat problems.
Lifestyle, lodging, food, hirelings, transport and spellcasting services help a party budget beyond weapons.
Crafting requires appropriate tools, materials and time; magic-item attunement is separate from merely carrying or owning an item.
The spell chapter first explains how magic is acquired and cast, then provides an alphabetical reference from Acid Splash to Zone of Truth. Class features determine which spells you can access, how you prepare them and what spell slots you possess. Each description identifies level, school, casting time, range, components, duration and the effect to resolve. Spell slots are resources rather than individual spells, and using a higher-level slot improves an effect only when its description says so. Read both the shared casting rules and the individual description before using an unfamiliar spell. New players should initially learn their prepared spells rather than trying to memorise the whole chapter.
The eight schools are Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy and Transmutation.
Casting times include actions, Bonus Actions, reactions and longer activities; during a turn you can expend only one spell slot to cast spells.
Verbal, Somatic and Material components impose different requirements; a focus does not replace a listed costly or consumed component.
Concentration ends when you lose it or begin another Concentration effect; damage can force Constitution saves to maintain it.
Ritual casting takes additional time but avoids spending a slot when your character can cast the spell as a ritual.
Spell attacks compare your attack total with Armor Class; save-based spells instead test targets against your spell save DC.
Representative choices include Guidance for checks, Healing Word for emergency healing, Shield for defence, Misty Step for repositioning, Fireball for area damage and Counterspell for interrupting magic.
Other useful reference points include Find Familiar for a companion, Revivify for recent death, Summon Beast for combat support and Wish for extraordinary high-level magic.
This appendix places an ordinary adventure world within a larger magical cosmos. The Material Plane contains campaign worlds, with the Feywild and Shadowfell offering emotionally heightened or shadow-haunted counterparts. The Astral and Ethereal Planes connect different parts of existence. Elemental realms describe the building blocks of physical reality, while the Outer Planes embody philosophical forces and afterlives. These are setting concepts that explain the origins of creatures and magic, not a requirement that every starting campaign involve planar travel.
The Material settings named here include Dragonlance, Eberron, the Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk; groups may also invent their own.
Domains of Delight belong to the Feywild; Domains of Dread are associated with the Shadowfell.
The Inner Planes include Air, Earth, Fire and Water, their para-elemental boundaries and the turbulent Elemental Chaos.
The Outer Planes include the Abyss, Acheron, Arborea, Arcadia, the Beastlands, Bytopia, Carceri, Elysium, Gehenna, Hades, Limbo, Mechanus, Mount Celestia, the Nine Hells, Pandemonium and Ysgard.
The Outlands connect these philosophical realms; Sigil, the City of Doors, floats above the Spire and is governed by the mysterious Lady of Pain.
▸Appendix B: Creature Stat Blocksp. 346–359
These creature profiles support player-facing magic and transformations without requiring the full Monster Manual. They are particularly useful for Wild Shape, familiars, mounts and effects that create or control creatures. Each profile brings together size, creature type, defences, movement, senses, traits and available actions. Familiarity with the layout makes it easier to find a creature’s special movement or attack rider during play. Inclusion here does not mean every spell or feature can choose every creature: eligibility still comes from that ability’s own rules.
Small scouts and familiar candidates include Bat, Cat, Crab, Frog, Hawk, Lizard, Owl, Rat, Raven, Scorpion, Spider, Venomous Snake and Weasel.
Larger beasts include Ape, Badger, Black Bear, Boar, Brown Bear, Camel, Constrictor Snake, Crocodile, Dire Wolf, Elephant, Elk, Goat, Lion, Mastiff, Mule, Panther, Pony, Reef Shark, Riding Horse, Tiger, Warhorse and Wolf.
Giant forms include Giant Badger, Giant Crab, Giant Seahorse, Giant Spider and Giant Weasel; their movement modes can matter as much as their attacks.
Supernatural profiles include Imp, Pseudodragon, Quasit, Skeleton, Slaad Tadpole, Sphinx of Wonder and Sprite; special familiar choices require an appropriate feature.
Use flight, climbing, swimming, keen senses and carrying capacity to choose a useful form, not just its attack damage.
The glossary is the book’s compact rules reference for resolving a term encountered elsewhere. Entries cross-reference one another and use tags to distinguish actions, conditions, hazards and related rules families. It covers the common action vocabulary as well as timing, areas of effect, rests, movement and other technical terms. Conditions describe specific mechanical changes rather than only a narrative impression of a character’s state. Use this appendix during play when you need a definition, then return to the class, spell or equipment entry for any specific exception.
The conditions are Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Incapacitated, Invisible, Paralysed (printed as Paralyzed), Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained, Stunned and Unconscious.
The action definitions clarify what Attack, Help, Hide, Influence, Magic, Ready, Search, Study and Utilize actually allow.
Short Rest and Long Rest have different durations, interruptions and recovery benefits; do not assume every class resource refreshes in the same way.
Heroic Inspiration lets you reroll a die after rolling it and use the new result; it is distinct from Bardic Inspiration.
Areas such as Cone, Cube, Cylinder, Emanation, Line and Sphere determine which spaces and creatures an effect reaches.
Consult entries on Concentration, Cover, Difficult Terrain, Opportunity Attacks, Surprise and Temporary Hit Points when a tactical interaction is unclear.
The toolkit for running games and building worlds.
Guidance on building worlds and adventures, running sessions and making rulings, plus encounter and treasure tools, a large catalogue of magic items and optional rules.
Reach for it: Dungeon Masters preparing sessions or adjudicating at the table.
New player guide
What this book is for
This is the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide. Players never need to read it, but it helps to know what's in it. It's split into three parts: building worlds (gods, planes, settlements and campaign styles), building adventures (plots, villains, encounters, travel, downtime between quests) and running the game (rulings, treasure, magic items and optional rules to customise your table). It works fine alongside the 2024 Player's Handbook.
The DM's three jobs
Storyteller: describe the world vividly and play everyone the heroes meet.
Referee: decide when a roll is needed, set its difficulty and make fair calls when the rules don't cover something.
Host: keep the table fun for everyone. Share the spotlight, keep pace and agree on boundaries up front.
Setting difficulty
Task
DC
Very easy
5
Easy
10
Medium
15
Hard
20
Very hard
25
Nearly impossible
30
Only call for a roll when failure would be interesting and success isn't certain. If anyone could do it, or no one could, just say what happens.
The three pillars of play
Exploration: travelling, mapping dungeons, finding secrets and surviving the wilderness. Passive Perception (10 + Perception bonus) tells you who notices things without rolling.
Social interaction: bargaining, lying, persuading and gathering rumours. NPCs start friendly, indifferent or hostile, and good roleplaying can shift them.
Combat: the fights. A good adventure mixes all three so every type of player gets their moment.
Building fair fights
Each hero's level gives an experience budget for an Easy, Medium, Hard or Deadly encounter. Add up the party's budget, then spend it on monsters. Because groups of monsters are more dangerous than their raw total suggests, the book multiplies the total upward as numbers grow. A typical adventuring day is around six to eight Medium or Hard encounters with a couple of Short Rests between them.
Treasure and magic items
Rarity runs from Common to Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare and Legendary, with unique Artifacts above that.
Some items need Attunement, a Short Rest bonding with the item. A hero can be attuned to no more than three items at once.
The book includes random treasure tables by level band, so rewards keep pace with the party.
Chapter by chapter
The 2014 Dungeon Master’s Guide is the fifth-edition toolkit for the person preparing and running a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. It complements the Player’s Handbook and Monster Manual with advice on worlds, adventures, rewards, adjudication, and optional rules. Its three parts move from campaign-scale creation to individual adventures and then to running and customising the game. Four appendices supply random-dungeon tools, monster finding aids, reusable maps, and further inspiration; the chapter entries below use printed book pages, with overlapping ranges where sections share a page. This guide describes the 2014 book rather than the revised 2024 rules.
34 sections · “Open all” skips DM-only sections
▸Introductionp. 4–6
This book helps the Dungeon Master prepare a world, present adventures, and decide what happens when the rules need interpretation. It complements the Player’s Handbook and Monster Manual rather than replacing either. Its three parts move from campaign creation to adventure preparation and then to rules adjudication and customisation. The introduction also asks you to notice what your players enjoy, since a technically elaborate adventure can still disappoint a group whose interests it ignores.
The DM describes situations, portrays nonplayer characters, controls opposition, and adjudicates uncertain outcomes.
Part 1 builds worlds and cosmology; Part 2 develops adventures and rewards; Part 3 covers rulings and optional systems.
Player interests include acting, exploring, instigating, fighting, optimising, problem solving, and storytelling.
Prepare opportunities for different interests instead of assuming every player wants the same balance of conversation and combat.
Chapter 1 turns a fantasy setting into a place that can support repeated adventures. It begins with broad assumptions about gods, wilderness, ancient ruins, and exceptional heroes, but explicitly allows you to change those assumptions. Practical sections cover maps, settlements, languages, factions, and the everyday effects of magic. Later sections explain how to launch a small campaign, introduce major changes, and match the campaign’s tone to the group. A new DM can use this as a checklist without designing an entire continent before the first session.
Start with a home base, nearby adventuring territory, and an opening adventure.
Decide how active the gods are and whether people worship a broad pantheon, a single deity, or a philosophy.
Give settlements useful services, political tensions, and reasons for adventurers to return.
Use factions and renown to connect individual deeds to lasting relationships.
Choose the campaign’s fantasy style and revisit its scope as characters advance.
▸Chapter 1 · Gods, Maps, Settlements, and Factionsp. 9–24
These sections establish the institutions and places characters encounter between expeditions. Religious models include loose and tight pantheons, dualism, animism, and devotion to forces or philosophies. Mapping advice distinguishes local, kingdom, and continental scales so you draw only as much detail as play requires. Settlements receive purposes, rulers, defences, businesses, and distinctive local details rather than just population figures. Factions and magical infrastructure then give those places connections and conflicts.
The Dawn War pantheon is a worked example, not a compulsory religion for every campaign.
A village, town, or city can serve as a safe base, an adventure location, or both.
The Harpers and the Order of the Gauntlet illustrate organisations with different goals and methods.
Renown measures standing within an organisation; ranks can unlock support, responsibilities, and influence.
Consider how healing, resurrection, teleportation circles, and restrictions on spellcasting change society.
▸Chapter 1 · Campaign Structure, Events, and Fantasy Stylesp. 25–42
The campaign-building advice begins close to the characters and expands through their actions. World-shaking events provide engines for change, including invasions, disasters, discoveries, new organisations, and the rise or fall of important powers. Calendars, recurring observances, and the passage of time help those changes feel persistent. Play-style discussions distinguish combat-heavy games from exploration and other priorities, while tiers of play describe the increasing reach of adventurers. Fantasy styles offer different expectations about heroism, magic, danger, and genre.
Link characters to the starting region through personal stakes rather than relying only on a distant world-ending threat.
Use a campaign event to change the situation and invite choices, not to predetermine every response.
Tiers run through levels 1–4, 5–10, 11–16, and 17–20, with progressively broader influence.
Heroic, sword-and-sorcery, epic, mythic, dark, intrigue, mystery, and swashbuckling fantasy suggest different adventure priorities.
Higher-level starting equipment depends on both starting level and the campaign’s abundance of magic.
This chapter places the campaign world among other planes of existence. It explains several cosmological arrangements rather than requiring one universal map. Planar travel can involve spells, portals, or unusual routes, and reaching another plane does not necessarily make it safe to explore. The Astral and Ethereal Planes, Feywild, Shadowfell, elemental realms, and Outer Planes each offer different adventure conditions. Optional planar effects make these destinations mechanically distinctive as well as visually strange.
The Great Wheel, World Tree, and World Axis illustrate alternative relationships between planes.
Portals can have keys, restrictions, destinations, or operating conditions that become adventure objectives.
The Material Plane contains campaign worlds such as the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance, and Eberron.
Decide which planar effects apply before characters travel so danger follows understandable rules.
▸Chapter 2 · Transitive, Echo, Elemental, and Outer Planesp. 46–68
The Astral Plane supports travel through a realm of thought, while the Ethereal Plane distinguishes the Border Ethereal from the deeper routes between regions. The Feywild and Shadowfell echo the Material Plane but alter its atmosphere and sometimes its travellers. The Inner Planes develop air, earth, fire, and water into regions with settlements, hazards, and boundaries. Outer Planes express powerful moral and philosophical themes, with routes such as the River Styx and Infinite Staircase connecting some destinations. Sigil, the Outlands, demiplanes, and the Far Realm broaden the options beyond a simple elemental-versus-divine division.
Feywild time distortion and memory loss are optional complications; Shadowfell despair is another optional environmental effect.
The City of Brass provides a specific destination within the Plane of Fire.
Mount Celestia, Elysium, Arborea, the Abyss, the Nine Hells, and Mechanus exemplify sharply different planar environments.
Outer Planes can have multiple layers with their own travel problems and inhabitants.
Use an environmental rule to reinforce the plane’s identity rather than stacking every possible penalty.
Chapter 3 explains how to build an adventure around meaningful threats, clear opportunities, and consequences. It separates location-based adventures from event-based adventures so that a dungeon expedition need not be prepared like an unfolding conspiracy. Goals, allies, patrons, villains, introductions, and climaxes provide ingredients rather than a compulsory script. Complications such as moral quandaries and unexpected developments prevent a straightforward objective from becoming repetitive. Encounter design then supplies numerical guidance for combat and practical advice for random events.
Give the party a reason to act and enough information to choose a course of action.
A location-based adventure centres on places to explore; an event-based adventure centres on actors and developing situations.
Mysteries need discoverable clues, while intrigue depends on competing interests and influence.
An encounter may involve negotiation, discovery, or a hazard rather than an immediate fight.
Published adventures still benefit from adaptation to the party and campaign.
▸Chapter 3 · Combat Difficulty and Random Encountersp. 81–87
These pages estimate combat difficulty using the party’s experience thresholds and the monsters’ experience values. Multiple enemies alter the effective encounter budget because action economy matters, and unusually small or large parties need further adjustment. The adjusted total measures difficulty; it is not the experience award for defeating the creatures. Adventuring-day guidance and short-rest expectations explain why one isolated battle can feel easier than several challenges in succession. Random encounters should reflect local conditions and create decisions rather than merely interrupt travel.
Difficulty categories are easy, medium, hard, and deadly; none guarantees a particular outcome.
Challenge rating deserves special caution when a creature can overwhelm a low-level character with one ability.
Terrain, surprise, positioning, and multipart encounters can change the practical danger.
The often-cited six to eight medium or hard encounters describe an endurance estimate, not a mandatory daily schedule.
The Sylvan Forest example shows how a regional encounter list can include more than hostile monsters.
The 2024 Basic Rules handle this differently: they use Low, Moderate and High budgets per character and add up the monsters' XP without the 2014 multiplier for groups. Use one edition's method from start to finish rather than mixing them.
This chapter helps the DM make characters who are memorable at the table without writing a novel about each one. Appearance, mannerisms, abilities, talents, ideals, bonds, and secrets provide different handles for portrayal. Separate advice covers companions, contacts, hirelings, and minor background figures, since these roles need different amounts of preparation. Villains receive methods, objectives, and weaknesses that make them more than combat statistics. The final pages present two villainous class options, which require the DM’s approval rather than being automatic player choices.
One distinctive behaviour and one clear motivation can make an otherwise minor NPC easy to remember.
NPC companions can use suitable monster statistics instead of a complete player-character sheet.
Optional loyalty rules track how an NPC’s treatment affects willingness to help.
A villain’s weakness can create an investigative or diplomatic route to victory.
Death Domain clerics and Oathbreaker paladins are included as specialised villain-building tools.
These options support villains whose religious or martial power has turned towards death and corruption. The Death Domain expands a cleric’s necromantic capabilities through features such as Reaper and Touch of Death. Oathbreaker paladins replace their former oath features with powers involving undead, fear, and a destructive aura. The text also discusses atonement for a paladin seeking to leave the Oathbreaker path. Treat both as campaign-sensitive choices and discuss their implications before allowing a player to use them.
Death Domain features include martial weapon proficiency, Reaper, Touch of Death, Inescapable Destruction, Divine Strike, and Improved Reaper.
Oathbreaker features include Control Undead, Dreadful Aspect, Aura of Hate, Supernatural Resistance, and Dread Lord.
Aura of Hate can also strengthen nearby fiends and undead, making positioning and allies significant.
Oathbreaker is not the automatic result of every mistake or disagreement involving a paladin.
This chapter turns environments into active parts of adventures. Dungeon design considers the original builders, purpose, present inhabitants, and physical layout. Wilderness and settlement sections broaden preparation beyond underground rooms to travel routes, communities, and local dangers. Unusual environments cover underwater, airborne, and shipboard situations with their own constraints. The chapter ends with a framework for traps and examples showing how triggers, detection, and consequences fit together.
Choose an environment because it supports interesting decisions, not simply because a map is available.
Dungeon ecology asks how inhabitants survive and why they occupy particular areas.
Weather, food, navigation, and visibility can give journeys stakes beyond random battles.
Settlements have governments, services, law enforcement, and urban encounters.
Traps need an understandable trigger, effect, and possible countermeasures.
▸Chapter 5 · Dungeons, Wilderness, and Settlementsp. 99–115
Dungeon creation begins by choosing a location, a creator, and an original function, then asks what has changed since construction. Mapping advice considers corridors, doors, secret routes, vertical connections, and the practical needs of inhabitants. Wilderness preparation scales the map to the journey and uses landmarks, settlements, ruins, and unusual locations to give travel structure. Survival rules address weather, foraging, getting lost, and hazards such as quicksand or extreme temperatures. Urban preparation adds districts, buildings, local authority, and events that make a town more than a shopping stop.
Brown mould, green slime, and yellow mould are environmental dangers with different interactions, not interchangeable scenery.
Secret doors reward appropriate searching; locked and stuck doors create different obstacles.
Extreme cold, extreme heat, strong wind, and heavy precipitation affect different activities.
Foraging and navigation depend on terrain and circumstances rather than a universal wilderness difficulty.
Urban encounters can involve fires, crowds, crime, or public disturbances without becoming conventional dungeon fights.
▸Chapter 5 · Unusual Environments and Trapsp. 116–123
Underwater adventures change movement, visibility, breathing requirements, and the practical use of equipment. Sea travel adds navigation, weather, vessel statistics, and the possibility of shipboard conflict, while airborne travel raises the stakes of movement and falling. Trap design distinguishes mechanical devices from magical effects and separates finding a trap from understanding or disabling it. Severity guidance helps the DM judge whether a trap is a setback, a dangerous threat, or potentially lethal for the party. The examples are useful templates for designing fair warning signs and possible solutions.
Ships and flying vehicles need practical considerations such as crews, carrying capacity, and vulnerable components.
Sample traps include a collapsing roof, falling net, fire-breathing statue, pits, poison darts, and a poison needle.
A sphere of annihilation illustrates an exceptionally dangerous magical obstacle, not an ordinary damage trap.
Use passive awareness and deliberate investigation appropriately; noticing something wrong need not reveal the entire mechanism.
A successful solution can involve avoidance or environmental manipulation rather than only a disarming roll.
Chapter 6 connects individual adventures into an ongoing campaign. It offers ways to link quests and keep track of people, dates, unfinished business, and the consequences of past choices. Recurring expenses make property, employees, and lifestyle part of campaign management. Downtime activities let characters pursue personal projects while weeks or months pass in the world. These are the 2014 rules and should not be silently mixed with later, differently priced downtime systems.
Link adventures through a continuing objective, recurring enemies, or consequences that open a new problem.
Track campaign time and NPC relationships so the setting changes consistently.
Downtime includes building a stronghold, carousing, crafting magic items, gaining renown, performing sacred rites, running a business, selling magic items, and sowing rumours.
Magic-item crafting requires more than spare money: suitability, prerequisites, time, and DM permission matter.
Optional training to gain levels can make advancement require time and access to instruction.
Treasure includes money and valuables, but also magical equipment and rewards that cannot simply be bought. This chapter explains individual treasure, larger hoards, magic-item rarity, and the practical rules for using enchanted objects. Its largest section is an alphabetical magic-item reference, followed by sentient items and major artifacts. The closing pages cover supernatural gifts, political rewards, training, and epic boons. For a new DM, the key distinction is between an item’s rules, its availability in the campaign, and the story attached to finding it.
Coins, gems, and art objects can make treasure portable, awkward, recognisable, or politically significant.
Treasure rolls use challenge bands and distinguish individual possessions from accumulated hoards.
Rarity gives a broad sense of power and availability, not a guarantee that every item is suitable for every group.
Attunement, charges, command words, curses, and item resilience affect how rewards work in play.
Non-item rewards can create future adventures as effectively as a powerful weapon.
▸Chapter 7 · Treasure Generation and Magic-Item Rulesp. 133–149
These pages explain how to generate valuables and select magic items before the alphabetical catalogue begins. Rarity categories run from common to legendary, with artifacts treated separately as exceptional objects. Attunement creates a personal bond with certain items and normally limits a creature to three such bonds at once. Item categories distinguish armour, potions, rings, rods, scrolls, staffs, wands, weapons, and wondrous items. Optional quirks, histories, potion interactions, and scroll mishaps allow otherwise familiar rewards to feel distinctive.
Attunement usually requires a focused short rest, and the item can also impose a class or other prerequisite.
Identifying an item’s ordinary properties is different from reliably discovering a curse.
Random Magic Item Tables A–I organise treasure selection; they are tools, not a promise that magic shops stock the results.
Charges and recharge conditions must be tracked according to the individual item.
A creator, former owner, minor property, or odd behaviour can turn a reward into a campaign hook.
The alphabetical catalogue describes the book’s ordinary magic items, from Adamantine Armor through Wings of Flying. Entries tell the DM what form an item takes, its rarity, whether it needs attunement, and what its magic actually does. Some items offer steady bonuses, while others grant limited spells, movement, information, unusual storage, or dangerous transformations. Cursed objects complicate the assumption that every discovery is an uncomplicated upgrade. Read the individual entry closely: two items with similar themes can have very different activation rules and limitations. The examples below are a navigation aid rather than a replacement for the catalogue.
Bag of Holding provides extradimensional storage; Portable Hole offers a different storage solution, and combining extradimensional containers can be hazardous.
Boots of Elvenkind support quiet movement, Cloak of Elvenkind supports concealment, and Goggles of Night help with darkvision.
Flame Tongue adds a fiery weapon effect, while a Holy Avenger is especially associated with paladins.
Immovable Rod, Decanter of Endless Water, and Marvelous Pigments reward imaginative problem solving.
Potion of Healing, Spell Scroll, and Wand of Magic Missiles illustrate consumable or limited-use magical resources.
Berserker Axe, Armor of Vulnerability, and Bag of Devouring show why apparent benefits can conceal serious drawbacks.
Deck of Many Things can radically redirect a campaign; consider the group’s tolerance for unpredictable consequences before introducing it.
▸Chapter 7 · Sentient Magic Items and ArtifactsDM onlyp. 214–227
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Sentient items are characters as well as possessions, with mental abilities, communication methods, perceptions, and independent purposes. A disagreement between wielder and item can become a conflict rather than a simple equipment malfunction. Blackrazor, Moonblade, Wave, and Whelm demonstrate different personalities and expectations for their owners. Artifacts are unique, campaign-defining objects that combine major powers with drawbacks and exceptional destruction conditions. Their histories and hidden dangers are best handled as DM-only material until discovered in play.
Give a sentient item a purpose and a recognisable voice so its demands are understandable.
Artifact design combines beneficial and detrimental properties rather than treating every powerful object as a straightforward reward.
The Axe of the Dwarvish Lords, Books of Exalted Deeds and Vile Darkness, and Eye and Hand of Vecna represent very different story roles.
Orb of Dragonkind, Sword of Kas, and Wand of Orcus can drive whole adventures about control, temptation, or destruction.
Do not assume ordinary item-destruction methods work on an artifact.
▸Chapter 7 · Other Rewards and Epic Boonsp. 227–232
The end of the treasure chapter expands rewards beyond equipment. Blessings are significant supernatural gifts, while charms provide more limited magical benefits that can expire through use or time. Titles, land, medals, favours, strongholds, and special training can change the characters’ social position and obligations. Epic boons offer advancement for characters who have already reached 20th level, with alternatives also provided. These rewards work best when tied to someone or something the party already values.
A blessing can express divine recognition; a charm can represent a temporary supernatural favour.
Land and titles create responsibilities as well as status, giving the DM new campaign hooks.
Special training can grant a benefit without requiring another magic item to carry.
Epic examples include Boon of Combat Prowess, Boon of Dimensional Travel, Boon of Fate, Boon of Recovery, and Boon of Truesight.
Choose rewards that suit the campaign’s current problems rather than giving every character the same form of advancement.
This chapter is the main practical reference for resolving play at the table. It starts with table expectations and the role of dice, then discusses ability checks, exploration, conversation, objects, and combat. Special procedures cover chases, siege weapons, diseases, poisons, and the book’s madness rules. The final section explains experience awards and alternatives to counting experience points. Many of these systems are tools for the DM to select when relevant, not requirements to introduce all at once.
Clarify table talk, metagame information, missing players, and similar expectations before they become arguments.
Roll when an uncertain outcome and its consequences matter; obvious success or impossibility may need no check.
Exploration, social interaction, and combat each deserve consistent adjudication.
Separate core procedures from optional variants such as flanking, morale, and alternative advancement.
Use the following subsections as focused references during preparation.
The opening rules advice concerns how the group makes decisions and how much uncertainty dice should introduce. Ability checks require a clear task, an appropriate ability, a difficulty, and an outcome that changes the situation. Proficiency, tools, advantage, disadvantage, and passive or repeated attempts help the DM handle different approaches without inventing a separate rule for every action. Inspiration rewards play the group wants to encourage, rather than functioning as an automatic payment for every piece of acting. The discussion of consequences includes degrees of failure and success at a cost as adjudication tools.
Use the ability that fits the action; a skill is an area of proficiency rather than a completely separate ability score.
A player should explain an approach before the DM selects a check and difficulty.
Natural 1 and natural 20 do not automatically fail or succeed on every ability check; critical check outcomes are discussed as an optional approach.
Do not repeatedly reroll the same unchanged attempt when doing so would erase meaningful consequences.
Inspiration can reward ideals, bonds, flaws, heroism or other agreed priorities. In these 2014 rules, spend it to gain advantage on an attack roll, saving throw or ability check. The 2024 Basic Rules handle this differently: Heroic Inspiration lets you reroll any one die right after rolling it, and you must keep the new result.
▸Chapter 8 · Exploration, Social Interaction, and Objectsp. 242–247
Exploration advice addresses movement, travel pace, visibility, noticing creatures, and the difference between an overview and detailed room-by-room play. Social interaction starts with what an NPC wants and how they regard the party, then uses roleplaying and checks to resolve an attempted influence. Friendly, indifferent, and hostile attitudes shape what a request can achieve, but a high roll is not unlimited control over another character. Object rules provide ways to judge damage to doors, statues, and other scenery without treating every prop like a monster. Together these sections support approaches other than attacking the nearest creature.
Use travel summaries when nothing consequential happens, then focus in when a decision or danger matters.
Conversation can reveal an NPC’s ideal, bond, or flaw and suggest a more persuasive appeal.
A request’s risk and cost to the NPC matter when resolving social checks.
Object durability depends on material, size, and resilience; some substantial objects also use damage thresholds.
A weapon or damage type may be ineffective against a particular object even when an attack hits.
The combat section helps the DM manage initiative, positioning, improvised actions, and descriptions of danger. It supports both imagined positioning and tactical maps, with guidance for estimating targets in areas of effect. Optional flanking and facing rules change the importance of position and should be announced before they matter. Improvised damage guidelines help translate hazards and unusual actions into appropriately scaled consequences. Additional advice covers handling large groups, underwater visibility, morale, and the transition from a battle to pursuit.
A clear initiative record and explicit descriptions of positions reduce accidental misunderstandings.
Squares, hexes, creature size, and cover affect how a mapped battle works.
Flanking is optional in this book, not a universal advantage rule for every 2014 game.
Handling Mobs offers a shortcut for many similar attackers instead of rolling every attack individually.
Morale can make enemies retreat or surrender when continuing the fight no longer makes sense.
Chases use their own structure because a pursuit should not behave exactly like a stationary melee. Participants manage repeated bursts of speed while obstacles and complications change their chances of escape. The rules explain how hiding, losing sight of a quarry, and different environments can end or transform the pursuit. Siege equipment provides a separate reference for large engines and defences used in assaults. These tools work best when the DM establishes distances, terrain, and objectives clearly.
Repeated Dash actions during a chase can require Constitution checks and lead to exhaustion.
Chase participants normally do not make opportunity attacks against one another.
Urban and wilderness complication lists produce different sorts of obstacles.
A ballista, cannon, mangonel, ram, siege tower, or trebuchet has operational requirements beyond an ordinary handheld weapon.
A siege objective might be breaching a gate, disabling an engine, or protecting a crew rather than defeating every enemy.
▸Chapter 8 · Diseases, Poisons, Madness, and Advancementp. 256–261
Diseases are presented as individual afflictions with their own transmission, symptoms, and recovery requirements. Poisons are grouped by delivery method so that contact, swallowing, inhalation, and injury are not treated as interchangeable exposures. The book’s madness subsystem distinguishes effects by duration, and the DM should agree with the group whether such material suits the campaign. Experience guidance covers combat, absent characters, noncombat challenges, milestones, and advancement without tracking XP. The practical goal is to make both hazards and progression understandable and consistent.
Cackle Fever, Sewer Plague, and Sight Rot are sample diseases with different consequences.
Contact, ingested, inhaled, and injury poisons need different circumstances to affect a target.
Poisons include Assassin’s Blood, Drow Poison, Midnight Tears, and Wyvern Poison; their effects are not all simple extra damage.
Short-term, long-term, and indefinite madness are game categories, not a clinical model of mental health.
Session-based or story-based levelling can replace XP; the chapter’s XP milestones are a separate award method.
The workshop collects optional rules and methods for creating new game material. Early sections alter abilities, adventuring assumptions, technology, healing, resting, and combat procedures. Later sections explain how to build monsters, spells, magic items, and character options. These are alternatives and design tools, not corrections that every campaign must adopt. A cautious DM introduces one change at a time, explains it to the group, and checks how it affects actual play.
Variants can change the game’s tone or resource economy even when their wording looks small.
Monster design compares offensive and defensive capabilities before estimating challenge rating.
New spells and items should be checked against existing examples and tested in play.
Character-option design includes races, subraces, class-feature changes, and spell-point casting.
Agree on optional systems before players make choices that depend on them.
▸Chapter 9 · Ability and Adventuring Optionsp. 263–269
Ability variants change how proficiency works or add Honor and Sanity as campaign-specific ability scores. Adventuring variants alter fear, horror, healing, rest durations, and the availability of extraordinary technology. Firearms and explosives are presented for campaigns that want them, not assumed equipment for every fantasy world. Plot points let players affect the unfolding fiction more directly, with several possible levels of shared control. Each option changes the assumptions behind normal adventures, so the DM should decide why it is being introduced.
Proficiency dice and alternative ability-check proficiencies change how character expertise is represented.
Honor concerns social codes and reputation in a suitable culture; Sanity supports a particular style of supernatural horror.
Healing options include healer’s kit dependency, healing surges, slow natural healing, and different resting schedules.
Epic Heroism shortens rests, while Gritty Realism lengthens them and therefore changes the pace of resource recovery.
Renaissance, modern, and futuristic firearms offer distinct technological baselines.
Plot-point options range from introducing twists to sharing responsibility for running the story.
These optional rules adjust combat’s rhythm, tactical choices, and lasting consequences. Initiative variants include initiative score, side initiative, and speed factor, each trading simplicity against a different style of uncertainty or detail. Additional action options allow manoeuvres such as disarming, marking, overrunning, shoving aside, tumbling, and climbing onto a larger creature. Hitting cover, cleaving, lingering injuries, and massive damage change what attacks can accomplish beyond ordinary hit-point loss. These options should be selected deliberately rather than treated as one compulsory package.
Side initiative can make an entire side act together, producing more concentrated swings in a battle.
Climbing onto a bigger creature offers a way to interact with an enormous foe beyond attacking its feet.
Overrun and Tumble offer different ways of attempting to pass an enemy’s space.
Lingering injuries add persistent consequences; massive damage can impose an immediate shock effect.
Explain disarm and similar options to players before enemies start using them.
Monster creation can begin with a small modification to an existing creature or with a full design from scratch. The procedure separates defensive durability from offensive output and then reconciles the two into an estimated challenge rating. Armor Class, hit points, attack accuracy, saving throw DCs, damage, resistances, and special features can all influence that estimate. Feature guidance shows why mobility, control, and unusual defences matter even when they do not look like direct damage. NPC traits and adding class levels offer further customisation, but playtesting remains important.
Changing a creature’s appearance is simpler than changing the mechanics that determine its difficulty.
Estimate expected damage across the opening rounds rather than judging only its strongest single attack.
Account for resistances and immunities when evaluating effective durability.
Traits such as regeneration, flight, and powerful saving-throw effects can alter the practical threat.
A monster with class levels still needs its challenge reassessed; character level is not the same thing as challenge rating.
▸Chapter 9 · Creating Spells, Items, and Character Optionsp. 283–289
The final workshop sections use existing material as a benchmark for new spells and magic items. Spell design considers level, damage, targets, duration, and whether effects duplicate capabilities normally available much later. Item design considers rarity, appropriate power, and whether attunement should limit access. Character-option advice covers altering existing races and classes as well as building new ones, with an aasimar example showing the process. The spell-point variant replaces ordinary slot accounting with a pool of points while retaining limits on high-level casting.
Compare a new spell with several existing spells of similar level and purpose rather than using damage alone.
A powerful item’s rarity does not by itself solve every balance problem; restrictions and action costs also matter.
The eladrin and aasimar examples belong to this book’s 2014 design context, not necessarily later versions with the same names.
Replacing a class feature requires attention to both theme and the level at which the replacement arrives.
Sorcerers illustrate modifying class structure, and spell points illustrate changing the casting resource system.
This appendix provides a procedural toolkit for making a dungeon rather than a single finished adventure. You begin with a starting area, then generate passages, doors, chambers, and stairs while connecting the developing map. Stocking guidance gives rooms purposes and adds inhabitants, traps, hazards, obstacles, treasure, and decorative details. The process is useful for preparation or improvisation, but its results still need review for coherence. A good final pass asks how occupants move around, where clues belong, and which choices the layout offers.
Starting areas establish entrances and the first meaningful routes into the site.
Connections and stairs can create loops and changes of level instead of one continuous corridor.
Room-purpose ideas distinguish spaces such as temples, tombs, strongholds, and other dungeon functions.
Tricks, noises, smells, furnishings, and environmental details help make empty rooms informative.
Adjust randomly generated results to fit the dungeon’s history and intended danger.
The monster lists are finding aids for encounter preparation, not replacements for creature statistics. Environmental groupings help a DM locate creatures suited to places such as forests, deserts, cities, or the Underdark. A separate challenge-rating organisation makes it easier to compare candidates for a particular level of danger. These lists work with Chapter 3’s encounter guidelines and the Monster Manual’s actual creature entries. They do not imply that every creature in a habitat is hostile or that one challenge rating guarantees a fair battle.
Environment categories include arctic, coastal, desert, forest, grassland, hill, mountain, swamp, Underdark, underwater, and urban.
An environment shortlist can supply allies, signs of nearby danger, or noncombat discoveries as well as enemies.
Challenge-rating lists include XP values to support encounter budgeting.
Check special abilities before choosing a creature solely by its rating.
Use local ecology, factions, and adventure goals to narrow the shortlist.
This appendix supplies maps that a DM can adapt to an adventure instead of drawing every location from scratch. The layouts provide spatial relationships, but the DM still decides the inhabitants, clues, hazards, and rewards. Using an existing map can free preparation time for motives and meaningful choices. Treat it as a flexible design resource rather than assuming it dictates a particular story. Review routes, visibility, and access before play so the location behaves consistently.
Choose a layout that suits the adventure’s scale and purpose before stocking it.
Decide which areas are accessible, blocked, secret, or controlled by different inhabitants.
Provide reasons to investigate side routes rather than making every branch a compulsory fight.
Separate player-visible geography from DM notes about concealed threats and discoveries.
The final appendix is a reading and resource list for developing the craft behind running adventures. Its selections reach beyond fantasy fiction into storytelling, writing, design, history, architecture, naming, and performance. These are sources of techniques and ideas rather than additional rules that players must learn. A new DM can pick one area that feels difficult and borrow a practical method from a relevant work. The Player’s Handbook has a separate inspirational reading list for further exploration.
Stephen King’s On Writing and Robert McKee’s Story offer perspectives on prose and narrative craft.
Robin D. Laws’s Hamlet’s Hit Points examines emotional movement in stories.
David Macaulay’s Castle and The Medieval Fortress by J. E. Kaufmann and H. W. Kaufmann can inspire plausible built environments.
Malcolm Bowers’s Gary Gygax’s Extraordinary Book of Names supports naming people and places.
Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game and Raph Koster’s A Theory of Fun for Game Design broaden the list into collaborative storytelling and design.
A boxed introduction built around Lost Mine of Phandelver.
A short rulebook for levels 1–5, five pre-made heroes and the adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver, designed to teach new groups the game over several evenings.
Reach for it: Brand-new groups and first-time Dungeon Masters.
New player guide
What's in the box
This is the original 5e Starter Set, built around the adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver. It includes a short rulebook covering levels 1 to 5, an adventure book for the DM, five ready-made heroes and a set of dice. It's the gentlest way into the game: no character building, just open it and play.
Players: pick a pre-made hero sheet and read only that sheet. Everything your character can do is on it.
DM: read the adventure's opening pages first. They teach you how to run checks, combat and scenes step by step.
Plan on a DM plus four or five players (the adventure is built for four or five heroes), about three hours per session and several sessions to finish.
The story (no spoilers)
A dwarf named Gundren Rockseeker hires the heroes to haul a wagon of supplies from the city of Neverwinter to the rough frontier town of Phandalin. He rides ahead, and the heroes soon find he never arrived. What starts as a simple delivery leads into goblin hideouts, a town bullied by thugs and a hunt for a legendary lost mine.
Part
What happens
Hero level
1. Goblin Arrows
An ambush on the road and a goblin cave
1–2
2. Phandalin
Exploring the town and dealing with its troublemakers
2–3
3. The Spider's Web
Following leads to ruins and lairs around the region
3–4
4. Wave Echo Cave
The lost mine itself
4–5
For the Dungeon Master
▸DM only — spoilers
Gundren and his brothers have rediscovered Wave Echo Cave, a lost mine holding the magical Forge of Spells.
A mysterious villain called the Black Spider wants the mine and has goblins and other servants hunting the Rockseekers.
In Phandalin, the Redbrand gang is run by a wizard calling himself Glasstaff, who works for the Black Spider.
Part 3 is open-ended: let the heroes choose which leads to follow, and use the trail to Cragmaw Castle to rescue Gundren and find the map to the mine.
Chapter by chapter
The 2014 D&D Starter Set introduces the fifth-edition rules through a compact rulebook, five ready-made heroes and Lost Mine of Phandelver. Players can begin with the character sheets rather than constructing characters from scratch. The rulebook explains play through 5th level, while the separate adventure takes a Dungeon Master through four connected stages around Phandalin. Adventure and treasure entries below contain secrets and are intended for the DM.
19 sections · “Open all” skips DM-only sections
▸Rulebook · Chapter 1: How to Playp. 2–7
Start here to understand the conversation between players and the Dungeon Master. The DM describes a situation, players decide what their adventurers attempt, and the rules resolve uncertain outcomes. Ability checks, attack rolls and saving throws all use a d20 but answer different questions. Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma describe different capabilities. Skills identify areas of training, while proficiency and advantage change how a roll is resolved. Exploration and social interaction matter alongside fighting.
Compare a modified d20 result with a Difficulty Class or Armor Class.
Advantage uses the better of two d20s; disadvantage uses the worse, and they cancel each other.
Combat divides a fast-moving encounter into rounds and individual turns. Initiative determines the order, with surprise affecting what an unprepared creature can do initially. On a turn, movement and an action are separate resources; bonus actions require a specific permission. Reactions happen when their trigger occurs and are limited until your next turn. The chapter explains attacks, cover, damage and healing before addressing unconsciousness and death. Read these rules as the 2014 rules, not as a summary of later revisions.
Attack, Cast a Spell, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Ready, Search and Use an Object are distinct action choices.
Leaving an enemy’s reach can provoke an opportunity attack; Disengage avoids that trigger.
Half cover and three-quarters cover improve defence; total cover blocks direct targeting.
Critical hits double damage dice, not the fixed modifier.
At 0 hit points, death saving throws can determine survival; healing or stabilisation changes the situation.
In these 2014 rules, a surprised creature can't move or take an action on its first turn and can't take reactions until that turn ends. The 2024 Basic Rules handle this differently: surprise gives disadvantage on initiative instead.
This chapter handles what happens between battles and equips characters for further journeys. Travel pace affects how quickly a group crosses the landscape and how cautiously it can proceed. Short rests allow Hit Dice recovery, while long rests restore more resources subject to their restrictions. Experience points advance characters through the levels supported by the set. Armour, shields, weapons, adventuring gear and transport receive practical explanations. Equipment properties matter as much as price: training, weight and the way a weapon is used can change its effectiveness.
A short rest is at least an hour; a long rest normally requires eight hours.
Armour proficiency and Strength requirements can affect spellcasting or movement.
Finesse, light, heavy, loading, reach, thrown and versatile describe different weapon limitations or benefits.
Torches, rope, tools, holy symbols and spellbooks support tasks that attacks cannot solve.
Consult your character sheet for new features when gaining a level.
Spellcasting distinguishes a spell’s level from the caster’s character level. Cantrips can be used repeatedly, but most stronger spells consume spell slots. Clerics and wizards have different ways of preparing their available magic. Each description specifies casting time, range, components, duration and its particular effect. Concentration limits ongoing magic and can be broken by damage or incapacitation. The alphabetical reference supplies the starter selection rather than every spell in D&D.
A higher-level slot can strengthen a spell only when its description permits it.
Verbal, somatic and material components are separate requirements.
Ritual casting trades additional time for avoiding a slot when the caster and spell qualify.
Bless supports allies, healing word restores an ally at range, and cure wounds requires touch.
Magic missile offers reliable force damage; sleep affects creatures through a hit-point pool; fireball threatens an area.
Read targeting and area shapes carefully to avoid harming companions.
Conditions are named states that change what a creature can perceive or do. The appendix gathers their consequences so players can resolve effects without guessing from ordinary language. Blinded, deafened and invisible chiefly alter perception and attacks. Grappled, restrained and prone change movement or positioning in different ways. Charmed, frightened, incapacitated, paralysed, petrified, poisoned, stunned and unconscious have more specialised restrictions. Apply the exact condition specified by the effect and track how it ends.
Grappled reduces your speed to 0 but does not prevent someone or something else from moving you; it is not the same as restrained.
A prone creature has disadvantage on its attacks. Attacks against it have advantage when the attacker is within 5 feet and disadvantage when the attacker is farther away.
Incapacitated prevents actions and reactions; several other conditions include it.
Repeated instances of one condition do not simply stack stronger penalties.
▸Adventure · Introduction and DM preparationDM onlyp. 2–5
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The adventure is designed for a small group of new adventurers and a beginning DM. It explains adjudication, roleplaying, checks and the use of monster statistics. Gundren Rockseeker’s rediscovery of Wave Echo Cave connects the initial escort job to a larger struggle. Nezznar, the Black Spider, uses intermediaries to seek control of the lost mine and its magical forge. Phandalin provides a recurring base rather than a single linear corridor. Read the overview and prepare the next likely location without requiring players to follow one predetermined solution.
Use the wagon-delivery hook from Neverwinter to bring the party together.
The Phandelver’s Pact explains the mine’s historical importance.
Award Inspiration for good roleplaying; a player can spend it to gain advantage on an attack roll, saving throw or ability check. (The 2024 rules work differently: Heroic Inspiration lets you reroll one die and keep the new result.)
Ask for checks when uncertainty and consequences warrant them.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The delivery journey is interrupted by an ambush beside the Triboar Trail. The missing travellers are Gundren and Sildar Hallwinter, making the attack a rescue lead rather than an isolated fight. Tracks lead to Cragmaw Hideout, where wolves, sentries, elevated passages and stored water make the cave tactically varied. Klarg leads the local raiders, while Yeemik offers a dangerous alternative bargain. Sildar can survive to explain Gundren’s capture and support the party in Phandalin. Stolen Lionshield goods also connect this opening dungeon to later town relationships.
Check surprise, cover and the goblins’ hiding before the first arrows fly.
The trail contains traps; following it carelessly has consequences.
Flooding chambers demonstrate how terrain can matter more than damage.
Yeemik uses Sildar as leverage against Klarg.
Rescuing Sildar and learning about Cragmaw Castle establish the next goals.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Phandalin turns the adventure into a network of conversations and local problems. The Stonehill Inn supplies rumours, Barthen’s Provisions receives the delivery, and the Lionshield Coster rewards recovered stock. Sister Garaele, Daran Edermath, Halia Thornton, Qelline Alderleaf and the townmaster offer different leads. Redbrand intimidation makes the town’s immediate problem visible before the larger mine mystery is solved. Their base beneath Tresendar Manor includes prisoners, undead, a nothic and rival humanoid servants. Glasstaff is actually Iarno Albrek, the missing agent Sildar hoped to find.
Visit the Shrine of Luck, Edermath Orchard, Miners’ Exchange and Alderleaf Farm to gather side quests.
Halia’s interest in the Redbrands serves Zhentarim ambitions.
Carp Alderleaf knows a concealed way towards the hideout.
Free the Dendrar family rather than treating the dungeon only as a treasure hunt.
Glasstaff’s escape route and correspondence reveal his connection to the Black Spider.
▸Adventure · Part 3: The Spider’s WebDM onlyp. 27–41
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
This part lets the party choose among wilderness leads before the final mine expedition. Agatha’s lair near Conyberry offers an information exchange with a banshee rather than a routine fight. At Old Owl Well, Hamun Kost and his undead complicate an apparently simple investigation. Wyvern Tor houses the raiders troubling local travellers. Thundertree combines ruined houses, plant monsters, ash zombies, dragon cultists and the druid Reidoth. Cragmaw Castle finally brings the party to King Grol, a doppelganger negotiator and Gundren’s fate.
Agatha can answer a question, so decide what information matters most.
Reidoth can identify routes and warn the party about Venomfang.
Venomfang is a young green dragon and can overwhelm an incautious group.
Explore Cragmaw Castle through its damaged walls and alternative entrances rather than assuming a frontal assault.
Recovering Gundren and his map points to Wave Echo Cave.
Wilderness encounters keep journeys consequential without making every traveller hostile.
▸Adventure · Part 4: Wave Echo CaveDM onlyp. 42–51
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The lost mine is an interconnected dungeon with several factions and environmental hazards. The Rockseeker brothers’ expedition has ended in death and captivity, giving the location personal stakes. Undead workers and guardians remain active while the Black Spider’s servants search for access to the forge. A flameskull, poisonous fungi, ghouls and a wraith all call for different approaches. Mormesk and the spectator at the Forge of Spells are not interchangeable enemies and can be approached through conversation. Defeating Nezznar and rescuing Nundro can restore the mine’s future, but the party must still decide how to handle its remaining threats.
Use the cave’s echoing water and damaged passages to convey its identity.
The Forge of Spells retains only a diminished magical effect.
Nezznar employs spiders, bugbears and deception to protect his position.
Do not assume a destroyed flameskull is permanently neutralised.
The conclusion discusses rewards, rebuilding and adventures beyond the starter campaign.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
This appendix explains using the magical rewards scattered through the adventure. Identification and attunement are different processes, and some items need a personal bond before their powers work. Potions and scrolls are expendable, whereas protective gear, weapons and wands can remain useful across many sessions. Several items use charges, so spending the final charge can carry a risk. The descriptions are a reference for rewards, not a guarantee that every character receives a particular item.
Boots of Striding and Springing improve mobility; Gauntlets of Ogre Power raise Strength; a Headband of Intellect raises Intelligence.
A +1 weapon improves attacks and damage; +1 armour improves protection.
Dragonguard is protective +1 breastplate armour; Hew is a +1 battleaxe particularly effective against wood.
Lightbringer is a +1 mace with light and extra effectiveness against undead.
Potions of Flying, Healing, Invisibility and Vitality provide flight, recovery, concealment and cleansing respectively.
A Ring of Protection improves defence; a Spider Staff combines staff combat with spider-themed spells.
Spell Scrolls supply single-use magic; a Staff of Defense supports protective spells; a Wand of Magic Missiles releases force projectiles.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The first pages explain how to read a creature’s statistics before presenting the adventure’s opponents and allies. Size, Armor Class, hit points, movement, senses and languages answer different practical questions. Challenge ratings and experience are guidance rather than guarantees of a fair fight. Special traits, actions, reactions and limited-use powers must be checked before running an encounter. Named NPCs such as Sildar and Nezznar appear alongside general creature types. Use these entries to run the adventure, without treating every creature as an automatic combat encounter.
The closing index points back to the rulebook rather than supplying another rules system. It lets a DM look up a term without interrupting play for a long search. Entries cover checks, combat, equipment, spellcasting and conditions. Keep the two booklets distinct when following a page reference.
Use the index for an unfamiliar action or condition.
Its numbers refer to rulebook pages, not adventure pages.
The closing credits identify the creators and cartography.
▸Pregenerated character · Human fighter · Noblep. 98–99 (PDF)
A heavily armoured melee fighter suits a player who wants direct, resilient combat. The noble background adds social standing and an obligation to restore a damaged family reputation. Second Wind gives personal recovery, while the fighting style improves consistent weapon use. Later features add Action Surge, Champion benefits and Extra Attack.
Use a greatsword when closing with enemies.
Position of Privilege helps when dealing with high society.
Sildar and Phandalin tie the personal objective into the adventure.
▸Pregenerated character · Hill dwarf cleric · Soldierp. 100–101 (PDF)
This cleric combines armour and weapons with divine support magic. The soldier background supplies military connections and a history of service. Worship of Marthammor Duin gives the character a travelling, protective religious outlook. Life Domain benefits make healing particularly effective, but the character can also defend allies and fight.
Prepare spells after resting rather than assuming every cleric spell is always ready.
Disciple of Life and Channel Divinity strengthen the support role.
Dwarven resilience and toughness improve staying power.
▸Pregenerated character · Lightfoot halfling rogue · Criminalp. 102–103 (PDF)
The rogue rewards careful positioning, useful skills and opportunistic attacks. A criminal past provides contacts and a personal connection to Phandalin’s underworld. Sneak Attack depends on its stated conditions rather than simply attacking unseen. Later advancement adds Cunning Action, Thief abilities and Uncanny Dodge.
Lucky (halfling trait): when you roll a 1 on the d20 for an attack roll, ability check or saving throw, reroll it and use the new roll.
Naturally Stealthy and halfling movement traits support concealment among larger creatures.
Use thieves’ tools and expertise to contribute outside combat.
▸Pregenerated character · High elf wizard · Acolytep. 104–105 (PDF)
This wizard suits someone who enjoys choosing tools for different problems. The acolyte background places scholarship and religious service alongside arcane study. A spellbook, preparation and Arcane Recovery require more resource tracking than weapon attacks alone. The School of Evocation later helps the wizard shape damaging magic around allies.
Cantrips provide options when spell slots run low.
Trance and elven senses distinguish the character from human companions.
Sculpt Spells applies to qualifying evocation spells, not all damaging magic.
▸Pregenerated character · Human fighter · Folk herop. 106–107 (PDF)
This second fighter emphasises ranged accuracy rather than the noble’s melee specialisation. The folk hero background connects the adventurer to ordinary people and local shelter. Second Wind supports survival while Action Surge later enables a decisive extra action. Champion development and Extra Attack keep the sheet straightforward as the character advances.
Archery improves ranged weapon attacks.
Rustic Hospitality offers help from common people within its limits.
Switch weapons or reposition when enemies close into melee.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The closing map pages repeat the region and the principal adventure sites at a larger scale. They cover the Cragmaw Hideout, Phandalin, Redbrand Hideout, Thundertree, Cragmaw Castle and Wave Echo Cave. These are DM preparation aids, since room layouts expose routes and secrets. Match each map to the location key rather than treating the image as a complete encounter description.
Use the regional map for travel decisions.
Check each map’s scale before measuring movement.
Keep secret passages and unexplored rooms hidden from players.
Heroes are swept into the opening of the War of the Lance on Krynn, facing the Dragon Army and its draconians. Includes the Kender species, the Lunar Magic sorcerer, setting lore and a mass-battle backdrop.
Reach for it: Groups wanting a ready-made military fantasy campaign.
New player guide
What kind of campaign this is
A war story set on Krynn, the world of Dragonlance, for heroes from level 1 to around 11. Dragons and the Dragon Queen's armies are invading, and the heroes go from villagers caught up in an attack to soldiers and heroes defending a city. Expect big battles, hard choices and allies you'll grow attached to.
New character options
Kender: a small, fearless, endlessly curious species with a knack for taunting enemies.
Lunar Magic sorcerer: draws power from Krynn's three moons, with abilities that shift with the moon's phases.
Knight of Solamnia and Mage of High Sorcery backgrounds, each with its own feats that grow as you level.
Session zero tip: have each hero know a shared friend, because the story opens with that friend's funeral.
The road of the campaign
Chapter
In short (light spoilers)
Hero level
Prelude to War
Short introductory scenes that bond the party and show off the world
1
When Home Burns
A funeral and a local festival in the village of Vogler, then an attack
2–3
Shadow of War
Refugees reach the city of Kalaman, and the heroes join its defence
4–5
The Northern Wastes
An open expedition into a supposedly empty wilderness
6–7
City of Lost Names
Infiltrating an occupied ancient ruin
8–9
Siege of Kalaman
The final defence of the city
10+
For the Dungeon Master
▸DM only — spoilers
The Red Dragon Army's attack on Vogler is only the start of a wider invasion of the Kalaman region.
The death knight Lord Soth strikes Kalaman in a surprise attack, revealing the Dragon Army wants more than conquest.
The army plans to make the ancient City of Lost Names fly again as a war machine. The heroes may also restore a dragonlance there.
The city shatters, and a flying citadel carrying a temple of the evil gods leads the siege. The heroes must board it and bring it down, facing Lord Soth and Highmaster Kansaldi Fire-Eyes.
Make the people of Vogler matter early. Their return as allies is what gives the finale weight.
Chapter by chapter
Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen is a fifth-edition D&D setting introduction and wartime adventure for characters of levels 1–11. Players receive Krynn-specific cultures, kender traits, backgrounds, feats and the Lunar Sorcery subclass. The DM material moves from a village festival to military service, wilderness exploration, ancient ruins and the defence of Kalaman during the War of the Lance. Seven chapters and five appendices combine the campaign with equipment, creatures, sidekicks, concept art and maps; story-bearing entries below contain spoilers.
16 sections · “Open all” skips DM-only sections
▸War Comes to Krynnp. 4–19
Dragonlance introduces a world still living with the consequences of the Cataclysm, a divine disaster that shattered nations and undermined faith in the gods. This introduction explains the history a newcomer needs before creating a hero, rather than assuming familiarity with the novels. The adventure takes place around Kalaman during the War of the Lance, while the Dragon Queen’s armies threaten Ansalon. Everyday details include languages, currency and the place of magic in a society where the return of divine power is momentous. The religion section distinguishes the gods of good, neutrality and evil and explains the three moon gods associated with arcane magic.
Use the history of Istar and the Cataclysm to understand displaced communities, ruined settlements and distrust of old institutions.
Takhisis is the Dragon Queen; the war concerns her organised military forces, not simply isolated dragon attacks.
The regional introduction locates Kalaman, Vogler, Nightlund and the Northern Wastes within the adventure’s immediate setting.
Good deities: Paladine, Branchala, Habbakuk, Kiri-Jolith, Majere, Mishakal and Solinari.
Neutral deities: Gilean, Chislev, Lunitari, Reorx, Shinare, Sirrion and Zivilyn; evil deities: Takhisis, Chemosh, Hiddukel, Morgion, Nuitari, Sargonnas and Zeboim.
The optional Warriors of Krynn board game can accompany designated battles, but the roleplaying adventure can be run without it.
This player-facing chapter translates Krynn’s cultures and organisations into character concepts and mechanical choices. Dwarves, elves, gnomes and humans receive setting-specific context, while kender receive a playable species option. The Knights of Solamnia and Mages of High Sorcery provide institutions a hero can join without forcing everyone into a single class. Two backgrounds connect a character directly to these groups, and associated feats allow that relationship to develop. Lunar Sorcery adds a sorcerer whose abilities change with a chosen lunar phase. The campaign also awards bonus feats, so players should discuss these additional benefits with the DM before finalising a character.
Mountain dwarves and hill dwarves inherit different experiences of Thorbardin and the Dwarfgate War; Silvanesti, Qualinesti, Kagonesti and sea elves have distinct histories.
Gnomes are associated with Mount Nevermind and ambitious invention; human communities include Solamnic and other regional cultures.
The Knights follow the Oath and the much more elaborate Measure; Crown, Sword and Rose are orders with different ideals.
The Mages of High Sorcery include White, Red and Black Robes, associated respectively with Solinari, Lunitari and Nuitari; membership is not limited to wizards.
At 1st level, a background without a feat receives Skilled or Tough; at 4th level all characters gain an additional feat from the campaign list, subject to prerequisites.
Kender are Small Humanoids whose magical origins help explain their curiosity and unusual courage. This is a complete playable option, not a requirement to portray a thief or disrupt other characters. Their defensive feature helps them resist being frightened, while their aptitude gives them a useful skill choice. Taunt lets them draw an enemy’s attention away from companions. A player choosing kender should enjoy exploration and interaction while also planning how to survive the attention their taunts attract.
Kender have a 30-foot walking speed despite their Small size.
Fearless grants advantage on saves against being frightened and allows one failed such save to become a success per long rest.
Kender Aptitude adds proficiency in one of Insight, Investigation, Sleight of Hand, Stealth or Survival.
Taunt uses a bonus action against a hearing, understanding creature within 60 feet; a failed Wisdom save imposes disadvantage on its attacks against anyone except you until your next turn.
Taunt has proficiency-bonus uses per long rest; choose Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma to determine its saving throw DC.
▸Character Options: Backgrounds and Heroes of Krynn Featsp. 30–34
The Knight of Solamnia and Mage of High Sorcery backgrounds make institutional training part of a character’s starting story. Each grants a gateway feat and modest hospitality from the corresponding organisation. The feats then offer distinct paths for martial leadership, moon-linked spellcasting or divine favour. The published book presents these as its character feats; players should use these final rules rather than assuming earlier Heroes of Krynn playtest material is interchangeable. Advanced knight and robe feats generally require 4th level and the appropriate gateway feat. Organisational rank and feat ownership are related but not identical, so changing knightly orders does not erase previously learned benefits.
Knight of Solamnia supplies Athletics and Survival, two languages, Squire of Solamnia and support at knightly strongholds; Mage of High Sorcery supplies Arcana and History, two languages, Initiate of High Sorcery and specified lodging privileges.
Squire of Solamnia reduces mounting costs and offers limited advantage-enhanced weapon strikes with extra damage; Initiate of High Sorcery grants a wizard cantrip and two moon-associated 1st-level spells.
Knight of the Crown improves a physical ability and lets an ally use its reaction for an enhanced weapon attack; Knight of the Rose improves a listed ability and distributes temporary hit points.
Knight of the Sword improves a mental ability and can make weapon hits frighten a foe, with a lesser attack-disrupting effect when the target saves.
Adept of the Black Robes learns an enchantment or necromancy spell and can sacrifice Hit Dice to increase spell damage; Adept of the Red Robes learns illusion or transmutation and can turn a low attack roll or ability check into a 10.
Adept of the White Robes learns abjuration or divination and can spend a spell slot as a reaction to reduce incoming damage.
Divinely Favored grants a cleric cantrip, Augury and an alignment-dependent 1st-level spell, plus holy-symbol focus use with its chosen casting ability.
The 4th-level bonus list also includes Skilled, Tough, Alert, Mobile, Sentinel and War Caster; the bonus is separate from ordinary class advancement choices.
Lunar Sorcery is the printed name of the moon-themed sorcerer subclass, sometimes described informally as lunar magic. It suits a player who wants many additional spells and a shifting emphasis between protection, attack and utility. Lunar Embodiment adds spells as sorcerer levels increase and lets the character choose Full Moon, New Moon or Crescent Moon after a long rest. The phase determines a free 1st-level casting and later influences Metamagic and passive benefits. Higher levels make changing phases easier and eventually provide powerful short bursts of healing, concealment or movement. Its flavour can fit Krynn’s three moons or a different world’s lunar mythology.
At 1st level, Lunar Embodiment adds moon-associated spells without using the normal spells-known allowance; Moon Fire teaches Sacred Flame and can affect two adjacent targets.
At 6th level, Lunar Boons discounts Metamagic for phase-linked schools, with proficiency-bonus uses per long rest: Full Moon favours abjuration/divination, New Moon evocation/necromancy, and Crescent Moon divination/transmutation.
Also at 6th level, Waxing and Waning spends a sorcery point and bonus action to change phase; each phase’s 1st-level spell can now receive its own free daily casting while that phase is active.
At 14th level, Lunar Empowerment gives Full Moon useful revealing light, New Moon stealth and defensive benefits in darkness, and Crescent Moon resistance to radiant and necrotic damage.
At 18th level, Lunar Phenomenon offers a phase-specific burst: healing and enemy blindness, necrotic restraint of movement with personal invisibility, or teleportation with an ally and brief damage resistance.
Each Lunar Phenomenon option refreshes after a long rest and can be reused by spending 5 sorcery points; this is not unlimited phase-switching healing.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
This DM-facing chapter prepares the campaign before the party reaches Vogler. It outlines an adventure for characters of levels 1–11, explains progression and connects the major threats to the coming war. Character connections give each hero a reason to attend Ispin Greenshield’s funeral, creating a shared starting point without requiring a shared background. Three short preludes introduce different aspects of Krynn through play. These scenes let divine characters, prospective mages and other adventurers experience the setting’s changing circumstances directly. They also teach the DM how to bring disparate characters together before the village adventure begins.
Use the adventure overview and flowchart to distinguish the main route from optional supporting activities.
Broken Silence centres on an encounter with returning divine influence and is especially useful for characters tied to gods.
Eye in the Sky introduces a magical encounter associated with the Mages of High Sorcery.
Scales of War introduces the danger of the Dragon Armies and their draconian servants.
The preludes take 1st-level characters towards 2nd level before Chapter 3; tailor participation to the party rather than forcing every scene on every hero.
The pronunciation guide and Ispin connections support consistent names and personal reasons to care about Vogler.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The adventure first gives the characters a home worth protecting, then forces them to confront its vulnerability. The party arrives in Vogler for Ispin Greenshield’s funeral and meets his friends Becklin Uth Viharin, Cudgel Ironsmile and Darrett Highwater. The Kingfisher Festival offers games and local relationships before a staged battle at High Hill becomes a deadly betrayal. Investigating that attack reveals a much larger military threat beyond the village. The heroes cannot simply win a conventional siege; their central responsibility becomes getting the inhabitants out alive. This makes the transition from local adventurers to wartime protectors concrete and personal.
Characters begin at level 2, reach level 3 after High Hill, and reach level 4 after the evacuation.
The Vogler Gazetteer details the village, the Brass Crab, the Fishbowl and Thornwall Keep; Mayor Raven Uth Vogler helps anchor civic decisions.
Ispin’s final farewell and his green shield give the party an emotional connection to later events.
The Kingfisher Festival includes fishing and other competitions before the Battle of High Hill reenactment.
Gragonis and treacherous mercenaries turn High Hill into a real fight; do not present every member of Cudgel’s company as automatically complicit.
Scouting and negotiations build towards the Red Dragon Army’s assault, while river transport and civilian protection determine the evacuation’s success.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Vogler’s survivors reach Kalaman, where the heroes must secure help rather than assume the city immediately accepts their account. The chapter supplies a city gazetteer and introduces military service as the framework for the next stage of play. Darrett’s development and Marshal Nestra Vendri’s assignments give the party allies, obligations and practical support. Missions around the city reveal enemy movements and lead to the recapture of Wheelwatch Outpost. The fighting at Steel Springs shows that the invasion has consequences beyond the party’s own encounters. Lord Soth’s arrival then exposes a supernatural objective underneath the military campaign.
Characters enter at level 4, reach level 5 before Wheelwatch Outpost and reach level 6 after confronting Zanas Sarlamir.
Kalaman’s leadership, Castle Kalaman and the refugees’ needs provide the initial social challenges.
A Message for a Mage can advance a High Sorcery character’s organisational story alongside the military plot.
The first mission and subsequent assignments lead into reconnaissance, battlefield hazards and the contested Wheelwatch Outpost.
After Steel Springs, Soth’s intervention turns attention towards Castle Kalaman’s catacombs rather than a straightforward pursuit of enemy soldiers.
The catacombs contain the skeletal knight Zanas Sarlamir and a damaged dragonlance; Soth takes dangerous Cataclysmic fire for the Dragon Queen’s plans.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The party follows the enemy into a magically damaged wilderness where navigation and alliance-building matter as much as combat. Rather than using a fixed dungeon route, this chapter presents a network of sites that can be explored in different orders. Darrett and Kalaman’s troops support the expedition, while the characters investigate clues to the City of Lost Names. Local inhabitants are not merely obstacles: elves, a hidden community and unusual creatures can offer information or aid. The enemy is seeking ancient flying-city magic, while Soth intends to exploit the dragons buried beneath it. Exploration gradually reveals how these ambitions threaten Kalaman.
Characters progress from level 6 to level 8; the DM chooses suitable milestones for discoveries and major achievements.
Wrecker’s Edge, the Elven Encampment and the Blue Phoenix Shrine introduce the wastes’ inhabitants and magical history.
Sunward Fortress, Wakenreth and Bluemaw Cave provide substantial locations with their own dangers and discoveries.
Heart’s Hollow offers a community and the chance to meet Demelin; Dragonnel Spire develops possibilities for aerial allies.
Camp Carrionclay includes a bronze dragon egg rescue, an example of a deed substantial enough to justify advancement.
Dread Wolf Cove and the route to the City of Lost Names help connect the scattered locations to the main campaign.
Use the exploration and travel procedures to make the wastes feel hostile without treating every journey as an identical combat.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The heroes infiltrate the ruins of Onyari while their allies occupy the enemy outside. The Path of Memories explains how the ancient city once flew and why its use of a dragon burial ground led to disaster. The chapter also provides an opportunity to resolve a mage character’s Test of High Sorcery. Inside the occupied city, landmarks reveal the Dragon Army’s preparations and lead towards the magical engine of its plan. Reforging the broken dragonlance at the Temple of Paladine gives the party a tangible answer to the dragon threat. Preventing the entire city from rising is possible, but it does not eliminate the danger of a smaller flying citadel.
Characters begin at level 8, reach level 9 during city exploration and reach level 10 after escaping.
The Path of Memories features an ancient magic-user and contextualises both Onyari’s history and the damaged dragonlance.
The Test of High Sorcery is a character-focused sequence; integrate it without sidelining the rest of the group unnecessarily.
The Bastion of Takhisis, Occupied Mansion and Temple of Paladine are major occupied-city locations.
Lohezet and Belephaion work at the Threshold of the Heavens to reactivate the city’s flight magic.
The City Rises and Escaping the Enemy conclude the infiltration with collapse and evacuation rather than a quiet return trip.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The climax begins with an urgent return from the wastes as a surviving flying citadel heads towards Kalaman. The party must warn the city, help its defenders prepare and protect civilians as the siege escalates. Day of Dread and Night of Terror establish the fear and pressure before the decisive battle. Allies and dragonnel mounts enable the heroes to take the fight into the airborne stronghold rather than simply endure its attacks. Inside, the characters confront the undead power sustaining the citadel and work to disable it. The final struggle against Kansaldi Fire-Eyes then decides the local campaign’s outcome, without suggesting that the entire War of the Lance is over.
Characters begin at level 10 and advance to level 11 after Flight of the Dragonnels brings them to the citadel.
A Hasty Retreat offers the route towards a ship on the wastes’ eastern coast; Return to Kalaman brings accumulated allies back into play.
Day of Dread, Night of Terror and the Battle of Kalaman mix preparations, rescue work and focused combat objectives.
The Flying Citadel is a keyed infiltration location, not just background scenery; Red Ruin and hostile aerial forces threaten the approach.
Wersten Kern and Lord Soth’s undead presence make the citadel’s interior a different danger from ordinary army troops.
Dragon Army Rout leads into the confrontation with Kansaldi and her red dragon, followed by Kalaman Victorious and the consequences of the heroes’ success.
This appendix explains unusual equipment found during the campaign, including gnomish inventions and the iconic dragonlance. Mundane devices are not automatically reliable substitutes for spells: some have important operating limits or failure risks. Siege weapons require a sequence of actions, making teamwork significant. The magic items connect practical rewards to the adventure’s themes of faith, dragons and battlefield communication. Consult these entries when an item actually enters play rather than giving the party every invention at character creation.
Fargab: paired wearable communicators exchange short spoken messages across a long distance; Hoopak: a kender-associated weapon combining a stabbing tip and sling.
Narycrash: a deployable balloon parachute slows a fall, but can fail near the ground.
Boilerdrak: a dragon-shaped flame weapon that can explode; Gnomeflinger: a personnel catapult intended to work with a narycrash.
Dragonlance: a legendary enchanted lance or pike particularly effective against Dragons, with a benefit that can let a nearby allied Dragon attack.
Flying Citadel Helm: the magical control interface for a flying fortress, with attunement and operating restrictions.
Kagonesti Forest Shroud: a cloak supporting concealment and short-range magical repositioning; Mirror of Reflected Pasts: a wondrous mirror whose visions can preoccupy viewers.
Talarith: a magical headpiece used to communicate with a specified kind of mount.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
This is the DM’s creature and important-NPC reference for the adventure. It begins with random encounters and then gathers the distinctive soldiers, magical creations and major villains used throughout the campaign. Draconians are not interchangeable dragon people: different types have different battlefield roles and dangerous death effects. Death dragons and other undead connect the war to Soth’s supernatural agenda. Named villains have individual capabilities and motives that should be checked before their encounters. These descriptions explain each entry’s purpose without replacing its full game statistics.
Anhkolox: a predatory undead terror; Caradoc: a manipulative spirit associated with Lord Soth.
Greater Death Dragon and Lesser Death Dragon: two scales of undead dragon threat, useful for the campaign’s escalation.
Aurak Draconian: an arcane infiltrator; Baaz Draconian: a rank-and-file melee threat; Bozak Draconian: a spellcasting soldier; Kapak Draconian: a stealthy poisonous attacker; Sivak Draconian: a powerful shapechanging combatant.
Dragon Army Dragonnel: a trained military flying mount; Wasteland Dragonnel: a wild regional relative. Dragon Army Officer and Dragon Army Soldier provide command and rank-and-file opponents.
Istarian Drone: an ancient magical guardian; Kalaman Soldier: an allied military profile; Kender Skirmisher: a mobile combatant.
Kansaldi Fire-Eyes: the Red Dragon Army’s Highmaster; Lohezet: a Black Robe mage helping restore Onyari; Lord Soth: the infamous death knight directing undead horrors.
Red Ruin: an enemy aerial commander; Skeletal Knight: an undead knightly warrior; Wersten Kern: a formidable undead servant defending Soth’s interests.
Six companion NPCs help a small group cover missing roles without requiring another full player character. The DM or a player can control them, depending on what the table finds easiest. Each begins with a 1st-level profile and a personality that can be brought into the wartime story. Advancement guidance carries them through levels 2–11 alongside the party. Their level follows the group’s average, so companions remain useful rather than becoming fragile followers. Use them to support the heroes’ decisions, not to replace those heroes as the people who solve the adventure.
Andir Valmakos provides a mage spellcaster option; Ayik Ur provides an attacker-oriented warrior option.
Hrigg Roundrook provides a healer spellcaster option; Iriad provides an expert option.
Levna Drakehorn provides a defender-oriented warrior option; Tern Temble provides a prodigy spellcaster option.
The Sidekick Levels section explains growth in durability, proficiency and role-specific features rather than asking the DM to build six full classes.
Begin with one or more sidekicks when fewer than four players need help covering the adventure’s challenges; discuss who controls each companion.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
This short visual appendix presents development art for the adventure’s story and setting. It is a source of atmosphere rather than another chapter of encounters or character rules. The images help a DM picture the scale, silhouettes and mood of the campaign’s wartime scenes. Because the artwork draws on the story, showing the entire section to players before the campaign may reveal ideas intended to emerge later. Use selected images as visual inspiration when preparing descriptions, checking first that they do not disclose a coming threat.
Concept art can inform descriptions of the Dragon Armies and the campaign’s large-scale dangers.
There are no new player options or independent advancement rules to extract from this appendix.
Treat story-related imagery as DM preparation material unless an individual image is safe for the party’s current point in the adventure.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The final appendix gathers the campaign’s regional and continental maps. The Kalaman Region and Northern Wastes map supports the travel and exploration that link the adventure’s locations. The Continent of Ansalon map places this local conflict within the much larger Dragonlance setting. These views serve different purposes: use the regional map for the immediate expedition and the continental map for origins and broader context. A map is a navigation aid, not permission to assume that characters already know every marked site or enemy objective.
Page 223: The Kalaman Region and Northern Wastes connects the city, surrounding country and expedition territory.
Page 224: The Continent of Ansalon provides wider geographical context for nations and character homelands.
Check location labels before distributing maps; reveal unknown destinations as the party learns about them.
A collection of drop-in puzzles and tricky situations.
Self-contained riddles, logic challenges and predicaments with solutions and hints, built to drop into almost any dungeon or social scene. A second copy is filed under Campaign & Adventure Supplements.
Reach for it: Dungeon Masters who want a puzzle ready for tonight.
New player guide
How puzzles work at the table
Puzzles are where you, the player, do the thinking, not just your character's dice. The DM describes the room, a riddle or a strange mechanism, and the group talks it through and tries ideas. This book collects ready-made puzzles with their solutions and hints, so a DM can drop one into a dungeon, a wizard's tower or a tense negotiation.
Say your ideas out loud. Wrong guesses often reveal clues.
Ask the DM to describe things again, and take notes or sketch what you see.
Characters can help: a check might earn a hint, or let a clever hero recall a fact the player doesn't know.
Chapter by chapter
Puzzles, Predicaments, and Perplexities III is a third-party D&D fifth-edition collection by Steve “Jaspor” Orr, Bill Putrino and D.J. Brewer. It gives Dungeon Masters twelve adaptable puzzles arranged from Easy to Hard, with hints and optional hazards. Two adventures demonstrate how to connect those challenges into a story. Separate spoiler entries protect the solutions, while the appendix notes explain which handouts and rewards to prepare.
36 sections · “Open all” skips DM-only sections
▸Introduction: How to Use This Bookp. 3–4
This third-party collection gives Dungeon Masters twelve portable puzzles and two adventures that connect them. Start by choosing a challenge suited to your players rather than treating its rating as a monster Challenge Rating. Easy tasks reward persistence, Medium tasks require investigation or creative connections, and Hard tasks demand closer analysis of interacting possibilities. The baseline is Tier 1, meaning character levels 1–4; the book suggests raising check DCs by 2 for each higher tier. Offer the supplied hints progressively instead of making a stalled group guess indefinitely. Optional hazards can add pressure, but removing them is useful for newcomers. Replace a locked door with another outcome, such as freeing a prisoner or revealing a message, and customise the setting without breaking the underlying logic.
Choose by player problem-solving experience, not combat strength.
Read the solution and prepare any handouts before play.
Use hints before revealing a complete answer.
Two adventures demonstrate how to link individual challenges.
▸Pictures Worth at Least Three Words · Easy · language matchingp. 5–7
Illustrations and word plates form an unfamiliar vocabulary exercise. Some labels remain in place, others have fallen, and one is damaged. The group must reconnect the loose descriptions with the pictures. This suits players who enjoy visual comparisons and working together over a handout.
▸Pictures Worth at Least Three Words: Solution and DM NotesDM onlyp. 5–7
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Match labels by borrowing recognisable vocabulary from the already labelled pictures. The crucial anchors are the words for angry and mouse, which distinguish the more elaborate scenes. The dragon belongs with the angry description and the boat scene with the small mouse description. If the group stalls, reveal a useful word rather than translating every label.
Appendix B supplies the picture material on pages 28–30.
Identifying a few shared words is enough; complete fluency is unnecessary.
Removing existing labels makes the deduction harder.
A disused forge offers the equipment needed to restore an ancient weapon. Six fragments and a set of poetic instructions are central to the encounter. The fragments can be found together or collected over several sessions. This is a practical sequence puzzle for players who like translating clues into actions.
Type: verse interpretation and procedural arithmetic.
▸The Shattered Sword: Solution and DM NotesDM onlyp. 8–9
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Use ten lumps of coal and heat each fragment for 34 minutes. Arrange the blade pointing east, join the first two seams with five hammer blows apiece, then join the next two with two blows each and three additional iron bars. Add one further bar and attach the hilt with seven blows. Quench four times for thirty seconds each, sharpen each edge with eleven strokes, and determine the final polish through an appropriate DC 10 check or relevant tool proficiency.
An incorrect step breaks the assembly apart and releases damaging heat.
A third failure destroys the fragments and increases the danger.
Appendix C has the instruction handout; appendix A describes the completed reward.
Eight stone shapes sit beside a square wooden frame. The group must work out how the pieces belong together. A cut-out handout makes this a tactile alternative to a spoken riddle. It can gate a reward, a passage or another event chosen by the DM.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Fit all eight shapes inside the frame to make a filled square without gaps or overlaps. Use the completed diagram in appendix D to adjudicate the arrangement. Investigation can expose traces of correct placements, while other hints identify an edge piece. For a longer adventure, distribute the pieces across a dungeon before the party attempts assembly.
Appendix D, pages 32–33, contains the visual puzzle.
Offer one correct placement as a hint instead of finishing the whole square.
The optional failure hazards are much more dangerous than the basic assembly task.
▸The Zzuples Chest · Easy · number sequence and perspectivep. 11
A stone chest has six numbered combination dials. Nearby, a decayed body appears to have left five numbers scratched into the floor. Players must establish the complete combination from this incomplete evidence. This compact encounter fits almost any treasure chamber.
▸The Zzuples Chest: Solution and DM NotesDM onlyp. 11
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
View the scratched numerals from the opposite orientation. They then suggest the run of consecutive values from 86 to 91, with 87 missing. Enter that ascending run into the six dials. If needed, use the position of the body or the unchanged appearance of 88 to prompt a different viewing angle.
The missing value is 87.
Reduced clues or shuffled numerals increase the reasoning load.
Optional wrong-answer consequences include an animated corpse or a transformed chest.
▸Bullseye · Medium · archery and numerical deductionp. 12–13
Four archery targets stand beside a bow and arrows. One target already holds three arrows, providing a worked example for the others. Players investigate the scoring and then attempt to achieve the required totals. It mixes calculation with character accuracy rather than resolving entirely through discussion.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Inspect the backs of the targets to find their required totals. The intended scoring rises more steeply towards the centre, with the bullseye worth 150; use the source scoring reference rather than assuming the example determines a unique mathematical system. The remaining targets need totals of 190, 140 and 260 from three successful hits each. Valid choices include 150+30+10, 100+30+10 and 150+100+10 respectively.
Ask for ranged attacks when the characters try to hit selected rings.
If deduction stalls, the supplied History hint reveals the bullseye value.
The book’s worked example alone does not uniquely determine every ring value.
▸Connecting the Dots · Medium · interactive sequence and visual tracingp. 13–14
A floating circle of magical runes appears when the party approaches. Touch allows characters to manipulate the display, whose appearance changes as it moves. Players must observe its responses and learn how to make progress. The encounter rewards experimentation and careful shared notes.
▸Connecting the Dots: Solution and DM NotesDM onlyp. 13–14
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Rotate through the active positions in this order: 7, 4, 9, 2, 1, 6, 3, 5, 10, 8. At each stage connect the newly available dots to continue the emerging path. Correct connections pulse, giving feedback before the next rotation. After all stages the display releases the chosen reward.
Explain which parts of the display respond to touch.
Keep the source diagram available when describing the points.
An optional moving spiked wall changes a patient experiment into a timed emergency.
▸Pillar Touching · Medium · spatial alignment and teamworkp. 15–16
Eight pillars occupy a chamber facing four sealed doors. No ordinary handles or locks offer an obvious route forward. Characters can investigate the stonework and test its responses. This encounter works best when several players can coordinate their actions.
▸Pillar Touching: Solution and DM NotesDM onlyp. 15–16
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Each door responds to three pillars that lie along its line towards the opposite wall. Different characters must maintain contact with the correct trio at the same time. Warming pillars provide feedback when the group is approaching a valid set. Use the room diagram to identify the relevant alignment rather than treating the order of individual touches as a code.
Simultaneous contact matters; sequential tapping is insufficient.
Appendix I supplies the map on page 39.
The contents beyond the four doors remain the DM’s choice.
▸Smoke Signals · Medium · symbol interpretation and practical communicationp. 16–17
A tall chamber contains a fire pit, separate wood piles and an opening overhead. Markings near that opening are an important part of the scene. The group needs both observation and a practical way of manipulating the available materials. It offers a physical problem rather than another conventional lock.
Type: symbol interpretation and practical communication.
▸Smoke Signals: Solution and DM NotesDM onlyp. 16–17
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Read the overhead symbols as instructions for the colour and duration of smoke puffs. Eastern wood makes white smoke, western wood black smoke, and equal quantities make grey smoke. Use a suitable broad object to divide the smoke without letting it catch fire. Reproduce the symbol pattern in order, after which the fire flares and goes out to signal success.
Appendix E on page 34 contains the pattern handout.
Circles represent short puffs; elongated marks represent long puffs.
Allow plausible player-made methods of controlling the smoke.
▸Starway · Medium · number ordering and word associationp. 17
Ten broad stairs each display the same ten numbered stars. A magical obstruction prevents simply walking up without engaging with the puzzle. The party must determine which marked position belongs on each step. This brief challenge suits a doorway approach or ceremonial ascent.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Choose the numbers according to the alphabetical order of their English names, not their numerical size. From bottom to top, use 8, 5, 4, 9, 1, 7, 6, 3, 2, 0. The carved ABC hint points towards this ordering. Optional penalties can reset the staircase or harm a character who makes an incorrect attempt.
The sequence relies on English number words.
Explain how successful steps affect the magical obstruction.
A reset can turn the stairs into a slide back to the bottom.
▸Word Gisting · Medium · phonetic word recognitionp. 18
A parchment presents strange-looking questions alongside possible answers. A quill and ink invite the group to complete the exercise. Players need to decide what relationship connects each prompt with its choices. This is best for groups comfortable with spoken wordplay and collaborative guessing.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The prompts are distorted spellings of familiar words, not a consistent cipher or a separate language. Read them flexibly, recognise the intended ordinary word and select its synonym. For example, a malformed version of dragon should be paired with wyrm, while a malformed version of patience points to tolerance. Once the group understands the principle, the remaining items become much easier.
Appendix F provides the question sheets on pages 35–36.
Showing several questions together helps reveal the principle.
Timed or individual tests are optional increases in difficulty.
▸The Colored Triangle · Hard · combinatorial enumerationp. 19–20
A triangular mechanism sits on a door held shut by eight bars. Three coloured pegs can move along its grooves. Players must study the mechanism and keep reliable records of their experiments. This rewards a systematic approach more than a sudden flash of inspiration.
▸The Colored Triangle: Solution and DM NotesDM onlyp. 19–20
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Each peg has two movement choices, and a complete attempt moves all three once. There are eight distinct combinations because three independent binary choices give 2 × 2 × 2 possibilities. Each previously unused combination withdraws one bar, then the pegs reset. Keep one peg fixed while exhausting the four choices of the others, then reverse that peg and repeat.
Record direction choices, including cases where pegs share an endpoint.
Repeated patterns do not normally release another bar.
Optional repetition penalties can re-lock a bar or inflict escalating fire damage.
▸Language of the Keepers · Hard · contextual language deciphermentp. 20–21
A broken granite inscription stands beside an enchanted door. Part of the surviving text uses Common, but the remaining lettering is unfamiliar. A story about Lord Canard provides context for the task. The accompanying visual handout is essential to the intended experience.
▸Language of the Keepers: Solution and DM NotesDM onlyp. 20–21
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The Common account draws attention to a schoolroom origin for the needed words. Compare the unfamiliar inscriptions with the childhood setting and recognise the phrase asking a teacher for permission to use the bathroom. Speaking the recovered request opens the door. Investigation or History hints can supply partial translations when the linguistic leap proves too obscure.
Use appendix H on page 38 rather than relying on a verbal description alone.
The request concerns permission to go to the bathroom.
Reveal the schoolroom context before handing over the full solution.
▸The Long-forgotten Adventures of Sir CanardDM onlyp. 22–24
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
This adventure links six puzzles through scenes from one person’s life. A mysterious invitation or encounter leads the group into ghostly memories of a school and a later expedition. Begin with Stone Tablets and Language of the Keepers, then help the student Duck through Word Gisting. The expedition continues with The Colored Triangle, Pictures Worth at Least Three Words and The Zzuples Chest. The elderly quest giver is Duck himself, now remembered as Canard, and the ending returns the party to receive a delayed gift before his death.
The Magisterial Academy is the school setting.
The two parts are The Bad Student and Sir Canard at the Temple Door.
The identity reveal and final gift are DM-only information.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
The party seeks assistance from a goliath clan whose traditions require outsiders to prove themselves. Access to sacred territory, help against a threat, or a cure can motivate the visit. Six linked tests follow: Pillar Touching, The Shattered Sword, Connecting the Dots, Bullseye, Starway and Smoke Signals. Clan members secretly observe the trials and may intervene if the challengers face disaster. Success earns the promised favour and an honorary place among the clan’s trusted associates.
Place the sword fragments behind the pillar-room doors.
A constructed bow replaces the usual bow in this version of Bullseye.
Agree what favour is at stake before the trials begin.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
This appendix provides two rewards tied to the forge and archery encounters. The Reforged Sword of Zzuples is a rare attunement weapon with a modest magical bonus. On a successful hit it can spend a charge to produce an additional blade-like strike; its limited charges return at dawn. The Constructed Bow of Zzuples is a rare attunement weapon assembled from puzzle pieces and usable as either a shortbow or longbow. It provides a magical attack bonus, extends effective shooting distance and can briefly reveal the position of a creature struck while invisible.
Reforged Sword of Zzuples: reward for restoring the broken blade.
Constructed Bow of Zzuples: reward associated with the adapted archery trial.
Consult the item text for recharge and visibility limits.
▸Appendix B: Pictures Worth at Least Three Wordsp. 28–30
These pages supply the illustrations and word plates for the picture-matching encounter. Keep the already labelled pictures separate from the loose labels. Present the material where everyone can compare it at once. Do not accidentally include your translation notes with the player handout.
Supports the Easy language-matching puzzle.
Prepare readable copies for every participant.
Retain the damaged or missing labels as part of the setup.
This page provides the verse used at the forge. It communicates the order and quantities through poetic clues rather than direct workshop instructions. Give the players the handout when they discover the instructions in the adventure. Keep a separate DM checklist to track their actions.
Supports the Easy restoration puzzle.
The fragments may be collected before the forge is found.
Keep the numerical interpretation in the spoiler entry.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
These pages hold the visual material for the eight-piece assembly puzzle. Print or display the pieces at a consistent scale so that they can actually fit. Cutting out the shapes makes collaboration easier. Keep any completed arrangement away from the players until you choose to reveal it.
Eight pieces must fill the square frame.
Use the completed layout only for adjudication.
Separate the puzzle pieces from solution material before sharing.
This handout presents the markings associated with the smoke chamber. Players need a legible view because small differences in the symbols matter. Show it when the characters inspect the opening above the fire. Leave the meaning of the marks for the group to discover through play.
These sheets provide the unusual word prompts and multiple-choice answers. They turn the language encounter into a shared reading exercise. Presenting the whole sheet helps players compare patterns across questions. A DM can instead reveal questions individually when a harder test suits the group.
Supports the Medium word-recognition puzzle.
Decide whether the test is collaborative or individual.
This diagram shows the triangular mechanism and the initial coloured pegs. Players should be able to refer to it while describing movements. Pair it with a simple record of attempted combinations. The diagram supports spatial clarity but does not replace explaining the mechanism’s feedback.
This page presents the Common story and unfamiliar lettering needed for the final language puzzle. Both parts are important because the readable narrative supplies context for the unknown text. Give players time to compare the material without forcing an immediate guess. Keep the translated request in the spoiler-only solution entry.
Supports the Hard decipherment encounter.
Check that all lettering remains legible on a shared screen.
Use progressive hints if the contextual connection remains unclear.
Spoilers for players — the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.
Three maps support Pillar Touching, The Shattered Sword and Bullseye. They clarify the positions of doors, workshop equipment and archery targets. Use them to keep movement and sight lines consistent while running the relevant encounters. Treat these as DM preparation material because room arrangements can expose puzzle relationships.