I bought every D&D book ever... It was a mistake.

[@connorhorvath4374]

This is why I don't mess with D&D Beyond too much. What really makes it worse for us who buy physical copies is that there's no way to tell D&D Beyond that you already have the physical book. If there was a code to put in the site from the book to automatically get the online version, I'd be a happy man. Also you just earned yourself a subscriber, your videos are the perfect amount of editing I like. They're not too loud and in our face lol. You're doing a great job!

[@systemswitch]

Well, I think your wish may be coming true in the next year or so with OneD&D. They are supposed to do just that: when you buy a physical book, you get a digital DnD Beyond version included. Which, admittedly, is well overdue, but I'll take what I can get.

[@charliebee5154]

Indeed. And if you don't want to pay anything, just wait for "D&D two" ie: the homebrew version. It's going to happen! 😂

[@c.d.dailey8013]

Good point. I bought my books as physical. It is fine with me, because I am more comfortable playing DND the old fashioned way. I think it would be fair if owners of the books can just fill out the content manually online. The book would still be a big benefit to the user, and WOTC still earns money. It is a win-win. I do like your idea of putting codes in the books. That is even better. It only takes a few minutes for the user to enter an code and get a ton of content ready to use. That is faster than putting in the content manually. Codes should be pretty secure from piracy too.

[@XanderHarris1023]

That’s the equivalent of buying every expansion pack for The Sims 4 all at once.

[@ToesToJesus]

What's funny is I have done something similar? I don't have every book, but most of them. The funny part is my players have said no, several times, to CoS but love DoMM?

[@Nexusofgeek]

I did the same thing, except I bought the hard copies because I prefer hard copy books over digital content. I have most of the sourcebooks and campaign settings and about half the printed premade adventures

[@KabukiKid]

Oof! I was expecting this to be physical books that he bought... so that he could at least sell off what was junk to recoup some of the losses.

[@jonashansen6391]

Of all the content WotC has ever released for 5e, the essential books you suggest contain: 78% of all Subclasses 82% of all Feats 61% of all Races 6% of all Subraces 73% of all Spells So they account for about 2/3 of all player options for 1/5 of the total price. Purchasing the remaining subclasses as seperate items costs 48 dollars. (This is without counting the many duplicate races, subraces and spells across the books.)

[@adhoahsgamingdnd9617]

Speaking as someone who has bought every 5e book, I agree lol

[@kid14346]

The absolute worst aspect of all this is also that you need access to dndbeyond to use the products you paid for. If the site dies temporarily or gets closed down in 10 years... say bye bye to everything you bought either temporarily or permanently. This is why I have been getting deeper into the OSR/indie side of TTRPGs because when I buy a game and they give me a PDF instead of access to locked content on their site, the pdf is mine. I can copy it onto infinite devices i own, stick it in my google drive, print it out on my own, share it with a friend, us PDF edits software to highlight and scribble stuff out at a moments notice... it is MINE! Then I turn around and stare at WotC and the new interview talking about using dndbeyond to create reoccuring purchases using dndbeoynd and i just feel relief knowing I own pdfs and physical products instead of whatever horseshit they are doing in 2024

[@Arcane_Revenant]

Luckily, dndbeyond got bought by WotC and if you lose access the content you paid for, they have to reimburse your money spent according to certain laws, in certain countries, as they are US Based if WotC closes down DnDBeyond they will have to refund everyone.

[@NemoOhd20]

@@Arcane_Revenant Unless they lose billions a year since 2021 and just choose bankruptcy.

[@solarlighthouse]

This aged even worse

[@frejalindholdt8823]

Thank you for saving me money! Really enjoy your content

[@EvilWillow123123]

okay so not seen the entire video but all this setup looks alot more professional than it should for a channel with 800 subs bruh not meant negatively its cool :D

[@jonashansen6391]

To any up-and-coming DMs nervous about the 1000 startup cost, this list is a great suggestion. The other source- and adventure books don't contain that much important content IMO.

[@crosshaireyes]

Jesus! Sorry to hear that. I pretty much just use Basic Fantasy rpg it doesn’t cost you anything.

[@kalanivernon7273]

oh, I thought for a second you found some amazing deal. I remember my 3.5 collection costing me over $4500 CDN (around $3000 USD) and I didn't even own 90% of the Forgotten Realms or Eberron stuff (but did own every "core" book except Draconomicon) I was wondering how you managed to score the entirety of AD&D 2E, 3.0, and 3.5 (let alone 1E, OD&D, BECMI, 4E, and 5E) for anything less than $5000

[@PatriceBoivin]

AD&D only had 3 books at first, then they added maybe 3 or 4 more. There were modules but they were all paper with thicker paper covers, some were only about 10 pages long, didn't cost an awful lot. That was before Dragonlance etc. though.

[@midnightgreen8319]

People should check out Dungeon Crawl Classics. The book is around 40 bucks. The core book and adventures are all you ever need. No new editions ever.

[@kalanivernon7273]

@@PatriceBoivin are you referring to AD&D 1E, or AD&D 2e (cause 2e had lots of splatbooks, "The Complete X handbook" series alone had like 20 books, the Spell Compendiums were another 10ish books, and that isn't even including the Players/Dungeon Masters Option (2.5) material, or anything from the other sets. 1E had 3+1 main books - (Unearthed Arcana was the 4th), and I still have my old 1E Dragonlance Core Book (my boxed sets though I couldn't bring with me to Canada, not enough room in my luggage).

[@KabukiKid]

@@PatriceBoivin AD&D 1e actually had something like a dozen hardcovers by the time 2e came along. There are some more oddball, fringe books that most people never got or care about. heh

[@brianinthebunker7407]

Exalted funeral had a black Friday sale. Pretty much everything needed for Old School Essentials for $60. + liked. ~Brian

[@HI-kb2cg]

2:02 "teach me how to write adventures" lol they don't some adventures are so bad you wonder if quality control was a thing i don't count strahd because it's just a conversion of the 2e ravenloft.

[@archaon90]

Thanks for the rundown! I'm just getting into running DnD with a group of friends and currently looking at what books to get first. Your list is concistent with what I've heard from other youtubers. However, books over here cost around 50€ each... (cries in Finnish)

[@jason916]

I've been stocking up on 5e players handbooks. They're about 19 to 20 bucks a piece on Amazon right now and I'm up too close to 30 of them. I believe that they will have a huge resale value a couple years now after D&D one has completely tanked

[@GetFlappy]

You're like if Kramer from Seinfeld was a nerd

[@jason916]

@@GetFlappy hahahahahha wait , is that supposed to be an insult

[@GetFlappy]

High compliment actually lol

[@jackblack6237]

Yo flappy used to watch you stream go glad to see youre still around.

[@BrianScottGameNight]

Oh dear! Time to introduce you to the OSR.

[@patkelley8293]

I hand pick my ttrpg books. I have limited space. I have a great collection, not because it's big, but every book has a story on how I found it ect.

[@rlbink2498]

I feel you… I’ve been homebrewing adventures exclusively but I do own and (thankfully) enjoy the old BECMI AD&D modules for inspiration. WOTC 5E stuff on the other hand…. Errr not sure I’d use the word “masterclass” in adventure writing to describe them. Am glad I didn’t splash the cash on them.

[@regenbogenwolf]

Thank you for this video. I and a couple of friends of mine have recently gotten into dnd and it can be overwhelming to tell which of the books are worth purchasing

[@xer0vi]

When I started DMing D&D I got the 3 main books and CoS. I got CoS for free cause a buddy of mine had also bought the physical book for only $10. He gave me the book so I could run it. I have since gotten some really cool 3rd party D&D 5E books. I can't recommend Grim Hallow enough. Yes the price of shipping may be a lot if you want physical but they sell PDFs too. Those 3 books give you all the tools for some grimdark settings. Esper Genesis is also cool if you want some Sci-Fi. I also just got Descent into Avernus which I plan on using its main plot points in a homebrew. The idea of a city being chain and pulled into hell is kinda cool. So I plan to take that base plot and run with it. Another buddy also bought me Tasha's and Xanathars and Volos. So all and all I got a ton of material to last me a while. There's still a few more 5E books I want to pull stuff from. But I don't see myself getting them all. Dragonlance seemed kinda cool. The Greek mythology one..and one or 2 more and then yeah I'll have more than enough.

[@williamwoodruff1800]

Aside from the DMs guide, all the books I’ve ever bought are the ones you recommended lol. Guess I had good intuition about the others…

[@mrmaat]

“Buying” D&D content on D&D beyond is little better than flushing money down the toilet. You don’t own it, you are renting it.

[@nonya9120]

Geezer here... Yipes... Only 5e in my house is the wife's players handbook. No regrets she still plays 5e, no regrets. She might buy more, me not unless I find them in thrift or 1/2 price place. Gaming on.

[@jnishar]

your thoughts about volos guide?

[@saw31489]

I've also bought every 5th edition book... but it isn't a waste... unless you bought it digitally. The physical books are amazing items to have to run in person sessions. Not only that, come about 20 years or so, each of those books will be at least 5 times what you paid for them, especially if dnd keeps going on the track that is has been. Look at 2e. Take heart that you have the references and can run any campaign in person AND you aren't missing out on anything if you need to reference Also, as a near 2 decade long DM, don't use 5e modules to gauge good writing. Almost all of them are garbage and just settings rather than adventures... when you need spend several hours of preparation to run a PREMADE module, that goes to show the quality of the product as advertised. A premade module should be written to be able to be picked up, scanned over, and ready to run in 15-30 minutes. So you do you on your sessions.

[@midnightgreen8319]

Hahahahahaha

[@Eastbound84]

What do you recommend to play that can be prepped in 15 to 30 min?

[@fire99xyz]

I am slowly but surely on my way to owning the entire physical 5e catalogue as I like it as a from of collectible and obviously also the content that comes with them. Now is it as sleek as online? No. Is it way better? Imo absolutely:)

[@Minodrec]

Heh... That's closed to what I spent on competitive MtG Legacy deck. But those bilands and fetchlands remain.

[@Legionne]

I very nearly did the same thing a couple years ago. Instead I literally got exactly that list Plus I got three of the starter sets to bring new players into the game. Best decision ever

[@bytecode5834]

Fantastic video, thanks for sharing you knowledge

[@AvianDnD]

wait.....you bought em digital ? are you high ?

[@ColumbiaBeet]

Even official D&D adventures don't have such granular write ups for Perception checks. Most of the stuff you wrote in your notes would just be info that I would GIVE the players (no roll required) if they ask questions about their surroundings. My two-cents: Anyone with Thieves Cant would immediately recognize the symbols, but might need to roll a check to figure out what they mean...but just looking around as they walk through town to see how others react to them is a no brainer...they'd just notice that without a roll. Rolling when the stakes are so LOW and there is no real time limit just bogs the game down and often leads to your PCs not accomplishing things that should be super easy, which slows down the game as well.

[@brandtgill2601]

I salute you sir. The best worst decision

[@johnharrison2086]

The best part is that 6e is coming and so the books you have will be "legacy content" That is to say, obsolete. 😆

[@shadowhenge7118]

Learning what doesn't work for you is valuable, too, ya know.

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

Ya I don’t get into D&D Beyond

[@xaxzander4633]

i bought all the physical books besides a couple yet, they will only rise in value. If your going to buy a 5e book online you may as well get it on a VTT, and dnd beyond is not yet a VTT, so its cool and all but sort of useless unless your just going to use a tablet for play or something. The premade adventures are good to run, or steal stuff from.

[@artistkirakun]

Thank you for the video.

[@haveswordwilltravel]

Wait…you bough these books on Dnd Beyond? I am sorry to tell you this, but you only rented them until the next edition.

[@GetFlappy]

Lmao well it's been a good 2 years🤷‍♀️

[@Theadalas]

They won't take them down. All the books will remain as a legacy content.

[@jonsumner5899]

Yeah there cheaper ways to find monsters a lot of the monsters I find I find on Google through here most monsters I can think of off of my head I can find for free I even found some that I would not have guessed that I would have been able to find such as you can actually find monster stat blocks for xenomorphs (the aliens from the movie alien) and if there's a monster I really want that isn't free I just buy that individual monster. Therefore I actually would not suggest anybody by the monster manual because on D&D beyond all the monsters that are found the monster manual already free. And at least for myself when I'm doing a Homebrew campaign I just copy down the stats so it's in my notes anyways I don't need to look in the monster manual when that monster comes up. The only downside is the Beastie area I make for an adventure ends up being like half the size of my notes. But it's a lot easier to carry too than having to flip through the monster manual on the fly

[@johndavid2290]

that hat wins

[@horacioaugustofilho6487]

At least you were able to make a cool video about it.

[@roha2317]

The bundles can be worth it, as long as you have a valid use/need for them (which clearly you did not). I think this is a clear case of buying what you think you need, without doing some good research. Sadly for your wallet you purchased them outright, blaming the books for being bad (which is not really fair is it?)

[@dominikwusa3570]

DnD Beyond will have my money if i can change it to german. God dammit why only emglish!

[@charliebee5154]

As you have invested money on the stock exchange, I can (aaaaalmost) garantee that this was not, in fact, the worst purchase you've ever made. 😜❤️

[@williamrockwell9705]

Yeah? I bought every single Rifts RPG book and it was not at all a mistake.

[@noxcattus5756]

Dude.. i have 803 euros in a valorant account:)). On skins. So don't feel bad! 🎉 Imagine spending those money on drugs :)) that would had been a problem. 😂😂😂

[@Zr0din]

I like your stuff but please PLEASE don't encourage Monsters of the MultiVerse @5:20. They needed to do a player eratta and a separate monster book... Or just not put out that book at all. This is going to be the way they Monetize... Sorry, I gotta stop this rant before I start... Now that I watched the rest of your video - I see the numbers argument you present. I imagine the Guide to Monsters and the Tome of Foes are more expensive together than the Monsters of the Multiverse. I just don't want them mixing these books like they did with Multiverse. Also, I usually buy my DnD books from a major Used Bookstore. They are usually in great condition because geeks come from a comic book collecting background.

[@viniciusevangelista2159]

F

[@kurgon1976]

your biggest mistake is playing 5e

[@Eldergloom]

Literally all of the information is available online and the whole game takes place in our heads. Buying the books is always a waste of money lmao.

[@jwickli94]

F And also thank you!

[@kyrnsword72]

I don't know how much money in a huge amount I spent on my ttrpg hobby. Until I found a ttrpg I love I didn't see how much waisted money. This ttrpg I love is called D100 Dungeon by Martin Knight. A game system with books and a mapping game that makes D100 Dungeon real awesome by MK Games.

[@danielgibej9378]

🏴‍☠️

[@NemoOhd20]

You paid how much for what? And Wizbros want everyone to be properly "monetized" like you. No thanks. But thank you for the warning.

[@SvartElric9]

F