As a new player in DnD, you will quickly learn about the many different books of DnD. For many players, these books come at an overpriced cost. That begs the question, what are the cheapest DnD books?
The cheapest books are usually found on Amazon. With Amazon Prime, you get a big discount on all your DnD books. Although if you don’t mind used books, they’re a really good option. In addition, DnD Beyond has really good prices on books, but they’re all digital. Digital sourcebooks are usually around $30, while digital adventure books are closer to $25.
While it might be true that DnD books aren’t generally cheap, there are certainly exceptions to this rule. Read more to find out tips and tricks that make your DnD purchases a lot more lenient on your wallet. How can you get away with the cheapest possible deals? I will explain this and more in this article.
Where Can I Find The Cheapest DnD Books?
Where you can find the cheapest books for DnD differs somewhat depending on what you’re looking for. If you want to buy new physical copies, then Amazon is your best bet. They simply have the best prices. If you are subscribed to Amazon Prime, you get a considerable discount on the base price of DnD books.
If you want to save even more money, keep an eye out for sales at Amazon. The big sales can offer up to 60% money off on DnD books. Although the prices on Amazon are the best, some want to support their local game stores, and they sometimes have good prices. For the most part, though, they can’t beat Amazon prices.
If you’re interested in digital books, DnD Beyond is always a good place to shop. They usually have good deals. Digital copies are in most cases cheaper than physical copies for obvious reasons.
Lastly, I can strongly recommend getting used books. They’re your best bet if you don’t mind getting books in worse condition.
You might also enjoy: Are Dungeons And Dragons Books Worth Anything?
How Much Do Books Cost On DnD Beyond?
Digital books at DnD Beyond are usually around $25-30. The price depends on what type of books you’re looking for: sourcebooks are closer to $30 and adventure books/modules are around $25. If you buy bundles at DnD Beyond, you get money off of every book.
As I mentioned before, DnD Beyond only offers digital copies of books. Digital books have some positive aspects too, such as integration with Discord. Another good thing about digital copies is that you can store them on your phone, and their condition doesn’t worsen over time.
Sometimes DnD Beyond books cost more than physical books. Although this might cause initial confusion, it’s usually because the comparison is done with Amazon.
Amazon has ridiculously low prices compared to the MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price), and those prices are really difficult to compete with, digital copies or not.
Is DnD Beyond Free?
The app itself is free, and so is most of the content. The free content includes references for the DnD basic rules, a list of spells and equipment, and a list of monsters and their stats.
Additionally, DnD Beyond includes a character builder, where you can make characters and keep track of them. You can also use and publish homebrew material such as items and spells.
Occasionally DnD Beyond releases free books. These books can be downloaded and read or integrated into discord as you please. My recommendation is to get the app, it’s quite useful even if you don’t want to buy books.
Are The DnD Books Worth Buying?
I’ve touched on this before (read more: How Much Does All DnD Books Cost), and it’s all subjective at the end of the day. Do you have a minimal budget? Well, then consider buying the Players Handbook. It’s strictly everything you need and everything else is to some degree optional.
It also depends on what role you have in your playgroup. If you’re a DM, you’re going to need some additional literature. If you don’t have the Monster Manual and the Dungeon Master’s Guide, it just makes things hard for you.
Some books are in my opinion worth buying other than the fundamental core books, which I will go over below.
What DnD Book Should I Buy First?
The Player’s Handbook. If you’re going to DM, consider buying the Dungeon Master’s Guide. This isn’t a fact, but it is the most comprehensive book for DnD beginners out there.
Where Can I Download DnD Books For Free?
There are a couple of places where you can download DnD books legally. One of my favorite places to do so is the DMs Guild. The DMs Guild is a place where creative people can publish their material. A lot of stuff on the website is free or in the “pay what you want” format.
There are plenty of really good books on DMs Guild. Some of the books get used as official products by Wizards’.
The DnD basic rules are also available for free. It’s a great introduction to DnD for new players. Additionally, I recommend using 2-Minute Tabletop. The website has amazing material such as maps, dungeons, articles, and adventures.
DnD Beyond is a great resource for free material when it’s available, as I mentioned earlier. Lost Mines of Phandelver and Acquisitions Incorporated were previously free for a limited time at DnD Beyond. These are full books and completely worth your while.
There are a couple of free online resources that are very useful for reading about classes, races, monsters, items, and more. These resources are usually complementary to or part of adventure modules. Some of the items and spells in these free pdfs are not covered in the free basic rules, which is nice.
These texts can be somewhat tricky to find. I’ll list some of them below:
- Rise of Tiamat Online Supplement
- Hoard of the Dragon Queen Online Supplement
- Elemental Evil’s Player Companion
A bunch more can be found if you scour the internet a bit. Your best bet is searching for online supplements to DnD.
Read more: Where Can You Get DnD Books For Free?
Is The DnD Legendary Bundle Worth It?
The Legendary Bundle is a bundle of books available at DnD Beyond, which offers you access to all the source and adventure books that exist on DnD Beyond. That is a boatload of content. As of writing this article, the number of books in those categories is 44.
The price you have to pay for these 44 books is $875 as of now. That is a lot of content for a lot of money. Is it worth it, though? It depends.
If you count the average price of each book, it’s strictly worth it (around $19 for each book). It adds up anyway, $875 is a somewhat overwhelming sum of money to pay at once. Are there any other benefits to buying this bundle? You bet.
Read more: How Much Does It Cost To Buy All DnD Books?
In addition to the books, you also get a 15% discount on all future purchases, which is nice. Odds are, if you buy the legendary bundle of 44 books, you’re probably going to buy future releases as well.
Another option with the bundle is buying it as a group. This can cut the price depending on how many people want in on the deal.
You might be concerned that you already own some of the books that the legendary bundle includes, but don’t worry. The books you already have are subtracted from the price of the bundle.
If you decide to wait and in the meanwhile purchase other books, you don’t lose out because of the price deduction previously mentioned.
The legendary bundle offers an amazing variety of options for your group when picking an adventure which is a big plus. Whether it’s an option for you and your group or not, I’m certainly pleased that the option exists for hardcore players.