The long awaited continuation of Dungeons & Dragons is finally coming this year, and the full book release schedule has been announced! See prices, dates, and blurbs now!
The first release for 5th Edition is the Starter Set, which is actually available for pre-order right now over on Amazon and will be released on July 15th. The Player’s Handbook and the rest of the set are all detailed right after.
Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set: Fantasy Roleplaying Fundamentals (D&D Boxed Game)
Explore subterranean labyrinths! Plunder hoards of treasure! Battle legendary monsters!
The Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set is your gateway to action-packed stories of the imagination. This box contains the essential rules of the game plus everything you need to play heroic characters on perilous adventures in worlds of fantasy.
Ideal for a group of 4 – 6, the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set includes a 64-page adventure book with everything the Dungeon Master needs to get started, a 32-page rulebook for playing characters level 1 – 5, 5 pregenerated characters, each with a character sheet and supporting reference material, and 6 dice.
Players Handbook – August 19th; 320 pages
The Player’s Handbook® is the essential reference for every Dungeons & Dragons® roleplayer. It contains rules for character creation and advancement, backgrounds and skills, exploration and combat, equipment, spells, and much more.
Use this book to create exciting characters from among the most 
iconic D&D® races and classes.
Dungeons & Dragons immerses you in a world of adventure. Explore ancient ruins and deadly dungeons. Battle monsters while searching for legendary treasures. Gain experience and power as you trek across uncharted lands with your companions.
The world needs heroes. Will you answer the call?
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 320
Price: $49.95; C$57.00
Hoard of the Dragon Queen Adventure – August 19th; 96 pages
Fight the War Against Draconic Oppression in this Adventure for the World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game
In an audacious bid for power the Cult of the Dragon, along with its dragon allies and the Red Wizards of Thay, seek to bring Tiamat from her prison in the Nine Hells to Faerun. To this end, they are sweeping from town to town, laying waste to all those who oppose them and gathering a hoard of riches for their dread queen. The threat of annihilation has become so dire that groups as disparate as the Harpers and Zhentarim are banding together in the fight against the cult. Never before has the need for heroes been so desperate.
The first of two adventures in the Tyranny of Dragons™ story arc, Hoard of the Dragon Queen provides everything a Dungeon Master needs to create an exciting and memorable adventure experience.
Fans of the Dungeons & Dragons® Roleplaying Game can get a sample of what this product has in store for them through the D&D Encounters™ in-store play program.
Adventure design and development by Kobold Press.
Page Count: 96
Price: $29.95/C$35.00
Monster Manual – September 30th; 320 pages
A menagerie of deadly monsters for the world’s greatest roleplaying game
The Monster Manual presents a horde of classic Dungeons & Dragons creatures, including dragons, giants, mind flayers, and beholders–a monstrous feast for Dungeon Masters ready to challenge their players and populate their adventures.
The monsters contained herein are culled from the D&D game’s illustrious history, with easy-to-use game statistics and thrilling stories to feed your imagination.
The leader in providing contemporary fantasy entertainment, Dungeons & Dragons is the wellspring for the entire modern game industry, digital as well as analog. This newest edition draws from every prior edition to create a universally compelling play experience, and exemplifies the true spirit of a game that holds captive the hearts and minds of millions of players worldwide.
The second of three core rulebooks, this book details all manner of creatures that characters might encounter over the course of their adventures.
An essential resource for Dungeon Masters to use in populating any type of challenge they might contrive for their players.
Created as part of a massive public playtest involving more than 170,000 fans of the game.
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 320
Price: $49.95; C$57.00
The Rise of Tiamat Adventure – October 21st; 96 pages
The Cult of the Dragon leads the charge in an unholy crusade to bring Tiamat back to the Realms, and the situation grows more perilous for good people with each passing moment. The battle becomes increasingly political as opportunities to gather allies and gain advantage present themselves. From Waterdeep to the Sea of Moving Ice to Thay, it is a race against Evil. Succeed or succumb to the oppression of draconic tyranny. Win or lose, things will never be the same again.
The second of two adventures in the Tyranny of Dragons™ story arc, The Rise of Tiamat provides everything a Dungeon Master needs to create an exciting and memorable adventure experience.
Fans of the Dungeons & Dragons® Roleplaying Game can get a sample of what this product has in store for them through the D&D Encounters™ in-store play program.
Adventure design and development by Kobold Press.
Page Count: 96
Price: $29.95/C$35.00
Dungeon Master’s Guide – November 19th; 320 pages
Everything a Dungeon Master needs to weave legendary stories for the world’s greatest roleplaying game
The Dungeon Master’s Guide provides the inspiration and the guidance you need to spark your imagination and create worlds of adventure for your players to explore and enjoy.
Inside you’ll find world-building tools, tips and tricks for creating memorable dungeons and adventures, optional game rules, hundreds of classic D&D magic items, and much more!
The third of three core rulebooks, this book contains tools a Dungeon Master needs to provide captivating stories and game play.
An excellent resource for new and existing Dungeons Masters to engage in both adventure and world creation, with rules, guidelines, and sage advice from the game’s experts.
Created as part of a massive public playtest involving more than 170,000 fans of the game.
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 320
Price: $49.95; C$57.00
Deluxe DM Screen – January 20th (2015)
No further information on this.
Icons of the Realms Starter Miniatures Set – July 2014
The D&D Icons of the Realms Starter Set is the perfect supplement for your D&D tabletop roleplaying game. The 6-figure Starter Set represents some of the most iconic characters classes and races from the Dungeons & Dragons universe, including the dwarf cleric, human ranger, halfling rouge, northlands fighter, elf wizard, and the famous drow ranger, Drizzt Do’Urden. Combine these high quality miniatures with the 44 found within the D&D Icons of the Realms: Tyranny of Dragons booster packs to bring an exciting new depth to your D&D adventures.
Produced under license by Wizkids
Format: Starter Set
Price: $19.99
Icons of the Realms: Booster – July 2014
Collect all 44 miniatures found in the D&D Icons of the Realms: Tyranny of Dragons boosters. Found in 4 figure blind booster packs, and inspired by the Tyranny of Dragons storyline, you’ll find dragons, kobold fighters, bugbears, wraiths, mind flayers, and many more iconic D&D characters guaranteed to level up your tabletop roleplaying game experience.
Produced under license by Wizkids
Format: Booster
Price: $19.99
And there you have it! What are your thoughts? Will you be picking all of these up (through the Major Spoilers Amazon link)? Let us know in the comments below!
9 Comments
$50 for the Player’s Handbook? Yeesh. Oh well, hopefully I’ll get many, many years of use out of it.
So wait, the Player’s Handbook comes out in August, but the Dungeon Master’s Guide doesn’t come out until November? Why? What is the logic behind that?
They were staggered one per month for 3rd edition. 4e had all three core books at once, and they had a ton of errata. Mike Mearls has tweeted that they are staggering to release to reduce quality problems and errata. He has also tweeted that there are yet-to-be-announced tools that they have in the works. I imagine this means an online compendium similar to 4th edition’s. Maybe their plan is to release the online tool, have consumers uncover mistakes they missed, and make the updates before the first printing. An online compendium would also give you the choice of using the ‘pre-made’ characters in the Starter Set or buy a subscription and make your own character.
I’m sure that staggering the MM and the DMG will reduce quality problems and errata, but it also sure does make the starter set seem a lot more appealing to DMs. I’m sure selling more products was also a factor.
It also helps broke fellas like me save up for the books as they come. One book every couple months is a reasonable entertainment expense.
I also got the impression that the DMG was the last to be worked on. Mearls was asking what we want in a DMG just a couple weeks ago. While that might be a surprise, it’s probably better that they taking it one book at a time. If they decided to put them all out in November, then it means people couldn’t play until. This way we can have limited use of the product before then. Plus, Mearls has said on twitter that they have a plan to help GMs until then. So the staggering of books doesn’t bother me.
Now, the new rules are another thing. I wasn’t very happy with what I saw with spellcasting. Nor was I happy with how simple a level 1 character was. Plus the monsters seemed weak. I’m hoping these things were corrected since the beta. I know Critical Hit keeps saying that they are sticking with 4th edition but I think with the style of play that the group seems to enjoy less tactical, faster combats would be a great boon to the podcast.
I am so excited by this! But I don’t think I am going to convert over anytime soon! I love the 4e rules and structure even if it does have some flaws but you use these flaws to improve your DMing skills… RODRIGO is da bomb lol
My group have been die hard 3-3.5 players, refusing to go to 4e. Listening to CH had almost convinced me to break the mold and go with that for my next Game but I decided to wait given the imminent release of 5th edition. That said, sticker shock is giving me indigestion. Rethinking the investment.
2nd ed does me fine, or pathfinder. Better things for 50 bucks.