It really can be overwhelming. In fact, that was what scared me the most once I decided to join my first Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition game. Which books did I need to read to get ready? As someone who loves to digest stupid amounts of information, even more so when they give me an advantage, I was ready to read everything. I wanted all the Dungeons and Dragons books. How many books were there? Following you have the most up to date and exhaustive answer I can come up with.
It’s not easy to come up with that answer, though. Even something as simple as answering the question “how many Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition books are there?” is complicated.
Not only because the number grows every year, but also because there are different types of books to be considered, and this is, of course, just with the official releases by Wizards of the Coast in mind.
If we count the core and suplemental rulebooks (six published and one more coming in November 2020), the campaign guides (another six published), and the adventure books (fourteen if you count the recently released Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden), we get a total of 26 Dungeons & Dragons 5e books, soon to be 27.
This number doesn’t take into consideration the boxed starter sets, accessories like the Dungeon Master’s Screen, PDF/print-on-demand releases or the Unearthed Arcana playtest releases, but I will comment on those too further down in this article.
I spoilt this information in the previous section of this article, but let’s get now into more detail regarding what are the different types of Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition books you can find.
Understanding these different types, will help you also get an idea of the sort of books that could be interesting to you and your friends. For instance, if brewing your own adventures, creating worlds from scratch with references to things only you and your friends would understand, there is no point in buying adventure books. If you are a seasoned player, starter sets won’t do it for you. Etc.
So here is the list of different types of Dungeons & Dragons books:
Player’s Handbook
Monster Manual
Dungeon Master’s Guide
Volo’s Guide to Monsters
Xanathar’s Guide to Everything
Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes
Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica (includes Krenko’s Way)
Acquisitions Incorporated (includes The Orrery of the Wanderer)
Eberron: Rising from the Last War (includes Forgotten Relics)
Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount (includes four starter adventures: Tide of Retribution, Dangerous Designs, Frozen Sick, and Unwelcome Spirits)
Mythic Odysseys of Theros (includes No Silent Secret)
Hoard of the Dragon Queen
The Rise of Tiamat
Princes of the Apocalypse
Out of the Abyss
Curse of Strahd
Storm King’s Thunder
Tales from the Yawning Portal
Tomb of Annihilation
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus
Tyranny of Dragons (includes Hoard of the Dragon Queen and The Rise of Tiamat)
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
Elemental Evil Player’s Companion
The Tortle Package
One Grung Above
The Lost Kenku
Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron
Lost Laboratory of Kwalish
Locathah Rising
Infernal Machine Rebuild
Mordenkainen’s Fiendish Folio, Volume 1: Monsters Malevolent and Benign