Every New Dungeons & Dragons Source Book From 2025, Ranked from Least to Most Essential

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2024 was a big year for Dungeons & Dragons, with a wealth of new books and resources for the updated 5th edition rules. We saw five new sourcebooks, two boxed sets, and several tie-in novels released. With so many options, it can be tough to decide what to buy first! While dedicated fans will likely want them all eventually, some books are more useful than others. If you’re already using or planning to switch to the 2024 rules, knowing which books are essential will help you prioritize your purchases.

2025 brought some great new books for Dungeons & Dragons, especially if you enjoyed Baldur’s Gate 3. While some releases, like Heroes of the Borderlands and Welcome to the Hellfire Club, include adventures, this list focuses on the core sourcebooks. I’ve put together a ranking of the new materials for the 5th edition of D&D released this year, from the least to most important, to help you decide what to buy next.

5) Dragon Delves

I really enjoy Dragon Delves. It’s a lovely book with great artwork and lots of fun dragon stories and short adventures, and I’m happy I bought it. However, it’s more of a collection of individual adventures than a core rulebook that players need to learn right away.

As a big D&D fan, I think Dragon Delves is awesome if you and your group are trying to battle every type of dragon! It’s also a really cool resource for Dungeon Masters who want some quick side quest ideas. That said, you can definitely still have a great time with your campaign – even with the latest 2024 5e rules – without needing it.

4) Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerun

This book is a great starting point for Dungeon Masters who want to run a campaign in the Forgotten Realms. While it’s not very long, it provides a good overview of the region. It’s especially useful for homebrew campaigns, offering several short adventures and extra background information about Faerun that you can easily incorporate into your game.

While this book is good, the Player’s Guide offers more value overall. If you’re choosing between these two Forgotten Realms resources, the Player’s Guide is the better choice. It’s packed with useful information for both players and Dungeon Masters, plus new gameplay options and character classes.

3) Eberron: Forge of the Artificer

How important this book is to your game might depend on your group. However, if anyone wants to play an Artificer, this book has the official 2024 rules for the class, along with updated and completely new options for what kind of Artificer they can be. Basically, if you’re playing an Artificer, or someone in your group is, this book will be a big help. Our Artificer player has been eagerly awaiting its release all year!

If you’re not playing a character who’s an Artificer using the latest 2024 rules, or if your campaign isn’t set in the world of Eberron, you can likely skip this resource for now. It’s specifically designed to help players create Artificer characters and expand the 2024 ruleset for Eberron, making it useful in fairly limited situations.

2) Forgotten Realms: Player’s Guide

This book is a fantastic resource for any Dungeons & Dragons player, even if you’re not using the Forgotten Realms setting. It introduces new character options and a fresh way to cast spells for the latest 5th Edition rules. Plus, if your character is from the world of Faerûn, you’ll find lots of helpful details to build a rich backstory. Our gaming group has found this 2025 release to be incredibly useful since it was published.

This book is a great resource for creating characters and learning about the world of Faerûn. The chapter on the gods is especially useful for players of Paladins and Clerics who want to know more about their deity, and for Dungeon Masters who need to develop non-player characters. If a new Monster Manual wasn’t coming out this year, this would easily be my top recommendation for a D&D book to buy.

1) 2024 Monster Manual

The updated Monster Manual for the 2024 ruleset became available in February 2025. While it might not be the most exciting release, it’s essential for anyone playing the 5e game with the 2024 rules. This version revises the statistics and details of many classic Dungeons & Dragons monsters, making sure they provide a good challenge for players using the updated character options from the 2024 Player’s Handbook.

This updated Monster Manual is much better organized and easier to use than the previous edition. Any Game Master running campaigns with the 2024 rules will definitely find it helpful to have.

What upcoming Dungeons & Dragons release for 2025 are you most excited about? Share your thoughts in the comments below and join the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!

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2025-12-17 00:43