Dungeons & Dragons announces new reference cards for spells, magic items, and monsters

Wizards of the Coast plans to release 8 boxes of reference cards for Dungeons & Dragons 5.5E later this summer. The new D&D Reference Cards will contain references for magic spells, magic items, and monsters. Spell decks for Level 0 (Cantrips) through Level 5 will be released, with each deck containing two levels' worth of spells. The magic item reference decks will be split between common and uncommon items and rare and very rare items. The monsters will be split into three different categories - "Animals and NPCs", "Mystical and Menacing", and "Fearsome and Ferocious". The spell decks will cost $19.99 and the other decks will retail for $24.99. The decks will be released on August 18th.

D&D reference cards aren't unusual - Gale Force 9 released a series of popular reference cards for 5E a while ago. However, these are the first released specifically by Dungeons & Dragons, and each card also uses official artwork pulled presumably from the new 5.5E core rulebooks.

 

[EthanSental]

I had most of the GF9 cards and enjoyed them but now that we play around. The table and use iPads or tablets, the need for the cards is reduced for me…what I enjoy is the Beadle and Grimm large monster cards where I can hang them over the dm screen and still see the stats on the back (even if I need my reading glasses for them).

I may get the magic item deck as it’s always cool to hand out something visual to the players for their treasure.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I found the spell, items, monster and NPC cards in Heroes of the Borderlands to be exceptionally successful at the table and if I was doing more at-the-table 5E, these would be no-brainers. But like @EthanSental, I've found my D&D Beyond Master subscription makes the cards unnecessary most of the time.

Still, I'm glad these are out there and, if the day comes that I'm running 5E in person more regularly, I can definitely see investing in these.

 

[...m...]

...are these playing-card sized?..i've found that reference cards really need to be tarot-sized to incorporate unabridged descriptions, otherwise critical mechanical nuances are often lost in editing...

 

[LaTia J]

...are these playing-card sized?..i've found that reference cards really need to be tarot-sized to incorporate unabridged descriptions, otherwise critical mechanical nuances are often lost in editing...

The spell and magic item cards are playing card-sized, the monster cards are about twice that!

 

[vecna00]

I love that these are coming out again, but I'm not sure I like how they're organized. I much prefer they be categorized by class or type (arcane, divine, primal).

 

[teitan]

It’s not the first time D&D released reference cards. 2e had them for spells and items.

 

[John Lloyd1]

I'm um'ing and ah'ing over the monster cards. I'm not sure if it will make things easier of harder. Generally the more individual pieces stacked in front of me, makes it harder. But so does continual flipping between pages in multiple book. I could it reducing the number of big books in front of me. Also, I could layout the relevant monsters and spells together in front of me. One thing I hate is having to find monster's spells in the middle of combat.

 

[John Lloyd1]

I can see that the magic items appear to be generic in a sense. It is an 'enspelled weapon' not a 'enspelled long sword'.

There is also blank ones.

@LaTia J , is there any indication if you can use wet erase markers on the cards?

 

[Starmaster]

You can preorder these now on D&D Beyond either individually or as a complete set. There is a $34.93 discount if you preorder the entire set of cards. Obviously there will be more sets released at some point for the remaining spells, monsters, and magic items:

Reference Cards: Ultimate Bundle - Shop D&D Beyond

<p><strong>Adventure is in your hands.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>The <I>Reference Cards: Ultimate Bundle</I> includes spell, magic item, and monster reference cards for players and Dungeon Masters. Over 1,000 cards offer quick access to official spells, monsters, and magic items, keeping your...

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