D&D 5E (2024) Player's & Dungeon Master's Workbooks

Stormonu · May 23, 2026

I hadn't seen this as a news item or anyone discussing it, so I thought I'd pipe up about it.

Apparently, WotC has released two new "workbooks" - one for players, one for dungeon masters. They seem to follow the theme of the Young Adventurers book series and are meant to walk individuals through their introduction to the D&D world.

The player's workbook, of course, is centered around not only designing a character but also contains sections to promote thinking how your character would react and what sort of activities you might enjoy while playing.

The dungeon master's workbook (which I picked up for my wife, BTW), is centered around designing your first campaign. It not only has exercise in building and mapping the world, but also designing different common encounters, hints and exercises on characterizing NPCs and thinking about overall stories and plots.

Both of these books seem like they'd be great gifts for those teenagers just making their first plunge into the game. Has anyone else seen these around or bought them?

Selas · May 23, 2026

New D&D Player's Workbook of Epic Adventures (First Look)

A new D&D book entitled the “Player’s Workbook of Epic Adventures” is coming soon as a companion to the 2024 PHB. We take a closer look at what’s included.

dungeonsanddragonsfan.com

It's an official licensed product, but not officially published by WotC. Also, it was announced back in winter

Remathilis · May 23, 2026

Stormonu said:
The player's workbook, of course, is centered around not only designing a character but also contains sections to promote thinking how your character would react and what sort of activities you might enjoy while playing.

Under normal circumstances I would say this is a great tool for new players, but I feel a number of posters on this forum are probably going to have a major problem with the advice this is going to give.

On a related note: where did you get them? I heard they were at Target but I don't know where you would look for them...

Reynard · May 23, 2026

Remathilis said:
Under normal circumstances I would say this is a great tool for new players, but I feel a number of posters on this forum are probably going to have a major problem with the advice this is going to give.

How so? The link suggests some pretty innocuous information.

cyder · May 23, 2026

How helpful did she find it for creating a world? Or is it more for first time world builders? I was looking for reviews on this and I couldn’t find any before so thank you.

Whisper-Kitten · May 23, 2026

I would have loved something like this when I was a budding DM.

Remathilis · May 24, 2026

Reynard said:
How so? The link suggests some pretty innocuous information.

Let me give you some non-exclusive positions:

Players will use the prompts in the book to create character with exhaustive backgrounds and personalities that the DM will be forced to accommodate.
The player will fill out this without DM input and thus may run contradictory to the DMs world and tone.
The player will decide aspects of their character before the game starts rather than discovering them though play and/or dice rolls.
The player will become inflexible and demand what is written be accommodated rather than adapt to the DM, events, or world.
The player will do this in the vacuum of not being with other players, potentially designing a character that does not fit with the other players.

I've heard every one of these at some point here, and this book is gonna be example A in the Entitled Player Arguments from here on out, regardless of how innocuous it actually is.

For the record, I think these are a great idea and if it wasn't cost prohibitive, I'd buy one for each of my players. But I already know that unless this book has "check with your DM" written on each page, people here are gonna vilify it.

Reynard · May 24, 2026

Remathilis said:
Let me give you some non-exclusive positions:

Players will use the prompts in the book to create character with exhaustive backgrounds and personalities that the DM will be forced to accommodate.

The player will fill out this without DM input and thus may run contradictory to the DMs world and tone.

The player will decide aspects of their character before the game starts rather than discovering them though play and/or dice rolls.

The player will become inflexible and demand what is written be accommodated rather than adapt to the DM, events, or world.

The player will do this in the vacuum of not being with other players, potentially designing a character that does not fit with the other players.

I've heard every one of these at some point here, and this book is gonna be example A in the Entitled Player Arguments from here on out, regardless of how innocuous it actually is.

For the record, I think these are a great idea and if it wasn't cost prohibitive, I'd buy one for each of my players. But I already know that unless this book has "check with your DM" written on each page, people here are gonna vilify it.

Sure. But some players are going to do this regardless. And GMs are going to ignore it. As always. I can't imagine any EN World GMs flipping out about it. Okay, well one, but that person hates their players anyway.

Whisper-Kitten · May 24, 2026

Reynard said:
Sure. But some players are going to do this regardless. And GMs are going to ignore it. As always. I can't imagine any EN World GMs flipping out about it. Okay, well one, but that person hates their players anyway.

Why would someone gm if they hated their players? Seems like that would be the time to move on.