The best expansion guide for Dungeons & Dragons 5e?

The core Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks can bring you hundreds of hours of fun, but the most popular role-playing game goes far beyond them. Expansion books add new monsters, magic items, and spells to your game. They offer players new playable races, subclasses, and more character creation options. In short, you'll find a ton of bonus content in them. Which book should you reach for first, and what exactly is inside? We've prepared a quick overview of expansion guides for Dungeons & Dragons 5e.

Volo's Guide to Monsters

This beautifully illustrated book provides your Dungeon Master with a hundred new monsters to use in their campaign and adventures. But that's not all. You'll also find seven new player races – Aasimar, Firbolg, Goliath, Kenku, Lizardfolk, Tabaxi, and Triton. The most interesting part, however, is the description of iconic monsters, their behavior, how monster societies function, and plenty of other material that will give you tons of inspiration for your games. You'll learn more about Beholders, Giants, Gnolls, Goblinoids, Hags, Kobolds, Mind Flayers, Orcs, and Yuan-ti.

Summary: A great guide for Dungeon Masters with a nice bonus for players.

Xanathar's Guide to Everything

As the title suggests, there's a little something for everyone here, and it contains a mix of game expansions. Players will be thrilled with the expanded selection of subclasses. You'll find archetypes for all core classes, allowing your characters to head in entirely new directions. The Dungeon Master gets plenty of tips for running adventures – you'll read more about traps, tools, random encounters, or downtime activities. The book also includes a lot of new spells and a cherry on top in the form of a database of names for characters and NPCs.

Summary: An excellent guide with plenty of content for both players and the Dungeon Master.

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

An engaging book that brings a lot of new enemies into the game. More than half of the guide is taken up by a bestiary, where you'll find one hundred and forty new monsters, beasts, and adversaries to stand in your party's way. The second half is dedicated to the history and descriptions of major races and nations from the Dungeons & Dragons world. You'll read about "The Blood War," where demons and devils fight each other, using mortals as their pawns. You'll learn more about the ancient conflict between elves and drow, as well as the battles between dwarves and duergar. You can also read more about the clash that made the githyanki and githzerai bitter enemies, and finally, learn more about the civilization of halflings and gnomes.

Summary: A useful guide for the Dungeon Master. It will also delight any fan interested in Dungeons & Dragons lore.

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

Another guide whose content will delight everyone. The player section contains new subclasses for all core classes. Plus, you'll find the very popular, yet often hated, Artificer class, which brings a lot of crazy inventions to your game. Besides that, the book includes other interesting expansions – patrons, new spells, magic items, and magical tattoos. Dungeon Masters can look forward to useful tips for running games in areas touched by magic, supernatural hazards, or even puzzles.

Summary: A packed guide that brings players plenty of new options, though it might give the Dungeon Master a real headache. But it's definitely worth it!

Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

A unique guide about dragons, dragons, and more dragons. It expands your options for creating and playing Dragonborn. Most importantly, you'll learn more about dragon life and behavior, their worshippers and minions, and the adventures that revolve around them. The book also contains a bestiary packed from start to finish with dragons, dragon hatchlings, dragon minions, and draconic monsters. In short, it has everything you ever wanted to know about dragons but were afraid to ask.

Summary: A guide that will delight every dragon lover. If you aren't interested in dragons at all, look for something else.

Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Summary: The book offers plenty of new monsters and non-human races for players. Perfect for spicing up your adventures.

Gift Sets – are they worth it?

A great value set containing three excellent guides, plus you get a Dungeon Master's screen. All packed in a stylish box that will look great on your bookshelf. You can get the Gift Set in classic black or in white with alternative covers. Both look beautiful, and the books in this package differ from the standalone editions with their glossy cover finish.

Summary: If you're interested in all three guides and want a beautiful DM screen on top, the Gift Set is the ideal choice for you.