Welcome to part two of our holiday gift guide! If your friends and loved ones are into D&D, but you aren't, this is the guide for you!

Unlike a lot of holiday gift guides, we’re gonna focus on what questions to ask those loved ones and give you the resources to figure out what they mean. We’ll include a few broad interest and popular suggestions, but when picking out the right gift this year thoughtfulness goes a long way. So if you need a hand with some recommendations, read on and let’s get started!

Phoenix Holiday Gift Guide: D&D

Fans of D&D can be a little bit tough to buy for if you’re not careful. Lots of folks who play D&D tend to buy the books they need up-front (since they’re needed to play the game), and there isn’t a lot of ‘extras’ that you absolutely need. So in the interest of figuring out the right thing to get the D&D player in your life, here are some ways to help!

Questions to Ask

Where are they at with the game? There are a few different ways to phrase this question, but what we’re trying to get at here is a sense for the experience level of the player. Are they brand new to the game? Do they have all the books they need to play? Or are they an old-hat and have everything that’s needed and then some?

Are they a player character, or a dungeon master (or storyteller)? Player characters (or PCs) makeup most of the gaming group. As the name suggests, they’re the players creating a character that interacts with the dungeon master’s world and plot. By contrast, dungeon masters (DMs) are constantly in a state of needing to plan ahead and prepare encounters for the rest of the players. PCs require relatively few books to play (typically the Player’s Handbook plus one or two other books). DMs need the full suite of three books PLUS whatever else adventure they’re running.

Do they have any favorite colors? I know this seriously sounds like a joke, but a lot of accessories that we’ll suggest below come in a variety of shades of color.

Okay, so now that you’ve got a bit of information about your household’s D&D player, time to put it to use! Here are a few recommendations, along with short descriptions of who each recommendation might be for. 

Phoenix Recommendations

Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

What is it? This is a brand new crossover book for D&D / Magic: the Gathering. Both a world-setting guide, a sourcebook for new races, spells, and abilities for PCs, and a bunch of new adventure seeds for GM.

Who's it for? This book's for that person in your life who's gotten everything they could possibly want for D&D. It arrives in stores December 7th, so it's very unlikely that they've got it unless they preordered. Plus for a limited time there are special alternate art covers available through brick and mortar retailers like us!

D&D Essentials / Starter Box

What is it? The D&D Essentials Kit (and it’s predecessor the Starter Box) are box sets that introduce players to the world of Dungeons & Dragons. The essentials kit walks the DM and new players through character creation and includes an introductory adventure. 

Who’s it for? This is for the person in your life who’s expressed interest in D&D, but has never actually played. Or maybe they’re a player and have never DM’d before. In both cases, think of these products as ‘test kits’ that allow a player to try out the game before they invest in a somewhat pricier Player’s Handbook or Dungeon Master’s Guide.

D&D Gift Box

What is it? The D&D Gift box is everything an aspiring DM needs to get started. It has a copy of each of the core rulebooks (Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual) plus a DM’s screen that serves as a handy reference material for a budding DM. All with a nice box to slide into. And as an added bonus, the books in the gift box have a light foiling, making them easy to tell apart at the table. 

Who’s it for? Much like the Essentials Kit / Starter Box, the Gift Box is for a new player, usually a new DM. New PCs won’t get quite as much from the Dungeon Master’s Guide and Monster Manual, but for the DM those are two required tomes.

Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

What is it? Fizban's is a new book that came out about a month ago, and is the third major book to contain large amounts of expanded player character information such as class options and compiled information for new playable races from other published material. In short – it’s a big book of options, and PCs love that!

Who’s it for? Much like it’s predecessors, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, Fizban's is for anyone, PC or DM. Players will like all the options it gives them for their characters, and Dungeon Masters will enjoy this for all the fun new dragon-based monsters and abilities they get to utilize in their campaign

Dungeon Mayhem

What is it? Dungeon Mayhem is a quick, easy to learn, easy to play brawl game that answers the eternal question - which PC would win in a fight? Players take the role of PCs battling it out for inter-party supremacy in short but fun games that use the iconic classes of D&D and their abilities. 

Who's it for? Anyone really, but if your group has ever sat around waiting for that one late party member, then this game is for them. Why sit around bored at the table, when you can be out-of-cannon beating each other up with cards for fun?

Dice! (Polyhedral sets)

What are they? They’re….dice! If you’re coming into this article with no clue about D&D, the game uses 6 different types of dice (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 20 sides). They come in a variety of colors and materials. Here at the shop, we carry plastic and metal dice, but if you’re willing to look on the internet you can find dice made from stone, gems, or other precious materials.

Who’s it for? Everyone. Player’s and Dungeon Master’s alike need at least one set of dice to play, and often times will have more than one set (just in case a set of dice just stop rolling well and need to be put in dice jail).

Battlemats, Grid Tiles, or Warlock Tiles

What are they? In almost every game of D&D, there comes a time when you have to fight monsters. The best way to do this is by way of some sort of table-based grid map. Chessex has a couple of roll-out options that work for various table sizes, and D&D itself has some branded tiles that come in 3 different varieties: dungeon, city, and wilderness. And if you want some real fancy high-end stuff, the fine folks at WizKids have put together a set of lightweight resin tiles that clip together in a modular fashion, known as Warlock tiles.

Who’s this for?  Dungeon Masters will see the most benefit from these, but there’s also an argument to be made for players also having access to these tools. If, for example, a campaign winds up being hosted at different locations, then it might be wise to keep different sets of these at each location (but that’s both a bit of a stretch and also not really a good idea in this winter’s current pandemic-climate).

Spell, Monster, and Magic Item Cards

What are they? Made by Gale Force Nine, these cards are handy reference materials that provide details about the various spells, monsters, and magic items in D&D. The spells are organized by the type of magic (Arcane, Cleric, Bard, Paladin, Ranger, and ‘Martial Powers’ which is a fancy way of saying “monk and fighter powers”), and the monsters by challenge level.

Who’s this for? Player characters will get way more out of the spell cards, which make for a really good way to organize their abilities. Dungeon Masters will get more use out of the monster cards (since they’ll be the one flinging monsters at the players). And everyone will get some amount of use out of the magic item cards.

Young Adventurerers Books

What are they? The Young Adventurers series of books were designed to spark interest and curiosity for those young players just getting started with D&D. Without explaining the rules behind the game, each book outlines the various aspects of D&D in a way that someone on the younger age-range for the game might better understand.

Who’s it for? Beginning players that need a little bit of help understanding some of D&D’s concepts, or for younger readers who find the big rulebooks a little bit daunting. These can also be extremely useful books for an older DM running games for a younger audience. I’m looking at you dad-who-just-got-roped-into-DMing-a-game.

RPG Fantasy Graphic Novels

What are they? This is more of a genre of graphic novels that have more than a little appeal to D&D players out there. These graphic novels can range from funny (the Adventure Zone Series), to action packed (Critical Role: Vox Machina) to dark and beautiful (the Die series). There are also straight-up D&D branded graphic novels too!

Who’s it for?  If you’ve gotten down to this point in the list and that player or DM of yours already has everything, then this is probably for them. There are some caveats / content warnings for these though: all three books are aimed more at teen-to-adult audiences, with Die being probably the most mature-reader oriented, and Adventure Zone being the least (though if this is a concern, definitely consider giving it a read-through before gifting).