Dimrill wrote:
Gilly! What books are "safe" for us Noobs to purchase? Obviously I don't want anything that'll potentially ruin any adventures for us. I have the Phhhhhhb and the Guide to Everything at the mo.
Any of the lore books are fine, so things like Tasha's, Xanathar's, Volo's. These books expand on lore, settings and additional player options.
I'd avoid the Monster Manual unless you were really eager because it's basically just monster stat blocks and you don't want to spoil the surprise of some of the monsters you could come up against. I'd also avoid the hardback adventures, so any book that describes itself as a campaign rather than lore. That includes things like: Curse of Strahd, Storm Kings Thunder, Tyranny of Dragons, Icewind Dale etc. These books contain the story for a DM to run - I'm using one of these right now with some minor modifications and will likely transition into one of these other ones when we finish this, if you all still want to play.
You could get the Dungeon Masters Guide without spoiling any story elements for yourself. This book is the guide to how to run hardback adventures, how to create your own adventures, how to build and roleplay NPCs, creating encounters balanced to your party, magic items etc. It's a great book for understanding the mechanics of D&D.
If you really want to treat yourself, check out the Art and Arcana book. It's a gorgeous collection of D&D related stuff from over the years.
There is a lot of good unofficial content as well but probably more relevant to the DM. Things like The Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master which helps streamline prep before sessions. Or The Monsters Know What They're Doing which is a tactics guide for the DM roleplaying the monsters. I don't own that one yet but it's probably next on my list after Christmas.