Dungeons and Dragons 5.5 Edition Buying Guide
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Dungeons and Dragons currently sits in its 5.5th Edition. With this change over from Dungeons and Dragons 5 to 5.5 there have been changes to the way the releases. Today we are going to answer “What are the differences between 5th Edition and 5.5 Dungeons and Dragons?” and “What books do I need for Dungeons and Dragons 5.5 Edition?” We will also answer the question “Is it worth it to update my game to 5.5 Dungeons and Dragons from 5th Edition?”
To easily depict this The 5.5 Edition books at the bottom of each book has the following identifiers.
The Core Rule Books
There are 3 core rulebooks to the game. Whether you are a player or a Dungeon Master will determine what books work best for how you will be playing the game.
As a Dungeon Master it’s recommended to get the entire set of books. This will allow you to build scenarios for your campaign sessions as well as aid players with their own characters.
Adventure Expansions are single Standalone Campaign books. These hark back to the releases such as Curse of Strahd, Icewind Dale, Descent into Avernus, and Dragon Heist. They are books built around one overarching campaign. For 5.5 Dungeons and Dragons the first stand alone campaign is Deadfall which was released in September of 2026 and coincided with the release of the gameplay expansion Arcana Unleased.
We have ranked many of the 5th Edition books as well and you can take a look at those rankings here!
A gameplay expansion book is essentially like Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, which expands the rules with additional classes and feats. This should not be confused with the Adventure Expansion. Gameplay expansions contain things like new sub-classes, feats, magic items, and more. It also includes introductory adventures as well. These introductory adventures are not full-blown campaigns.
There are several of these gameplay expansions released right now such as Arcana Unleashed, Ravenloft, and the soon to be released World of Warcraft.
A player expansion is essentially an expansion onto the players handbook which is one of the 3 core rulebooks for Dungeons and Dragons 5.5 Edition. We saw these types of books released with The Forgotten Realms and Ferun. It’s yet to be seen if this will continue to be in the lineup of book releases in the future or if Wizards of the Coast is pivoting to Gameplay Expansions and Adventure Expansions only.
The Dungeon Master Expansion is quite literally an expansion to the Dungeon Master Guide core rulebook for 5.5 Dungeons and Dragons. The books currently released for this series are the Forgotten Realms and Rerun expansions. These books are useful primary for the Dungeon Master and less so the players in a game.
Adventure Anthology books are a collection of shorter campaign stories that can be used for smaller games. If we compare these to releases from 5th Edition, we would be thinking of books like “Tales from the Yawning Portal” or “Candlekeep Mysteries”.
You can check out our review on The Yawning Portal here!
Currently, 5.5 Edition of Dungeons and Dragons has one of these books called Dragon Delves.
What books do I need as a Dungeon Master for 5.5 Edition Dungeons and Dragons?
If you are the Dungeon Master for your game, and are looking to play the 5.5 rules of Dungeons and Dragons, I recommend getting the 5.5 Edition book ONLY if you have not already purchased the 5th Edition version of the Dungeon Master Guide. Though there are changes in the 5.5 version, there is not enough to warrant going out and playing for a brand new book, especially at their current prices. I refer it as going from a Play Station 5 to a Play Station 5 Pro.
If you do not however already own a copy and are looking to play with the new 5.5 Edition rules going forward, picking up this copy is worth it as it appears that Wizards of the Coast has thrown in effort to support this new edition for at least several years.
What books do I need as a Player for 5.5 Edition Dungeons and Dragons?
A player for Dungeons and Dragons 5.5 Edition, I do recommend the 5.5 Edition players handbook. I do not believe that everyone at the table needs to own one, but it’s really helpful when they do. The reason that it’s more important to get the 5.5 Edition Player’s Handbook than let’s say the 5.5 Edition Dungeon Master guide is that it will better help the player with the new character sheets and have the updated and fixed stats that did not work so well for some classes in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons.
This book will also go hand in hand with any Player expansion books released in the future.
Are 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons Books compatible with 5.5 Edition Dungeons and Dragons?
Though there are many changes with Dungeons and Dragons 5.5 Edition from 5th Edition, there is not enough to justify completely removing your 5th Edition supply and stories from your shelves and releasing them with 5.5 Edition content. The content is compatible, with some tweaks and fixes here and there.
There are many helpful guides as to how to do this online and on YouTube. So don’t toss out your 5th Edition content just because everything new is 5.5 Edition.
Is it Worth Upgrading to 5.5 Dungeons and Dragons?
The short answer is “it depends”. If you are a Dungeon Master and are looking to run new adventures out of books. Then I believe that specific players to the game should be upgrading at least their Monster Manual and the new campaign adventure books.
For the players, if they have a 5th Edition Player’s Handbook, They can continue to use it for 5.5 editions with the help of the DM to ensure their character fits to the 5.5 edition rules. If the Dungeon Master says they are playing the campaign in 5.5 Edition, be sure to ask if you can use a 5.0 Character.
If you are new to the game and have nothing, I do recommend jumping in with the latest and greatest from Dungeons and Dragons as these books can be an investment up front. We need to remember that there is no box, no board for this style of game, but it’s still a game and to play it will all the bells and whistles, we need to have at least some of the pieces to it.
Conclusion
I hope that this guide was a good introduction to 5.5 Edition and what you need to get yourself started playing 5.5 Dungeons and Dragons. I also hope that this helps clear the air around what you actually even need to buy as the format of the releases from Dungeons and Dragons has changed.
For more Dungeons and Dragons content be sure to tune back in.
Dungeons and Dragons currently sits in its 5.5th Edition. With this change over from Dungeons and Dragons 5 to 5.5 there have been changes to the way the releases. Today we are going to answer “What are the differences between 5th Edition and 5.5 Dungeons and Dragons?” and “What books do I need for Dungeons and Dragons 5.5 Edition?” We will also answer the question “Is it worth it to update my game to 5.5 Dungeons and Dragons from 5th Edition?”