Budget Dungeons and Dragons (or how to play for almost free!)

So here's something for people who are considering starting a Dungeons and Dragons group but don't want to invest very much money to do it. Considering it getting into D&D on a budget.

So we’re going to try something and see how far it goes. I’m going to run a campaign that's going to require me to create a bit of content and then I'm going to post it here. So in a sense, we're going to do this together. This campaign will entail something experimental, which will be not using any D&D material that costs more than $5.00, and no pirating. So this series of articles is going to be about playing D&D on a budget. A very, very small budget. Obviously, there are going to be limitations, especially if you’re used to buying and using the vasts amounts of material that comes out from Wizards of the Coast and DMsGuild.com. Our goal is to play Dungeons and Dragons for as little money as possible and make it fun for everyone.

This series of articles is going to focus on the Dungeon Master’s perspective because let’s face it, DMs can end up spending an enormous amount of money on this game. I’ve probably dumped in $5000 over the past two decades. So we’re going to help you learn D&D and DM on a small budget, but this should also be helpful for new players as well. Veteran players are probably accustomed to having all the bells and whistles that come with the standard package of the game, but hopefully, this will still be an interesting read and these players will get a taste of nostalgia from a time when everything was new and shiny. So even if you have all the official 5th edition material ever published (like I do), I hope it will still be fun to follow along. Most of what I paid for over the years has mostly been of value as a source of inspiration. I’ve used, maybe 5% of the everything I’ve purchased in an actual game. But I’ve read, cover to cover, all of it.

Getting Started

If you’re interested in learning and playing Dungeons and Dragons and you're willing to organize a game but you don’t have a lot to work with in terms of money and people, you are in the right place. Follow along over the next few articles and we’ll hopefully get you everything you need for less than a price of a brand new console video game.

There are five elements you need to bring together for a Dungeons and Dragons game. 1) A Dungeon Master (that’s you) 2) players, 3) rules, 4) a place to play, and 5) a way to generate random numbers and track character sheets.

Over the next week or so, we want to put out a 5 part series.

Part 1: Get All the Rules You Need For Free (this one)
Part 2: Roll20, the cheapest way to play D&D
Part 3: Finding Players - DMs Have It Good
Part 4: Preparing Your First Game
Part 5: Bringing It All Together

Part 1: Get All the Rules You Need For Free

Since we’re playing D&D on a budget, lets first talk about how to acquire everything we need to learn and reference the rules, create game materials (such as characters and monsters), and run an adventure or campaign.

There are three easy to access sources for free D&D. The Basic Rules PDF which can be downloaded here. DnD Beyond, which has a web-based version of the Basic Rules, and the SRD which is a skeletal framework designed for developers who want to create content they can sell. And then there’s Roll20, which has rules referenced in the SRD. These are going to be our base sources for our campaign. Between these three things, we have more than enough content to start our low budget D&D campaign.

The first thing you’ll want to do is download the Basic Rules for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. It’s free and it has all the rules you need. The main difference between the Basic Rules and the complete set of hardbacks is the number of options and a deeper set of instructions. But the Basic Rules is a complete game and I think the Basic Rules there’s enough there to run a really enjoyable game. Along with this site and nearly limitless resources of the internet, you’ll be able to build a full D&D experience. The main reason I recommend starting with the Basic Rules is that it follows the basic learning path that has worked for D&D since the very first White Box. There’s a section for rules and characters (Player’s Handbook), there’s a section for magic items and encounter building (Dungeon Master’s Guide) and then there’s a section for monsters and NPCs (Monsters Manual). Unlike the SRD, or even reading the Basic Rules as published on DnD Beyond online, the Basic Rules PDF provides a structured and a narrative-driven approach to how the pieces of the game fit together.

The Basic Rules has three main sections. The first section is how to play the game. This has all the rules on how to create characters, how combat works, how magic works, and how the economy works. This is stuff that player should know, but its all the stuff the DM needs to know. I would read this first section cover to cover and if you retain 50% of what you read, you will have a good enough understanding of how D&D works.

If you recruit players that have never played D&D before, they will need a copy of this as well and we will insist that they download and read through it, even though it’s likely that they won’t. But that’s okay, you’ll get used to it. You’re a DM now.

Player Character Rules in the Basic Rules

The Basic Rules explains all the character options that are available for the basic classes: Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard. For races, there are the classic D&D races of Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, and Humans. Each class is only given one tree or pathway, so this is the main difference between using the Basic Rules vs the complete hardback ruleset. But if your group is new to D&D, this shouldn’t feel like much of a hindrance. Matter of fact, it will make your games move faster.

The main thing that slows down a D&D session is the time players spend trying to make the most strategic choice. Should I do this or do that? And then a DM has to adjudicate the interactions between actions and outcomes a new DM might find themselves constantly referring to a guide or manual, instead of keeping the game moving. This whole project is predicated on this advantage. I think that starting with the Basic Rules will lead to faster, smoother learning experience for new players and new DMs.

The spells section probably has the most specific detail and don’t worry about remembering all of them. You can refer back to the Basic Rules as a reference when spells come up during play. So now we’re done with step one, which gathers up the rules.

Summary

To sum it up, download the Basic Rules, use that as your guide and then sign up for an account with dndbeyond.com and roll20.net and start building characters. If you’ve only read the Basic Rules, I recommend sticking to these character options during your first few sessions. Players may complain about the lack of options, but I’ll give some suggestions on setting expectations with players in the later post about finding and aligning players.

As a DM you should build characters, even if you never get to play them. It’s a great way to learn the rules and see how each class’s abilities grow over time. You will begin to see the power curve that happens as players grow and characters level up and gain more and more options. The more you know about the available options, the smoother and faster the game will be.

So now we have enough rules to start. Take a few days to read it all! And we have spent $0. Let's play D&D on a low, low budget.

Links to Free Official Resources

Rules

Basic Rules
System Reference Document

Digital Tools

Roll20 - Virtual tabletop, character creation/manager
DnD Beyond - character creation/manager

Additional Game Content

Dragon+ game content and inspiration
Unearthed Arcana game content in a beta form

Tools and Misc

Starter Set Character Sheets - premade characters from Basic Rules
Form Fillable Character Sheet - character sheet
Character Portraits - for use with character sheets and virtual tabletops