Dungeon Master's Basic Rules (2014)

Free version of the core Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition) rules needed by Dungeon Masters, including subsets of the monsters and nonplayer characters from the Monster Manual (D&D 5e) and encounter-building rules and magic items from the Dungeon Master's Guide (D&D 5e).

This is a brief summary of content from the various versions of this item released by Wizards of the Coast. Please see the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Rules (version history) wiki page for more detailed summaries including chapter structure and page counts.

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Released 12 August 2014:

• Standard version (1.82 MB PDF file)
• "Printer-friendly" version (1.67 MB PDF file)

Includes:

• Monsters: Adult Red Dragon, Air Elemental, Allosaurus, Animated Armor, Ankylosaurus, Ape, Awakened Shrub, Awakened Tree, Axe Beak, Baboon, Badger, Banshee, Bat, Basilisk, Black Bear, Blink Dog, Blood Hawk, Boar, Brown Bear, Bugbear, Camel, Cat, Centaur, Chimera, Cockatrice, Constrictor Snake, Crab, Crocodile, Cyclops, Death Dog, Deer, Dire Wolf, Doppelganger, Draft Horse, Eagle, Earth Elemental, Elephant, Elk, Fire Elemental, Fire Giant, Flameskull, Flesh Golem, Flying Snake, Flying Sword, Frog, Frost Giant, Gargoyle, Ghost, Ghoul, Giant Ape, Giant Badger, Giant Bat, Giant Boar, Giant Centipede, Giant Constrictor Snake, Giant Crab, Giant Crocodile, Giant Elk, Giant Fire Beetle, Giant Frog, Giant Goat, Giant Hyena, Giant Lizard, Giant Octopus, Giant Owl, Giant Poisonous Snake, Giant Rat, Giant Scorpion, Giant Sea Horse, Giant Shark, Giant Spider, Giant Toad, Giant Vulture, Giant Wasp, Giant Weasel, Giant Wolf Spider, Gnoll, Goat, Goblin, Grick, Griffon, Harpy, Hawk, Hell Hound, Hill Giant, Hippogriff, Hobgoblin, Hunter Shark, Hydra, Hyena, Jackal, Killer Whale, Kobold, Lion, Lizard, Lizardfolk, Mammoth, Manticore, Mastiff, Medusa, Merfolk, Minotaur, Mule, Mummy, Nothic, Ochre Jelly, Octopus, Ogre, Orc, Owl, Owlbear, Panther, Pegasus, Phase Spider, Plesiosaurus, Poisonous Snake, Polar Bear, Pony, Pteranodon, Quipper, Rat, Raven, Reef Shark, Rhinoceros, Riding Horse, Saber-toothed Tiger, Satyr, Scorpion, Sea Horse, Skeleton, Spectator, Spider, Stirge, Stone Golem, Swarm of Bats, Swarm of Insects, Swarm of Poisonous Snakes, Swarm of Quippers, Swarm of Rats, Swarm of Ravens, Tiger, Triceratops, Troll, Twig Blight, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Vulture, Warhorse, Water Elemental, Weasel, Werewolf, Wight, Winter Wolf, Wolf, Worg, Wyvern, Yeti, Young Green Dragon, and Zombie.
• Nonplayer Characters: Acolyte, Bandit, Berserker, Commoner, Cultist, Guard, Knight, Mage, Priest, and Thug.
• Magic Items: +1 armor, +1 weapon, amulet of health, bag of holding, boots of striding and springing, gauntlets of ogre power, gloves of swimming and climbing, goggles of night, headband of intellect, potion of flying, potion of invisibility, potion of vitality, ring of evasion, ring of protection, ring of resistance, spell scroll, wand of magic detection, and wand of magic missiles.

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Released 29 October 2014:

• Standard version (1.84 MB PDF file)
• "Printer-friendly" version (1.68 MB PDF file)

Includes content from Dungeon Master's Basic Rules v0.1 with these changes:

• Building Encounters: Rewritten and expanded. ("Work in Progress!" panel removed.)
• Magic Items: +1 armor changed to armor +1, +2, or +3; +1 weapon changed to weapon +1, +2, or +3; spell scroll entry expanded to include rules for copying scrolls. ("Work in Progress!" panel removed.)
• Appendix: Monsters by Challenge Rating added.

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Released 4 November 2014:

• Standard version (1.48 MB PDF file)
• "Printer-friendly" version (1.39 MB PDF file)

Includes content from Dungeon Master's Basic Rules v0.2 with these changes:

• Magic Items: Cloak of elvenkind, Keoghtom's ointment added.

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Released 10 June 2016:

• Standard version (1.71 MB PDF file)
• "Printer-friendly" version (1.50 MB PDF file)

Includes content from Dungeon Master's Basic Rules v0.3 with these changes:

• Minor clarifications to rules text incorporating latest errata
• Minor corrections in statblocks (e.g., replacement of "nonmagical weapons" with "nonmagical attacks" in monsters' Damage Resistances entries)

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Released 21 December 2016:

• Standard version (3.57 MB PDF file) with no page background

Includes content from Dungeon Master's Basic Rules v0.3 with these changes:

• Banshee (p. 11): Detect Life ability no longer detects constructs or undead.
• Doppelganger (p. 17): Ambusher ability now only applies in first round of combat.
• Building Encounters (p. 56): In step 5, Compare XP, use the threshold equal to the adjusted XP value if one exists.