Is it possile to play dungeons and dragons with only 3 core rule books?

Question

Is it possible to play and run (as DM) 4th edition D&D game with ONLY those 3 core rulebooks? Or is there some other MUST have?

Answer 1

You can play with those books!

Remember also that the game is based on imagination. You can adjust play to fit your knowledge and even play with your own rule ideas! Keep playable and within the guidelines of the books you have and adjust your play as you ad supplements.

If you find a problem not in the books, just make a decision and PLAY! You can adjust how you play it next time if you find out different.

Game On!

I listed a great resource for all RPGers!

Answer 2

In theory yes. But the plan is that WoTC will get you and others to buy "accessory" books. Such as an "Epic-Level Handbook" for characters 10th level or higher. Or another monster book.

Once they have recycled all the old books from 3rd edition, they'll tell everyone the 4th edition books are obsolete & its time for version 4.5.

I know a lot of people who felt really stupid for buying the 3.0 books, then the 3.5 books. They're going to skip 4th edition and wait for the inevitible 5th edition.

I tell them to stick with the books they have, but they'll never learn.

Answer 3

Yes, of course it is. The three core books have always been what you needed to actually start playing the game, those and a good imagination and some polyhedral dice. The other books other then the core books are simply add ons to the rules and will really enhance the game, but yes you can play with just the three.

Answer 4

It's certainly possible (in fact, at the moment it's the only way since those are the only sourcebooks for 4E currently puiblished.) However, you'll likely want the additional core books as they come out every year or so - PHB for PC classes (for example, I believe the PHB2 will include at least a few more of the traditional 3.5 classes like druid and bard plus probably several new ones) and MM2 for new monsters. DMG2 might be worth a pass if it is as content-lite as the 3.5 DMG2 was. Of course, there will be lots of other sourcebooks coming out as well, but I imagine many of those will be campaign-specific (like the LR book coming out in a month or so), so they may or or not be of any use for you.

Answer 5

It is not only possible but that is the way it is designed. That is kind of an odd question. How else could you play the game if you needed more books than the core rules? Any supplemental book is just that a suppplement and is not neccesary to play any published module or one you make up. In 3.5 I only used supplemental books because the players did. Usually they would find some piece of info that would give them an advantage and to counter any serious advantage I had to be abreast of that info. At this time however 4e only has the 3 core rule books. So please go right ahead and run your games with those.

Answer 6

i guess...

but u should get the players handbook

Answer 7

The only other books currently available for 4e are adventures, and you don't need those if you want to make your own.

You will also need:

* lots of dice!

* a grid or mat with squares to play out combat encounters on

* minis, or at least markers of some sort.

* character sheets - you can download these from a variety of places, including the official WotC site.

* some friends and good imaginations!

Happy gaming!

Answer 8

Yes. If you read the books, they kind of tell you how to set up a campaign. It is much more imagination based then using a module but thats the point. My suggestion would be not to make it just about the fights. Put some actual problem solving and twists into the whole thing. Killing is all fine and dandy, but the original creators of the game(way back when) designed it to be about strategy as well as fighting. Its the story that matters.