D&D Basic Rules (2014)

The Basic Rules for Dungeons & Dragons is a PDF (over 100 pages, in fact) that covers the core of the game. It runs from levels 1 to 20 and covers the cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard, presenting what we view as the essential subclass for each. It also provides the dwarf, elf, halfling, and human as race options; in addition, the rules contain 120 spells, 5 backgrounds, and character sheets.

Free version of the core Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition) rules needed by players, including subsets of the races, classes, backgrounds, and spells from the Player's Handbook (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 3 July 2014:

• Standard version (2.67 MB PDF file)
• "Printer-friendly" version (2.67 MB PDF file)

Includes:

• Races: Dwarf (hill and mountain), Elf (high and wood), Halfling (lightfoot and stout), and Human.
• Classes: Cleric (Life divine domain), Fighter (Champion martial archetype), Rogue (Thief roguish archetype), and Wizard (School of Evocation arcane tradition).
• Backgrounds: Acolyte, Criminal (plus Spy variant), Folk Hero, Sage, and Soldier.
• Customization Options: Descriptions of multiclassing and feats (no rules for either).
• Spells: Aid, antimagic field, arcane eye, arcane lock, astral projection, augury, beacon of hope, blade barrier, bless, blur, burning hands, chain lightning, charm person, command, commune, comprehend languages, cone of cold, cure wounds, dancing lights, darkness, death ward, delayed blast fireball, detect magic, dimension door, disintegrate, dispel magic, divination, dominate monster, dominate person, dream, earthquake, etherealness, find the path, finger of death, fire bolt, fire storm, fireball, flame strike, flaming sphere, fly, foresight, freedom of movement, gate, globe of invulnerability, greater invisibility, greater restoration, guardian of faith, guidance, guiding bolt, harm, haste, heal, healing word, heroes' feast, hold person, holy aura, ice storm, identify, imprisonment, inflict wounds, invisibility, knock, lesser restoration, levitate, light, lightning bolt, locate creature, mage armor, mage hand, magic missile, magic weapon, major image, mass cure wounds, mass heal, mass healing word, mass suggestion, maze, meteor swarm, minor illusion, misty step, Mordenkainen's sword, Otto's irresistible dance, passwall, power word kill, power word stun, prayer of healing, prestidigitation, protection from energy, raise dead, ray of frost, regenerate, remove curse, resistance, resurrection, revivify, sacred flame, sanctuary, shield, shield of faith, shocking grasp, silence, silent image, sleep, spare the dying, speak with dead, spider climb, spirit guardians, spiritual weapon, stoneskin, suggestion, sunburst, teleport, thaumaturgy, thunderwave, time stop, true resurrection, true seeing, wall of stone, warding bond, and web.
• Conditions: Blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, grappled, incapacitated, invisible, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, stunned, unconscious, and exhaustion (special multi-level condition).

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Released 12 August 2014:

• Standard version (2.93 MB PDF file)
• "Printer-friendly" version (2.73 MB PDF file)

Includes content from Basic Rules v0.1 and adds:

• Backgrounds: Noble.
• Spells: Acid splash, counterspell, disguise self, poison spray, shatter, and wall of fire.
• Gods: Auril, Azuth, Bane, Beshaba, Bhaal, Chauntea, Cyric, Deneir, Eldath, Gond, Helm, Ilmater, Kelemvor, Lathander, Leira, Lliira, Loviatar, Malar, Mask, Mielikki, Milil, Myrkul, Mystra, Oghma, Savras, Selûne, Shar, Silvanus, Sune, Talona, Talos, Tempus, Torm, Tymora, Tyr, Umberlee, and Waukeen.
• Factions: Harpers, Order of the Gauntlet, Emerald Enclave, Lords' Alliance, and Zhentarim.

Also clarifies that characters regain a minimum of one Hit Die after completing a long rest (p. 67, "Long Rest" subsection, second paragraph).

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Released 10 June 2014:

• Standard version (46.0 MB PDF file)
• "Printer-friendly" version (2.76 MB PDF file)

Includes content from Basic Rules v0.2 and incorporates corrections for errata from first-printing Player's Handbook.

• Softcover print copies of this edition also were made available to some event organizers

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Released 19 November 2018:

• Standard version (11.0 MB PDF file)

Includes expanded content.