Player's Handbook

Player's Handbook, 1st edition

Author	Gary Gygax
Cover artist	David A. Trampier
Publisher	TSR Inc.
Publication date	June 1978
Pages	128
ISBN	0-935696-01-6
OCLC	13498304
Dewey Decimal	794 19
LC Class	GV1469.62.D84 G94 1980

The Player's Handbook (or, in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition, the Players Handbook) is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. It does not contain the complete set of rules, but only those concerning players of the game. Additional rules, concerning Dungeon Masters, who referee the game, can be found in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Many optional rules, such as those governing extremely high-level players, and some of the more obscure spells, are found in other sources.

Since the first edition^[1], the Player's Handbook has contained tables and rules for creating characters, lists of the abilities of the different character classes, the properties and costs of equipment, descriptions of spells that magic-using character classes (such as wizards or clerics) can cast, and numerous other rules that govern gameplay^[2]. Both the Dungeon Master's Guide and the Player's Handbook give advice, tips and suggestions for various styles of play.^[3]

The Player's Handbook, along with the Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual, make up the core rulebooks of Dungeons & Dragons.^[4]

The first true Players Handbook was released in June, 1978.^[5][6] It was written by Gary Gygax and edited by Mike Carr, who also wrote the Foreword. The original cover art was by D.A. Trampier, who also provided interior illustrations along with David C. Sutherland III. In this edition, the game rules were divided between the Players Handbook and the Dungeon Masters Guide. Later editions of the game moved the bulk of the game rules to the Player's Handbook, leaving information needed chiefly by the Dungeon Master in the Dungeon Master's Guide. The new rules were now so open-ended, that game campaigns would require a referee or Dungeon Master.^[7]

In 1983, TSR changed the cover art of the Players Handbook, although the interior contents remained the same.^[6] Printings with this cover also bear an orange spine that fits in with other Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books.^[8]

Numerous foreign editions of the Players Handbook were published, including versions for the UK, Australia, France, and Germany.^[9]

Dealers continued to place orders for the 1st edition Players Handbook even after 2nd edition was released, causing the final printing to be in July 1990, a year after the release of 2nd edition.^[6]

The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition Player's Handbook was written by David "Zeb" Cook and released in 1989.^[5][10][11] The original cover art is by Jeff Easley, with interior illustrations by Douglas Chaffee, Larry Elmore, Craig Farley, John & Laura Lakey, Erik Olson, Jack Pennington, Jeff Butler, Jeff Easley, Jean E. Martin, and Dave Sutherland. The book included major changes regarding character classes, races, and magic, and incorporated many new rules that had been published in supplements such as Unearthed Arcana and Dragonlance Adventures. TSR Inc. also removed some races and classes from the game, such as half-orcs,^[12] although some of these were added back into the game in supplements, such as The Complete Book of Humanoids.^[13]

In 1995, a new version of the 2nd edition Player's Handbook was released as part of TSR's 25th anniversary;^[11] the book was revised and expanded by 64 pages,^[14] mainly by changing the layout and adding new artwork.^[15] A new forward in this edition specifically stated that the book was not Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition.^[14]

The third edition, published on August 10th, 2000,^[16] (with the Player's Handbook first debuting at that year's Gen Con^[7]) represented a major overhaul of the game, including the adoption of the d20 system. The third edition also dropped the word "Advanced" from the title, as the publisher decided to publish only one version of the game instead of a "basic" and an "advanced" version.

This edition's Player's Handbook also saw the return of half-orcs and monks to the core rules set,^[16] along with some all-new classes.^[16]

In 2003, the rules were revised again to version "3.5" based upon two years of player feedback.^[17] Revisions to the Player's Handbook included the classes becoming more balanced against each other.^[17]

May 2006 saw the release of the Player's Handbook II, designed to follow-up the standard Player's Handbook.^[18] It contains four new classes, along with new spells, feats, and new role-playing options.^[19] Its cover pays homage to the 1st edition Player's Handbook.^[16]

On June 6, 2008, the Fourth Edition Player's Handbook, subtitled Arcane, Divine and Martial Heroes, was released. It was originally announced that 4th edition's 3 core rulebooks would be released over a three-month period,^[20] but the date changed after customer feedback revealed a majority preference among D&D customers to have all three core rulebooks released in the same month.^{[21] [22][23]}

The first Player's Handbook includes eight classes: cleric, fighter, paladin, ranger, rogue, warlock, warlord, and wizard, and eight races: dragonborn, dwarf, eladrin, elf, human, half-elf, halfling, and tiefling. The warlock and warlord classes, and the dragonborn and tiefling races, represented new additions to the "core" rules, while the book left out previously "core" elements such as the monk and bard classes, and the gnome and half-orc races. Wizards of the Coast emphasized that those elements would be coming in subsequent Player's Handbooks and would be considered to be as central to the game as those in the first book.

The 4th edition Player's Handbook 2, subtitled Arcane, Divine and Primal Heroes,^[24] was released on March 17, 2009.^[24] The Player's Handbook 2 includes eight classes: the avenger, barbarian, bard, druid, invoker, shaman, sorcerer, and warden, and five races: the deva, gnome, goliath, half-orc, and shifter.^[25]

A third book in the series, Player's Handbook 3, subtitled Psionic, Divine and Primal Heroes, is in development, with a scheduled release date of March 2010. As of October 2009^[update], three classes, the monk, seeker and psion, have been announced,^[26][27][28] as well as two races, the wilden^[29] and the githzerai.^[30] It has also been announced that the PHB3 will include new multiclassing rules for hybrid characters.^{[31][needs update]}

• Character class (Dungeons & Dragons)
• Editions of Dungeons & Dragons
• List of alternate Dungeons & Dragons classes

• Review: AD&D Second Edition Player's Handbook, White Wolf #17 (1989)
• "Sage Advice", Dragon #148.
• "Sage Advice", Dragon #149.
• "Sage Advice", Dragon #157.