Sourcebooks & the Sunday kit
Every book on your shelf, what it hands a player, and whether it's open on Sunday. Then the kit: what to order tonight, what to fetch on Saturday, and what's free.
The principle is simple. A beginner's first decision should be "do I want to hit things, heal people, or sneak", not "which of 140 subclasses". A veteran's should be "which of the good books", not "everything ever printed". So the rails differ per person, on purpose, and everyone can see why.
2014 rules. Player's Handbook for the build. Xanathar's and Tasha's open for subclasses, spells and the optional class features. Volo's and Mordenkainen's species open for Sam and Hilze only. Everything else closed until level 4.
| Element | Rule | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Ruleset | 2014 5e, no mixingThe book is 2014 cover to cover. If a player shows up with a 2024 sheet, it gets rebuilt. | All |
| Species | PHB nine: human, dwarf, elf, halfling, dragonborn, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, tieflingAll fit the Sword Coast without a word of explanation. | All |
| Species, extended | Volo's and Mordenkainen's non-monstrous species: aasimar, firbolg, goliath, kenku, lizardfolk, tabaxi, triton, eladrin, sea elf, shadar-kai, duergar, deep gnome, githOne sentence on why they're near Phandalin. Goblin, hobgoblin, bugbear, kobold, orc and yuan-ti stay closed: the party spends three chapters killing goblins. | Sam, Hilze |
| Classes | The twelve in the PHBArtificer closed. It's a third rules system (infusions) and it doesn't exist in this book's world without a story. | All |
| Subclasses | PHB, Xanathar's, Tasha'sJeroen and the cousin pick from the PHB. Steer them to Champion, Life, Thief or Berserker. | All |
| Optional class features | Tasha's optional features onStrict improvements. Ranger especially (Deft Explorer, Favored Foe, the Beast Master companion). Hilze will know them. | All |
| Ability scores | Standard array or point buy. Tasha's floating +2/+1 allowedNo rolling on day one. A 7 Constitution on a beginner's first character is a bad first hour. | All |
| Backgrounds | PHB thirteen, or build one with youBest hook you own. Get at least two characters tied to Phandalin or to Gundren Rockseeker. | All |
| Feats | Only through variant human, from the PHB listOtherwise none until level 4, when everyone gets the ASI-or-feat choice anyway. | Sam, Hilze |
| Multiclassing | Closed until level 5, and only after a conversationIt's the single biggest source of "wait, what can you do again" at a table. | Closed |
| Spells | Any spell from PHB, Xanathar's, Tasha'sSilvery Barbs (Strixhaven) closed. It's the one spell that makes every DM sigh. | All |
| Everything else | ClosedStrixhaven, Planescape, Book of Many Things, Fizban's and Bigby's options, Heroes of Faerûn, the third-party books. Revisit at level 4. | Closed |
| Your side of the screen | All of itMonsters, maps, items and lore from any book, any time. Nobody gets a vote on what walks out of the dark. | DM |
Your shelf, plus Xanathar's. What each gives players, and the verdict for Sunday. Subclass lists are complete for the three books that matter.
The whole game lives here. Forty subclasses is already plenty for a table of four.
The best-loved 5e supplement. Nothing in it breaks a table. Gloom Stalker, Hexblade and Swashbuckler will get picked, and that's fine.
Twilight Cleric and Peace Cleric are the two everyone argues about. If Hilze asks for Twilight, say yes and stop worrying, it's a level 1 game.
Read the goblinoid chapter and the mind flayer chapter before Sunday. They are, almost literally, the first and last acts of your campaign.
You called it Mordekaiser. That's League. This one's a wizard.
Nothing wrong with either subclass. Just not day one. The gem dragonborn is the one Hilze might ask for; make him wait until level 4.
Different world, different tone. Silvery Barbs stays closed on its own merits.
Later in the campaign, a single card from that deck in a Phandalin market stall is a whole session.
Both books are superb for Sword Coast lore and you should read the Neverwinter and Phandalin-adjacent bits. Their player mechanics belong to a different edition than the one at your table.
Dragon Heist is where this party goes if they survive to level 12 and want a city. Worth knowing now.
Ordered by how much they change Sunday. Prices and cutoffs were checked on bol.com today. Sunday delivery only works on bol's own Select items, and nearly all D&D stock is partner-sold, so Saturday is the real deadline. Cutoffs are today, Friday.
Your book has a double-sided poster map folded inside the back: Phandalin region on one side, the town and key encounters on the other. Pull it out. That plus a wet-erase mat covers every map need on Sunday.
Download and print these. Together they replace about €80 of the list above.
Nothing in Gouda itself. These are the real ones within reach, verified today. Phone before you drive.
| Shop | Where | Sat | Why go |
|---|---|---|---|
| De Tafelridder | Oude Herengracht 11a, Leiden · 06 4232 8962 | 11–18 | Biggest Nolzur's and Chessex range. Goblins in stock. Mats pickup-only. |
| The Role Play Goblin | Westeinde 24a, Den Haag | 12–18 | Pure RPG shop. Dice, trays, terrain, mats, screens. Best browse. |
| Spellenwinkel.nl | Rotterdamseweg 370 A9, Delft | 10–17 | Huge. Order online before 14:00, collect same day. |
| Subcultures | Oudegracht 183, Utrecht · 030 737 1007 | 10–18 | Books, minis, Chessex dice, the Cacklin tracker. |
| Games Guild | Van Nesstraat 1a, Alphen a/d Rijn | 12–00 | Closest to you. Books, dice, adventures. Thinner on accessories. |
| Spellenhuis | Torenstraat 142, Den Haag · also Rotterdam | 11–23 | Board-game café with a D&D wall. Hours unverified, call 070 364 4782. |
Everyone who has run this book says the same thing. Chapter one is the deadliest part of it, and the 2023 edition made the hideout harder than the 2014 one.
An extra goblin boss at the cave mouth, a giant poisonous snake in the steep passage, two goblin bosses in the den, two wolves at the twin pools, and a flood trap that reportedly does 2d6. Check each against your book, but plan for it being a longer, meaner dungeon than the reputation suggests.
Use average damage for goblins. Five, every hit. Sly Flourish's single best piece of advice for level 1, and it removes the "goblin rolls a 6 and a beginner is unconscious" moment entirely.
Level them to 2 mid-hideout if the party is bloodied, or right after the ambush if you'd rather. The book says milestone level 2 after clearing the hideout; nothing breaks if it comes early, and level 2 is where characters stop dying to one lucky arrow.
Klarg has about a coin-flip chance of dropping someone with his first swing. Let them find him distracted, let the chimney shortcut work, or drop the two extra goblins in his cave. Any one of those.
Yeemik wants to negotiate. The goblin holding Sildar hostage is the chapter's one social scene. Let it happen.
Read these two before Sunday, in this order. The official chapter one guide (ten minutes), then Eventyr's guide, which covers exactly what the 2023 edition changed. If you have a third slot, Sly Flourish's Running Phandelver. Everything else can wait.