Holiday Gift Guide

Do you have a D&D / TTRPG Gamer or Dungeon Master in your life? Trying to figure out what to get them that goes with their favorite hobby, but they buy every book as soon as it's published?

Are you a TTRPG gamer or DM and have no idea what to ask for?

Well, here's my Holiday Gift Guide for the TTRPG enthusiast in your life. Remember, I DM for kids, on a budget, so I'm not going to be recommending any crazy expensive custom engraved wooden dice boxes, $98 Chardalyn Dragon Minis, or Dwarven Forge setups.

These are all gifts that I would love to get or that I plan to get for the other tabletop gamers in my life. Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, there are numerous gift-giving opportunities this season and those that come after, so enjoy this guide. May it help you buy cool gifts all the year through!

Top Pick: Pretty much anything from Loke BattleMats

Okay, I don't know how I made it as far as I did without discovering Loke Battlemats. No one has been mentioning these on any of the Podcasts or Youtube channels I've been listening to, but these are literally the coolest, most flexible solution for DM's who want to run a quick tactical encounter and have it look cool. My only disappointment is that "Towns and Taverns" is not out until January. As someone who runs a lot of urban campaigns, including Waterdeep Dragon Heist, I would love to add that to my holiday list. Still, here are my top picks from Loke Battle Mats for the DM in your life.

The Dungeon Books of Battlemats ($38 - 42.00 Online and FLGS)

Okay, this one heck of an awesome versatile product. In terms of value for the money, this one is like 500% return... I'm sorry I have no actual math or stats on that one... I really don't do numbers, but it feels like a great value.

You can get this thing on Amazon, and it's also available at my FLGS, Comic Store West, so I'm sure you can get it at yours. It may just require asking / ordering.

The Giant Book of Battlemats (~$40.00)

There's a Volume 2 of this one, and both look great. I personally own Volume 1 and use it in Dragon Heist, Saltmarsh, Icespire Peak, and I plan to use it in Rime of the Frostmaiden. If I had know about these earlier, I probably would not have invested so much in other large Battlemats. This works great with Pathfinder Pawns or Minis, and it's great for Dungeon Masters running all tactical encounters or those that primarily do Theater of the Mind, but want to quickly lay out an encounter.

Add-On Scenery - Dungeon Decorations (~$13.00)

Again, a brilliant product! Clings! I tried to make these myself, but the cost for the cling sheets was prohibitive, and the pix scan mat on my Silhouette is the most glitch ridden piece of poo... Anyway, this is a great low-cost gift at around thirteen bucks! It's so versatile. These will work on Loke Books, Melee Mats, Pathfinder Flipmats, and probably numerous dungeon tiles etc.

Now, if you're also artsy-craftsy, you can make someone the ultimate DM travel kit by getting them a Loke BattleMat book or set, the add on scenery and making them Sly Flourish's Universal Tokens.

Book Picks: Sly Flouish, the Lazy DM

If you have read my other posts, you know that I'm a big Mike Shea fan. Yes, this is another DM pick. Bear with me, I'll have some stuff for Players shortly.

The Lazy DM's workbook (~$13.00)

So, a topic that doesn't seem very sexy or exciting is tables... yet, there are random generation tables in every DM reference tome out there from the Dungeon Master's Guide to Xanathar's Guide. None are as exhaustive or creative as the ones in this book. There are so many quick references in here that you can use right at the table, like a DM Screen on steroids; rules references, guides, and random generators to help fire up your imagination as you prepare and run your games. There are also ten "lazy lairs": full-color maps and quick descriptions of locations common to most fantasy roleplaying games for when players take a random turn.

Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master (~$19.00)

This is a book designed to help dungeon masters focus on how to prepare games, with a eye on what's important for the characters right now. It includes 8 practical steps for focusing game session preparation activities on those things that will bring the biggest impact to the characters. The book is basically an eight-step guide for lightweight game preparation. This is a revision of its predecessor, The Lazy Dungeon Master, that includes the content of that book and more. Chapter 6, Define Secrets and Clues, has been a game changer in my game prep, and I know it will be for others.

Dice, Diceboxes, and Cool Extras from WoTC

As promised, here's something for anyone. Hasbro / Wizards of the Coast has been putting out little custom Dice sets for a couple of years now, and I think they're a great gift. There are three that I highly recommend:

The following is from a review I posted on Amazon about Laeral Silverhand's Explorer's Kit:

Okay, so I've seen some bad reviews of this product, and I almost didn't get it because of the negative reviews. I'm glad I ultimately decided to go for it. Like many WotC products, you're getting great value for the money spent.

Let's look at what you get:

A nice set of dice. They're seriously a good set of dice. No, they're not metal or anything, but high-quality nonetheless. They have great weight to them. I love the bigger d20s. Plus you're getting two d20s and four d6s. Similar quality resin dice sets go for about 13 - 15 dollars on Amazon and more at your FLGS.
A durable, felt-lined box that functions as two dice trays. I know that it's cardboard, but it's really nice. It feels really nice. It's beautifully designed, and the dice roll great in it. Felt-lined rolling trays sell on there for about 8 dollars, and boxes (with no lining) go for around $20.
A little foldout double-sided map of the Sword Coast and the city of Waterdeep. You could probably pick up a map that slightly bigger on DM's Guild for $9-12.
Finally there are the cards. Twenty illustrated, double-sided cards detailing Laeral's expert insights on key characters, locations, and lore from across the Forgotten Realms. I DM for kids and adults who, for the most part, haven't grown up steeped in the lore of D&D. Most of them have no idea what Waterdeep is or who Drizzt is. They didn't grow up playing the Baldur's Gate games, forging virtual camaraderie with the characters of the realms. I love being able to have them make a check and handing them this beautifully illustrated concise card. My only disappointment is that there aren't more of them. There is nothing comparable for this.

Either way, to round all this up, you would need to spend about $45.00, conservatively. And you would have to make up the quick reference cards on your own, which I have done. It just takes time and materials.

I seriously think these are a great gift. I plan to get the Rime of the Frostmaiden dice for a friend of mine (a guy who just started D&D and has been reading the Icewind Dale Trilogy) this Christmas.

Secret handshake apparel

Let's face it, wearing your TTRPG hobby on your sleeve, or anywhere else, is still a bit of a risk, even now when it's more accepted. I love the following designs because they're a bit nuanced and require someone to be "in the know" in order to say, "I like your shirt!".

Waterdeep Retro Tourist shirt

Designed by Cory Freeman, this one is on my list. Seriously, I want this shirt. I love the retro style and the fact that it doesn't say "Dungeons & Dragons" in big bold letters below the design.

You can get it here for 25 bucks.

The Yawning Portal

This is another one I would love to own. It's not necessarily a good shirt for kids, but the gaming adults in your life would love it, particularly those that enjoy beer and dice...

You can get it here for $12.50

It's Never Sunny Shirt

Not a forgotten realms person? This shirt is pretty sweet for fans of the most popular adventure ever released in 5th edition. Also, there4 are a lot of other cool gifts on this site. I'm partial to the coffee mug that says "Definitely not a mimic".

You can get it and more here.

Honorable Mentions

Okay, here are some other cool ideas!

My wife got me this cool mug

I just did an edit and added this one because for our anniversary a few days back, my wife got me "The Lazy DM's workbook", mentioned above, and this sweet mug! Love it!

Trying to figure out if the "Cold" art is Hydro74... Pretty sure it is.

The Essentials Kit

This is the best product for making a DM out of a player! It has everything you need to get started. The D&D Essentials Kit is a more recent product, and I feel like WotC really did some research when they put this one together. To me, it's one of the best products WotC has ever put out period, and it's totally what the old TSR black box aspired to be.

Cost / Value - Okay, this thing goes for $15.59 on Amazon, which is more than the Starter Set but you get a lot for your money, all of which I will comment one below.
"The Dragon of Icespire Peak" is a brilliantly crafted Adventure that includes a number of random one-shots and hooks for further adventure.
You get a basic rulebook that's designed to get new players making their first character in just a few easy steps and the blank character sheets you need to do so.
There's a full set of rules for Running one-on-one adventures, including an assortment of sidekicks to help your player character.
There's a full Dice set that includes two D20's for rolling with Advantage (a major part of the 5th Edition Rules set).
It also comes with a

Color Map of the Sword Coast
A deck of condition, initiative, and magic item cards.
and more importantly, a Dungeon Master's Screen, which is something you will need.

Pathfinder Bestiary

Paizo makes a whole Bestiary of Cardboard Pawns for around $50, with almost every monster in the Monster Manual. It just lacks the proprietary ones, like Illithid and Beholder. Paizo also makes other Pawn Packs, like NPCs and ones for their specific campaigns. What they no longer have available are PC Pawns. All of those sets are out of print. I've already pre-ordered the next set, slated to come in December, through my FLGS. The few I have currently came from the Pathfinder Beginner Box Set, which also included a Flipmat. If you can find it, buy it, even if you aren't going to use the rule system. I still play it with my two boys. They love it.

Melee Mats

For my dollar, the best large-format general use mats, by far, are from a company called Melee Mats. I have this set, and I use it nearly every session. Paizo also has the Pathfinder Flip Mats that are very nice, but much less versatile than the Melee Mats. Honestly, I have some of each.

DnD For the Kids

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