Best gifts for your DnD DM

It’s that time of year. Your DM has been working hard to keep your campaign neat and tidy, and you want a substantially DnD-themed gift for them.

Whether it’s physical or virtual, you can give your DM something that shows you care while being usable in their games.

DnD 5E books

Stores: DnD Store, DnDBeyond

Price: $20 to $200

Unfortunately, the official DnD Store rarely offers Black Friday deals. But, getting your DM physical copies of sourcebooks—like the upcoming The Book of Many Things physical bundle—can be a nice gift from all of their party members. Those physical bundles tend to come with several physical props and accessories to set the mood on game night.

Amazon often sells DnD books for a big discount on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, offering bundle deals like buy two, get one. That deal’s actually happening right now for a lot of games, physical books, and products like the D&D Player’s Handbook and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, so we can only imagine what’s in store for DnD fans come Nov. 24.

If your DM’s a fan of physical product, Amazon is probably the best place to buy bulk of DnD 5E sourcebooks, especially around Black Friday.

Amazon isn’t the only place that you can get some sourcebooks for a DM looking for content. DnDBeyond is a primo place to get books for your DM—and, through the Sharing feature, the rest of your party. During Cyber Week, you can expect a large slash on prices on DNDBeyond—occasionally, with all books being put to $19.99. Even without Cyber Week, DnDBeyond often has price cuts on digital product.

Custom DM screen

Store: Etsy, Online retailers

Price: $25-$150

Perhaps the best gift I’ve ever gotten, a custom DM screen is both useful for a DM and looks fantastic. While the screens Wizards of the Coast provide work fine, they can often disrupt the mood by looking a bit too gaudy for the tavern-like comradery that a table can produce.

The wooden screens from KyivLeather on Etsy are designed to make any DM’s heart soar, with room for personalization and interior magnets to let them hang up any information they need to run a game. Similar products are included with BoodooWoodoo’s Engraving screens and the custom designs from GravisCup. These products tend to be on the pricier side, so only get this for a DM you really appreciate.

If you are thinking about cool looking DM screens that aren’t personalized, the Hexers DM screen comes with cool motifs with multiple adjustable panels that can hold any information your DM needs to have. Hammerdog’s The World’s Greatest Screen product is perfect if you want a metallic style that is highly customizable.

Or, if you’re feeling like some arts and crafts but don’t know what to put onto a DM screen, this list by Reddit user Zeesguys will give you a good idea of what you can put in front of your DM.

Dice sets

Store: Online retailers

Price: Ranges from $15 to $1,000+

Getting your DM a set of dice might sound like adding a drop of water to an ever-expanding bucket. But, as a DM myself, I’ll always treasure the few dice sets my players have been so kind to give me.

If you’re wondering where sells dice sets, Amazon is always a good place to check. However, there are a lot of fantastic artisan dice shops online that can provide high quality and unique dice for all price points.

One of my favorites right now is Kraken Dice, a retailer with plenty of dice options ranging from low-cost resin to more expensive Aluminum. Its Black Friday deal runs through all November and includes huge buy-some-get-some options, including free dice cases, coasters, and random minis. They even sell fun stuff like oversized D20’s for comedic rolls and accessories for your group’s table. Outside of Black Friday, the prices are still reasonable, with dice sets for budgets between $15 fun dice to $500 beautiful metal sets and large dice.

However, there are plenty of options for dice-purchasing souls. There are lots of retailers to check out for your DM’s next addition to their dice pool. HeartBeatDice is an LGBTQ+ focused dice retailer with many beautiful choices, in and out of politics. The D20 Collective has many different quick dice deals and an excellent array of accessory options beyond the game. Die Hard Dice include several metal and polymer dice sets with a wide range of prices and styles, with a personal favorite being the Summer Court dark blue set.

If the high shipping prices seem scary, looking in local hobby shops or asking them if there are artisan dicemakers nearby is a great way to dodge region exclusivity or high shipping costs.

Virtual tabletop subscriptions

Stores: Roll20, Foundry VTT

Prices: $50 subscription, $50 once

There are a handful of ways to enjoy DnD 5E, Pathfinder, or any other tabletop game online, which is a blessing for any DM and their group. However, taking the next step and adding a price tag to these tabletops unlocks so many options for both DMs and players. Letting your DM stretch their wings for even a year is a great idea.

Our recommendation is Foundry VTT. For a one-time price of $50, your DM has a tabletop with many fan-made modules for games across the genre spectrum. Foundry is fairly in-depth and complicated on the DM’s side, but the automation and add-ons make it an experience unique to virtual gameplay.

However, Foundry is scary on the surface. For DMs who want to keep the lightness of Roll20 but want to experience advanced features like Dynamic Lighting and much more storage, Roll20 offers subscriptions for $49.99 per year. These subscriptions make the game feel much smoother, especially for DMs who run many different campaigns. Even one year of a subscription can give campaigns a fresh new coat of paint, making things run exactly as a DM wants.

Either of these games are excellent for game night, offering a swathe of supported systems, thousands of supported adventures, and automation that helps to smooth things out.

Dice towers

Store: Wyrmwood Gaming

Price: $110 to $400

Wyrmwood Gaming’s dice tower is the best in the business. Coming in wood styles from Eastern Elm to Ebony, this tower uses magnets for easy transportation while guaranteeing an easy path to any dice pit you’d like.

However, the price tag can be staggering, with $110 being on the lower end of the wood colorings.

Forged Gaming offers a dice tower which, while not as large or vibrant as Wyrmwood, is much more affordable at $45.99. This dice tower also comes with a small amount of dice storage, which is perfect for separating your DM’s dice into neat and tidy categories.

If you’re looking for a neat crystal design, the Game Genic Crystal Tower is an extremely effective way to watch the dice tumble down. The tower has moveable ramps and comes with a tray, though it can be a bit hard to move one from place to place. Still, it’s a really cool table decoration.

If your table doesn’t have a dice tower yet, this is a great gift to give to your entire group. Watching the dice tumble down is satisfying, and nobody can be mad if the tower’s the one giving you two critical failures in a row.