Rules Compendium: A Game Reference for All Players

by James Wyatt, Andy Collins, Rob Heinsoo

A quick and handy rules reference and guide for the Dungeons & Dragons ® Fantasy Roleplaying Game.

This handy and comprehensive Dungeons & Dragons book is intended as a quick rules reference. It contains the complete core rules for the 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game.
 
In addition to providing an overview of the game and how it’s played, this book presents the core rules in a format that is easily referenced during a game. It includes information on level advancement, combat, experience points, treasure, skills, equipment, and more.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons, Gaming, Reference

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 21, 2010

About the author

James Wyatt is an award-winning game designer at Wizards of the Coast, and now holds the position of Design Manager for Dungeons & Dragons. He was one of the lead designers for D&D 4th Edition and one of the original designers of the Eberron Campaign Setting, and has written and co-authored dozens of game supplements. He grew up in Ithaca, New York, and now lives in Washington State with his wife and son.

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the D&D essentials line, this is a handy-sized paperback reference to the rules of the game. Everything you need to start questioning your DMs competence.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much math, but when you understand what the math is for, it's a very awesome feeling. I love playing D&D.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

When D&D 4th Edition came out, I didn't like what I saw. So, rather than "upgrading", I skipped that edition, only returning to the game when the D&D Next playtest began. Before that, however, I did take notice of the Essentials line, an attempt to give 4E a new coat of paint and lure back lapsed players. I was encouraged to buy the rulebooks (partly because Borders was going out of business and they were discounted), but I never got around to actually reading them before I was won over by 5th Edition. Now, nearly four years into the 5E era, I figured I'd give 4E a fresh look.

First things first, I do appreciate the design of this edition. 4E was clearly designed to be streamlined from D&D 3.5, and carefully structured for ease of use and balance. Every class and every foe has a role, every rules subsystem is laid out in a straightforward manner. Statistics are easy to determine. The layout of powers and monsters and items and the like makes it easy to pick them up and use. Encounters and rewards look to be a breeze to design. As for the Rules Compendium itself, everything is very clearly explained, with very few areas that are confusing or ambiguous.

That all said, the game has two major flaws. (IMHO, of course.)

One is more objective - there is still too much of the detail-oriented 3.5 in it. Mainly it's a matter of having too many rules to remember - too many specifics with skill use, too many situational modifiers, too many conditions, too many specific action options. Certainly there are fewer fiddly bits than 3.5, and certainly everything is better explained and easier to apply. But having to remember or refer to these rules during game events stands out all the more when other stuff, like powers or monsters, have everything you need in one convenient stat block.

The other is more subjective - I don't like the focus of the game. They decided to take 3.5's grid-based miniatures combat, and turn it up to 11. Movement and positioning are meticulous, and many actions (such as those that move other figures, er, characters) seem particularly game-y. The assigned combat roles may make assembling parties and encounters easier, and the powers (what used to be spells, but for all classes) are nice and balanced, but they add to the sense that this is a miniatures wargame rather than a RPG.

Now, if combat is the main thing you're into D&D for, then I'm sure 4E made you very happy. (It's no coincidence that Combat is the longest chapter in the Rules Compendium by far, nearly triple the length of the others.) But if you want a focus on other stuff, like skills, the best support you get is in step-by-step "skill challenges". (Which are a neat structure, admittedly... but also limiting and overly mechanical.) And if you want an emphasis on role-playing... you're largely on your own. The Rules Compendium does try to push role-playing in earlier chapters, but in the end it doesn't seem like their heart is in it. It seems you're here to fight things, upgrade your loot, and level up. It's no surprise many accused 4E of being a tabletop MMORPG.

However, there are admittedly some things I disliked about 4E at the time I can view more favorably now. One is the default Nentir Vale setting (a.k.a. "Points of Light") and its cosmology, which threw out the old D&D multiverse for something new and reimagined. Now that the old cosmology is back in 5E, I can appreciate Nentir Vale for the lean, mean "greatest hits" setting it is. And I do like that 5E kept the Feywild and Shadowfell. (On the other hand, I still don't like 4E's overly simple five alignments.) And there are some rules ideas here and there I do like: a "bloodied" condition for monsters at half HP, where special powers can kick in; minions, monsters with 1 hit point; the structure for XP overall, including clear guidelines for handling non-monster challenges.

In addition, from a historical standpoint, it's interesting to see how significant a step D&D 4E was in the game's evolution. You can see a lot of the concepts featured in 5E getting started here, such as a unified bonus based on level; the "unaligned" alignment; a simple trained/untrained division for skills; two types of rests (a short one and a long one); the ability to recover health during rests (through healing surges in 4E and hit dice in 5E); an action economy centered around a move, a standard, and a "minor" (bonus) action each turn; the simpler list of skills; and death saves (4E, surprisingly, is actually more lethal here). There's also a section on fleshing out characters that feels a lot like a precursor to 5E's backgrounds.

All in all, this is a fine game, and for a certain type of player, I can see how this would be an amazing version of D&D. But had I read this rulebook at the time... I don't think it would have convinced me to come back. It took the very different 5E to do that, which simplified the combat much more, and emphasized more role-playing... a decision that does seem to have paid off.

As for the Rules Compendium itself, this looks to be a great reference for the D&D 4E game. Well-organized, clearly explained, and (for the most part) one of the more readable and interesting books of pure game rules I've seen. If you're a 4E fan, I strongly recommend this. If you're not a 4E fan... well, you may want to at least skim it. (But it probably won't change your mind.) (B+)

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great dungeons and dragons book!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition grew to a massive size that I believe might have wound up being intimidating for new players. With three player's handbooks, and tons of supplements and supplements for supplements, this edition grew rapidly (and financially) beyond the entry level player and possibly prohibited a lot of people from taking up the game. Enter Dungeons & Dragons Essentials. While I'm not a huge fan of the direction Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro Inc. elected to take this beloved game, I do freely admit that 4th edition was the most balanced and "unified across supplements/expansions" system to date... but even at that, there was a great amount of errata issued for 4E, and the D & D Essentials Rules Compendium did a really nice job of trimming the loose stings and tightening up the odd ends of a tremendous body of rules... plus, it was pretty darn cheap. Sure you needed the other D & D Essentials books too, but two $20 books compared to $40 - $50 for each of the three player's rule books? Wizards and Hasbro were looking to entice newbies with Dungeons & Dragons Essentials, for sure (these products were even placed in Walmart and Target stores) both with the price point and with the streamlining of the voluminous 4E rule set. Hopefully the D & D Next/5E rule set won't go down the same path (it sure sounds from the playtest follow up that there is some serious effort to keep the rules tidy... fat chance in a real world application, but it nice to dream).

[Mark Austin · Rating 2 out of 5]

★ - Most books with this rating I never finish and so don't make this list. This one I probably started speed-reading to get it over with.
★★ - Average. Wasn't terrible, but not a lot to recommend it. Probably skimmed parts of it.
★★★ - Decent. A few good ideas, well-written passages, interesting characters, or the like.
★★★★ - Good. This one had parts that inspired me, impressed me, made me laugh out loud, made me think - it got positive reactions and most of the rest of it was pretty decent too.
★★★★★ - Amazing. This is the best I've read of its genre, the ones I hold on to so I can re-read them and/or loan them out to people looking for a great book. The best of these change the way I look at the world and operate within it.

[Jack moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple rule book with lot of flavour text about the world and tips for new players. Very handy.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for learning the rules of 4th Edition, and also for reference. I may need to get another copy for my next campaign so my players can reference the rules at the same time I do.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-have book for 4e DMs. It answers every single question you could possibly have about game mechanics.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

too much math

[christopher larue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this and you will obtain awesomeness.