Do you really need the books to play d&d here?

Now it might seem like a stupid question but ive been watching several different groups play d&d online such as west marches, hardcore legends and alot of others and ive been doing so for about a year now. I just feel like i know the rules really well, sometimes i even feel like i know them better than people who do have the books, the only thing im unfamiliar with in d&d is the creation of characters and the use of roll20 specificly, tho i might have an idea of how that works, and i could just youtube search it. Also when i watch these groups play d&d alot of the players dont have the books and the people that do have the books rarely have to use them since the DM looks up stuff, but even then im sure you could google the small stuff like wording and phrasing on different stuff.

Yes and no. It's highly recommended, as it supports the hobby and allows you to look up things. Leveling up characters and building them are very player dependent so, that would kind of helpful for you to have the resources to do it. It's fairly cheap on amazon sometimes.  And you ONLY need the PHB (players handbook) if you're a player. But with the SRD (systems resource document) out, you can probably get by with just that, and it's free.

The books are really only useful for character creation. For D&D 5e you can find those for free anyway on WotC's website: <a href="http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules" rel="nofollow">http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules</a>

Generally,&nbsp; you should at least get the Core Rules of whatever system you're playing.&nbsp; It's a courtesy to the GM and other players to be able to function within the game mostly on your own.&nbsp; That isn't to say it's bad to still be learning, but a general idea is highly recommended.&nbsp;&nbsp; No matter which system you decide to play, when using a Virtual TableTop like Roll20, you'll generally be expected to at least be able to create a character for the GM to look over. You referenced D&D.&nbsp; If you mean D&D specifically as the game system of choice,&nbsp; you can pick up the " Basic Rules " PDF as a free download.&nbsp; If you meant D&D as a general reference to TableTop RPG Games as a genre, many particular systems have web-accessible resources for their rules.&nbsp; Pathfinder, for example, has the d20PFSRD site as well as it's more official PRD . As a general Community thing, it's probably a benefit to everyone if you purchase the Core Rules of a system if you enjoy playing it, as a way to support the publisher.

Generally you'll find yourself making up your own rules along the way but I think it is a good thing to good some basic rules memorized at least. Keeping the game well balanced makes it much more fun than crafting all your own rules and accidentally coming out with things like overpowered mages and wizards. If you're playing with public players, a lot of them probably expect you to know the core rules and etc.

As the GM, I adjudicate probably 90% of what happens in the game myself. However, I do expect players to manage their own characters, and to know what they can and cannot do, etc. Therefore, I believe a player really should own a copy of whatever reference is used to govern their character. But even then, I really only expect them to know the section devoted to their specific character class, and not necessarily the entire book.

Since there is another aspect to the question, "Do you really need the books to play d&d here?" that others haven't addressed, I will...No, you do not need the books in order to play, meaning, the roll20 website does not know whether you have the books or not, nor does it care. The system will function perfectly well whether you have the books or not. &nbsp; But, as the others have said, it certainly helps the game run more smoothly if you do have the books.

What others said seem to be a bit misleading. Roll20 is a sandbox where you can play a multitude of tabletop games and is system agnostic. To use roll20 you do not need to submit any proof of ownership of the system you are trying to play. However , game creators or GMs might require you to have purchased specific materials before inviting you to a game. Make sure you consult with whoever's game you are trying to join. Basically it is not the site that decides whether you need the books, it is the GM that ultimately decides on things.

As a wide variety of members have weighed in on this subject and have express their opinions in a courteous manner I will put in my brief bit. To play on roll20 requires no book for this VTT (Virtual TableTop) site is system agnostic (has no bias towards a specific system). This allows member to play a wide and far ranging types of systems without worrying if their system is supported or if it is not. There are some exotic or very unusual game systems that the site does not have simple ways to mimic the dice mechanics but even then some very smart people here figure out work around to get the game playable. Now individual games that are ran on the site might or might not require knowledge and/or own the material but that is set by the individual GM's of said game and not roll20 itself. As the original question has been answered very throughly, this thread is going to be closed. If anyone has any questions that are specific to roll20 use or UI (User Interface) please feel free to create a new thread for that question.