Review copy courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.
Pros
Lots of full colour art (as we
have come to expect of this edition)
Lots of rules to help you run your
D&D games.
Out of the books since 5th
Edition D&D, this is probably the best at helping new Dungeon
Masters do their job.
Could Go Either Way
Cons
There’s not a lot of new here.
Some rules slightly changed, but there’s not as many changes here
as the Player’s Handbook. If you played since 5th edition release, there's a good chance you'll be fine without it, and house ruled what was missing.
No PDF*
* Denotes nitpicking.
 |
| Front and back of the new book. |
Introduction
Here
we are. The Dungeon
Master’s Guide
of this rules refresh. I’m going to do things a bit differently
here. Instead of reviewing this like a new product, I’m going to go
over what’s changed, what I’d like to see, and who this book is
for. What
makes this book different is that it’s a lot more similar to the
previous book,
 |
| A page about bastions. |
What’s Changed?
In
terms of content, it’s very similar to what you remember in the
previous Dungeon Master’s Guide.
There are some minor changes, like the mass combat rules being
missing. There’s also some new trackers for things like overland
travel, and a section for the player’s base, castle, or wherever
else they hang out (called a bastion). I really do like this. I have fond memories of
this feature from Baldur’s gate 2, and playing old D&D and our
party getting a castle. So I’m happy to see it. But overall, it’s
very similar.
The catch is that the presentation is different. It is FAR better
organized. If you are new and want to run a game, this book will make
it much easier for you to do so. The previous book was difficult if
you didn’t know what you were doing. From the flow of the book, to
just how easy it is to reference rules, it’s way ahead of what we
had before. It was a common complain by many people, on the internet
or those I discussed with in real life, that some things were just
squirrelled away deep in the book and not really referenced. Is
it enough to make it a good book for new players? I’m not sure, but
it’s better than the previous book. I do wish they had a section of
their websites with some scenarios for new players. That way they can
run through a fake combat round, see some common mistakes at the
table, etc. Don’t charge for this, but have it available.
As for new stuff...well, there’s “Enspelled Items,” which are
magic items that allow you to cast a spell for 6 charges, and
recharge 1d6 every dawn. These are...interesting? On one hand,
they’re a nice option for a party lacking a particular role, or for
smaller groups like 1-2 players. It could also be a potential way to
give the non-spell casting classes a helping hand if they need it to
remain balanced. But it could also cause balance issues, and isn’t
the most creative way to handle items. I wish there was a little more
here. Some kind of modifications to make it worse if desired. Options
of fewer charges, maybe only having a range of touch, 2 turns to
cast, etc. These all being ways to make them unique, worse than the
spells, and possibly utility items rather than combat. I don’t mean
to replace them with my worse options. But just spend the time going
over various different changes we could do to customize particular
items for our group. What is interesting is that this now replaces
the old wands and staffs of fireball, for example under a simple
system. This...I like. From that perspective, I’ll replace such
staffs in my games going forward with these rules. And ultimately,
I’m in charge of what items end up at my table.
I do wish there was some explicit guidance on non-magic contagions.
You know, some sort of natural plagues. Almost everything from before
seems to have made it. Almost. The mass combat rules are missing.
While they weren’t great before, and I don’t remember anyone
actually using them, the chance should’ve been taken to make better
ones. Big battles do happen, and it’d be nice to have support for
this right in the box, especially for newer players.
The way it lays out challenge rating, challenges, combat, and how to
adjust it, is really rather nice. It’s clear, and gives several
options like height differences and adding enemies in part way
through an encounter. It could’ve gone further too, with
establishing goals like getting an item or killing a particular
enemy, but it’s not bad.
All in all though? It’s clearly an improvement to the book that
came before. In many ways, it’s the book I wish came out back then.
Some
New Commendation
The laying out of adventures in the Creating Adventures section is
particularly well done. It’s nicely organized and shows players a
good way to plan out a game. I’d usually go further and have a few
maps or tiles and a basic battle plan to have combat be more
interesting. But the organization is good, and I’m curious to see
if new Dungeon Masters make use of it.
 |
| The sort of art I like from this book. I do wish there was more, since a lot of it is more vibrant and stylized. Maybe I just like dingy aesthetics. |
The Art and Book Build Quality
In terms of the
book itself, I’m happy. It looks nice. The binding is good. I
didn’t see some of the really big issues I saw in earlier books.
The art is also what we’ve come to expect in previous books, and
generally high quality. None of those ones 3D images I really didn’t
like in some newer adventures. It’s hard to describe, especially
given how much of it we’ve seen. I do wish it had more
environmental and scenery images. Beautiful views of strange planes,
or even vast cities are the sort of things that make me inspired.
It’s also nice to have images I can show my players to demonstrate
an area. Sometimes I wish they’d release just an art book of
various places within a setting for that reason, and that they’d
have 20 pages at the end of an adventure so I can show important
scenes to my players. Though this is a small preference of mine, and
not something new I’ve complained about.
The
maps section. Oh the maps. I’m always happy to see many included in
a book, and this section in particular makes me happy. I would love
just a book of D&D maps. And then another. Many of them are
simpler though. More like the grid paper maps of old. I would prefer
more colour, but a map is better than none, and these are good
regardless. Please, do this more often.
I do
have to say, I prefer the older cover. They are both beholders, and I
like that callback. But something about the lighting in the original
spoke to me. In fact, I’d have preferred if they amped it up. The
Rise of Tiamat cover is still my favourite of 5th
edition for that reason.
Price
Same as usual.
What I felt was Missing
I wish morale rules were modified too
to be more flexible. High wisdom doesn’t necessarily mean brave.
This is something I complained about last time. The thing is, it’s
something easy to fix. Just say “use wisdom. However, this is a
guideline and you can adjust it however you wish. If the character is
cowardly, it might be this instead.” Same complaint as last time, and the same fix.
Free Stuff
Nothing here.
Summary
The book is good. It’s like the
previous Dungeon Master’s Guide, but cleaned up.
Unfortunately, not everything made it here. I’d love to see more of
an attempt to bring everything that was there before, and start from
scratch for the things that really didn’t work. I mentioned it
above, I’ll mention it here too: mass combat rules. Instead of
getting rid of it completely, I would’ve liked a brand new attempt
at it here. However,
nearly everything made the transition as far as I can see. I hope
this book will make it easier to bring new people into the hobby. It
can’t do worse than the older one. And if you’re thinking
about it, now isn’t a bad time. There’s some new stuff as well,
like bastions and trackers for things like travelling. However, what
we have here isn’t a massive difference in
substance. The changes aren’t dramatic, and you know what
you’re doing already. I kind of wish they had just released a few
pages summarizing the changes for those with the previous book.
However, the organization is vastly better. I
cannot stress this enough. It’s much better, more specific, better
organized, For some, that alone
could be worth it. As much as I’ve played D&D and 5th
edition specifically, I also need a refresher and to reference things
every now and then when I’m coming back after a break with a
different system.
