Rating: 
Summary: A natural progression from earlier works
Review: Dungeons And Dragons has come a long way since it's inception. It started out as an idea driven by a single person, and the books reflected his personality greatly - they were quirky, and often an attemt to explain specific problems people had brought to his attention over the years. Then there was an attempt to consolidate the information and the rather dry 2nd edition came into being. Now, much farther down the line is the 3rd edition - much slicker, much more researched, perhaps lacking some of the charm of the earlier versions, but all in all more professional.The 3rd Edition DMG is more tightly integrated with the Players Handbook & the Monstrous Manual. It isn't a collection of semi random thoughts like the 1st edition DMG, nor is it simply commentary on the Players handbook like the 2nd edition DMG. The 3rd edition DMG is a more focused work on the art of creating a world and the mehanics of a good adventure. One novel feature is the Challenge Rating - a way to estimate the difficulty of any monster for any party. While this may be a somewhat glorified vesion of Hit Dice, it does let the DM - at a glance, put together the proper mix of easy, challenging, and overwhelming obstacles in any campaign or adventure. (The formula is given in the DMG!) Other helpful tidbits abound - a very high overview of different political systems, geography types, etc. Notably lacking (and perhaps my primary reason for not giving it 5 stars) is a discourse on plot, suspense, and how to create a good adventure. They have, again a very high overview of types of adventures (site based and event based) a short half page on motivation, a page and a half on structure (keep it open ended, vary encounters, vary the tension - 'Like the pacing of a story, a good adventure should have rising and falling tension...') but it fails to give you anything of substance in this department. I can't help but feel that the beginning DM, while full of enthusiasm, will struggle with basic elements of plot. (What is the pacing of a good story? Most readers are unaware of the author's effort, they simply read.) To be fair, neither of the previous DMGs dealt with this, and many of the published modules struggle with this as well. I've seen some rather intelligent discourse in Dragon Magazine about adventure building recently that should've been included in the DMG. For guidance on plot building, I suggest the following: - The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campell (Joseph Campbell analyzed many of the world's myths and identified common themes in each - everything from the Hobbit to Star Wars to Greek Myth followed this structure. It still isn't a discourse on plot and suspense, but it does give many of the elements of a Hero's Journey) - the Key by James N. Frey (basically the Hero w/ a Thousand Faces broken down for authors it has a good section on creating a villian) - Plot (Elements of Fiction Writing) by Ansen Dibell - Dream Park the RPG by Mike Pondsmith (RTG games, oop. This book had an interesting approach to plot, in a nutshell action/information/action/information - start with a struggle then reveal some information that the characters would be driven by, then give them another struggle) - Dungeoncraft articles in the recent Dragon Magazines by Ray Winninger - Unlimited Adventures (SSI's Computer Role Playing Game design system), AGT, Tads and other video game creation systems. Even if you don't want to make a video game, the constructs of a video game discipline you into creating obstacles in certain ways. The documentation for AGT alone is a worth the read. The goal/obstacle structure of video games is a discipline most writers ignore, and most adventure designers (DMs) should have in mind. Remember, the primary goal is to have fun (and everyone considers different things fun) so entertain your players, make truly hate-able villains, make the tasks monumental (think of how much Smaug was hyped in the Hobbit and how the characters wouldn't even consider fighting him. How many gamers do you think would just rush up and attack Smaug? It's your job as a DM to make the players feel - confident, intimadated, wary, etc.), and most of all, remember the rules are there to suppliment your imagination and arbitrate not limit, after a certain point killing kobolds isn't imaginative. PS e-mail me @ dungeonmaster@mailandnews.com. I want to start a forum for discussing the art of Dungeon Mastering and Adventure & Campaign design.
Rating: 
Summary: Better Than 2nd Edition
Review: Yes, this DMG is thinner than the 2nd Edition book of the same name. But, thanks to the outstanding layout and smaller type, there's actually quite a bit more here. Unlike 2nd Edition, where the DMG was basically several chapters of vague advice with a reference section tacked on the end, the 3rd Edition DMG actually gives you hard and fast rules on how to run unusual situaitons, designing adventures, and even some world-building guidlines. But rest assured for those DMs who don't like to be tied down to the rules that there's still plenty of general advice, and it's reiterated throughout the book that the rules presented in it are not untouchable. In fact, there are all kinds of suggestions for ways to modify the rules to suit specific play styles. Along with a more detailed magical items section, this gets 5 stars from me.
Rating: 
Summary: Dissappointing and Confusing
Review: WOTC could have provided a book that was clear and easy to follow. Unfortunately, what is presented is full of basic grammar errors, non-original (why do these guys continue to remake the old spells, magic items, and systems?) and poorly organized. I've been playing RPGs, D&D specifically, for about 18 years now. 2nd Edition was able to better organize things, but lacked coherency. 3rd Edition provides better class and ability structure, but failed to provide easy to use manuals and references: *Why are there no colored tabs on the page edge for each section? *Why was there no section of ALL the game tables for easy reference? *Subsections do not stand out well on the "faux parchment" background. Someone should be ashamed at this product they created as it could have been much more than it is.
Rating:
Summary: This should have been 1st Edition
Review: For those people out there who are thinking of playing D&D, this is the book to get you started. For those of you who have been playing for a while, this is the book to keep you playing. WOTC took quite a bit out of 2nd and left a lean version of core rules. So many people had become disillusioned with D&D over the past couple of years with all the different modifiers and convoluted rules, they left for almost anything else. WOTC 3rd edition core rules should excite people into playing D&D again.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the old one...
Review: well, this book kills the 2nd edition version. the artwork is incredible. the new rules are much better than the old varities. I really do like the fact that a natural 20 is only a threat, and not a critical hit. instant kills are a nice addition. however, i would like to know why the artifact section is lacking.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent. An Outstanding New Version of the DM Guide
Review: When Wizards of the Coast (WoTC) came out with the Players Handbook, it needed a bit of polishing. The extra month of work which went into the new DM Guide shows, as this is the best version of the Dungeon Master's Guide yet written. The new DM Guide has everything a beginning DM will need. While much of this book is geared for newbie DMs, even the most experienced of DMs will find useful material. Perhaps the most exciting development is the change in corporate outlook. In the old TSR days, house rules and customization were considered sacrilege of holy writ. Not anymore. If a DM wants to have Trolls as players, make changes to a character class (such as the flawed Ranger class), or even create new character classes, WoTC actually encourages DMs to give it a try. Never fear, there's also plenty of information on playing strictly by the written rules. WoTC has added a number of fun enhancements, one of which is the prestige class. This is a character class which is added to an existing class, and is not available as an initial character class. Included in the prestige class are the Assassin (remember him/her?), the Arcane Archer, the Blackguard (think anti-Paladin), the Dwarven Defender, the Shadowdancer, and the Loremaster (think the sage Non-Player Character [NPC]). Although a bit more info would have been useful, the prestige class gives additional depth for characters and allows for interesting NPCs. The old 0-level NPC has also had a sensible reworking. Now NPCs can be Artistocrats, Experts, Warriors, etc., with level advancement within these NPC classes. Hence you could run into a 6th level Aristocrat and her 8th level Warrior bodyguard. One of the most enjoyable sections in the DM Guide has always been the magical items listed at the end of the book. WoTC has done a great job detailing these items, and has provided useful illustrations. There are some changes: wands, staffs and rods all have 50 charges, and it doesn't seem that items can be recharged, unless specifically listed. But this section is well done. The latest incarnation of the DM Guide is the best yet, and is a must have for any DM.
Rating:
Summary: A REAL Dm's Guide
Review: An earlier reviewer make the accurate assessment that the 2nd Edition DM's Guide was simply a rehashing of the Player's Handbook with a few additional items to distinguish it from the PHB. NOW, my goodness, Wizards, true to form, has actually produced an authentic Dungeon Masters Guide for Dungeons and Dragons. This book is chock full of practical advice for the budding Dungeon Master and practical rules and suggestions for the senior and experienced DM. Herein is covered all one would need in designing, developing and managing a Role-Playing campain for Dungeons and Dragons. Including suggestions on campain specific character classes and races. I am pleased with the work Wizards have done.
Rating:
Summary: Ok
Review: Well I have been a D&D player and DM for a few years before so here is my basic take on this. Overall this book provides more info than the 2cd edition version. However the rules were a bit more complex. It used to be fairly simple to come up with magic items and mosters as needed in a campain. The new rules in my opinion contain a lot of extra details... that make it less free form that it was originally. Perhaps I am simply biased about the rule changes simply because they are new, but I am not really sure that they were neccisary. Anyway I do believe that Third edition will become the accepted standard for D&D in most places so If you are a serious gamer, or just starting you might as well give in and by this and or(depending on how much you want to spend and how closely you want to follow it) the players handbook and mosters manual. Hope this was useful.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Useful
Review: I started playing AD&D about a year and a half ago with a group of friends and none of us had any experience at all with RPG's. I found the old DMG and PHB made getting started very difficult as so much knowledge was assumed. the books never told me what a dungeon was yet made countless references to them and the Monsterous manual made many references to the underdark and the abyss which none of us had any idea what they were, we had to figure it out by the context they were in. This book is superior in every respect. It tells you how to build a world, what a dungeon is, how to generate NPC's, how to make magical items, gives hints on how to be a good DM and countless other things. If you want start role playing then this book, combined with teh PHB, makes it easy.
Rating: 
Summary: Was a good idea.
Review: Well, the art work is good. Beyond that, I already gave all three books to a friend. The rules are not easily compatible with older rules, the information is hard to find (having spent 2 hours trying to find how one advances levels.) and instead of being easier, it is a "hacked and flipped" version of the old rules, with a lot of things deleted and other things more detailed but working in reverse order. New character classes were invented? Modifications to basic classes were made to change their description. Very disappointed. After playing the game for many years, it should have been better thought out than what was released, especially after releasing the priest and wizards compendiums not tooo long ago. Instead of trying to make it like another game, more time should have been spent making it more refined.
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