Rating: 
Summary: Well balanced, full of choices and true to the D & D spirit!
Review: A true masterpiece, this book invokes something long gone by... a sense of adventure! For Dungeon Masters out there, new or old, this book will serve as the cornerstone of your campaigns. It is a book very well organized, that gives that extra push in terms of helping the DM (dungeon master)create a whole new world.As some has stated earlier, this book strong points are: * Fantastic Art (The art enhances the atmosphere of the book) * DM tips (lots of them!) * Help in creating whole campaigns and adventures (almost missing from prior versions) * Creation of Magic Items (prior D&D editions took away from the players the power of creating magic items. Now they have that and can become the stuff that legends are made of!!) * Many other stuff! Weak Points * No mass combat battle system * No Coffe maker included! In summary, a great book! *
Rating:
Summary: A good all around book of the ages.
Review: Despite its lack of character development and poor plot, this book grabs the reader attention and pulls them in for a ride of thier lives. I used to not like the previous editions of this book, but some author (of Hemingway writing quality) decided to change a few things around and make it more interesting. Though I cannot prove this to be a fact, the author, Wizard of the Coast, wanted to enchance the child-like characteristics of the, seemingly unknown, protagonist so he went to the local children's orphanage and let them draw the art work. Though the drawings may be tough to look at, you must realize that they are only setting the scene for the epic climax that is implied at the end of the book. This is a grand book for all ages.
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Summary: Questions
Review: Okay, the book sounds great. But I have one main question-does it include EVERYTHING you need to make a campaign, besides the heros? One main item I am looking for is NPC char stats. Does it have these? Thanks for reading. =D Valdimore
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Summary: The 3rd edition Dmg encourages creativity & roleplaying!
Review: First of all, the Dmg is back to it's original 1st edition format. For the 2nd edition the Dungeon & Dragons staff had emptied the Dmg of most of it's content making it almost possible to play without it (if not for the treasure/magical items section). Now the book is back with it's original purpose, to give the Dm all the infos that players shouldn't have access to. This edition of the game keeps it's emphasise on creativity & roleplaying as we can see from the many advices to the Dm. They no longer try to discourage you from playing evil characters ( check out the new assassin & the black guard!), and you are also given advice on how to make monsters into Pc. The new way of handling talent feats & saving throws also allows the Dm to face a broad range of situations. You also get in the book your usual sections on how to develop campaign world, how to handle Npc, treasure type & magical items plus some added goodies like new magic items & some modern world & futuristic weapons... The down side of this creativity is that it might lead some inexperienced Dm to make some embarassing mistakes! I have to express a strong reserve about the new Npc classes. According to these a Nobleman could have as much hit points as a cleric (more than a thief or an assassin) and a craftsman could have as much hit point as a thief or an assassin. Taking these rule to literaly could lead to some potentialy embarassing situations for your Pc (not to say unrealistic...) To conclude the new Dmg seems to continue building on the changes made in the 3rd edition Players Handbook those change allowing a lot more place to imgagination & roleplaying in your campaign. Most of the Dm will want to complete what they have in this book by their own set of house rules (something that is encouraged by the writers). Now I really can't wait to see the monster manual!
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Summary: A drastic change, but a change for the better
Review: First, to all, a word of warning - this will not appeal to everyone! The 3rd Edition of Dungeons & Dragons is now fully revealed in all its glory, and it is two things - [1] a state-of-the-art customizable RPG, with extensive easy-to-use rules displaying impressive internal logic and coherence; and, [2] an EXTREMELY fun tribute to classic dungeon crawls. The 2nd Edition of AD&D was all about diversity - new nations, new cultures, new horizons, new everything, in a bewildering array, from Dark Sun to Ravenloft. 3rd Edition, in contrast, retains a firm focus on the World of Greyhawk, a land with a much more thematically "pure" medieval setting. So if you loved 2nd Edition for its variety, you may find yourself looking through this book and wondering, "Where's my beloved sprawl of options?" The answer is beyond the scope of this book - all of the options you could ever want are indeed here, as far as game mechanics are concerned; but if you were hoping for extensive details on cultures, ultra-customized PCs, and the mysteries of Oerth, you'll have to wait for future releases (and they are coming, believe me ;). So now that we know that the book focuses strictly on rules, advice, and play guidance, we can judge it on its intended merits! First of all, the play advice and rules on how to create adventures, campaigns, and worlds may seem trite to veteran DMs, in a very "been there, done that" déjà vu sort of way; but I strongly recommend reading these chapters carefully! There's so many pieces of good advice and clever time-savers here that even those who have played for decades (like me) can learn something of lasting value with just a single reading. Now that's quality game design! (As an aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that the "example of play" is straight out of Gygax's original inspired 1979 piece in the 1st DMG - woe to all amateur players who fall into the clutches of such a sinister DM!) But it's not all just for the DM - players are given even more options here as well! Why, you ask, was this information not included in the Player's Handbook? Well, all of these choices are powerful enough that they've been placed here for the approval (or disapproval) of each individual DM. It's a commendable design choice. Now, we have Prestige Classes: Stellar optional classes such as the Assassin (back at last!), the Witch (an eternal favorite, since the early days of The Dragon) and the Blackguard (a paladin fallen from grace, which may remind you of the Anti-Paladin of old); if they prove too powerful, the DM can always modify or prohibit them. If you (like me) are interested in creating truly customized character classes, you'll have to wait for the Hero Builder's Guide; but, there are rules for alternate races here that will keep you busy! (I've lately been re-integrating Half-Ogres, and thinking about how to balance the Drow. Time for old faves!) But that's not all. The variety isn't just for PCs! The NPC generation system proves invaluable - now, you can whip up a hundred different, engaging, dramatic, and unique individuals in a single night, and have fun doing so. With this excellent guidework, it's actually a meditative pleasure to sit and contrive interesting people for your players to interact with in some later game session. That's a definite plus. As far as player experience goes, however, some people will hate the open-ended nature of Challenge Ratings; personally, I love them. They're very easy to use; you can even include fair rewards for solving puzzles, role-playing, fulfilling quests, and evading traps and ambushes. If you prefer "The Old Way" of just rewarding hack-n-slash, more power to you; but for those of us who want to see more role-playing and player cleverness, these rules are wondrous. The one thing I'm worried about is excessive rewards leading to player boredom; personally, I'm strongly considering cutting all PC XP awards by 50%, all the time. Another age-old problem, however, has finally been solved. One of the drastic omissions in the AD&D system of days gone by (Magister notwithstanding) has finally and decisively been integrated into the DMG - there are detailed rules on the creation of magic items! And they make sense! I was astounded, and immeasurably pleased. Rest assured, your players will enthusiastically find ways to twist these rules for their own amusement, but with this work in hand, you'll always be one step ahead of them. This section alone adds a huge amount of play value. (There's also a fully classified organization of *existing* magic items, which will save you a lot of hair-tearing in the middle of a game.) Speaking of drastic omissions, there are no rules here dealing with bravery, morale, monster retreats, moments of truth, and other such points of valor; if you're used to rolling dice to decide the fate of monsters and NPCs while the blades and spells flash... you're out of luck. Granted, you can come up with a role-playing solution to this conundrum every time, but "old school" DMs will no doubt be rather angered by this. And my favorite part of the book? Well, besides the artwork (I love the new style), there's an invaluable section on monster abilities, unified and categorized. This makes the running of monster encounters so much easier that I can't imagine how I survived without it. So... (sorry for the long read!) My final verdict? A masterpiece? Actually, yes. But not to everyone's taste. If you're a new player, you'll love it; if you're a veteran, you'll find yourself disagreeing with many of the design choices, because it's not "1st Edition" or "2nd Edition" or anything in between. For me, though, that's the beauty of it... this book is so cleanly designed that if you feel something's been left out that you simply can't live without, you can convert the old rules to synth perfectly into the new, and then you'll have the best of both worlds. Viva le difference! It's a new age, a new world... and this is your guide. Enjoy it.
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Summary: The essential rulebook for beginning DMs
Review: Now this is exactly what a Dungeon Master's Guide should be! Rather than simply repeating the rules from the Player's Handbook as the 2nd Edition guide did, the 3rd Edition DMG provides rules for how to run a D&D campaign--everything that the most novice, first-time DM would need. Many of the subjects that the 3E DMG deals with were previously found only in specific supplements and Dragon Magazine articles, geared towards helping the DM prepare an adventure, populate his campaign world, and narrate the story. These essential pieces of advice, far more important than the agglomeration of rules, are what the DM needs as the storyteller. In addition, much was done to re-vamp the magical items section of the DMG. The new methodology of magical item creation is sensible. The tables provide for greater variety of interesting magic items, drawing somewhat upon the Diablo system of magic item generation, wherein enhancements (such as flaming burst, holy weapon, etc.) are interchangeable for different weapons and armors. The result is an increased number of possibilities. At the same time, the DMG lays the foundation for race and subrace, prestige class and character class generation, so that any DM can make his campaign truly unique. Finally, a number of different suggestions for handling situations that might come up in the game, such as unusual actions, random encounters, and such, is included. Default tables for NPCs, personality tables, and an assortment of charts designed to ease gameplay prove rather useful as well. The 3rd Edition DMG, indeed the system itself, harkens back to the days of 1st Edition AD&D. Overall, this is a good change, which provides greater options and fewer limitations. However, the default classes and races are somewhat restrictive, very class-level oriented. The experienced DM will find the sourcebooks to be of lesser use, but under the guidelines of 3rd Edition D&D, he will no doubt be able to use the suggestions within to create his own 3rd Edition campaign, unique to himself and his gaming group. Thus, beginning and advanced DMs alike will find the 3E DMG to be an invaluable sourcebook, though in different ways. All in all, it lays a solid foundation for D&D in the decade to come.
Rating: 
Summary: Good work, but intended more for the beginning DM
Review: Wizards of the Coast has certainly done another fine job with the new DMG. That it actually costs $5 _less_ than the original in '81 is shrewd marketing, indeed. In all honesty, after 24 years of playing, I have to say that the DMG was always the book I looked at the least. The first edition I mainly used for the attack charts, and I never purchased the 2nd edition. My major discovery upon reading the new DMG was that I still have somewhat the same opinion. I found the nearly 10 pages of nothing but NPC stats pretty much a waste of space, and I've always run a low-magic world and designed my own magic items, so that whole section was nothing to get too excited about. Gotta say, though: it sure is nice to finally have actual _rules_ for making magic items, so that gets a big thumbs up. Much ballyhoo has been made about the Prestige classes, but I really don't see what the fuss was about. While I like the concept, the execution of the classes included left me cold -- I really can't think of a campaign that I'd run where any of them (well, maybe the assassin) would fit in, nor would any of my characters in other campaigns rush out to change class. I think the advice given on tinkering with the available classes is much more useful, in the long run. Visually, I have the same problems with the DMG as I did with the PH. I know that the Wizards design team was trying to come up with an "inconabula" look to the pages of the core rules, but I find the faint brown lines behind the text extremely distracting; ditto the too-dark sepia tone behind the chapter introduction text. As far as the illustrations go, I'm still split on the "new look" of the books. Scott Fisher's illustrations are too "plastic-y" for my tastes (and sometimes display an almost Erol Otis-like baroqueness -- see the rather pregnant-looking Loremaster on pg. 34), and Todd Lockwood's look like they come from another age of D&D (check out the especially amusing wild elf on pg. 21!). On the other hand, I've always like Wayne Reynolds and Arnie Swekel's work, and Kevin Walker's has a cool Brian LeBlanc look to it, which is always good by me. And, at last, an illustration of a black character , even if it is for the NPC-only Aristocrat class. So, this may seem like a mostly negative review. Far from it. If you're not an old hack, much of the information found in the DMG can make the difference between a great campaign and a failed one. The chapters on campaigns, world building, and combat narration can pull anyone out of writer's block. So, three stars isn't too bad. I didn't find it all that useful, right off the bat, but I certainly don't feel that I wasted my money (now 1st edition, that's another story...). Can't wait 'till the Monster Manual! :-)
Rating:
Summary: An excellent Guide for Dungeon Masters
Review: Other people have commented upon the focus upon dungeon-crawling that this new edition of the Dungeon Master's Guide has. This is undeniable, and if you are not a fan of dungeons, then you may not find a lot of this book to your taste. However, in my view, Dungeons provide the most basic starting point and setting of most Dungeons & Dragons game, and the amount of space devoted to them in this book is fully justified. The 3rd Edition of the Dungeon Master's Guide gives plenty of advice for creating dungeons; it also gives many tips on running sessions, creating adventures (plots, running NPCs and suchlike), and customising your world. This last is especially important, for such guidelines are useful for the majority of DMs. Without a doubt, it is a vastly superior product to the 2nd Edition DMG. It is hard to relate it to the 1st edition DMG, but I feel that they are similar products, both especially useful. The one problem I have with this book is that the formatting and placement of the tables often leaves a lot to be desired. This is a minor quibble, however. What the book does extremely well is describe Magic Items (and their creation), creating Dungeons, and special effects in Combat. Given that for many players, that's about 80% of D&D, this makes the book superb. For "roleplayers" and "storytellers", there are various tips, but this is not the best place to look - I feel that including much for that category of players (which I myself fall squarely into) would be a mistake, as they would detract from the rules focus of the book, and more importantly, are better learnt through experience anyway. Magazines like Dragon are great for this sort of advice if you need it. All in all, a great product. Not quite as stunning as the Player's Handbook, but brilliant all the same. In all incarnations of D&D I've played - 1st edition, 2nd edition, Player's Option, Rules Cyclopedia - this is the best by far.
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Summary: Advice, Building Blocks, and a whole lotta options...
Review: WoTC's treatment of the Dungeon Master's Guide at first glance seems unremarkable...Five chapters devoted to things like advice for DM's, Running the Game, and Adventures....but just wait 'till it gets going. Veteran gamers will no doubt scoff at the advice the DMG offers new DMs and skip to the section on Magic Items. They shouldn't. The guidance for DMs that this book offers is (for a change) worth reading. Little things that a DM picks up over time like: "Agree on your house rules before you start playing" or "Keep a list of 20 or so unassigned names handy in case your players ask a passer-by for their name." Sure, a veteran DM knows to do that, but do I wish I'd read that when I bought my first DMG? Absolutely. This book is a guidebook for Dungeon Masters, and it sensibly devotes a sizeable portion of itself on telling new DMs the tricks of the trade. (Old timers will recognize the example of play section from the original '79 DMG has been used again, although they will note that originally the cleric said "I squash the nasty thing with my mace!" *grin*) Building blocks: As any serious DM will tell you, a campaign is made up of lots of little details, usually assembled on the fly. Any charts, prefab'ed items or other labor saving devices are a godsend. This book devotes pages to structural properties of objects, animals and traps typically found in a dungeon. It also offers useful information on prefabricating towns and eleven pages of tables to generate Non-Player Characters. My award for the biggest "It's about time award" goes to the new rules on the creation of magic items. After two sets of rules have told us that the creation of magic items was expensive, arduous and required rare ingredients, (oh and a constitution point if you wanted the item to last), WoTC has now given us a cohesive set of rules in a core rulebook (imagine!) that shows us how it can be done. Players now can, and undoubtedly will, create their own magic items within the game which (in my opinion) can only add to the gaming experience. One of my players' favorite jokes is making fun of the poor old wizard from AD&D who gave up all his constitution points making a dozen +1 arrows, (under the old rules, it wasn't clear why minor magic items existed at all, they simply cost too much to make). Now there is a framework for creating magic items, and with a little DM guidance, we can turn our player's limitless ingenuity in a whole new direction. Plus the existence of a sling bullet +1 won't seem so stupid now... Options...Any player who read the Player's Handbook and complained that a particular option or characteristic had been written out of D&D raise your hand. Now use it to smack yourself in the head, because between the DMG's new "variant" rules, alternate character races, prestige classes, and campaign world options there is simply nothing you can't do. There are stats in this book from everything from a katana (d10, exotic- yummy!) to laser guns. (no, I'm not kidding. Purists who go pale at that fact should remember that since it's an option, you don't have to use ray guns if you don't want to). DMs are given a framework for creating (among other things) Troll player characters, and guidelines for creating ability modifications for customized sub-races. Anyone out there have a player who's been whining about the demise of the Assassin class? Show that player the prestige class section and watch them start to smile... show them that Blackguard characters who are ex-paladins get bonus abilities for being so nasty-and watch that player reach for some dice. Prestige classes: Wow. Prestige classes like the assassin and blackguard are absolutely fantastic additions. Essentially, a prestige class is open only to mid-level characters who qualify (there might be skill level requirements, attack bonus minimums, etc.) and is taken as a second character class. Now when players run into an assassin, they know that at the very least that he's no pushover. These new classes offer DMs limitless possibilities. I've never met a DM who didn't have a special secret organization or knightly brotherhood in their campaign... now you can make those organizations a prestige class and give them entry requirements and special abilities. This kind of seamless additional class is a direct product of the flexibility of the new Character level/Class level system, and it positively shines. My only complaints with this edition are small are directed more at the format of the publication. First off, whoever decided that putting a pullout page of coupons in the back of the DMG was a good idea should be given their walking papers right now. Most gamers I know don't buy a rulebook so they can gingerly tear a page out of it as soon as they buy it. Second, the inclusion of a glossary in the Players Handbook (a runner-up in the "it's about time" category) was inexplicably absent in the DMG. Aren't there a host of new terms in the DMG that are worth defining? On substance, though it's a winner. It will give you a jumping-off point for your ideas and the framework to turn them into a campaign. Nice job, guys... Now hurry up and make me a Monster Manual.
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Summary: New rules for a new century
Review: Dungeons and Dragons, the best-selling fantasy game ever created, is now entering a new century. With the release of the Player's Handbook last month, Dungeons and Dragons has undergone a complete overhaul. New characters, rules, settings and adventures are introduced. I have playtested some encounters and situations with these new rules and as a 10 year veteran of RPGs, these new rules are both streamlined and customized for you to create any type of campaign you desire. Everything runs more smoothly and while this is not a game for children, some of basic "core rules" work a lot better than past editions of Dungeons and Dragons. They layout of this book is well-thoughtout and provides plenty of new concepts and ideas. I look forward to the release of the Monster Manual. Happy Gaming!
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