There's been a lot of gabble about the Dungeon Master's Guide lately, so I figured I'd finally take a stroll through it and pick out some of my favorite bits. This isn't a comprehensive list, but I hope you might find something intriguing to check out. #dnd Thread time. 1/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 8, 2019
The intro is a decent breakdown of what a Dungeon Master is and does. My first favorite bit hits immediately after on pg 6: “Know Your Players.” Some of the best advice any DM will ever receive.
It sketches out different player “types” with tips on how to engage that style. 2/- The rules as written of D&D are our common language. Knowing that common ground is key to breaking and changing it up and making it your own. Pg 9's "Core Assumptions" should be required reading, especially if you're going to DM convention or other non-static groups. 3/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 8, 2019
Pg 23 “Magic in Your World” follows thematically along with core assumptions above, talking about some expressions of magic and how you might change them up, and what implications they have in world building.
The nuts and bolts of what happens to a dead soul is delightful. 4/-Want to know how much treasure to start higher-level adventurers? Pg 38 "Starting Equipment" sidebar has you covered. It gives you suggestions for how much treasure characters of each tier of play should start with, for low-, standard-, and high-magic campaigns. 5/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 8, 2019
Genre concerns? Just what DOES a katana’s statistics look like in D&D? Pg 41 “Wuxia Weapon Names” gives you quick equivalences for standard D&D weapons and cultural weapons from both China and Japan.
Spoiler Alert: Katanas are longswords. 6/- All of chapter 2. The whole damn thing. Multiverse, planes, the Great Wheel and changing it into a different cosmology. Plus individual plane descriptions & mechanics like corruptive evil on the Abyss, and glimpses at known Material Plane worlds (read: campaign settings) . 7/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 8, 2019
The “Framing Events” table on pg 79. 50 quickstart ideas for cool things to happen in a variety of events in adventures. Many of the tables throughout the DMG are such wonderful idea kindling just waiting for a spark. 8/- Pg 81 (though the meat starts on 82), "Creating a Combat Encounter." This is where Challenge rating on monsters does its mathematical lifting and you figure out how to estimate encounter difficulty. I've had fantastic results with this, but is IS more art than science. 9/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 8, 2019
Pg 92, “NPC Party Members.” NPC allies get a bad rap in online circles. They can add such richness to a setting, and give the DM an in-game voice within the party.
The trouble is when they make decisions and take center stage, but this section is great for making them work. 10/-Oh look! "Dungeon Hazards" on pg 105! Brown mold, green slime, and other colors of peril as well! Fun stuff that can just ruin an adventurer's day, and add some tingling spice to an otherwise standard encounter. 11/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 8, 2019
Pg 109-112 brings us “Wilderness Survival” and “Wilderness Hazards.” I love these. Extreme temperature, quicksand, razorvine, foraging, strong wind, altitude. So many wonderful toys to make journeys memorable, or continue spicing up encounters. 12/- Pg 116: "Underwater!" I love nautical and aquatic adventure. Coupled with the holding your breath, underwater combat, and drowning rules in the PHB, this section ups your repertoire. Basic ship rules follow a few pages later (though really check out Ghosts of Saltmarsh) 13/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 8, 2019
Starting on pg 120, “Traps.” Dungeon staples that you really want to have a handle on before the party starts pole-tapping their way down a corridor. Save DCs and attack bonuses, and damage ratings for traps. How to detect and disarm, mechanical vs magical, plus samples. 14/- Chapter 6 covers the "Between Adventures" bits with things like linking adventures together and a bunch more downtime activities (some of which are expanded in Xanather's Guide to Everything). Wanna craft magic items? Here. Build a tower? Here. Sell a magic item? Covered. 15/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 8, 2019
That's it for now. Not quite halfway through the book, and again, there's lots more I haven't mentioned but these are ones that stand out to me. I'll chip away at some more tomorrow!
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 8, 2019