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
And we're back!
Chapter 7: "Treasure." The whole thing, because treasure. There are a few gems, though. The variants for mixing potions and scroll mishaps are insidious fun. Some of my favs are pg 142-143, with special properties, quirks, & history details for items. 16/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 9, 2019
Then we get to “Other Rewards” on pg 227. Supernatural Gifts are so amazing. Blessings: permanent magic-like effects that DON’T COUNT AS MAGIC. Eat it, Xanathar. Charms: Temporary use magical powers/benefits. These are wonderful rewards for so many stories. 17/- It continues into other rewards, like land deeds, titles, special training (ways to learn feats or skills), and Epic Boons for post 20th-level play. So much potential. 18/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 9, 2019
Confused about which ability to use for a check? Starting on pg 237 it talks aaaaall about it. Which ability does what, typical DCs (reprint from the PHB). Variants for automatic success on ability checks if you don’t like randomness making your Str 24 barbarian seem weak. 19/- Inspiration. Pg 240 goes into it, how and when to award it, with examples beyond acting in accordance with your personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws. 20/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 9, 2019
On pg 243 we’re in the midst of exploration, and there’s a section on visibility. How do conditions affect how far you can see? What about altitude? Would have been nice to have this in 3e when we actually did the math to figure out altitude & visibility. 21/- Social. Interaction. Rules. Page 244 has what you need. This is where you get some details on how to use Charisma skills to affect NPCs. Starting attitude and what that means for DCs, and most importantly, that Charisma checks are NOT mind control, even with a nat 20. 22/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 9, 2019
Wanna break down a door? You’ll need to know its AC and hit points in case they want to chop it down instead of just trying to kick it with Strength checks. pg 246 has the info on damaging objects, from glass vials to castle walls. 23/-Speaking of castle walls, you might want a new way to bust that mutha down, so check out "Siege Equipment" on pg 255. Everything you need for a variety of siege engines. 24/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 9, 2019
Continuing on over to 256-258, we have Diseases and Poisons. 5e diseases are U-G-L-Y. Some of these poisons are story hooks in themselves, like Midnight Tears, and ingested poison that doesn’t do anything until the stroke of midnight. ☠️ 25/- Chapter 9 is the Dungeon Master's Workshop. SO many variant and optional rules and subsystems. Hero Points, Honor, Sanity, Fear and Horror, healing and rest variants.
Explosives, firearms, and futuristic weapons. Those last bits are collected on pg 268. 26/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 9, 2019
271-272 brings us to some fun options like Disarm, climbing on larger creatures, tumbling, and more. Injuries! Lingering injuries to add more debilitation to damage beyond the abstract hp loss. 27/- Then we come to my bread & butter from the DMG when I was freelancing: Creating a Monster. Starting on pg 273 it walks you through how to build a new monster and figure out its Challenge rating. It won't be 100% in line with whats in the official books, but it's damn close. 28/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 9, 2019
Want to design more of your own stuff, like spells? Keep reading into 283+ for guidelines. Classes, races, backgrounds, and magic item advice follow. 29/- The last sections of the book closes out with a slew of tables where you can build, fill, and populate a random dungeon. Even if you don't want to do that, there is SO much inspiration for you here. 30/-
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 9, 2019
Follow that up with tables of monsters by terrain and then challenge rating, and capping the whole shebang off with a ton of full color maps. Dungeons, windmill, island village, coastal town, a ship, all just ready for you to grab and run. 31/- So, there is just a quick glance over some of the things that await you in the Dungeon Master's Guide. If you're comfortable figuring all that out on your own, well, more power to you. But a TON of heavy lifting is already done. It just needs your personal touch.
Fin.
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 9, 2019