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<blockquote data-quote="tetrasodium" data-source="post: 9312972" data-attributes="member: 93670"><p>The 5e dmg is god awful but that was not always the case. I'd include some of the past DMGs. in the 3.5 DMG there is an entire chapter called [spoiler="ch2 using the rules+BTC"]</p><p>Chapter 2: Using the Rules . . . . . . . . . 19</p><p>More Movement Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . 19</p><p>Movement and the Grid . . . . . . . . 19</p><p>Moving in Three Dimensions . . . 20</p><p>Evasion and Pursuit . . . . . . . . . . . . 20</p><p>Moving around in Squares . . . . . . 20</p><p>Bonus Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21</p><p>Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21</p><p>Line of Sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21</p><p>Starting an Encounter . . . . . . . . . . 22</p><p>New Combatants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23</p><p>Keeping Things Moving . . . . . . . . 24</p><p>Combat Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25</p><p>Attack Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26</p><p>Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26</p><p>Effect of Weapon Size . . . . . . . . . . 28</p><p>Splash Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28</p><p>Area Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28</p><p>Big and Little Creatures</p><p>in Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29</p><p>Skill and Ability Checks . . . . . . . . . . . 30</p><p>Saving Throws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33</p><p>Adjudicating Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34</p><p>Describing Spell Effects . . . . . . . . 34</p><p>Handling Divinations . . . . . . . . . . 34</p><p>Creating New Spells. . . . . . . . . . . . 35</p><p>Rewards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36</p><p>Experience Awards. . . . . . . . . . . . . 36</p><p>Story Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40</p><p>Character Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41</p><p>Making a New Character . . . . . . . 42</p><p>Behind the Curtain: Experience Points......................................................41</p><p>Behind the Curtain: When a PC Falls Behind..........................................42</p><p>One Hundred Adventure Ideas.....................................................................44</p><p>Adventure Writer’s Checklist ........................................................................46</p><p>Behind the Curtain: Treasure Values ...........................................................54</p><p>Behind the Curtain: Why Dungeons?.........................................................58</p><p>Walls, Doors, and Detect Spells.......................................................................60</p><p>Behind the Curtain: Traps...............................................................................67</p><p>Variant: What Disabling a Device Means...................................................70</p><p>Variant: Upkeep ...............................................................................................130</p><p>Behind the Curtain: How Real Is Your Fantasy? ...................................136</p><p>Variant: No Sidebars for Variant Rules .....................................................171</p><p>Behind the Curtain: Why Mess around with Character Classes?....175</p><p>Behind the Curtain: A Limit to Attacks and Saves ...............................207</p><p>Behind the Curtain: Building an Epic Progression ..............................210</p><p>Variant: New Magic Items............................................................................214</p><p>Behind the Curtain: Putting Cursed Items in Your Game .................274</p><p>Behind the Curtain: Magic Item Gold Piece Vaules ............................282</p><p>Behind the Curtain: Special Weapons Materials...................................283</p><p>Behind the Curtain: Body Slot Affinities.................................................288</p><p>[/spoiler]</p><p>Some of that exists in the 5e dmg as an amorphous nebulous & not so useful near-parody of the original, but a lot of it is very good even still like <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/giving-an-ad-d-feel-to-5e.679228/post-8241363" target="_blank">DM's best friend & the linked "bonus types"</a> mechanical hook it uses. Other areas like slot affinities explain the why of things 5e still uses but never bothered to explain</p><p>[spoiler="Behind the curtain Body Slot Affinities"]</p><p>BEHIND THE CURTAIN: BODY SLOT AFFINITIES</p><p>A character who already has winged boots wants the haste effect provided by boots of speed. The player asks, “Can I make a hat of speed instead?” What’s your answer?</p><p></p><p>The question comes up with some frequency because some parts of the body can accommodate many more kinds of magic items than others. Almost every character gets a magic cloak of some kind early in her career, even if it’s a simple cloak of resistance +1. But magic vests are few in number, and almost all the magic robes are too expensive for low-level characters. Characters who have “empty” spaces on their</p><p>bodies are naturally eager to fill them with useful items that would ordinarily go in spots where they already have magic.</p><p></p><p>Some magic items strain credulity if they’re placed in an unusual location on the body. It’s much easier to imagine gauntlets of ogre power than goggles of ogre power. Other changes seem straightforward enough; for instance, a cloak of blending makes just as much sense as a robe of blending.</p><p></p><p>Each location on the body, or body slot, has one or more affinities: a word or phrase that describes the general function or nature of magic items designed for that body slot. Body slot affinities are deliberately broad, abstract categorizations, because a hard-and-fast rule can’t cover the great variety among wondrous items.</p><p></p><p>You can use the affinities in the list below to guide your decisions on which magic items you’ll allow in which body slots. And when you design your own magic items, the affinities give you some guidance for what form a particular item should take.</p><p></p><p>Some body slots have different affinities for different specific items. Gloves and gauntlets occupy the same body slot, for example, but have the affinities of quickness and destructive power respectively.</p><p></p><table style='width: 100%'><tr><td>Body Slot</td><td>Affinity</td></tr><tr><td>Headband, Helmet</td><td>Mental Improvenment, Ranged Attacks</td></tr><tr><td>Hat</td><td>Interaction</td></tr><tr><td>Phylactery</td><td>Morale, Alignment</td></tr><tr><td>Eye Lenses, Goggles</td><td>Vision</td></tr><tr><td>Cloak, Cape, Mantle</td><td>Transformation, Protection</td></tr><tr><td>Amulet, Brooch, Medallion, Necklace, Periapt, Scarab</td><td>Protection, Discernment</td></tr><tr><td>Robe</td><td>Multiple Effects</td></tr><tr><td>Shirt</td><td>Physical Improvement</td></tr><tr><td>Vest, Vestment</td><td>Class ability Improvement</td></tr><tr><td>Bracers</td><td>Combat</td></tr><tr><td>Bracelets</td><td>Allies</td></tr><tr><td>Gloves</td><td>Quickness</td></tr><tr><td>Gauntlets</td><td>Destructive Power</td></tr><tr><td>Belt</td><td>Physical Improvement</td></tr><tr><td>Boots</td><td>Movement</td></tr></table><p>Wondrous items that don’t match the affinity for a particular body slot should cost 50% more than wondrous items that match the affinity. Compare the boots of teleportation with the helm of teleportation. Unless you are intentionally aiming for a truly oddball game, avoid patently absurd combinations such as eyeglasses of giant Strength at any price.</p><p>[/spoiler]</p><p></p><p>Despite having so little in common with any edition since, the ad&d 2e dmg was written at a time when it was still important to explain things that are commonly understood now & that leads to a wildly different slant on how it discusses a lot of high level* foundational elements like <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/giving-an-ad-d-feel-to-5e.679228/post-8243611" target="_blank">the importance of treasure</a> pros & cons of magic item shops & an entire chapter on creating new spells/magic items.</p><p></p><p>* 40,000 foot view not level 1-20</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="tetrasodium, post: 9312972, member: 93670"] The 5e dmg is god awful but that was not always the case. I'd include some of the past DMGs. in the 3.5 DMG there is an entire chapter called [spoiler="ch2 using the rules+BTC"] Chapter 2: Using the Rules . . . . . . . . . 19 More Movement Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Movement and the Grid . . . . . . . . 19 Moving in Three Dimensions . . . 20 Evasion and Pursuit . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Moving around in Squares . . . . . . 20 Bonus Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Line of Sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Starting an Encounter . . . . . . . . . . 22 New Combatants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Keeping Things Moving . . . . . . . . 24 Combat Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Attack Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Effect of Weapon Size . . . . . . . . . . 28 Splash Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Area Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Big and Little Creatures in Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Skill and Ability Checks . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Saving Throws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Adjudicating Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Describing Spell Effects . . . . . . . . 34 Handling Divinations . . . . . . . . . . 34 Creating New Spells. . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Rewards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Experience Awards. . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Story Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Character Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Making a New Character . . . . . . . 42 Behind the Curtain: Experience Points......................................................41 Behind the Curtain: When a PC Falls Behind..........................................42 One Hundred Adventure Ideas.....................................................................44 Adventure Writer’s Checklist ........................................................................46 Behind the Curtain: Treasure Values ...........................................................54 Behind the Curtain: Why Dungeons?.........................................................58 Walls, Doors, and Detect Spells.......................................................................60 Behind the Curtain: Traps...............................................................................67 Variant: What Disabling a Device Means...................................................70 Variant: Upkeep ...............................................................................................130 Behind the Curtain: How Real Is Your Fantasy? ...................................136 Variant: No Sidebars for Variant Rules .....................................................171 Behind the Curtain: Why Mess around with Character Classes?....175 Behind the Curtain: A Limit to Attacks and Saves ...............................207 Behind the Curtain: Building an Epic Progression ..............................210 Variant: New Magic Items............................................................................214 Behind the Curtain: Putting Cursed Items in Your Game .................274 Behind the Curtain: Magic Item Gold Piece Vaules ............................282 Behind the Curtain: Special Weapons Materials...................................283 Behind the Curtain: Body Slot Affinities.................................................288 [/spoiler] Some of that exists in the 5e dmg as an amorphous nebulous & not so useful near-parody of the original, but a lot of it is very good even still like [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/giving-an-ad-d-feel-to-5e.679228/post-8241363']DM's best friend & the linked "bonus types"[/URL] mechanical hook it uses. Other areas like slot affinities explain the why of things 5e still uses but never bothered to explain [spoiler="Behind the curtain Body Slot Affinities"] BEHIND THE CURTAIN: BODY SLOT AFFINITIES A character who already has winged boots wants the haste effect provided by boots of speed. The player asks, “Can I make a hat of speed instead?” What’s your answer? The question comes up with some frequency because some parts of the body can accommodate many more kinds of magic items than others. Almost every character gets a magic cloak of some kind early in her career, even if it’s a simple cloak of resistance +1. But magic vests are few in number, and almost all the magic robes are too expensive for low-level characters. Characters who have “empty” spaces on their bodies are naturally eager to fill them with useful items that would ordinarily go in spots where they already have magic. Some magic items strain credulity if they’re placed in an unusual location on the body. It’s much easier to imagine gauntlets of ogre power than goggles of ogre power. Other changes seem straightforward enough; for instance, a cloak of blending makes just as much sense as a robe of blending. Each location on the body, or body slot, has one or more affinities: a word or phrase that describes the general function or nature of magic items designed for that body slot. Body slot affinities are deliberately broad, abstract categorizations, because a hard-and-fast rule can’t cover the great variety among wondrous items. You can use the affinities in the list below to guide your decisions on which magic items you’ll allow in which body slots. And when you design your own magic items, the affinities give you some guidance for what form a particular item should take. Some body slots have different affinities for different specific items. Gloves and gauntlets occupy the same body slot, for example, but have the affinities of quickness and destructive power respectively. [TABLE] [TR] [TD]Body Slot[/TD] [TD]Affinity[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Headband, Helmet[/TD] [TD]Mental Improvenment, Ranged Attacks[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Hat[/TD] [TD]Interaction[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Phylactery[/TD] [TD]Morale, Alignment[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Eye Lenses, Goggles[/TD] [TD]Vision[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Cloak, Cape, Mantle[/TD] [TD]Transformation, Protection[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Amulet, Brooch, Medallion, Necklace, Periapt, Scarab[/TD] [TD]Protection, Discernment[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Robe[/TD] [TD]Multiple Effects[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Shirt[/TD] [TD]Physical Improvement[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Vest, Vestment[/TD] [TD]Class ability Improvement[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Bracers[/TD] [TD]Combat[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Bracelets[/TD] [TD]Allies[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Gloves[/TD] [TD]Quickness[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Gauntlets[/TD] [TD]Destructive Power[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Belt[/TD] [TD]Physical Improvement[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Boots[/TD] [TD]Movement[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Wondrous items that don’t match the affinity for a particular body slot should cost 50% more than wondrous items that match the affinity. Compare the boots of teleportation with the helm of teleportation. Unless you are intentionally aiming for a truly oddball game, avoid patently absurd combinations such as eyeglasses of giant Strength at any price. [/spoiler] Despite having so little in common with any edition since, the ad&d 2e dmg was written at a time when it was still important to explain things that are commonly understood now & that leads to a wildly different slant on how it discusses a lot of high level* foundational elements like [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/giving-an-ad-d-feel-to-5e.679228/post-8243611']the importance of treasure[/URL] pros & cons of magic item shops & an entire chapter on creating new spells/magic items. * 40,000 foot view not level 1-20 [/QUOTE]
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