D&D 5E We are betting a LOT on the DMG.... will it deliver?

[Evenglare]

There was a similar topic several months ago, but to avoid thread necromancy for relevance.... Will the DM guide deliver on the topics we want? It seems like every other thread I go into, in some form, a post says "It'll be in the DM guide". I know there are a lot of things that WILL be in there, but it seems like the book is going to be 500 pages from the stuff that we want. Just off the top of my head the things that I can remember that people want are....

CR monster list (which is available online)
Magic Item Creation
Monster Creation
Class (or at least subclass) creation
Wandering monster lists
Spell points
How to create spells
Lingering wounds
World building
Support for different eras (futuristic etc)
Expanded support for evil stuff
Involved combat rules
Variant rules for skills
Variant Proficiency (using dice)
Creating your own feats, and general balancing issues
Mass combat rules
Kingdom building rules
General downtime rules
Detailed encounter building
Templates
Expanded races/race creation
Level 20+ / epic rules
Gestalt characters

Again, that's just off the top of my head. I'm sure you could randomly click any topic here on enworld, and on wizards.com/community sites and find a new want. So do you think it'll actually deliver on everything we want? I think it's a favorable sign that they pushed it back a few weeks. They know they need to get this book completely right.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Judging by the PHB and MM, I am confident the DMG will be a very, very good book. It obviously won't have every single little rule that every single person wants (an impossible task), but I am confident that there will be a LOT of useful content.

 

[Paraxis]

It will under perform, but will be adequate.

That is pretty much my assessment of all of the books so far. It does D&D pretty good, and for the time being better than 13th Age which I consider the next best thing out for that type of game at the moment, but it still falls flat.

The DMG will probably not cover monster and npc creation as well as I would like. I doubt the magic item section will have much in the way of purchasing or crafting them. I don't think the "involved combat rules" will be very involved.

But in the end it will get the job done, ie be adequate.

 

[Thank Dog]

Where's the poll option for, "I have no idea until I see it because I don't like to leap to conclusions"?

 

[Evenglare]

Where's the poll option for, "I have no idea until I see it because I don't like to leap to conclusions"?

It's called not voting. It's just a fun question. We know a bit of what will be in the DMG and different people will be affected differently by the outcome. Some people here probably already have their expectations exceeded by what they know about while others it may not be nearly enough, from what you have heard so far. It's just fun speculation, no one is forcing you to vote, and I apologize for not putting in your option, but there's nothing I can do about it! Have a good day though!

 

[Mercurius]

Whose expectations are you talking about? From your list and post, I take it that you have much higher/larger/broader expectations than I do, and I would guess that it won't meet those expectations - if only because a 300-page book probably can't do that, nor would WotC possibly have anticipated every need every DM has.

But will it meet my expectations? Well first, here are my expectations: A useful and fun-to-read book chock-full of tools and options for setting and adventure design, running a campaign, and customizing my game. So yeah, I think it can meet those expectations.

 

[Kai Wren]

CR monster list (which is available online)
Magic Item Creation
Monster Creation
Class (or at least subclass) creation
Involved combat
Wandering monster lists
Spell points
How to create spells
Lingering wounds
World building
Support for different eras (futuristic etc)
Expanded support for evil stuff
Involved combat rules
Variant rules for skills
Variant Proficiency (using dice)
Creating your own feats, and general balancing issues
Mass combat rules
Kingdom building rules
General downtime rules
Detailed encounter building
Templates
Expanded races/race creation
Level 20+ / epic rules
Gestalt characters

A lot of these I wouldn't expect necessarily, and I'm not sure their inclusion is really very likely. From what I remember of 3e, all the 'variant skill' rules, expanded races, epic rules, and so on would be better placed in a PHB2 type expansion if they are going to be seen at all. Downtime rules already exist, and I'd be stunned if they add different era support in the DMG rather than as its own thing. I guess there might be a page for theoretical gunpowder? But sci-fi or modern day... does not seem likely to me.

It'd be nice to get the lid lifted on how to make custom material 'officially' balanced, but that is such a can of worms I would be surprised to see it opened. I'm not sure what 'gestalt characters' are, either.

I'm hopeful for magic items and magic item crafting rules, and I'd also expect some basic (probably superfluous to experienced but invaluable to new GMs) advice on worldbuilding. Mass combat rules may be included but I have never seen them done well in any RPG so I tend to skip them myself. Magic items and treasure are the hook which will get me to buy it, though, and anything else is gravy for me! My expectations are very easily met.

 

[Crothian]

I'm pleased that want I want the DMG to be is mostly not on that list because that list is a lot of random things that should not be in the DMG.

 

[the Jester]

There was a similar topic several months ago, but to avoid thread necromancy for relevance.... Will the DM guide deliver on the topics we want?

First, for clarity, I don't think we all necessarily want the same stuff covered in there, so someone is going to miss out on their pet want, whether it's a module to use THAC0 and descending ACs or weapon vs. armor type modifiers or 1e style pummeling and 3e style grappling. So I can only speak for my personal wish list.

Looking at yours (and by the way, you have 'involved combat' twice) as a starting point, I think you've gotten a pretty good handle on some of the things we'll see. A lot of these are going to take pretty small amounts of space (e.g. proficiency dice), while others may take a fair amount (e.g. kingdom building/domain management). However, I don't think your list is at all unreasonable, and I think there is more than enough room for it.

I doubt whether we'll see gestalt rules, above 20th level stuff or much about different time periods (probably about a page on firearms and futuristic weapons et al). I could well be wrong, though.

I'm cautiously saying that it will meet my expectations, but am hoping that it knocks it out of the park for me.

 

[drjones]

This question is a Rorschach test that says nothing about the book in question but says a little about the personality of the respondents.