D&D 5E "People complain, but don't actually read the DMG!" Which sections specifically?

[Stormonu]

The book is 320 pages, including filler pages and Table of Content, Index, etc.

Read 10 pages every time you go to the bathroom. You'll be done in a month. It really isn't a big investment in time to make sure you're doing everything you can to ensure you understand the game you're playing so much. Assuming you find value in that understanding.

Talk about an info dump...

 

[Parmandur]

Flanking would be my go-to for this. It's just not a good rule as presented; it's not quite free advantage on all melee attacks but it's close. And that shuts down a lot of creative/clever play.

So don't use it? Advantage is supposed to be easy, at least.

 

[iserith]

You'll get much better mileage out of reading Return of the Lazy Dm, or the Alexandrian, or watching some of the Running the Game videos. Or in checking out some other games

System Split: Worlds Without Number and D&D Fifth Edition

It’s never been a better time to be a dungeon crawler. Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition and Pathfinder, two versions of the same underlying D&D ruleset, are bestsellers 1 and 2 in the RPG wor…

cannibalhalflinggaming.com

I am usually rolling my eyes at a lot of the things these folks say as it pertains to D&D 5e. I can almost always tell who's read the DMG or not just by what they are saying or how they DM.

 

[Li Shenron]

I mean, it is hard to navigate, no thanks to the Index, so unfortunately reading the whole thing is the only way to get what you need.

Mmm... I would dare to say that "what you need" is almost always going to be in those 20-30 pages under "running the game" but before variant rules.

Perhaps it could have been better if those 20-30 pages had been put at the beginning of the book instead of after more than 200 pages with everything about worldbuilding and adventure design, both of which are optional activities for DMs, unlike being able to actually run the game.

 

[Malmuria]

I am usually rolling my eyes at a lot of the things these folks say as it pertains to D&D 5e. I can almost always tell who's read the DMG or not just by what they are saying or how they DM.

What's an example of this?

 

[prabe]

So don't use it? Advantage is supposed to be easy, at least.

I think the rule is supposed to be simple. I'm not sure it's supposed to be as easy to do as those optional Flanking rules make it.

 

[Filthy Lucre]

People have pointed to a number of issues, ut the violence one I see is ignoring the DMG guidelines on using Skills and claiming that the game doesn't have guidelines for DCs.

I think what people mean is having DC charts like long/high jumping for pretty much every skill.

 

[iserith]

What's an example of this?

I can tell by the way the DM talks about "skill checks," for example, or how and when they call for ability checks. That's an easy one to spot.

 

[Parmandur]

I think the rule is supposed to be simple. I'm not sure it's supposed to be as easy to do as those optional Flanking rules make it.

I don't see why not.

 

[Parmandur]

I think what people mean is having DC charts like long/high jumping for pretty much every skill.

Yeah, but the DMG explains pretty clearly why that would be silly to provide, and gives something better.