D&D 5E The 5e DMG Part 2- The Purpose of the DMG

[MNblockhead]

I agree with @Oofta in that we have a wealth of resources to learn to play, but that in itself can be daunting for a new player. That said, now that D&D Beyond is WotC owned there is a lot of free learn-to-play resources there and it really can be a one-stop shot to get started with the game. But @EzekielRaiden has a point that when you buy a game you should not need to go to a website to learn how to play it. For example, for some board games I will go and watch learn-to-play videos, but those always feel like homework and usually are only needed because the rules are not clearly written and organized.

Have more options is better. Some learn better from watching in addition to reading the rules. But everything needed to play the game should be in the core rules.

But I think that needs to be in the PHB. The DMG should not be required to play or even run the game. A DM should be able to run a WotC-published adventure with no more than the PHB and the Monster Manual--though I would prefer for the monster stats to be in the adventure, making even the MM and a discretionary purchase. But in the interest of keeping adventure page counts down and in the interest of selling more book, I don't see them changing there current practice.

The DMG should be a tool box to help you build your own adventures and campaigns and to create your own actors, locations, and items in the game. Plus rule variants to emulate/support different genres and play styles. But basic how-to-play onboarding material should be in the DMG.

Lastly, I don't think 5e is really all that terrible for new players. You can learn to play from the free basic rules. The PHB could benefit from better use of cross referencing, side bars, and a "if you want to ... go to page" style rules index than just a traditional word index. Better use of charts and visuals would help as would narrative example of how a game may run in play that is interspersed with the rules to demonstrate, e.g., combat, exploration, skill checks and contests, etc.

 

[Oofta]

I agree with @Oofta in that we have a wealth of resources to learn to play, but that in itself can be daunting for a new player. That said, now that D&D Beyond is WotC owned there is a lot of free learn-to-play resources there and it really can be a one-stop shot to get started with the game. But @EzekielRaiden has a point that when you buy a game you should not need to go to a website to learn how to play it. For example, for some board games I will go and watch learn-to-play videos, but those always feel like homework and usually are only needed because the rules are not clearly written and organized.

Have more options is better. Some learn better from watching in addition to reading the rules. But everything needed to play the game should be in the core rules.

But I think that needs to be in the PHB. The DMG should not be required to play or even run the game. A DM should be able to run a WotC-published adventure with no more than the PHB and the Monster Manual--though I would prefer for the monster stats to be in the adventure, making even the MM and a discretionary purchase. But in the interest of keeping adventure page counts down and in the interest of selling more book, I don't see them changing there current practice.

The DMG should be a tool box to help you build your own adventures and campaigns and to create your own actors, locations, and items in the game. Plus rule variants to emulate/support different genres and play styles. But basic how-to-play onboarding material should be in the DMG.

Lastly, I don't think 5e is really all that terrible for new players. You can learn to play from the free basic rules. The PHB could benefit from better use of cross referencing, side bars, and a "if you want to ... go to page" style rules index than just a traditional word index. Better use of charts and visuals would help as would narrative example of how a game may run in play that is interspersed with the rules to demonstrate, e.g., combat, exploration, skill checks and contests, etc.

I'm kind of surprised they didn't include a bit more actual play examples in the PHB, seems like they would only add a few pages. A quick example of initiative, attacks and saving throws in the combat chapter would go a long way. I also think that the vast majority of people that pick up the game already found a live stream or how-to video before the plonked down actual cash. As you said, they can also download the basic rules free of charge.

I pretty much assume that most people that start playing D&D either have someone to teach them or learned about the game from watching streams like CR. I doubt very few people nowadays walk into a bookstore or game shop and just pick up a book. Times have changed, assumptions about how people learn the game should change as well.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I'm kind of surprised they didn't include a bit more actual play examples in the PHB, seems like they would only add a few pages.

That would certainly help, but (at least for me) both the DMG and PHB should be updated. E.g. for the PHB:
1. In the Race(/Ancestry/Whatever We're Calling This Now) chapter, talk about how DM curation is important for setting the tone and style of a setting. Spend a page or so giving examples of different worlds and how limiting or not limiting races gives them their flavor, e.g. Athas vs Eberron. Possibly include oblique references to popular video game franchises like Elder Scrolls or Warcraft.
2. Ditto for the Classes chapter. A world without Clerics or Paladins (Athas) is very different from a world totally without arcane magic (no Artificer, Bard, EK Fighter, AT Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard!) A world where Artificers, Monks, and Rangers are commonplace but Wizards, Clerics, and Druids are nearly unknown will feel very different from a more "typical" Tolkienesque world.
3. Discuss the benefits, and costs, of permitting feats. Present options like allowing feats as a special reward for completing major personal stories or for unique experiences (e.g. drinking from the Vernal Queen's spring might grant the Eldritch Adept feat, as you are now bestowed a portion of her power in a way analogous to a Warlock.)
4. Actually give an example of creating a complete custom background, including a homebrew ribbon feature at its center, ideally from whole cloth but if necessary as a riff off of an existing background. This would be huge for helping players understand how to appropriately discuss areas where they'd like something the system just doesn't currently provide, but that its systems could provide if tweaked.
5. Fix the equipment chapter, for goodness' sake. The trident either shouldn't exist or should do something the spear doesn't, just to name a prominent example.

I pretty much assume that most people that start playing D&D either have someone to teach them or learned about the game from watching streams like CR. I doubt very few people nowadays walk into a bookstore or game shop and just pick up a book. Times have changed, assumptions about how people learn the game should change as well.

The latter is my primary concern, and also what I consider to be the significantly more likely situation. Keep in mind, if the numbers we've seen are to be believed, D&D has experienced something like tenfold growth. I really don't think the majority of that tenfold growth is people who were already friends of someone who could teach them...and watching something like The Adventure Zone or Critical Role is not a good guide for how to play or run D&D! Not even slightly! It would be like watching Iron Chef and thinking of it as a good instruction on how to cook for yourself--meaning, not at all. That doesn't mean there aren't things that can be done to learn how to cook (nor do those things imply that experience isn't important.) What it means is, there are now a lot more things that give people a reason to check out D&D, and a significant fraction of them--I would argue a majority of the newcomers!--are ones who don't have a friend group that can teach them well.

Hence, expanding what the DMG and PHB do, so that they give useful, productive advice that is style-agnostic (that is, "useful for all styles") or that is multi-style (that is, "advice for style A, and related styles B and C, and style D" etc.), seems like a top priority to me. Going beyond maintenance and toward sustainable continuing growth means being supportive of the plethora of ways players approach the game, and I mean that both in the sense of "gameplay styles" and in the sense of "how people get introduced to, involved in, and (hopefully) hooked on D&D."

Completely leaving the onboarding process to other people seems like a pretty great way to get caught with your pants down sooner or later. I mean, what do you do if CR decides that "One D&D" is to them what 4e was to Paizo, and thus pulls up sticks and makes their own competing edition? Suddenly, the people who handled a huge chunk of your onboarding are now onboarding for their own game, not your own, and you can't just re-issue your PHB and DMG to compensate for the loss because it will piss off your existing fans.