Which Edition of D&D (or OSR Ruleset) Has the Best GMing Advice?

[Theory of Games]

Quantity by itself is not an inherently good thing.

 

[Mannahnin]

But the quantity of information they dumped in that book has no rival as a singular tome of advice on running Dungeons & Dragons.

The metric for this thread is which book has the best GMing advice. Not quantity of info.*

And while the 1E DMG has been inspirational to a lot of us, and has some golden nuggets of advice in it, they are at least rivaled in number if not outright outweighed by a lot of plainly BAD advice or incomplete guidance because Gary wrote it primarily for an audience of experienced OD&D DMs.

*(Although for information density I wouldn't be surprised if the 3.0 or 3.5 DMGs rivaled it. Those books were also stuffed to the gills, as far as word count goes.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Few GM guides begin by telling the GM that outside organized play, the rules are what you make them.

Uh, that's pretty much standard nowadays.

 

[Theory of Games]

Funny how what's common now was unique with the 1e DMG, right? Like maybe that book set precedents for rpg design?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Funny how what's common now was unique with the 1e DMG, right? Like maybe that book set precedents for rpg design?

OK, but your argument was that few GM guides contain that advice. Which isn't true.

 

[Mannahnin]

OK, but your argument was that few GM guides contain that advice. Which isn't true.

This just in: The 1901 Model C Packard is the best car ever made, because other cars which have followed it also have steering wheels!

 

[Theory of Games]

OK, but your argument was that few GM guides contain that advice. Which isn't true.

What is true is the 1e DMG is Gygax inventing the tabletop rpg WHEEL. All other DMGs are lesser works.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

What is true is the 1e DMG is Gygax inventing the tabletop rpg WHEEL. All other DMGs are lesser works.

Is this like Speed, but instead of a bomb blowing up if you go under 55 miles per hour, it blows up if you concede your original statement was too sweeping?

 

[Theory of Games]

Is this like Speed, but instead of a bomb blowing up if you go under 55 miles per hour, it blows up if you concede your original statement was too sweeping?

 

[Bedrockgames]

The metric for this thread is which book has the best GMing advice. Not quantity of info.*

And while the 1E DMG has been inspirational to a lot of us, and has some golden nuggets of advice in it, they are at least rivaled in number if not outright outweighed by a lot of plainly BAD advice or incomplete guidance because Gary wrote it primarily for an audience of experienced OD&D players.

*(Although for information density I wouldn't be surprised if the 3.0 or 3.5 DMGs rivaled it. Those books were also stuffed to the gills, as far as word count goes.)

But 3.0 and 3.5 were also pretty bad in many respects. I agree with most people that you have to be selective about the 1E DMG (I find the combination of the writing and the particularly nuggets of the advice, plus the fact that it is that early phase of development where everything feels so new, to be what draws me into it). But the 3E GM advice is what not only almost broke my game, it came darn close to breaking my brain as well. I think some people love the 3E advice and it fits a particular style, I found it overly engineered and tended to lead to a style of play I increasingly hated at the table. Ironically, going back to the 1E DMG was one of the things that helped me find my way to a path where I was once again happy with how things played. I think one of the reasons people respond so positively to the 1E DMG is because there are some real nuggets in there that can help fix a game. Especially if you are mired in a style where you can benefit from hitting a reset button and going back to see if anything fell by the wayside that might work for you