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5 New D&D Books Coming in 2023 -- Including Planescape!
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<blockquote data-quote="Levistus's_Leviathan" data-source="post: 8868410" data-attributes="member: 7023887"><p>[SPOILER="Rant about the DMG that got too long"]The Player's Handbook's primary concern is being a handbook of options and rules for players, often for those newer to the game. It's mostly a good book, because it does what it's intended to do. The Monster Manual is a manual of monsters for DMs to use in their games, typically including the most iconic and common monsters in D&D. It's mostly a good book, because it does what it's intended to do. These books have more defined niches and intents and fulfill them pretty well. However, in the 5e DMG, instead of developing the 3 pillars of D&D and telling DMs how to use/balance them, it wastes pages explaining the most complicated cosmology in the history of D&D, listing the monsters in the Monster Manual, optional rules that don't fit the intent of 5e because WotC forgot to make the game "modular", and other poorly thought-out parts of the game that make the book feel unfinished and badly designed. </p><p></p><p>There's a reason why "no one reads the DMG" is a meme/joke and why a lot of other systems don't have an equivalent of it. Lots of other TTRPGs have "player's handbooks" and "monster manuals". A lot of them don't have a "DM/GM's guide" because its role in D&D is nebulous, poorly thought out, and it doesn't fulfill the niche it should fill. And that's because the Guide for DMs is for some reason not primarily concerned with guiding dungeon masters (especially newer ones) at how to run the game well. </p><p></p><p>The main playstyle is not well-supported in D&D 5e. People have been complaining about the half-assed Exploration and Social Interaction rules in D&D since the beginning. The DMG doesn't do a good job of teaching new DMs how to DM. As someone that was introduced to D&D through 5e, I got more information on how to be a good DM from a handful of Matthew Colville videos than I ever did from the 5e DMG. Because it fails at what should be its primary purpose. There are a lot of bad D&D Youtube channels out there. I'm lucky I stumbled across a good one. </p><p></p><p>If the DMG doesn't teach DMs how to be good DMs, it is poorly designed. Especially if it wastes a lot of space that could be used on teaching DMs how to be good DMs on half-developed optional rules, a poor attempt at explaining how to game design, a gazetteer of the Great Wheel, and other random stuff not necessary for teaching DMs how to DM. </p><p></p><p>There is such a thing as good game design. There is such a thing as badly designed or poorly thought out books, not just based on opinion. Subjective preferences and playstyles have a place in D&D. It should support multiple playstyles. But it shouldn't be prioritized over educating newer DMs at how to do their job at the table. </p><p></p><p>You know how later books, like Xanathar's and Tasha's, had rules and guidelines to help new DMs? That was only "necessary" because the DMG failed at its job. The fact that the Session 0 rule was in Tasha's and not the DMG is a design failure. </p><p></p><p>Not that the other core books in 5e are perfect at this, either. The Xanathar's rules for Tools, Falling, and Downtime should have been in the core rulebooks. [/SPOILER]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Levistus's_Leviathan, post: 8868410, member: 7023887"] [SPOILER="Rant about the DMG that got too long"]The Player's Handbook's primary concern is being a handbook of options and rules for players, often for those newer to the game. It's mostly a good book, because it does what it's intended to do. The Monster Manual is a manual of monsters for DMs to use in their games, typically including the most iconic and common monsters in D&D. It's mostly a good book, because it does what it's intended to do. These books have more defined niches and intents and fulfill them pretty well. However, in the 5e DMG, instead of developing the 3 pillars of D&D and telling DMs how to use/balance them, it wastes pages explaining the most complicated cosmology in the history of D&D, listing the monsters in the Monster Manual, optional rules that don't fit the intent of 5e because WotC forgot to make the game "modular", and other poorly thought-out parts of the game that make the book feel unfinished and badly designed. There's a reason why "no one reads the DMG" is a meme/joke and why a lot of other systems don't have an equivalent of it. Lots of other TTRPGs have "player's handbooks" and "monster manuals". A lot of them don't have a "DM/GM's guide" because its role in D&D is nebulous, poorly thought out, and it doesn't fulfill the niche it should fill. And that's because the Guide for DMs is for some reason not primarily concerned with guiding dungeon masters (especially newer ones) at how to run the game well. The main playstyle is not well-supported in D&D 5e. People have been complaining about the half-assed Exploration and Social Interaction rules in D&D since the beginning. The DMG doesn't do a good job of teaching new DMs how to DM. As someone that was introduced to D&D through 5e, I got more information on how to be a good DM from a handful of Matthew Colville videos than I ever did from the 5e DMG. Because it fails at what should be its primary purpose. There are a lot of bad D&D Youtube channels out there. I'm lucky I stumbled across a good one. If the DMG doesn't teach DMs how to be good DMs, it is poorly designed. Especially if it wastes a lot of space that could be used on teaching DMs how to be good DMs on half-developed optional rules, a poor attempt at explaining how to game design, a gazetteer of the Great Wheel, and other random stuff not necessary for teaching DMs how to DM. There is such a thing as good game design. There is such a thing as badly designed or poorly thought out books, not just based on opinion. Subjective preferences and playstyles have a place in D&D. It should support multiple playstyles. But it shouldn't be prioritized over educating newer DMs at how to do their job at the table. You know how later books, like Xanathar's and Tasha's, had rules and guidelines to help new DMs? That was only "necessary" because the DMG failed at its job. The fact that the Session 0 rule was in Tasha's and not the DMG is a design failure. Not that the other core books in 5e are perfect at this, either. The Xanathar's rules for Tools, Falling, and Downtime should have been in the core rulebooks. [/SPOILER] [/QUOTE]
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