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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sword of Spirit" data-source="post: 8181859" data-attributes="member: 6677017">I'll attempt to rate the 5e DMG based on the categories I laid out above. I'll be rating it compared to 5 other books: Rules Cyclopedia, 1e DMG, 2e DMG, 3.x DMG (similar enough to just count once), and 4e DMG. I haven't fully read either the 1e DMG or the 4e DMG (because I haven't run either edition), but I have read parts of both, and believe I have enough information to rank the 5e DMG in comparison to them, which should be all that is needed since I am not attempting to rank any other DMGs. With 6 different books involved, I will use a scale of 1-6, with 6 being the best and 1 the worst.5E DMG1) Rules = 3This is both the most indispensable part of the book, and the worst performance for the 5e DMG. The section on magic items is actually excellent. They are flavorful, quirky, and feel like something special rather than just expensive gear. Epic boons are also inspired; and the Resolving (Social) Interaction rule is IMO the best ever seen in D&D. Regarding the rest of this category, the primary issues here are that some of the rules just don't work very well, are unclear in how they work, are contradictory to other rules, or are incomplete/missing. This is true even in the magic items section. Now, that isn't unique to 5e, but the flaws per rule density (outside of the magic items) seems higher here than in any other DMG. If the magic item section wasn't so good, the 5e DMG would have gotten the 1 spot. These are rules you have to have (and some are quite delightful!), but you'll be tempted to adjust some of them once you have them.2) World-Building and Running = 6This is the greatest strength of the book. I'm sure some will find this rating absurd based on the much greater amount of (often good quality) content in this category in some previous DMGs. The reason I give the 5e DMG the win on this is a combination of quality and conciseness. Generally I don't care much for conciseness in an RPG. I like huge tomes with small print and vast quantities of information of which I will actually only use a fraction, the rest waiting dutifully for its name to be called. But the 5e DMG manages to put information of equal or higher quality in a fraction of the words. I've never before read such a satisfying and brief set of steps for drawing a map of a continent, and that typifies the presentation of material in this category. Open this book up, go through the sections on building a multiverse and building a world and it will work. If I end up running a previous edition again, I'll probably still refer back to this guide for world-building. The adventure and NPC design sections are excellent; I used them along with the random dungeon generator appendix to create the starting dungeon in my campaign, and it still holds up as an interesting setting appropriate dungeon. Minor weaknesses include at least one case of contradictory information (spacing of settlements on a map), and if you count random encounter tables in this category rather than the first (it could go either way), there is a lack of comprehensive tables (Xanathar's Guide to Everything includes them, but they aren't as good as some previous editions) and the urban encounters table was botched because it is weighted towards the middle (d12+d8) but the entries are in alphabetical order rather than placed based on frequency.3) Advice for Game Management = 5*This is a small part of the book, but it's a larger proportion than most. It's updated with decades of experience; and stays true to the original 5e design goals of being play-style inclusive rather than limiting. It's not comprehensive, and if someone really wants an in-depth guide of this sort, they might want to consult an additional resource or two (not necessarily 5e or even D&D).*This one is second best behind whichever other edition (if any) prescribes the playstyle you prefer.4) Optional/Variant Rules = 4This section does more than any other DMG did to try to support multiple playstyles with rules options and variants. Unfortunately, many (maybe even most) of those variants just aren't very good. I could write an extensive review on that, but I have better things to do with my time. Suffice it to say that you definitely will want to be thoroughly familiar with this content, and there is much of it you will likely use straight out of the book (I do), but there are other parts where the method they offer to meet the goal you have just isn't going to be satisfying and you'll have to DIY anyway.For overall ranking amongst the 6 DMGs you have to consider some more variables. There is an assessment of how much weight should be given to each category in general. (I'd say that category 1 is the most important, followed by 2, 4, and then 3.) There is also a judgment of how important each of those categories is to 5e. (For instance, I'd say #1 is less important than in most editions, and #3 is probably more important given the number of newer players coming in.) There is also an assessment of how impactful the really good material is on your game, versus how detrimental the flawed material is to it. Then there is a pure gut feeling of "Which DMG do I like the best?"5e DMG Overall = 6It's not perfect, and I'm still unhappy about certain rules that were supposed to be in it but vanished before publication (monsters as characters and gestalt character classes in particular), but overall I find that, as a fan of DMGs, I just like this one a little better than the rest.</blockquote>

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