No love for DMG II !?!?

[Herremann the Wise]

I'm thinking of hopping off the 4E book train (I'm keeping my DDI subscription at this point) as our group has focused back on 3.x/Pathfinder for the moment. However, I'm still thinking of picking this one up as it does sound interesting. Is there much in there of a general nature (that could be ported over to 3.x/pathfinder) or does it purely focus on the 4e system? Is it worth picking up regardless?

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Pour]

The book is awesome. Since picking it up I haven't stopped using its contents, from terrain powers, to alternate rewards, to proper companion characters. I definitely will be using the Sigil adventure, and the listing of gate towns inspired a whole homebrew introduction adventure. The extra insight on skill challenges also really helped me. If you're a 4e DM, get it.

 

[Kelvor Ravenstar]

Wow!

Mine came in the mail today, and I was so pleased by it!
I'm seeing a lot of influence from Indie RPG design in the group storytelling section. I know I'm going to be using some of the suggestions for group character creation for my next Eberron campaign. The process reminds me of the Spirit of the Century group creation process and I think it's going to translate well to a pulp-inspired D&D campaign.
Some of the storytelling techniques aren't new to me, or even to D&D publications, but I've never seen them explained so well. If you just want to skim through the book, I recommend reading through all of the sidebars. They explain the techniques by using entertaining in-game examples. I think this is the best advanced DM's resource since 2E's Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb guide or Creative Campaigning.

 

[Holy Bovine]

I'm getting mine on Saturday when my awesome FLGS puts it out for 30% off. They will also be hosting a WWD&D Day (as they have for the last 2-3 years) with some 30 nerds playing 4E in their basement!

 

[thalmin]

Nope. Street date was the 15th (Tuesday) per the Editorial Calendar.

Speaking of which, according to it the street date for the Dragon Annual was Tuesday and I saw it all over last month. Is the editorial calendar off for that or was everyone early?

That was released officially last month as Revenge of the Giants was delayed.

 

[darjr]

Did anyone get the preorder extra? The initiative thing?

I was told that reordering it bagged me that, but I'm not sure what it is. Is it just like the one from Paizo? Is it, as I suspect, the actual one from Paizo?

 

[thalmin]

Did anyone get the preorder extra? The initiative thing?

I was told that reordering it bagged me that, but I'm not sure what it is. Is it just like the one from Paizo? Is it, as I suspect, the actual one from Paizo?

It is not. It is billed as a wet erase board but it does work with dry erase. It is not magnetic.
There are 4 columns: Name, Initiative, Hit Points, Condition
12 rows plus headings, artwork surrounding chart. This was a freebie for Wizards Premier Stores, 1/DMG2 ordered direct (not through distributor) for the stores to give out as we saw fit (with preorder, at GameDay, with whatever purchase...)

 

[darjr]

It is not. It is billed as a wet erase board but it does work with dry erase. It is not magnetic.
There are 4 columns: Name, Initiative, Hit Points, Condition
12 rows plus headings, artwork surrounding chart. This was a freebie for Wizards Premier Stores, 1/DMG2 ordered direct (not through distributor) for the stores to give out as we saw fit (with preorder, at GameDay, with whatever purchase...)

Thanks!

sounds like what I do already on the battle mat. Might be nice to have something different.

 

[Jack99]

Great book. I've owned every DMG produced, and this is one of the best yet.

I'm honestly impressed with the amount of advice/suggestions for ALL the types of roleplayers. I like that the DMG II followed up on the types of gamers and how best to structure an adventure to waht they like.

I think it's one of the best DMG's I've read; full of great ideas I haven't used before, new options and mechanics....

...It will receive HEAVY use from me.

Thats a shame,because I got such a thrill from it.I'm a 31 year DM vet and I got a ton of usefull info out of it,but then I like the templates.

Normally Im happy if I get to use 25% of something I buy in the RPG line.
This has got to be closer to 60-80% usefull!

The book is awesome. Since picking it up I haven't stopped using its contents, from terrain powers, to alternate rewards, to proper companion characters. I definitely will be using the Sigil adventure, and the listing of gate towns inspired a whole homebrew introduction adventure. The extra insight on skill challenges also really helped me. If you're a 4e DM, get it.

Mine came in the mail today, and I was so pleased by it!
I'm seeing a lot of influence from Indie RPG design in the group storytelling section. I know I'm going to be using some of the suggestions for group character creation for my next Eberron campaign. The process reminds me of the Spirit of the Century group creation process and I think it's going to translate well to a pulp-inspired D&D campaign.
Some of the storytelling techniques aren't new to me, or even to D&D publications, but I've never seen them explained so well. If you just want to skim through the book, I recommend reading through all of the sidebars. They explain the techniques by using entertaining in-game examples. I think this is the best advanced DM's resource since 2E's Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb guide or Creative Campaigning.

All of the above. DMGII is an awesome book that (IMO) contains advice that makes it valuable for any DM of any edition. For 4e players it's priceless though

 

[Derulbaskul]

(snip) The Campaign Arc Or how to build an AP outline. Nice... (snip)

That's something I would really like to see. I build my games around something like an adventure path so any extra advice would be appreciated.