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<blockquote data-quote="Composer99" data-source="post: 8496799" data-attributes="member: 7030042">That last sentence seems a particularly bizarre thing to assert. Bluntly, it comes across as being contrarian for the sake of it.By way of comparison:<ul>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">I can't think of any reference manual I have ever read that is as badly-structured, with advanced and often optional content dominating the page count and crucial content buried hither and thither amongst it.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">As a tool for new users, the DMG is useless at best. I can't think of any other &quot;how-to&quot; manual I have ever read where the basic and most foundational material isn't presented first and considered most important.</li>
</ul>Actually, I'll do myself one better. Parts 2 and 3 of the 5e PHB together constitute an apt example of what the DMG could/should have been:<ul>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">The first chapter of Part 2 (&quot;Chapter 7: Using Ability Scores&quot;) runs the reader through the most foundational mechanic of the game.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">The second chapter (&quot;Chapter 8: Adventuring&quot;) reiterates the primary gameplay loop, then runs the reader through more-or-less progressive content outlining how most gameplay works - starting with the spans of time typical for gameplay, moving on to how one moves through space over these spans of time, then on to other adventuring activities one undertakes during these spans of time, then on to how one uses one's senses and interacts with creatures, objects, and other features of the game world, then on to stuff that happens in between adventuring (resting and downtime).</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">The third chapter (&quot;Chapter 9: Combat&quot;) describes how the most structured part of the game - combat - works - and even (in &quot;The Order of Combat&quot;) discusses, however briefly, why it's so structured.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Part 3 is about easily the most complex part of the game, spellcasting (since each spell is like a mini &quot;rules module&quot; unto itself), and so is saved for last. It's both the most advanced content in terms of mechanical difficulty and the most optional content (since every player should probably know how a long rest works or how to take actions in combat, but not every player needs to know how spells work). And here it is, at the very end of the book, where it belongs.</li>
</ul></blockquote>

[QUOTE="Composer99, post: 8496799, member: 7030042"] That last sentence seems a particularly bizarre thing to assert. Bluntly, it comes across as being contrarian for the sake of it. By way of comparison: [LIST] [*]I can't think of any reference manual I have ever read that is as badly-structured, with advanced and often optional content dominating the page count and crucial content buried hither and thither amongst it. [*]As a tool for new users, the DMG is useless at best. I can't think of any other "how-to" manual I have ever read where the basic and most foundational material isn't presented first and considered most important. [/LIST] Actually, I'll do myself one better. Parts 2 and 3 of the 5e PHB together constitute an apt example of what the DMG could/should have been: [LIST] [*]The first chapter of Part 2 ("Chapter 7: Using Ability Scores") runs the reader through the most foundational mechanic of the game. [*]The second chapter ("Chapter 8: Adventuring") reiterates the primary gameplay loop, then runs the reader through more-or-less progressive content outlining how most gameplay works - starting with the spans of time typical for gameplay, moving on to how one moves through space over these spans of time, then on to other adventuring activities one undertakes during these spans of time, then on to how one uses one's senses and interacts with creatures, objects, and other features of the game world, then on to stuff that happens in between adventuring (resting and downtime). [*]The third chapter ("Chapter 9: Combat") describes how the most structured part of the game - combat - works - and even (in "The Order of Combat") discusses, however briefly, why it's so structured. [*]Part 3 is about easily the most complex part of the game, spellcasting (since each spell is like a mini "rules module" unto itself), and so is saved for last. It's both the most advanced content in terms of mechanical difficulty and the most optional content (since every player should probably know how a long rest works or how to take actions in combat, but not every player needs to know how spells work). And here it is, at the very end of the book, where it belongs. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]

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