D&D 5E Should a D&D 5e DM read the DMG and PHB?

[feycreature]

I have been playing my first D&D 5e campaign weekly with the same group and DM for the last 5 months. I found him/them on the LFG subreddit looking for a 5e game and he responded. When we first met in a coffee shop and talked about the game, I quickly got the impression that something wasn't quite right. He had said he had DM'd before, but I later learned it was for FATE Core, not 5e, and I think it was only once. He also said he had trouble keeping his group together because of player disinterest. I was also initially a little surprised when he said he didn't have a copy of the PHB or DMG. He said it was because "they change the rules so much it's pointless to buy anything", but I also got the impression that he was just completely broke and couldn't afford them.

Once we started playing, it was clear this guy hadn't read much of the PHB at all, and I learned later that he outright refuses to read the DMG (saying it just has stuff about the planes, how useless), and even scoffs at the idea that anyone would run one of the WotC published campaigns. He used some D&D wiki when helping create some of players' characters, but he didn't even realize the content wasn't even for 5e (or wasn't even standard for any edition, probably). One of our players just killed off his character after playing him for 5 months and re-rolled a new one because it was so screwed up.

For about the first 3 months, we practically never rolled dice and very rarely fought things. Want to do something? "Yes, you do that" or "no, you can't". One NPC we fought, a boss-type of character, was literally invulnerable -- we'd whack him and he'd just take it with no damage, not speaking or anything. Other fights we've been in were so ridiculously stacked against us, we'd spend 2 or more hours fighting a fight that we knew we were going to lose, or we'd aggro some characters that had AC so high we couldn't hit them at level 2 or so, but if we ran away they would just reset like some kind of MMORPG AI. One NPC he designed to ambush and kidnap us with special abilities that made him seem like god, but with faerie fire, magic missile, and 5 PCs chasing after him, even his god-mode NPC went down relatively easily (I think he just had no idea how to design combat).

He designed an island as a sandbox kind of environment with maybe like 5 or so locations in it that we can all get to in about a day's travel or less. The island is mostly desolate, so there's not even a lot going on. The one town is tiny with a store and no plot elements there. We occasionally fight random encounters that he comes up with, but they are frankly just a waste of time -- they die in one round or two at the most. We've had maybe like 1 or 2 challenging fights in 5 months.

There're a few quests that we are ostensibly doing, but he doesn't use simple things like "okay, here's a plot hook that leads you somewhere". There're no tables he rolls on, he doesn't use CR to figure out encounter difficulty, his NPCs are extremely unhelpful, our group has no real reason to be together, and the lore of his world (future apocalypse) doesn't make much sense with high fantasy characters who are half-orc, aasimar, high elf, and forest gnomes. We seem totally out of place but no NPC seems to notice.

I recently introduced him to Critical Role and I think that is honestly the first D&D game besides ours he's ever seen. He even remarked afterwards that he felt insecure about his own campaign after watching it after seeing how different our game is from theirs. I don't think he realizes just how bad he is, and he seems resistant to 5e resources intended to help people like him get better. I've been carrying the group in terms of encouraging we roll using our skills for things, or using a rule from the PHB when it would apply, and he just sits back and lets us do all the rules lawyering, waiting for us to tell him how to run the game. I normally wouldn't care but his world is just so poorly designed that I feel like he's been a failure.

I have brought some of these issues up to him, very politely and diplomatically, but I don't think my comments have had any impact. I still get the impression he literally hasn't read any of the DMG and he defers to me for everything about the PHB. I gave him full access (via content-sharing) to everything on D&D Beyond, but he doesn't ever use it. I am losing my patience with this guy.

Sorry for the long treatise about my DM issues. I feel like this might be common enough that some of you more experienced players would have some sage advice for me? Thanks in advance!

 

[pogre]

No gaming is better than bad gaming.

You need to find someone else to DM a campaign for you.

Not very helpful, I realize. However, it's where you are at IMO.

 

[Sage Genesis]

When I read the thread topic, I thought to myself:
Not necessarily! You can do just fine with the Basic Rules! And some people learned to play D&D several editions ago, they don't need to go over the DMG for all that much, save perhaps for magic items or something. But if you've got some adventures prepared or some prior experience, then surely-

And then I read the actual OP.

Yeah that guy just doesn't get it. It sounds like he wants to stand atop some gloriously cool freeform game (which is fine), except D&D isn't a freeform game and he's not actually putting in any effort in the first place. Mind you, I'm just going by your description, but it doesn't sound like a good experience.

 

[redrick]

I guess "rulings not rules" includes the right not to read the rules in the first place...

The DMG/PHB aren't absolutely necessary, so long as a DM were to at least read the relevant sections in the Basic Rules. (The sections on Combat, Adventuring and Spellcasting are the same.) I'll admit that, as a DM, beyond looking up a few feats and spells, I only read my PHB when there was a question about a player's class feature. I had learned the system by reading the Basic Rules PDF. And, again, general rules text is identical. Likewise, the DMG, while highly recommended, isn't strictly necessary.

I wouldn't get too hung up on having a game like Critical Role, but if the DM is not running a game that is entertaining, maybe you could offer to try running an adventure for a few sessions? Put together a really simple adventure and take a spin behind the DM screen.

Honestly, if you are comfortable with the system and follow the advice in the DMG, you will probably be ok. Your DM is right that you can probably skip the chapters on the planes and the multiverse for now.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

To answer the title question, there isn't actually much in the DMG that a DM actually needs to know. The DM can get by just fine with what's in the PHB, especially since there's that little bestiary in the back so they can see how monsters are supposed to work. That being said, it would be extremely helpful for the DM to read through the Monster Manual and the parts of the DMG that aren't about boring planar nonsense.

As for your specific predicament, it's simply the case that your DM is bad at DMing, which can be expected from anyone with more experience in FATE than in any version of D&D. Running a good D&D campaign is a lot like writing a book, in that you learn how to do it inexplicably as a result of consuming enough source material until you recognize the patterns and can produce them independently. If I was in your position, I would offer to run a game for a while, at least until this other guy understood how it's supposed to be done; while you may not have any experience running a game yet, either, it's clear that you know more about it than he does.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

You may propose to take the reins of the campaign while he gets more experience of playing D&D, you know, using the PHB to create his own character, seeing what rules do or dont in this edition. Doest look like a bad DM on a powertrip, more like a guy who is used to play with rule-lite system and sees the many rules of D&D 5e as getting in the way of the story he wants to tell. You could also propose you keep the same campaing setting and character but with a system is more familiar with. Seems like he decided the system to use after he designed his story, just realizing afterward that the ruleset he choose wasnt fitting his setting.

 

[Shiroiken]

To OP: get out. As stated, no gaming is far better than bad gaming.

To the Title: a DM SHOULD read the PHB, DMG, MM, and pretty much everything else they can get their hands on. It's not necessary, as the basic rules provide plenty to run a game, but greater knowledge can increase the enjoyment of the game.

 

[Fanaelialae]

As has been said, you don't need to read the PHB or DMG to run a game. A grasp of the Basic Rules is sufficient. That said, reading them will give you a far better grasp of how the system is intended to run (which makes it both far easier to run the game the way it was designed to be played, as well as to run it an alternate way).

In this case, however, it seems to me like the DM just isn't putting in the work. While there are some naturally talented DMs out there, most DMs are made through repeated effort and dedication. There are a ton of fantastic resources out there for improving one's GMing skills (web articles, YouTube videos, forum advice, etc) but he would need to put in the work of seeking out and absorbing the material. If Critical Role impressed him, perhaps the series of GM Tips YouTube videos Matthew Mercer did would be a good starting point.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Convince the DM to live stream his or her game. I have to see this.

Sent from my [device_name] using EN World mobile app

 

[Kobold Boots]

Yes.

A good DM requires two things.

1. An excellent understanding of the basic rules and how the game's logic works.
2. A creative mind that can weave a story.

The first requires perhaps a few days of effort to accomplish
The second requires practice and being able to feel out a group to tell that which they expect in line with the story the DM weaves. It can take years to develop.

That said, if the DM you're with shows an interest in developing the second trait, he's worth staying with as the first trait is something that's going to happen in a few days of reading or about 5-10 sessions of game play if someone mentors him.

If he's not interested in developing the second trait, no amount of rules knowledge is going to help him or you.

Be well
KB