So anyone pick up the Dungeon Master's Guide II?
- Thread starter ecliptic
- Start date
Mine arrived today.
Lots of good advice for newbie DMs, from which even old hands can still pick out some new insights.
Some stuff is more how-to for the newbie, like how to draw up a quick and dirty battle-mat, or how to use miniatures to help set the scene.
Best bits: Advice on managing your game and managing a campaign. Magical Locations as treasure. Guild/Organization rules. Fully-detailed City of Saltmarsh (of 35 or so pages, 32 are the locations; the other 3 are the basics of the city population). Mentoring and Apprenticeship rules. "Archetypal" encounter locations (burning building, ice bridge, lava pool, etc.) and special rules they might need. And quite a few more.
Bad bits: Not many. Nothing is perfect, but not a lot to complain about here.
While I like the sample Complex NPCs, and the new Stat-block format (as presented in Dungeon recently), I do wish the sample NPCs had a level-by-level progression. The utility of the sample NPCs in the main DMG is that there is an entry for every level, Need a CR10 Fighter ? There's one in the DMG (very generic, but acceptable in a pinch). Need a CR4 newcomer to a cult ? Well, there's a CR 6 cultist.. you can back out a couple of levels to get down to CR 4.
Of course, I realize that the nature of the Complex NPC beast does not lend itself to the same level-by-level progression, but maybe some guidelines on building a Complex NPC out of the generic simple ones in the DMG would have been helpful, in the "give a man a fish and he will eat today/teach a man to fish and he will eat again and again" sense.
Paper Quality ? Not something I worry about. Feels good, nice and smooth, enough weight to feel "substantial".
Lots of good advice for newbie DMs, from which even old hands can still pick out some new insights.
Some stuff is more how-to for the newbie, like how to draw up a quick and dirty battle-mat, or how to use miniatures to help set the scene.
Best bits: Advice on managing your game and managing a campaign. Magical Locations as treasure. Guild/Organization rules. Fully-detailed City of Saltmarsh (of 35 or so pages, 32 are the locations; the other 3 are the basics of the city population). Mentoring and Apprenticeship rules. "Archetypal" encounter locations (burning building, ice bridge, lava pool, etc.) and special rules they might need. And quite a few more.
Bad bits: Not many. Nothing is perfect, but not a lot to complain about here.
While I like the sample Complex NPCs, and the new Stat-block format (as presented in Dungeon recently), I do wish the sample NPCs had a level-by-level progression. The utility of the sample NPCs in the main DMG is that there is an entry for every level, Need a CR10 Fighter ? There's one in the DMG (very generic, but acceptable in a pinch). Need a CR4 newcomer to a cult ? Well, there's a CR 6 cultist.. you can back out a couple of levels to get down to CR 4.
Of course, I realize that the nature of the Complex NPC beast does not lend itself to the same level-by-level progression, but maybe some guidelines on building a Complex NPC out of the generic simple ones in the DMG would have been helpful, in the "give a man a fish and he will eat today/teach a man to fish and he will eat again and again" sense.
Paper Quality ? Not something I worry about. Feels good, nice and smooth, enough weight to feel "substantial".
VirgilCaine
First Post
Aeson said:
But 4th edition GURPS already came out, like a year ago!
Kobold Avenger
Legend
Now come the deluge of questions...
What kind of advice do they offer on managing long term campaigns? Such as connecting evil ongoing plots of evil masterminds, through out campaign...
What are some of the example magical locations? Is anyone of them a fountain of youth or immortality?
What are these special unique abilities they're mentioning?
Or these rituals?
Or 'rules of destiny'?
The new teamwork benefits?
Are there any unique NPC examples that aren't the instant stock archetypes?
What kind of advice do they offer on managing long term campaigns? Such as connecting evil ongoing plots of evil masterminds, through out campaign...
What are some of the example magical locations? Is anyone of them a fountain of youth or immortality?
What are these special unique abilities they're mentioning?
Or these rituals?
Or 'rules of destiny'?
The new teamwork benefits?
Are there any unique NPC examples that aren't the instant stock archetypes?
ecliptic said:
I would have to say it feels more like the Core books.
There is a section on designing Prestige Classes... why you would want to, how to decide what would make a good one, how to balance the abilities with requirements, and so on. I did not notice any actual new ones; this is about making some that are your own.
twofalls
DM Beadle
I paged through it today at my FLGS. Steve wouldn't sell it because the release date is tomorrow, but honestly, after looking it over, I wasn't in a buying mood. It's not that it's a bad book for what it is, I just don't need it. It's a how to GM book... I've been GMing for 25 years, if I don't get it by now there isn't a book out there that can help me. 
New magical items, prestige classes, fully fleshed out Saltmarsh (anyone recal the U module series?) and articles on how to do this and how to do that. Frankly, not anything that will improve on my collection of D20 books. I have GM Secrets, Robin's Laws, and the Gamma World GMG (which was poorly received and deserved better than it got from the game community). If you are a new GM... I'd say go ahead, looks like a good read... otherwise... meh.
New magical items, prestige classes, fully fleshed out Saltmarsh (anyone recal the U module series?) and articles on how to do this and how to do that. Frankly, not anything that will improve on my collection of D20 books. I have GM Secrets, Robin's Laws, and the Gamma World GMG (which was poorly received and deserved better than it got from the game community). If you are a new GM... I'd say go ahead, looks like a good read... otherwise... meh.
Similar Threads
