D&D (2024) Take A Closer Look At The 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide

Wizards of the Coast has just shared a video delving into the upcoming One D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide, due for release in 2024.

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Scroll down to post #4, below, for a more detailed text summary!

• Chapter 1 -- basic concepts
• Chapter 2 -- Advice, common issues
• Chapter 3 -- Rules cyclopedia
• Chapter 4 -- Adventure building
• Chapter 5 -- Campaign building
• Chapter 6 -- Cosmology
• Chapter 7 -- Magic items
• Chapter 8 -- 'A surprise'
• Appendices -- maps, lore glossary

 

[Retreater]

Chapter 8 -- 'A surprise'

A workable encounter creation system?

 

[Incenjucar]

The biggest surprise they could give me would be All The Math.

 

[JEB]

Is Chris Perkins including NPC stat blocks in the "nearly 500 Monsters" count?

Ah, I forgot they'd given a rough number for 2024. That probably doesn't mean 500 stat blocks, then, unless he's forgotten quite how dense Monstrous Manual was and is OK with being runner-up. But the numbers for monster listings (as opposed to individual statblocks) could certainly be bumped by having each NPC writeup be uniquely identified...

 

[Parmandur]

My first guess about chapter 8 and the poster map was a sample adventure and the accompanying dungeon map. An example starter adventure to kickstart a campaign. Just a guess, though.

But apparently sample Advare already part of an earlier chapter.

 

[Parmandur]

Looking over the chapter structure again, I agree with @Parmandur that the surprise stuff is likely a setting and its map, which would let the campaign construction chapter be its own thing, with references to the fuller setting at the end.

If they intend to release a Forgotten Realms setting book in 2024 alongside these core books, I can see the 2024 DMG including Greyhawk. But without that on-ramp, I think it's more likely to be the Forgotten Realms.

If they wanted to do something smaller and more self-contained, though, they have other throwback options. I don't know how many people would be agitating for it, but Thunder Rift would work great as a freebie setting taking up only one chapter of the DMG. (Sorry, Jakandor.)

Yeah, I feel pretty confident that the structure suggests that Chapter 8 gets into building a campaign world, and probably uses a retro callback example. But there are a few ways they could go with that.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

A workable encounter creation system?

Pretty sure that's in chapter 4.

 

[R_J_K75]

I don’t think there has ever been a DMG that really tells you how to DM. So that’s something.

There was a few examples of play over the years that did a decent job of explaining how a scene or situation played out. There was another good example in one section explaining alignment that also gave a good example while explaining how alignment works, I cant remember where its located, think either the 2E PHB or DMG. But you're right and I don't think that there ever been a how-to DM. Maybe in the 3.5 DMG2 but I never read that book. I just hope this section doesn't lead new DMs to think that the styles presented in this book are the only ones.

 

[Digdude]

The secret setting will be Birthright so that all 12 of us can finally play a 5e edition.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Is Chris Perkins including NPC stat blocks in the "nearly 500 Monsters" count?

Probably. People are monsters, too, you know!

 

[Stormonu]

If the '24 DMG is actually logically organized, I might actually buy the darn thing just for that reason.