D&D 3E/3.5 The DMG: A CRITICAL HIT at 93.5%!

The 5th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide is still pulling in rave reviews, and is trending at 93.5%. io9 says its "like a Hacker's Manual for D&D", and Geekdad reports that "this 5e ruleset has completely won me back!" There are dissenters, of course - 5 Minute Workday feels its "a whole lot of appetizers but no real main course" - but these are outweighed by reviews from the likes of boingboing who called it "gorgeous, evocative, hefty, organized, and readable".

So, clearly the Dungeon Master's Guide has garnered critical praise. You can look at the list of critical reviews from outlets around the web. The critics have given it an aggregate score of 85%; but fans have shown more support and weigh in with a whopping 93.5%!

Fun with stats: D&D 5th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide is ranked #3 out of 24 products with 10 or more reviews, placing it in the 92% percentile. It is rated 15.1 points higher than the overall average product rating of 78.4%. With 43 reviews, this is the #3 most reviewed product.

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[DaveDash]

I wanted more traps, more diseases, more hazards, more guidelines on trap detection, better NPC creation rules, more non combat encounter guidelines, more random encounter tables (or put that in the MM), a single place for templates and more of them (undead, incorporeal, devil, demon, etc).

To make room for this, some of the more abstract stuff could have gone into unearthed arcana.

This DMG has failed me as a tool to make my job easier due to all the above things lacking. This is why it will never be a 9/10 in my eyes.

The biggest sour point is creating combat NPCs, converting City of the Spider Queen with 40 pages of NPCs hasn't been made easier or clearer with this new DMG.

 

[MechaPilot]

I certainly wanted and was led to expect more out of the DMG than it provides.

The DMG is a good book. Judging it entirely on its own merits, I would give it an A minus (90% if I had to pin a number on it). However, when I account for what we were told, that it would be a "hacking guide" to the system, the grade drops substantially (to a C plus).

 

[Imaro]

I certainly wanted and was led to expect more out of the DMG than it provides.

The DMG is a good book. Judging it entirely on its own merits, I would give it an A minus (90% if I had to pin a number on it). However, when I account for what we were told, that it would be a "hacking guide" to the system, the grade drops substantially (to a C plus).

Where exactly were we told this?

 

[MechaPilot]

Where exactly were we told this?

I'll have to dig up the reference. I believe that it was either in one of the articles or interviews.

Here you go.

"Mike wrote a sidebar on THAC0 for the DMG! DMG will be more like a "hackers guide" to the game."

Read more: http://www.enworld.org/forum/conten...E-Panel-Highlights#.VJCuLyvF9co#ixzz3M6M62mrw

 

[Morrus]

I'll have to dig up the reference. I believe that it was either in one of the articles or interviews.

The io9 review called it that. But that was just two days ago, and wasn't WotC.

 

[MechaPilot]

The io9 review called it that. But that was just two days ago, and wasn't WotC.

I believe the review was simply picking up on the quote that had already been out there. I edited my previous post to include a link to the earlier quote.

 

[Sailor Moon]

Whether or not one wants to admit it, we were lead into believing the DMG would contain a "lot" more than we have been given.

 

[Guyanthalas]

I agree, but I still find reviews (but not necessarily ratings) useful. I actually find negative (or less favorable if you will) reviews more helpful than positive ones. If the negative reviewers issues are things that are no big deal to me or things I persoanlly like then I figure I will like the product.

+1 on this. I read the 5 Minute Workday review and found it super helpful and thought provoking. I don't think I would be nearly as critical as the author, but its some interesting bits to keep in mind for all DM's and the point of view is very well done. When people say "Bo0k iz trash", I know I can safely discount that opinion.

 

[Imaro]

I'll have to dig up the reference. I believe that it was either in one of the articles or interviews.

Here you go.

"Mike wrote a sidebar on THAC0 for the DMG! DMG will be more like a "hackers guide" to the game."

Read more: http://www.enworld.org/forum/conten...E-Panel-Highlights#.VJCuLyvF9co#ixzz3M6M62mrw

Cool and thanks for digging that up, it's funny after reading through that it seems like all the specifics he cited as being in the DMG were actually in there...

 

[Nergal Pendragon]

I have to admit I'm pleasantly surprised by how this edition is shaping up.

Personally, I think the DMG is the weakest book, but that it fully deserved that score. They've done a good job.