Yeah, I love the material and have an extremely good memory and it can be some work to double-check what I know is in there.The problem is finding it. I have read the book fron to cover and still need to search for rules I need in one situation which are scattered all over the book.
People read it... and then give up. That is the problem with this book.
The reason no one reads the DMG is because it's largely pointless. No, the solutions to problems often aren't found in the DMG. At best the rules touch on things so lightly that they might as well not exist in the first place. That's the result of the whole "rulings not rules" mantra that went into the design of 5e. They couldn't actually go into any depth because they weren't allowed to.
I think this is one of the perspective problems about the DMG. Some readers want it to be full of rules, which can be used to alter the game or min/max aspects of the game (such as flanking). This is sometimes in contrast of those that want a guide to build creativity in their world. For these people the rules are already in the PHB. They don't need more rules, they want creativity, which, at the end of the day, is the primary role of the DM.This is my main issue with the DMG. It has nothing interesting in it. The biggest changes it allows you to make to the 5E chassis is to increase or decrease the length of time required for a Long Rest. That's it.
5E engine is not inflexible, and the variant rules in the DMG have bigger impacts. Ability Score profs reshape the game too, etc etc. They could have done more and done better but no, 5E is by no means inflexible.This is my main issue with the DMG. It has nothing interesting in it. The biggest changes it allows you to make to the 5E chassis is to increase or decrease the length of time required for a Long Rest. That's it.
I recognize that most of this is due to the inflexibility of the 5E engine, but the DMG is basically a giant nothing-burger. Even if the CR system worked as advertised, it'd still be hardly used.
Compare the entire DMG with Savage Worlds' Adventure Edition pages 111 - 145. That is what I want from a good DMG: an Adventure Toolkit.
The 5E Engine is so rarely flexed in any capacity for fear of rocking the boat even the slightest.5E engine is not inflexible, and the variant rules in the DMG have bigger impacts. Ability Score profs reshape the game too, etc etc. They could have done more and done better but no, 5E is by no means inflexible.
From my perspective at least, it's very inflexible. 5E is a superhero fantasy game. You can't turn it into a horror game; you can't tweak it into a gritty/low-fantasy; it is superhero fantasy. It isn't LOTR - it's Marvel Superheroes with swords and spells.5E engine is not inflexible, and the variant rules in the DMG have bigger impacts. Ability Score profs reshape the game too, etc etc. They could have done more and done better but no, 5E is by no means inflexible.
This is more a problem now than in the past two editions?The 5E Engine is so rarely flexed in any capacity for fear of rocking the boat even the slightest.
The claim is being made about 5e not about prior editions.This is more a problem now than in the past two editions?
I really don’t think that is true.
You know what is very flexible? Some of the OSR B/X games.From my perspective at least, it's very inflexible. 5E is a superhero fantasy game. You can't turn it into a horror game; you can't tweak it into a gritty/low-fantasy; it is superhero fantasy. It isn't LOTR - it's Marvel Superheroes with swords and spells.
Further than that, it is a resource-management game. There's nothing you can do to take out the resource management - that is the game. Meaning, the game revolves around Long Rests.
That's what I mean by inflexible. There aren't any tweaks to make the 5E game you want - you're very much locked-in to what the designers intended. And that isn't what I want from my TTRPGs.