Which Chapters of the DMG Do You Use?

[Grymar]

When I need to make NPCs (or PCs, for that matter), my first and usually only stop is the appendix of the PHB2, which is worth its weight in gold. Probably the single most used portion of any book in my entire D&D library.

You know what? I have to agree with this. I bought the PHB2 as a player but use it more as a DM for the NPC generation chapter. This is what should have been in the DMG but was left out.

In the 3.5 DMG we most often use the magic item lists, but I'll check the wealth by character level charts every so often to make sure my players aren't too far out of the norm.

The 1e DMG was used constantly back in the day, you couldn't run a combat without the charts. Still you can go dig out my original AD&D DMG, hold it gently by the spine and let it open on its own...it will fall open to the "to hit" charts every time.

 

[GreatLemur]

I'm not running right now, but when I was, I barely looked at the DMG. I made some half-hearted use of the CR system and standard encounter rewards table, and also gave the PCs a few scrolls, but otherwise I had no need for it. I could happily run a game with the PHB alone, no problem.

 

[jdrakeh]

D&D 3.5 DMG. Chapters 2 and 4. That said, I plan to use nearly all of the DMG II.

 

[cwhs01]

I am currently dm'ing the freeport trilogy plus additionals.

But I don't use any, not owning or having read it. Xp is ad hoc. Magic items are either own invention, or from magic item compendium. Or from the SRD, which i guess may be a borderline case, but not strictly a specific chapter in the dmg. It might be a good idea for me to read it, but... someday perhaps

 

[GlassJaw]

Almost never these days, especially now that our group has the Rules Compendium. I might look up something in the magic item chapter but I can use the SRD for that.

Interestingly enough, I reread the CR/EL chapter the other night for another project I'm working on. I instantly remember why I never use the DMG! Wow, what a horrid system the EL table is.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I use the magic item chapter a ton, sometimes the envornment stuff (although I have the environment series books to augment that), and every once in a while the gp by level tables just to compare my party's bounty with the "norm". I read all the other stuff in the 3.0 DMG when I got it, but really there's no need to go back to a chapter describing the styles of gaming.

I don't pay a great deal of attention to the prestige classes and I never use the sample npcs.

 

[Davelozzi]

Mostly I just use the charts for CR,XP & EL.

Less frequently, I use the magic items chapter, the pre-statted NPCs (I used to use these a lot but am presently playing published adventures so its less necessary), the community design section, and the environmental/terrain info.

 

[Jhaelen]

Until I got the Magic Item Compendium I used the npc and magic item chapters a lot. Before getting the Rules Compendium I was down to using the special abilities & conditions lists and the XP and weather charts. Now, after copying the XP chart I no longer need the DMG at all.

When initially preparing my campaign I used the town and wilderness sections to help populating the area.

I also never bothered to get the 3.5 version of the DMG - I just continued using the 3.0 one plus the SRD.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

However, none of this is to say that the DMG is a bad book. A lot of the content is nice, but I'm playing on a time budget (for both prep and play).

You're like me. I like the DMG. It's a great book. It's just that I use only a few pages of it.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Interestingly enough, I reread the CR/EL chapter the other night for another project I'm working on. I instantly remember why I never use the DMG! Wow, what a horrid system the EL table is.

I never use CR or EL matched against the party's level when I'm planning an encounter. The way I play monsters has never matched up to what is suggested by the MM; I'm better off just going by gut instinct as to what the party can handle.

I see a lot of folks are using the environment tidbits in the DMG. Maybe I ought to give those a re-read. I've been using Bastion Press's Into the Green, Into the Blue, etc, etc, for so long that the chapter on environment in the DMG fell by the wayside, I guess. That, and Frostburn et al put out by WotC were also darned good books, so much so that I favor them over the DMG.