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| Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition | 
 enlarge | Author: Wizards Rpg Team
Brand: Wizards of the Coast
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
Buy New: $17.49
You Save: $17.46 (50%)
New (49) Used (14) from $17.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 13003
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 4th
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 11 x 8.5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0786948809
Dewey Decimal Number: 793
EAN: 9780786948802
ASIN: 0786948809
Publication Date: June 6, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New in new dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. 221 p. Contains: Illustrations. Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebooks. Audience: General/trade.
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| Customer Reviews:
An interesting amalgam of DMG1 & DMG2 from D&D 3.5 August 13, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The new 4e Dungeon Master's Guide is an interesting book. As someone who owns both Dungeon Master's Guides from 3.5, I can spot many similarities to both. On one hand, this book makes the 3.5 DMG2 feel like a dry run before the new edition was released. It probably was, as Tome of Battle was a test drive of many of the 4e combat rules. On the other, it bears many similarities to the core DMG's before it. All the way back to 1st edition.
One of the main uses for previous DMG's was the magic items. Now that those are in the PHB, what we're left with is a book that feels like a training manual for new DM's, that has just enough information to keep many veterans from leaving it on the shelf. If you've been a DM in the past, this book isn't all that necessary. I counted maybe 60 of the 224 pages that were geared toward the experienced DM. Chapters 3, 4 and 10, plus a smattering of other pages, are all really felt I needed. The rest is geared toward newcomers.
This DMG is therefore a double edged sword that perhaps should have been split into two books: one for the veterans that's filled with charts and tables, and another for the newcomer who needs guidance before jumping in. Instead, we have one book that wants to be both. And as both, it does and OK job; just not a great one.
 Where's the Beef? August 9, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The latest version of the DMG would be great for anyone under the age of 13 and has never played D&D before. Its like how to be a DM for Dummies. Don't waste your money. Spend it on getting all of the 3.5 books before they are gone instead.
 An upgrade over previous editions August 9, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
While some feel that 4th Edition D&D doesn't feel like D&D, I have been very happy with it. Most of the changes (taking aggro from MMOs in a way, requiring a map, toning down spellcasters) are really things that have been needed for quite some time and natural evolutions of the game.
The new DMG is really only needed for someone who actually DMs and has some great tips for incorporating traps, terrain, skill challenges, and templates encounters as well as running them. Well worth reading if you think you'll even only occasionally run a game.
Wait for 4.5 August 8, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
The book was all nice, neat, and all that jazz, but 4th ed itself, it just seems to be lacking, I suggest WAIT TILL 4.5. 4.0 feels more like a public test release; Save your money, just wait a little longer. Wizards of the Coast have already released updates for the 3 core books, and some others.
3 stars cause
Goods
New ideas
New races
New Powers
New Classes
Simplified
Bads
Little to no customization for PCs, no where near 3.5.
Over Simplified everything
Confusing over use of words: Basic Melee Attack Bonus, Basic Ranged Attack Bonus, Basic this, Basic that, Power this, Power that, Basic Melee Ranged Power power. you get the idea.
All the powers are Combat orientated.
Skills are over simplified
Why buy something that is out dated already, check wizards of the coast and look for yourself, they've already releasing Updates for all the Core Books.
 Best DMG yet...even if you aren't sure about 4th edition August 4, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
If you despise 4th edition and all that it stands for, then this review obviously isn't for you.
However, if you do like 4th edition, or even if you are like me and not yet sold on its merits, this book is worth considering--it's actually the best DMG ever published.
I know that's a big claim--and nothing will ever match the joy of reading the 1st edition DMG, learning about surprise rounds, experience points, campaign building and the myriad magical items available to me (including intelligent swords and the Hand of Vecna.)
But gaming has evolved over the years, and companies have decided that the core rules should be in a player's guide, and that only the behind-the-scenes tools for running a game should be in the gamemaster's guide.
This means that "gamemaster guides" exist to:
- Teach new gamers how to run a game
- Provide insights for using the game system to tell stories
- Provide the "inside information" into the game.
The risk of this, of course, is that these guides can be (and often are) dry and/or useless. The 4th edition DMG, however, handles all these elements extremely well, and is fun to read.
The rest of this review addresses how the 4th edition DMG handles these points, in detail:
*** Teach new gamers how to run the game:
The new DMG is obviously written to show MMORPG players how to run a pen-and-paper game. At times, this becomes a bit much, such as the "tip" that index cards should be given out that help players keep track of their list of quests. (To their credit, stopped short of suggesting that ?'s and !'s over the heads of NPC's be used to show players who to talk to.)
But that obvious issue aside, the book provides solid insights. There is a section on different player archetypes, how they tend to interact with (and get enjoyment from) the game, and how you can set things up to engage them. There are comments on what makes good adventures, and how to build them from the blocks provided by 4th edition. There are sections that deal with GM fairness, problems that arise, and how best to solve them. These are all invaluable to a new GM, and frankly, a worthy read to veterans.
*** Provide Insights for using the game sytem:
This is where this book absolutely shines, and why any GM considering a 4th edition game should buy and read the book.
There are chapters on creating campaigns, explaining the different ways you can create long or short stories that bring a sense of accomplishment to the table. They explain pros and cons of the multi-year monstrosity, and the short single-purpose campaign, and several other types. They show how campaigns can be lengthened, or shortened by XP mods, with some guides on how long a campaign will take. (They specifically show how to get campaigns to fit in a school year, which was a good touch.)
There is a section on creating adventures: in dungeons, in cities, in the wilderness--and they provide insights in how to make each work, and how to walk the line between keeping the game moving and giving the players free choice.
There are numerous ways it covers the creation of encounters, which were my favorite part of the book. Non combat encounters, building up fair encounters, the use of monster roles, space and terrain, creating new monster types and modifying existing monsters to up/down scale them. These were all exceptionally well done, and have frankly modified my 3rd edition GM style.
*** Provide the "inside information" into the game:
This is a fun, though light, piece of this book. Artifacts and relics are covered, of course--though more as how they operate in 4th edition, rather than long lists of them. There is also coverage of poisons and diseases--which are more interesting than in any previous edition. And there are sections on the economy of D&D, which is more specific that I'd like, but does allow game economies scale from 1st through 30th level without bogging down the players. And of course, there is solid coverage of the planes, including what they represent as game elements, and who they are appropriate for.
Of course, there is the "fluff"...the stuff publishers put into GM guides to fill them out. In this case, even the fluff is well done. The dungeon at the end of the book was clearly fluff, and I almost skipped over it. But then I went back and read it...figuring that at the very least, I couldn't comment on it in my review if I hadn't read it. As it turns out, it really isn't fluff, so much as a recap--pulling everything the book has tried to show you into a 4-encounter case study.
In summary...I repeat: Best DMG ever published, and well worth consideration even if you are a veteran GM.
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