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.

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.

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.

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.

Even if you aren't sold on 4th edition D&D yet, 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 learned 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 the DMG exists 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 gamemaster's 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. (But to their credit, they didn't suggest 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 (4th edition or not) 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 don't play (or can't stand) 4th edition D&D.

I'm not gonna delve into the 3.5 vs 4ed debate or anything, but I do want to point out that they finally made the DMG an optional purchase. Previous DMGs have held "behind the scenes" rules that necessitated buying them, but this one really is just a guidebook for DMs. There's very little in here that you can't find in the PHB. It's worth reading for the skill challenge rules, but other than that, only one person in your group really needs this book.

That's kinda refreshing.

I was terribly upset with the idea of online play. I always thought that Warcraft had that down. Why not leave it to the pros. I enjoy role playing with my friends; however, let's face it, the people that play this may not be the people I want to hang out with. That's just one of the many quarrels I have with this particular version of the game. Some of the other are too many of the rules that were good about 3.5 have changed. Over all, it's terrible; everything that was good about 3.0 has changed, and I believe that this big, steaming, heaping, nutty brown pile deserves to be flushed. I give it an overrated ONE out of FIVE. But bear in mind I can't give it a zero; unfortunately, Amazon won't let me. .000001/5

P.S. I'm going to play Warcraft.

4th Edition D&D is a refreshing new edition of the rules.
They have streamlined a lot of the play to make it faster and easier on the DM. Combat seems to flow better and since you're not mired down in the rules it seems more exciting. My only complaint is that it feels like they withheld some options like certain Classes/Skills/Feats/Spells. I'm sure they will release Add-On after Add-On to take care of that though.

As I noted in my review of the PHB, 4e is a worthy successor to 3.5, but it isn't a must have. If you are just starting in D&D, 4e is the way to go, but if you are happy with your 3.5 or earlier campaign, there is no big rush to end it and switch.

This edition of the DMG is focussed on designing and running good encounters, campaings and game. Specifics such as Magic Items have been moved out of the DMG and into the PHB, which is good since in the end players need to access that information. Oh, there is still specifics for less common aspects of combat, but the emphasis is on running a fun game.

For some, the DMG (and 4e in general) may be a bit heavy on defining specific roles, but the roles can be good tools for building a better game. Where the PHB classifies character roles, the DMG talks about player roles - not in terms of what to force your players into, but in terms of classifying how different people play the game so you can make sure you are giving everyone what they play to get. To old hands, these classifications may be obvious and intuitive, but they certainly can help many DMs create a better game for all.

The DMG also defines monster roles and ways of building good encounters by using monsters filling a mix of roles. It also gives structure to non-combat skill challenges.

For me, one of the big successes was in combat encounter building. In 3.0 & 3.5, combining monsters of different challenge ratings (CRs) to a final encounter rating (ER) was difficult. You could do it, but it wasn't straight forward. It was much easier to use a bunch of the same monster. Even then, you had to look up the ER for each different character level involved to determine the XP awarded.

In 4e, each monster has a role and a fixed XP ammount and you just pick monsters to fill the roles you want and have the total XP you want for the encounter, which is divided equally among the player characters. This makes it much easier to use a variety of monsters for a more interesting encounter.

This is not D&D. It's a new game, not a particularly good one, with the D&D "logo" slapped on the front. Third Edition tinkered a little bit with the iconic elements of D&D, but could still be seen as an upgrade. For fourth edition however, all prior editions might as well have never existed. It is obvious that the publisher's driving motivation was to trade on the D&D label, while making absolutely certain that no prior edition products would be in any way useful for this game. Great way to alienate your entire market Hasbro. Thanks.

D&D continues to refine, define and improve the icon of all role playing games. 4th edition proves to be the best rendition of the game yet. It offers smoother combat mechanics, easy to "learn and play" rules and best of all a revamped and, gratefully, improved Magic system! And for classes, there are no more "to be avoided" classes as they are all good to play and balanced. Monsters in the series are easier to plan and run with the new streamlined system and its dependance on minitures to operate combat. And the Dungeons Master Guide, once relagated to the "other stuff" book, now actually tells you how to narrate the system and tips on how to be a better Dungeon Master! The only drawback to this otherwise superior system, is that it seems to have removed most of the background roleplaying aspects that rounded out a character, such as the Craft, Perform and even Ride skiils that were present in previous editions. But, given the overall improvement of the system, it's well worth the investment!

You can read all the bad decisions Hasbro made on this dog in other reviews, but to be susinct: DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. I have never pre-judged any of the D&D editions, loved 3.5 despite the wave of initial anger over it, but this time the critics are right. This is a video game, not an RPG, not even a good wargame. It is dumbed down D&D and really, really, silly. It reads alomst as a parody of the game - it plays like a shadow of it.

Wow, it has been 20+ years since I felt the urge to write a letter to the creators of my favorite game. Back then I wrote to TSR in Lake Geneva to ask a simple rules question and got a hand typed letter back signed by the "Big Guy" himself. I was awed and shocked to get such a response.

Unfortunately this time I feel compelled to write not asking a simple question but to say a complicated good bye.

I have been playing since the very early days of TSR, since that time I have taken my D&D campaign everywhere with me; College, eight years flying around the world in the USMC, through the several moves across five states and now teaching the game to my three children. I am not the streotypical gamer, living in mom's basement and driving a 1977 AMC Pacer-wagon (though my Mom and Dad actually bought a powder blue one when I was in high school, needless to say I walked to school). I am a manager for a multi-billion dollar, multi-national corporation and make a very nice living at it. As such I have been able to collect over the years a rather large RPG library and have sitting on my desk almost every title WOTC has published, with the exception of the Eberron and Dragonlance series which I just not got into for one reason or antoher.

But now it appears that it time for us to part ways.

I purchased the new Fourth Edition rules and devoured them while on vacation. I read the books cover to cover and was completely disheartened at the end of my read. I could have cried. The game that I have played and loved since the 8th grade is dead. It hit me just as it did when GDW switched to the Traveller: New Era rules, the game I loved was gone and the publisher stumbled along with a similarly titled game that was but a shadow of the original.

When my wife, who after a year of MMORPG'ing has only recently switched to tabletop gaming, saw how distressed I was she picked up the books and started skimming through. Although a veteran of only a few D&D 3.5 sessions she too saw this was not the same game we had played with my kids. After an hour or so she looked over the top of the PHB and asked me, "Do you think the guys at World of Warcraft know WOTC stole their game?" We discussed the new rules for quite a while and I began to make a list of what I would need to change in my current campaign so that I could bring the kids into the new edition. That list soon turned into a list titled "GOOD CHANGES" and "BAD CHANGES", thinking I could simply devise some house rules or cobble the 3.5 rules into place where the new 4E rule went against the grain.

As the list progressed I soon found that there was little point.

Lets face it you have shifted your target audience away from gamers like me to the new generation who demand instant gratification and who find that grinding through the lower levels is beneath them. I have had a few of these types play in my games over the years, the "Dave Bozwell type" from Knights of the Dinner Table, who B.A. lures to the gaming table by giving him a +12 Hackmaster Sword as a first-level fighter. As a manager of a business I understand that you have to set your sights on where the money is in the marketplace and it is apparent that you are going after Blizzard's 9-million WoW subscribers.

I am sure you have read many of the naysayers on the forums and reviews of the new books on sites such as Amazon.com. While you will always have those who resist a change from a previous edition, I can honestly say that my objections to 4E are not because of some grognard stubbornness or wistful reminiscences for times gone by, but purely for mechanical and stylistic reasons.

Stylistic? Yes. The theme of the game has changed, the mood, the ambiance if you will. As an example, in the DMG on page 124 under monetary treasure the portion reads, "By the time characters reach epic level, they rarely see gold anymore." Hmmm, so do they shop at Epic Level merchants and eat at Epic Level taverns? When I read this I could just imagine every merchant in town with a hand written sign in their stall at the market "NOTHING LARGER THAN A SILVER PIECE". That would throw a loop into Mr. Tough Guy trying to buy 50' length of rope at the bazaar with an Astral Diamond. Clearly a case of catering to this new generation, and where do I even begin with the pandering to the "It's KEWL to be evil" crowd with the inclusion of the Dragonborn and Tiefling.

After all the years of my mother asking me when I am going to grow up and stop playing games, I am sorry to see that that time is here. I shouldn't say that I am going to stop, that is not true. My campaign will continue, sadly though without your support. I purchased the DMG and PHB the first day they were released with every intention of continuing my support of WOTC and 4E only to find that I was left behind. It all happened so fast I wasn't prepared to say good bye, but now after a few weeks of reading and re-reading the 4E material I have been able to justify my position and can now finally come to grips with the fact that this is the end of an era.

I borrowed a copy of this and the PHB from someone and read the pair of them from cover to cover just so I could say that I had read them. I've got all the 3rd edition books (some of which I wish I hadn't bought). Even if I had liked what I read in 4e I wouldn't drop 3.5 to play it simply because, for me and my group, 3.5 isn't broken and we've invested too much and effort into it to drop it for another system. 4e is, as many here have said, Wizards' desperate attempt to appeal to all those kiddies who'd rather be playing WoW or some other MMORG. They're clever buggers though. They raped an rpg called Earthdawn for 3rd edition, why not do the same to the most popular video game of the day. Im sure it'll work for them on the money side. It made them rich with 3.5. Im wondering what Wrath of the Lich King will do to their sales though. Who wants to play WoW without the graphics?
4e? Its a streamlined, dumbed down, annoyingly uncomplicated DnD. Gone are all the cool things I love about 3.5. Where 3.5 allows for an endless array of characters, 4e looks to me to be not unlike WoW characters who come in about 3 versions per class, one of which is always going to be toted as the best 'build'.
I've heard a lot of people criticize 3.5 over wizards having spells per day and it being limiting. I play a lot of successful wizards and I never have a problem. 4e though has spells that per day, per encounter, per round, etc. That's no less absurd to me. What the heck is a per encounter spell? That's absurd. What if the encounter is 1 rd and the next 25 rds? Not to mention they removed spells from the game. Its just sad.
Thank you Wizards for 3.5. I don't need this latest dire wolf in WoW's clothing.

The dungeon master's guide for 4th edition is truly designed with the dungeon master in mind. Gone are the days where the players would need their own DMG for referencing their magic items, item creation feats, prestige classes, and other odds and ends. The DMG now focuses on the how to building encounters, adventures, campaigns, and settings. It starts with an introduction to DMing for new game masters. It runs through the purpose of a dungeon master, expectations that you should have for your group, and how to make the game work for your players. For a new DM, this will help get you off to a good start. For an experienced DM, the section will mostly feel like old hat, but is not without its own insightful tidbits.

The next sections of the book focus on encounters. They talk about combat encounters. They tell you how to build encounters for a given group size and party level. Give you advice and guidelines on how to make encounters that are challenging, interesting, and easy to run. It takes a lot of the guess work out of building encounters, and is a lot more intuitive than the CR system used in the last edition. Let me put it this way, you can throw together a really interesting combat encounter in five minutes that will match well with your party. If you are an improvisational DM, then you know just how awesome that is. After a long discussion on terrain, an oft-overlooked component of combat design, they go into non-combat encounters. Skill challenges are a great concept that gets a lot of development. They formalize what was previously a nebulous concept, using skills to resolve an encounter. They give examples of skill challenges, target DCs by level, advice on building them, and advice on how to improvise along with player ingenuity. They also give some time to traps and puzzles. The puzzles section, in my opinion, was a little bit lacking. They left out entires classes of puzzles, such as spacial puzzles, and focused only on the most esoteric forms that, quite frankly, are very jarring to come across. In the end, though, most of the encounter section gives nothing but useful guidelines and sound advice.

Similar statements can be made on the rest of the book, it's filled with rules of thumb and thoughtful advice. The only really bad thing that I have to say about the book, however, is that it has some blatant advertisement in it. For example, as opposed to saying that you need "something to represent characters and monsters," or even just saying "miniatures," the DMG says that you need "D&D Miniatures." Similarly, references are dropped regularly to other materials like Dungeon Tiles and DnDinsider. Admittedly, these are all nice luxuries for a game, but the product placement seems out of place.

Dungeon Masters should definitely give this book a read through, it will improve your games and make preparation super easy. Don't expect the DMG of generations past, though.

I've been roleplaying for years, so a quick skim through of the DMG left me with the impression that there wasn't anything in it for me. A more thorough reading revealed a number of useful rules that, while they could have been elsewhere, make the DMG invaluable.

I've been an absolutely RABID fan of Dungeons and Dragons in all of its incarnations since about 1980. I had all of the 1st edition and 2nd edition books, 3.0 represented a big change for me, but I grew to like it - and then 3.5 really fixed some of the bugs in 3.0 making it one of the most modular systems I'd ever seen.

When the 4th edition of D&D was announced, it seemed premature. When the video of the presentations about 4th edition hit YouTube, I was intrigued - a lot of what I seeing sounded very promising. I began to let myself get excited about the new edition, then I read one of the preview books - and began to get nervous, but I figured, hey, this is just a preview - they'll work out the bugs. After all, version 3.0/3.5 had a few clunky spots, but if you worked through those, BAM, you had an amazingly well oiled machine, right? Then I get the 4th edition rulebooks. Wow, talking about a head shot. We have "new Coke" in game form.

First, I believe it is entirely misguided for WotC to try to turn D&D into a MMO, yet that's effectively what they've done. The various classes are too homogenous, their roles are too rigidly defined, all of the powers and abilities have to work on a square grid. While this certainly "simplifies" and "streamlines" the system, it's effectively thrown the baby out with the bathwater as there's no "system" left. Gone are perennial favorites like the Druid, bard, and monk, and we get the warlord???

Of the three Core rulebooks, the DMG is probably the best. It includes a lot of really good information for new DM's on how to engage players based on their playing style. Unfortunately, it's a part of an edition that has essentially removed the role playing aspect and replaced it almost entirely with "roll playing." With all of the action effectively taking place on a grid - the DM may as well be a decent Core 2 PC programmed to make the rolls.

I sincerely hope that 4th edition is improved as additional supplements are released, but I'm not holding my breath (and I AM holding my dollars until I see evidence of improvement). At this point I see 4th Edition as an interesting game of below average depth and quality. I fear Gary Gygax is rolling over in his grave to see the "Dungeons and Dragons" name on it.

To start with, this is not a review of Fourth Edition, I have been reading through the character and combat system, and I like 4th edition (and I date back to the days of the original Chainmail). That being said, this book is utterly useless if you have played the game before, any version. There are no charts (other than disease and traps). Most of it is advice on how to roleplay, and what to do if someone has a family member that died and missed 2 months of gaming (I kid you not).

All the rules you need for 4th edition are in the players handbook. Heck, the monster manual is pretty worthless to if you are getting the modules, all the stats are in the modules. Magic Items, Combat Rules, all character powers, that is all in the PH.

There are like 10 pages of stupid made up artifacts that you will never use, pages on how to make maps, how to make encounters, and how many bowls of chips you should have at a game session. Honestly, there is NOTHING in this book that is need to play 4th edition, I would recommend only the PH and the first module if you want a feel for the game.

I do like 4th ediion though.. even though it seems like it was built as a video game engine. I have neices and nephews that it is really easy to explain to.

evolution is a good thing, even if it isnt for the immediate best. truth is, for all the whiners out there. dnd has always been a use the rulebooks as a guide system. if you dont like a rule CHANGE IT. wotc people arent going to show up at your house with clubs.

Very good book. Easy to read and follow. Streamlined for faster combat resolutions. Not sure yet how the whole D&D Insider thing will work out, but sounds interesting. If you are new to D&D, then get this book and the other two core books. You won't be disappointed.

Buy from Amazon, thes books sell for their listed price any where else.
Put it this way, $62 vs $104.

D&D has been around in one form or another for 31+ years, which is about as long as I've been playing. The advantage of D&D and the D20 game system in general is that everybody knows it. There's no huge learning curve needed to just start playing the game. Every previous edition of D&D has understood this basic strength.

Fourth Edition, plain and simple, is not D&D, and is not the D20 system. It's an entirely new game. Wizards of the Coast has made a huge mistake with this. They're trying to attract video game players by turning D&D into a pen and paper version of World of Warcraft. That tactic is simply not going to work. Current World of Warcraft players are not going to stop playing World of Warcraft to play this. Current D&D enthusiasts simply are not going to bother learning this new system, not when third party vendors are still supporting edition 3.5, and not while better RPG systems already exist (Note: This based on my discussions with customers from game stores in the fifth largest city in the US).

Bottom line, fourth edition is going to go over for Wizards of the Coast the same way that "New Coke" went over for Coca Cola. My advice would be to save your money, and stick with an older edition of D&D. At its best, fourth edition is simply not an improvement over what has come before it. It's just something different.

By far the best source of actual DMing information yet in one book. Rather than focusing on player resources like prestige classes and magic items, this is the first time a DMG has focused purely on the DM, not the players. It's full of great advice even for advanced DMs, and tools to make DMing not only easier, but more fun for the DM. I highly suggest you pick this up if you think you might want to try DMing 4th edition D&D.

There's a lot to love about 4th edition but I will focus on the Dungeon Master's Guide.

This is the first DMG I will actually use. It has excellent suggestions for dealing with different player types, gives you a lot of information on worldbuilding, and, most importantly, tells you how to quickly create custom monsters and NPCs.

NPC generation took the most amount of time for me in my 3.5 games, sometimes taking hours to fill out a powerful boss for a final battle. With 3.5 a DM can create an NPC in a few minutes or customize a monster, turning them into an elite or even a solo mob with little more than some notes on a 3x5 card.

Though the DMG no longer contains magic items, I still see myself using this DMG a lot more than any previous DMG I have seen.

Ignore the haters - 4th edition is the game the way it is meant to be played.

i ignored the bad signs, didn't download the leaked print copies online, and wow did i pay the price.

this really is a video game without graphics, asking you to put the work into a game that has become a WoW clone. Just get WoW and play with your friends, you will be MUCH happier.

if you want good table top, you're in luck because 3.5 stuff is now becoming dirt cheap. or try pathfinder rpg.

The new Dungeon Masters Guide drops some of the stuff present in previous editions (like world-building and magic items) and concentrates on good and solid advise on how to run a game.

With sections on "Narration", "Pacing", "How to deal with problematic players" and "Teaching the game to new players", we finally have official recognition of the fact that good roleplaying starts and ends with the DM. Some of this advise will sound old to experimented DMs, but it certainly eases the learning curve for new aspiring DMs.

Additionally, the sections on how to build encounters (combat and non-combat), adventures and campaigns are very interesting and simple to implement.

So, in short, this is probably the best written of the new 4th edition core rulebooks.

By and large, I don't recommend the 4E rules. The new edition has chopped out nearly all non-combat rules and otherwise severely limited the options open to both players and DMs. The Dungeon Master's Guide is the most useful of the three core rule books, but even that isn't saying very much.

What's good here? The advice to novice DMs about building, pacing, and running an adventure is very useful. The basic ideas about combat roles for monsters are useful.

What's bad? Well, the problem is that much of this advice is couched in terms of the broken 4th Edition rule system, which I've described elsewhere as the illegitimate lovechild of World of Warcraft and Hackmaster. It's all about comic-book fantasy combat. The only non-combat mechanic in the book - the skill challenge - is fundamentally broken at the mathematical level: parties need an 80% success rate to succeed at a skill challenge, and most PCs have no better than a 65% chance with most skills. So most parties will fail at most skill challenges most of the time.
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Unfortunately if you ditch the broken rule system, much of the rest of the book is just useless. If you want or need DM advice, then pick this book up second-hand. I expect to see many used copies coming available soon as disgusted users sell off their books. There's no sense in paying full price when you'll have to pry any useful tips loose from the useless 4E rules matrix.

First of all, I have very little to add based on all the other responses. If you want to know how this version of D&D is bad, they'll tell you. What we need to look at now are the implications of this new era of gaming. This edition does not allow for the flexibility necessary to tell fun, unique stories. Not really. Not if you think about the limits imposed by the system and the archetypal themes the designers have abandoned in favor of playability or, rather, simplicity. The kind of role-playing I like to do focuses on the story, and I have always had an ear toward writing when I'm gaming. It's not like that for everyone, and some people may like the "game" elements of this edition. I don't like what I've seen and read because I don't feel like I can tell a good story with this rules set. This edition is more about powers and miniatures and those other elements of D&D. It's less about a generic fantasy system where everything is possible and more about combat and what story the designers have set forth. Role-playing should be less about what tropes the system demands and more about your own imagination. Just look through the books and see how the designers are telling you how to play. What races do what. What classes work this way. What powers this type of character should have. How you should interact with the rest of the party. The list goes on.

Pretty much exactly what you would expect, a guide on how to run a 4e table, I dont know why people expected anything else. It always seemed silly to me to have the item creation tables in the DMG anyways; it forced players to buy the DMG if they wanted to create their own items. I perfer it this way, you no longer strictly need the DMG at the game table.

If you like WoW, go play WoW. Don't waste 100$ and another 100$ on the all important miniatures and on these craptastic books just so you can play world of warcraft on paper!

Notice how there are already used books available here and on ebay! Tell you something?

This edition of Dungeons and Dragons has been "simplified" to where it's basically nothing more than a slightly expanded version of the D&D Miniatures game.

The new rules are focused ONLY on running boardgame-style combat with miniature figures. After running three of four test sessions my players became VERY bored and insisted on going back and playing "real D&D."

If you want to play this kind of tabletop miniatures combat, you'd be better of just getting the D&D miniatures game. Or the game "Heroscape."

But if you REALLY want to play 4E, I suggest that you wait a month or two. The books will cost a lot less when they're on clearance.

This is a great book for the beginning DM. I already own DMG1 and DMG2 (from 3.5 edition) and had already been doing skill challenges (where was this initially introduced?) just as described in this book.

Its a fine book, but it only has a few rules that I might need to reference. The encounter building and the treasure are the only parts I'll probably need to reference, but that was only like 10% of the book.

I miss the DMG being this huge tome of knowledge that I could just kick back and enjoy on a rainy day, (1st edition DMG comes to mind).

The new dm guide has its pros and cons. It gives advice to dms on how to run a game and gives a town completely fleshed out and a short adventure to get a new dm started. It also gives a section on traps and hazards. This section and the one on experience rewards are really the only two that an experienced dm would need to run the new rules. However, that being said the book does what its supposed to do. It gives the dm advice on how to be an effective dm who creates a world and a story for his player characters to be heroes in. What i like about it is the fact you no longer need the dms guide at the game table. The magic items are now in the players handbook as well as all the other player options. The dms guide is for a dm designing a campaign and nothing more. I like not having to have it at the table during gameplay. The less books at the table the better.

Ok, I would like to start out with saying that in the beginning I thought that this would be twink gaming at it's finest, with such additions as the Dragonborn, Assimar, and Teafling as playable characters, when before they were reserved either for NPC or for 13 year old boys who would just like to be all powerful. That being said, the DM really dissapointed me. There were no magic items, say for the artifacts, in the whole thing, and instead, you are given charts on what to give your players from the PH, giving to much power to the players. This agrivated me even more when I realized that if I wanted to have the volume of magic items in the 3.0 DM,that I would shurley have to buy the 5 magic item books that are sure to follow this book in the coming year. Agrivating me still is the fact that now the golden rule "The DM is always right" no longer applies, for the simple reason that I can no longer make my saving throws behind a shield to prevent the adventure from either being to tough, or to easy. With the way the saves are worked out now with your save being like an AC, my gamers learn the magic number that they need to hit my fort, ref, or will saves, and can now tell when they hit or don't hit, taking the game from being ever changing and evolving, to a war game, which is exactly what this is. I tried, I really did, to give this game an honest shot, but when it takes a hour and a half to get through with one battle, I new that we were no longer playing D&D, but a war game, and if I had decided to put in any roleplaying, that it would have doubled an normal gaming session. Before you ask, yes, my gamers are experienced, with the lowest one being 2 years of playing and the highest one being 20 years of playing.I am going to also flame the PH and MM for other reasons, so go over to those books and read those reviews. And thank you Hasbro for trying to suck as much money out of us while spending as little money as possible, show us you really have a soul

Even if you are opposed to 4e, the DMG is a great resource for a DM that has never run a game before. Amazing in the information and tools it provides, the book feels more like a resource document than anything. One of the best D&D books I have purchased in ages, and has helped me become a convert from 3.5 to 4e.

OK....... I really REALLY REALLY wanted to love this game. To be honest I've been a sucker for every incarnation of DnD that's come out. I liked all of em in their own way. I prebought this one and every 'pre-book' they've put out... We were all so eager for this new incarnation. It read so well. I can't believe this, but this game has actually managed to depress me!! I HAVE played it. Just spent three hours playing, in fact.

When we finished the party reported that they had the distinct feeling that we had just played a board game version of WOW. Now we all LOVE WOW in our gaming group.. but that's NOT what we sat down to play around a table. We saw nothing 'quick' or 'streamlined' about the gaming experience. We moved pieces around a board adhereing to movement rules and 'squares' for this and that in a fashion that reminded me way too much of the old 'Heroes Quest', albeit a complicated version! Were the game mechanics good? Yes. Why did I give it a 'one star'? Because whilst the game is a good miniature warfare game it seemed to rob the flavor of DnD. The character creation was extrememly confined and the selections were limited. Gone was the ability to customize your character to the point that you actually felt like you had something unique. You will feel as if WOC is controlling the direction your character takes. The game DEMANDED a board and game pieces.. I've always felt that DnD's flavor relied on the 'minds eye', which is so much more colorful in my head than staring at plastic pieces on a piece of cardboard. I do realize that the 'original' DnD was just that, a wargame with a fantasy element. But I feel it evolved into so much more... I guess we've 'returned to our roots'... so why do I feel like we climbed back into the primordial ooze?!

A great deal of the time the magic users felt like they were 'hitting the hot button key'. They had one or two actions that they relied on every round to cause the maximum amount of damage. No inovation or imagination. Everything was geared towards 'how does this directly effect combat'.

The DM's guide isn't that bad. Reminds me a LOT of the first edition book. Information on how to be an effective dm, traps, dungeons, and artifacts. Not what 'thirders' would expect, but not bad.

The Monster Manual is awful. A third of the pictures are just rehashed from all the previous Monster Manuals. The book is concerned with stats so you can play your miniature game effectively. Again.... great if your into miniature gaming. The ecology and culture information is virtually non-existant. Make all the arguments you want about this now being in the pervue of the DM.. the honest answer is that WOC is being lazy. You have a vast variety of stats to place against your carefully created stats, but very little flavor to guide you in roleplaying the encounters.

I have read that the streamlined combat will enhance the rolplaying as you'll have more time available.... that was really exciting.. too bad this wasn't the case. Going to miniatures and a combat board, whilst carefully figuring out where your party and the encounter is, everytime combat arose was time consuming. You'll also notice that you'll have to change the map everytime, of course, which is also time consuming.

If you LOVE miniature wargaming. If Warhammer is something you daydream about.... this is the game for you! As a miniature game experience it ranks a three or four...

If you love games that take place in your head fired by limitless imagination then your probably going to be disappointed.

I really feel like power gamers are going to LOVE this game and probably flame me for my remarks. The game is geared towards being 'godlike'. I'm not knocking this. If you love powergaming and twinking then this is DEFFINITLEY the game for you. To each his or her own. You should buy it immediately... and keep DnD fiscally sound enough to perhaps manage an inevitable rewrite that might restore my faith.

Ironically I'll be keeping my set... I think it'll make a great board game for those rare nights when I just wanna run through dungeons killings things and working off frustrations. According to the DMG I don't even need a DM to do this..... Sound like any RPG you ever heard of???? No story teller... no RPG. Just another board wargame.. albeit a pretty good one.

Good day!

Wow... this books assumes your an idiot... most of it is teaching you how to be a DM.. why that might be necessary for many.. be warned. If your a DM and have been for any amount of time, very little is useful here. No magic items.. only artifacts. Detailed instructions on HOW to DM.. thats about the size of it. Very disappointing. I hated first edition dnd.. didn't care for second... really liked third... and thought we would continue advancing forward... Unfortunately I was SOOO wrong.. *weep* The emperor has no clothes folks!!!! OPEN YOUR EYES!!!

First, I want to rebuke the most common complaints from people who read the books (but apparently didn't play the game).

1) People say this is the death of role-playing, and the system is totally focused on combat. COMPLETELY UN-TRUE. First off, I am a self-taught 3rd edition player, and I can tell you from experience, 3rd edition has NOTHING on role-playing in any of the books. There is only HALF A PAGE dedicated to role-playing in the 3rd edition PHB. The 4th edition books actually have section on role-playing and personality development. I would also like to remind opponents of 4th edition that the amount of role-playing in a game comes from the DMs expectations, not the game mechanics. All the game mechanics (as in dice rolling) are geared towards combat (in 3rd and 4th edition). You don't need numbers to role-play. No matter how your character is statistically quantified, role-playing is still up to the person playing, not the character sheet in front of them.

2) The complaint that 4th edition is only combat oriented is another fallacy. The combat system in 4th edition has been streamlined and simplified. I ran an encounter, and it ran so much smoother then 3rd edition. And I ask, what are the hall-marks of the heavy role-playing RPGs like white wolf? Simplified character creation and combat (like 4th edition). I also ask, What are the hall-marks or a war games? A slow and overly complicated combat system (like 3rd edition).

3) The third complaint that I hate is that Wizards of the Coast is trying to market to the "world of warcraft" crowd. OF COURSE THEY ARE! It took WoW a year and a half to get an audience comparable to what it took D&D 30 years to get. By the way, about 9 out of 10 people I play WoW with, I also play D&D with.

So lets recap: Opponents of 4th edition say that by making combat simpler, you are somehow focusing the entire game on it. And that by including sections about role-playing (which 3rd edition was sorely lacking) you are some how discouraging role-playing.

Getting to the game I ran. I ran a 4th edition encounter with three 3rd edition veterans and a new comer to D&D. My three veterans loved it, and I found it so much easier to prepare a game. But the novice, who never liked 3rd edition, really enjoyed 4th edition. So soon I will be starting up a new 4th edition campaign.

Remember, actual role-playing has nothing to do with technical rules used in combat, no matter what system of dice rolling you use, role-playing isn't effected by that.

Simply said, 4th edition is new, innovative, and a better game. It isn't "dumbed down for stupid WoW players." Who the hell ever put points in "use rope" anyway?

On the Dungeon Master Guide (DMG): The new DMG is a perfect combination of the DMG and DMGII from 3.5. The DMG is now something you use to build adventures, but not have to bring to your game (all the rules you need for a game are in the PHB). The DMG is perfectly split between technical information (which the 3.5 DMG had too much of). And practical DMing advise (which the 3.5 DMG was sorely lacking in). Overall, it is a great improvement to the DMG and D&D.

Worst D&D version ever. It is but a shell of what D&D once was and is now the shattered remnants of something that was grand. Rest in peace D&D. Quite possibly the worst rpg I have ever played.

As a person who started playing D&D with the pink Basic Box and then worked my way up to Expert, AD&D and finally 2nd edition AD&D (that is about 30 years of rpging) I feel that I can put my simply opinion into the ether.

Many folks have complained that the Core Rules have lost much of the D&D flavor. I disagree. It seems to me that the Core Rules should be rules, and fairly generic, so that they can be applied to any setting. I all to clearly remember Basic through 1st edition AD&D not containing much in the way of flavor either. Instead the DM and players had to work together to create the world.

How is 4th any different. I can take these rules and apply them to Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms (ick), Ravenloft, etc. with little difficulty. I would think that any half-decent DM/player could do the same thing. Too many folks are worried that they won't be able to Monty Hall their characters as easily as in 3rd edition.

Get over it and enjoy the game.

Ok,I am not surprized many people are underating the 4th edition, it was the same with 3th edition.

It have changed alot...but in my point of view it is for better.
No more complicated multi face rolls (like Grappling for example), no more hundreds of skills, the new classes and races are cool, I like the power system, etc...
I understand what people mean about online computer games, I play Wow and it is obvious the power system and the rules in general have something about online games....but check this....everything changes, D&D is changing bc it must change to survive! Why should a boy spend hours creating content for D&D if he can login and play Wow in seconds?...RPGs are changing and will change even more in the years ahead...if they wanna survive.
I played AD&D since first edition and maybe I am one of those few who can say "I played and loved all editions".
This one im lovin already, straight foward rules, dynamic and fast paced...full of intersting ideas (D&D Insider is something lots of people will use from times to times now a days)

If u love D&D and want it to survive the next decade you should support the changes in 4th edition or we will all end playing WoW on our computer desks, we will have no more social games anymore, no more game tables with friends at home, there will be no more use for our imagination and creativity....no more Dungeons & Dragons. Never forget rules are just rules...RPGs are much more than rules..the rules are the medium to make the game work, we (the players) make the RPG happen...I am sure the 4th edition can give people an amazing experience if in the right hands.

One last word..
If u dont like the 4th edition why complaining? Continue playing 1st, 2nd or the 3th edition! There are tons of material from the past editions to play for a hundred years. Have fun and let the new generations have fun whith the 4th edition.

and sorry about my english, it is not my native language.

There is a section in this book on how to play D&D without a Dungeon Master. If i wanted to play this type of engine i would buy an under-funded MMO.

:(

Despite the large amounts of whining you might hear about 4th edition, I believe all the changes are for the better. At least, for the better up from 3rd/3.5, which were terrible rules-wise. The production quality of the book is high and the content well-written.

This book is (perhaps counter-intuitively) very light on rules and very heavy on guidelines, but even experienced DMs will learn a lot from it. You can never get too much advice on how to be a good DM.

I've been playing and loving D&D since 1982. This new edition isn't really Dungeons and Dragons anymore, but a new game that reads and plays like it was based on a computer game. If you love EQ and WoW, you'll probably like this. If you have played D&D before and enjoyed it, stay away from the 4th edition! It's made for video gamers with short attention spans, and not true D&D fans. All the richness and variety has been sucked out of the game. What a joke.

The new edition of D&D is a revelation. I've played every version since 1st edition AD&D, but this is the first time that everything has clicked so quickly, and I find myself nodding constantly as I read through the rulebooks.

A number of classic D&D elements have been ripped out and replaced, but now everything is more streamlined and consistent, and makes sense from a gameplay balance point of view. While some aspects have been simplified, the range of choices available to both players and DMs, as well as the associated fun factor, have both been given a huge boost.

Some "roleplayers" will be disappointed that there are less rules for dealing with roleplaying encounters, but I don't think these should be overly reliant on dice rolls in the first place. In my opinion, now that the rules themselves have been made more intuitive and less intrusive, there will be even more opportunities for having fun with roleplaying in D&D.

This would be the third major re-imagining of the DMG I've experienced and this time WotC has very nearly made the book I wished I'd read before I first became a DM.

The fact that I've DM'ed for decades doesn't diminish the enjoyment of this version, either.

As with 3rd edition - A sizable amount of the book is devoted to telling DMs what to expect and what is expected of them. It boils down gamers and gaming sessions to a degree that more thematically-minded players might find offensive.

Seeing the framework of an encounter spelled out in stark language (e.g. "Wolf Pack-Hard: 6 skirmishers of level n+2") or having player archetypes defined (e.g. "The Actor: Be sure the Actor Doesn't Bore the other players by talking to everyone and everything [or] Justify disruptive actions as being 'in character'") might ruffle a few feathers.

There will likely be (yet another round of) accusations of WotC playing to the number-crunching wing of the gaming community.

Here's the thing:

Boiling the game down to its essential components is not limiting - it is instructive. Seeing the numeric skeleton of a gaming session does not mean that players will feel less inclined to flesh it out. I'd argue they'd have a better understanding of what they were doing when did so. Broad brush gamers are still free to ditch the lot and just improvise.

In the big picture - the advice section is not essential content for seasoned DMs, but it's not throwaway material either. The troubleshooting section is a great collection of things I've learned the hard way. It's gratifying to see those lessons in print (obviously, I'm not the only one who keeps making some of those mistakes).

For the number crunchers there are solid attempts at rules for disease and poison. In 3.0/3.5, they were two laughably inept concepts. In this version they might remain viable threats to upper level characters. (Does anyone in 3.5 have disease play a regular role in their campaigns? There's Lycanthropy and Mummy Rot - and a short list of things that aren't worth using once PCs are level 5).

This time around, diseases and poisons are scaled to the same levels of PCs (witness the Slimy Doom - a Level 23 Disease: Attack +26 vs Fortitude). That's an extreme example - but at least there's some chance it will get noticed by a mid-level character. Poison scales up - but the only way to scale truly fatal toxins away from low level PCs appears to be by price (Pit Toxin, Level 25 Poison costs 156,250 gp. Don't freak out, though the game economy has been re-imagined - so a +6 Holy Avenger now costs over 3 million).

Traps have been given a similar re-imagining, so there is the possibility that traps can matter above 10th level. It's still unclear to me if 4th edition rogues will be the chosen way to negate them (again, how often does any 15th level rogue in 3.5 roll to disarm a trap?).

I was very impressed with the skill challenge rules. Rather than a simple up-or-down roll on something that matters, the entire party can be involved in attempting to net a given number of successes as a group. The bonus is, they must achieve the right number of successes BEFORE they fail a set number of times (e.g. make 6 successes before accumulating 4 failures).

This makes big non-combat rolls less anti-climactic - and allows a challenge to involve the whole party. For example, say the whole party needs to "work the crowd" at a market to get information in a hurry. Everyone rolls and hopes that their tactless fighter doesn't sink their chances. This is a good game mechanic. I wish I'd thought of it.

There are extensive sections on balancing XP rewards, creating settings and encounters (complete with examples) as well as rules for creating custom monsters. 3.0/3.5 came with guidelines for PC treasure by level, and this book has them as well.

What you will *not* find in this volume:

Rules for making custom magic items. Having thrown the door wide open in 3.0/3.5, it looks like the 4th ed is pushing it shut. This is a great shame, as players who enjoyed that freedom *will* miss it. While I would expect that these rules will appear in a future supplement - they belong in a core rulebook.

The paradigm shift that began in 3.0 (from "DM has all the secrets," to DM/player collaboration) has resulted in the PHB getting fatter and the DMG getting thinner. 4th edition has continued this, moving magic items into the PHB so that the bulk of this book is adventure-building advice.

It makes the DMG less of a reference book that you use in each session. Now, it's more of a book that you use when you prepare - but don't actually take to the session.

This is not a bad thing - but fans of the old paradigm may think so.

So far as I can tell, many of the reviewer's reactions here are based on what they've heard- not what they have experienced. I've been playing DnD for a while and I remember this same EXACT reaction from people when 3.0 was released. What happened? the D20 system went on to become predominant within the realm of pen & paper RPGs, and completely replaced the inferior 2nd edition ruleset.

Here's a suggestion: Read the books, play the game, THEN write a review instead of crying about something you haven't yet tried yourself.

I just got done reading the new DMG (cover to cover) and I'm quite impressed with it. Both with the presentation of the information and the depth of material covered. It's a vast improvement from 3.5, which 30% of was devoted to magic items. The majority of the magic items have been moved to the Players Handbook and the new focus is on simply how to run a fun game.

not exactly the next step in the evolution of the game. touted as a "steamlined" and "improved" re-imagining of the classic game that has been around in several incarnations over the past 30-some-odd-years; what it truly amounts to is an advanced tactical board game.

much of what made the game great is stripped away in an effort to emulate mmo (massive multiplayer online) games like world of warcraft; intentionally dumbing down the game in an effort to market it to a wider demographic. elements of game play that focused on actual role-play and story telling are minimized in favor of combat.

instead of taking what was good in both types of games and creating a higher, more elegant game that becomes greater than the sum of its parts, it instead is a souped up throwback to the chainmal days of d&d with mmo hidebound adhearance to mmo sensabilities.

while i can appreciate that hasbro may have had the best of intentions in crafting this version of the game, it fails in the eyes of this and many other fans who have played for so many years. it plays more like other sword & sorcery genre board games (descent, runebound, world of warcraft), and may in fact be the best and finest board game in the genre. but, sadly, it is no true rpg and those who seek that out in this game will be sorely disatisfied.

I have been playing DND since good ole first edition and every one since up to nad including 3.5...so there was some excitement about the new system. In terms of pure roleplaying this new edition was going to either rock or blow chunks as it was quite different. I am reviewing the system in the terms of the roleplaying aspect(What DND is supposed to be) and not as any other game type. The end result....yup you guessed it...a huge step backwards.

Gone is the incredible detail of characters that is the trademark of DND and in place is now AT WILL POWERS...or more simply...DND for Dummies. The true flavor of being a character is gone and now there are powers that remind you of playing a video game or an even better comparison...a Miniatures game! The Monster Manual shows the creature(The artwork is the one huge plus in this edition, but I dont buy games just for art) and the stats...which have symbols....very much like the minis game. The feel is hack and slash and the idea that you add half your level to attack...crazy no matter the class. I do like that there are 30 levels now, but to breadk them up into 3 tiers...no need.

All in all our gaming group is staying with 3.5 and we will be fine with that...sad really....this is the first DND system we will not switch to. Different can be good, not just this edition. Too bad WOC listened to the online gamers instead of the true source of money (The Pure PRGers).

As a side note, If I were going to rate this system as part of a minis game with the touch of roleplaying thrown on top of it....I think it is quite good. Similar to Battletech minis and adding the Mechwarrior RPG on top of it. It is simple and has clear and limited choices for advancement...all good for minis games....not RPGs.

Any hope of a real RPG...say 4.5?

People who are crying about how the game supposedly is horrible now sadden me. Have these people even PLAYED the game at all to see how it works out? Or did they just read a few pages and then cry doom? I think it's the latter here. Actually you DO indeed still have lots of RP opportunities and for those people who can't RP without rolling dice you do still have your social skills. I don't see at all how this version supposedly ruins your RP. I've had arguments with some people over changes like Paladins being any alingment and they say that actually allows for more creativity. Seriously, the only thing I'd agree with about reduced creativity is how muticlassing works now. Unlike the crybabies I'm at least going to PLAY and TRY the game out first.