 Being the Dungeon Master of any tabletop RPG, Dungeons and Dragons included, is a difficult job. A DM must design a campaign that is both fun and different from previous adventures his or her group has seen, including seeding it with dungeons, treasure, NPCs, cities, and even planar locations. Not all of us are blessed with the creativity required to create all of these for ourselves, so instead we have the Dungeon Master's Guide.
Featuring rules updated from the original third edition volume, the Dungeon Master's Guide v3.5 explores the basics of running a game of D&D. Included information ranges from rules-oriented discussion and NPC classes to dungeon elements and treasure, touching on how to act fairly as a DM and things to keep in mind while overseeing your group's gaming experience. The rest of this article will describe lightly the contents of each of the book's chapters. Chapter 1: Running the Game
Throughout this chapter are a number of ideas and considerations regarding the duties of a Dungeon Master. It includes advice about keeping a game fair and balanced, dealing with players in various circumstances, and managing a game's style and speed. This is a good read for anyone looking to try the role of a DM, and most of its words apply to any RPG. Chapter 2: Using the Rules
If you are unsure when to use a save and when to use a skill or ability check, how complex magic combinations should work, or what the ramifications are of additional creatures joining an existing combat, this chapter is for you. Chapter 2 also delves into some in-depth explanations of certain rules and why they are designed as they are. Also found here is the experience point chart for encounters, and details on how to use it. Chapter 3: Adventures
This long section goes over many of the concerns both in designing an adventure and in getting a group through one. From material encounter rewards and dungeon terrain to adventuring in the wild and in cities, many items of concern are broken down. The third chapter of the Dungeon Master's Guide also elucidates the organization of a statistics block (though this is largely changed by the time of the Player's Handbook 2). Chapter 4: Nonplayer Characters
There are many roles for NPCs in an adventure. They can be informants to be questioned, prisoners to be rescued, kings to be served, and villains to be foiled. In this chapter, you will find instruction on designing NPCs for both the background and the foreground of your campaign. NPC classes and counsel on making NPCs more vivid are also presented here. Chapter 5: Campaigns
Up to this point, the Dungeon Master's Guide has explored specific aspects of running a game. Chapter 5 discloses how to take all of these disparate elements and bring them together to form a cohesive campaign. The subject matter encompasses creating a world, fitting your NPCs and the group into it, changing your world through war and other affairs, and developing a cosmology of planes for your campaign. In case you'd rather use a pre-designed set of planes, such a set is presented. Chapter 6: Characters
Now that material on the creation of a world and its parts has been covered, the book traverses the realm of the player characters themselves. An important section for the players about Prestige Classes is contained herein, and that part of the chapter describes sixteen such classes for their use. Other segments examine the roles and rules for mounts, cohorts, familiars, animal companions; races and their subraces; creation of new classes; and how you might incorporate characters learning skills and feats into the game itself. Chapter 7: Magic Items
After any combat, whether it is an epic battle or a minor skirmish, the players will want to know what fun items they have found. Dungeons and Dragons makes heavy use of magic items, and so they get their own chapter. The majority of the space is used to explore hundreds of magic items of several categories, and incorporates tables for random selection of these items. Following this department is a bevy of data on modifying and creating magic items of your own. Chapter 7 also outlines exactly what places different magic items occupy on the body and how many can function in each at any one time. Chapter 8: Glossary
This final chapter of the Dungeon Master's Guide defines dozens of concepts, mostly special abilities and strange effects. Poisons are also included, as are diseases, and the rules for dealing with both. If a creature possesses an ability or quality that you need clarification on, this is probably where you'll find it. Status conditions are also explained in the Glossary, as are environmental hazards such as suffocation, darkness, and cold. Appended after the verbal content of the book is a selection of templates and grid components for use in managing grid-based combat and adventuring. Closing Comments
Though a game of Dungeons and Dragons could conceivably be played without the Dungeon Master's Guide, it would be difficult and probably wouldn't feature as much balance as one which did involve the book. A gaming group would benefit from having a copy for every two or three players, mostly for the use of the prestige class and magic item sections (though multiple players may also want to design adventures between sessions). The Dungeon Master of a group should always have a copy at hand to look up tables during play, especially treasure generation, and will also want a copy outside of play to set up the campaign for the next session. The Wizard thinks: 
|
