D&D 5E In Search Of: The 5e Dungeon Master's Guide

[delericho]

Do you think that going through Lost Mines of Phandelver one time means you're no longer a beginning DM?

Yes. DMing isn't all that difficult, and the step from newbie to no longer being a beginner really isn't that big.

And Lost Mine is structured extremely well to serve as a guide for a DM taking that step.

I think someone picking up the 5e DMG after running Lost Mines of Phandelver one time is as likely to be lost as someone picking it up having never run at all. The ideal would be neither being lost.

That's as much a factor of the 5e DMG being largely useless as anything else.

 

[Xamnam]

EDIT: Also... running an adventure is still DM'ing. You may not like it but plenty of people do enjoy running their games that way, and not just with D&D.

If I'm understanding you right, I don't disagree. Yes, someone who picks up and runs LMoP with no other prep is a DM, full stop, as much as someone who reads all three core books front to back and then runs their own adventure is. I just think there's specific value to a book portion that is explicitly teaching through instruction, without presumption of knowledge, which I see as a different goal than than the starter sets: allowing for fast and easier play, which may also have the benefit of teaching through experience. Different foci, different benefits, different results. I can't see one as a full bore replacement for the other.

The bigger problem is that the DMG sounds from the title like it'll teach you how to play that role. That if you want to DM, this is the thing you need. As opposed to Snarf's first paragraph, and honestly, the snippet Cadence posted above, which are much clearer about the utility of it. Edit: Again, stick learning how to be a DM into the PHB.

 

[cimbrog]

It IS possible to write a DMG that teaches you how to run the game AND is still useful to experienced GMs. The 4e DMG is an example of this. I had been a DM for over 20 years when I picked it up and it was still a great read.

 

[Imaro]

It IS possible to write a DMG that teaches you how to run the game AND is still useful to experienced GMs. The 4e DMG is an example of this. I had been a DM for over 20 years when I picked it up and it was still a great read.

Can you go into why you think it was a good DMG for both new and experienced DM's?

 

[ersatzphil]

Great post, Snarf. Glad to see your team of researchers hard at work.

Since editions don’t matter and it’s all one D&D now…

If people want a toolbox of optional rules, read the 5E DMG.

If people want to learn how to run the game, read the 4E DMGs, Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master, X-Treme Dungeon Mastery, and the WEG Star Wars GM Handbook.

I'd also toss the 7th ed Call of Cthulhu Keepers Guide into that list, if we're crossing game lines - I was impressed that it had a very useful discussion of linear vs. sandbox adventures, and then included two short scenarios as examples - one linear, one sandbox.

 

[AnotherGuy]

I think someone picking up the 5e DMG after running Lost Mines of Phandelver one time is as likely to be lost as someone picking it up having never run at all. The ideal would be neither being lost.

And yet 50 years ago, without internet, without Enworld, without Mercer or Colville, without the twitter handle of Chris Perkins, people managed. And yet today with all those resources at their fingertips they're still lost? It is sad to see how far we have fallen or how little faith we have in today's youth.

 

[Xamnam]

I think that's meant to be an indictment of what the current DMG is versus its perception, not the person picking it up.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I mean.... do people want the book to make things harder for people? I really don't get some of the sentiment expressed in this thread and the closed one that spawned it.

 

[Cadence]

And yet 50 years ago, without internet, without Enworld, without Mercer or Colville, without the twitter handle of Chris Perkins, people managed. And yet today with all those resources at their fingertips they're still lost? It is sad to see how far we have fallen or how little faith we have in today's youth.

I mean, the people in 1972 who learned D&D from books were all time travellers, so we should expect they might have had special skills.

---

Going a bit later I wonder what the player retention rate of folks who started as isolated groups using B/X were compared to those with 1e compared to now with 5e.

 

[Imaro]

I mean.... do people want the book to make things harder for people? I really don't get some of the sentiment expressed in this thread and the closed one that spawned it.

Did anyone say they wanted to make the game harder for people? The fact is there's been no evidence that 5e is harder to pick up then any other edition and what little evidence we have seems to suggest, regardless of how, its actually easier than many.