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

[Imaro]

No. We are not the target market.

It does seem reasonable though to expect a book called the Dungeon Master's Guide to be useful to someone new to DMing. I'm not sure how useful the current version would be to someone who'd been playing.

So how would you make it useful to a new player... what needs to be included for it to meet that threshold?

 

[Xamnam]

I honestly think very few people have ever read any edition's corebooks from cover to cover.

Why? Excluding things like spells and tables, that's what I do with any game I play or run. Why would I not want to be as prepared as possible?

 

[AnotherGuy]

I agree there are ways in which the 5e DMG is worlds better than the 1e. It is not better at helping new DMs figure out how to DM. The fact there is maybe something helpful in the Starter and/or Beginner Sets does not change that.

AD&D had Basic (and maybe the PHB) as the training manual for beginners.
2e had Basic and there was an example of play in the PHB
3.5 DMG had an example of play
4e DMG had an entire Starter Set at the back of the DMG, because they made so much space in the book by inserting all the magical items in the PHB, as the 4e PHB only covered 1/2 of the playable options that existed in previous editions.
In 5e, they decided to not include an example of play (its not worth talking about the excerpt in the PHB) and stuck it in the Starter Set.

The books can always improve, but what my point is, the decision not to include an example of play in the 5e DMG was purposeful, and not a failure of the DMG itself, but rather indicative of who, WotC believed, each product they published was marketed for.

 

[Malmuria]

The best way to learn something is by doing it. Different system, but I would recommend the Call of Cthulhu starter set over the Keeper's guide as a better introduction for new keepers. First of all, the core rules in the starter set are just the essentials of how to play, whereas the keeper's guide gets into a lot of nitty gritty around chases, magic, cthulu mythos, etc. More importantly, the starter set includes a solo choose-your-own-adventure style scenario that you run through with your own character (or a pregen). That's really great for teaching. As I mentioned in the other thread, I learned dnd with the 1991 black box, which similarly took little DMs through a solo adventure, teaching them how to play/run the game in segments, and then had the DM run that same scenario for players. By the end, it had little DMs mapping and stocking their own dungeon level. Another way to do this is for there to be an introductory adventure with design/teaching notes, like the OSR intro dungeon Tomb of the Serpent King.

If I were designing a 5.5 dmg (assuming that I wanted it to be a teaching book rather than or in addition to be a reference of optional rules), I would not only give the DM tables and advice (creating adventures, creating villains, starting town, regional map, etc), but also construct a starting scenario using those tools that could then be included in the back of the book.

 

[Cadence]

The OP throws a bunch of things from the DMG at the wall with presumption people don't know those things are in the DMG because people don't read the DMG. How can a book that people don't read be useful? Why don't people read it?

And now I'm picturing college students and their course syllabi (which are also habitually unread). Or the homework problems they are ostensibly working on (whose words aren't read).

If someone could figure out why people don't read things and how to make them do so, I would happily contribute to the gofundme to build them a statue. And a plaque for it.

 

[Cadence]

Honestly, I would say that the olds, like us, aren't the target market. Learning how to run a game by reading a book was never the preferred method (most people learned by playing with others back then, and then branching off), but today, most people learn by watching youtube and twitch streams.

Or, for that matter, going to the website-

How to Play | Dungeons & Dragons

Ready to begin playing Dungeons & Dragons? Let's get you started!

dnd.wizards.com

How to DM | Dungeons & Dragons

Ready to try your hand at becoming the Dungeon Master? Let's get you started!

dnd.wizards.com

And if you want more, the website, after videos, guides you to...
First, the starter set.
Then, the essentials kit.
Finally, the core rulebooks.

Wait. Now we have to google things or click through web-sites!?!?!
You are so unreasonable!

 

[Imaro]

Why? Excluding things like spells and tables, that's what I do with any game I play or run. Why would I not want to be as prepared as possible?

You are exceptional in my eyes because most people I have gamed with, are not reading through nearly 900 pages of material to play a game... Much of D&D's marketing material, intros, advice, etc. make it point to stress you don't need to read all of that to play because they know it would kill the game.

 

[pointofyou]

Arrogance, assumption, comfortability in our own accumulated knowledge, "It's the same ole D&D" and so on... do I need to go on... I honestly think very few people have ever read any edition's corebooks from cover to cover. Moreso now than ever it is literally easier (for nearly any ttrpg) to watch a how to play video.

I am reasonably confident I have laid eyes on just about every page of just about every gaming book I own. I admit I am not typical. The 5e DMG is possibly the least useful book of its type that I own.

"Easier" will of course vary by person. Some people will prefer to learn from the published rulebooks. I maintain it would be better if those books were more useful for those people. It would be better still if they could manage that while still managing to be helpful for veterans.

So how would you make it useful to a new player... what needs to be included for it to meet that threshold?

I am not a game designer but I'd probably start by reorganizing the book. Starting with how to run the game seems like a better idea for this purpose than starting with worldbuilding. Especially if one presumes a DM newer to the game is more likely to be running a published adventure.

 

[AnotherGuy]

One of the things it should do is discuss the previous iterations of the game, what has change between iterations both in terms of game mechanics and play assumptions and draw attention to what the new and the experienced DMs should pay attention to and in what order and why.

I like this idea a lot!

 

[FrozenNorth]

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.

“People managed” is an astonishing low bar for a consumer product.

20 years ago, I managed without my smartphone. Doesn’t mean I want to go back to that.