Thoughts on the DMG

[DontEatRawHagis]

I really am liking the DMG. But I'm not seeing many thoughts on it.

I really like the depth they went with for the Planes, I won't be using them but the stories in there are really inspiring.

Some of this I wish I had months ago when I started my campaign.

What do you guys think?

[EccentricCircle]

I'm enjoying reading it so far, though i've not got much beyond chapter two.
It's got some good advice in it so far, lots of the things I often tell new DM's are set out and codified and there's a definite focus on story which is nice to see. Also the art in the magic items section is amazing. So many illustrations of so many things! I also love that it has an entire appendix of maps, that's such a good idea, it would have been nice to have a sheet of Hex paper to photocopy along with the discussion on mapping, but I guess in this age of internets that sort of thing is at everyone's fingertips anyway.

Overall it's great.

[Spacehamster]

How do you have access to it already? :) my copy from Amazon.com won't ship until 9th December when it says it's released. O_o

On other hand how does crafting rules seem? Does it take it in depth? Just asking cause want my fighter/rogue to be a mad alchemist type char that makes poisons, potions, bombs and so on. :)

Spacehamster to infinity and beyond!

[silveralen]

Overall I like it quite a bit. Some of the optional rules felt like they didn't have the same amount of care dedicated to them as the rest of this edition, but optional rules are the easiest thing to fix table to table.

[Edge of Dreams]

How do you have access to it already? :) my copy from Amazon.com won't ship until 9th December when it says it's released. O_o

WoTC Preferred stores were allowed to release it on Black Friday. Additionally, many stores broke street date and started selling it as soon as they got the boxes.

[Spacehamster]

WoTC Preferred stores were allowed to release it on Black Friday. Additionally, many stores broke street date and started selling it as soon as they got the boxes.

Cool thanks, can't wait to get mine. :)

[MadGrady]

How do you have access to it already? :) my copy from Amazon.com won't ship until 9th December when it says it's released. O_o

On other hand how does crafting rules seem? Does it take it in depth? Just asking cause want my fighter/rogue to be a mad alchemist type char that makes poisons, potions, bombs and so on. :)

Spacehamster to infinity and beyond!

Some LGS got access to them early. They got copies on Black Friday.

[MaxWilson]

How do you have access to it already? :) my copy from Amazon.com won't ship until 9th December when it says it's released. O_o

On other hand how does crafting rules seem? Does it take it in depth? Just asking cause want my fighter/rogue to be a mad alchemist type char that makes poisons, potions, bombs and so on. :)

Spacehamster to infinity and beyond!

1.) Many FLGSs are part of the early release program. It appears to be WOTC's bid to keep FLGSs in business by giving them a competitive advantage over Amazon. My FLGS sold 17 copies on the morning of Black Friday.
2.) Crafting rules are pretty rudimentary and easy to break unfortunately. You're generally going to be better off forging 100 uncommon items or 10 rares than 1 very rare item, since they are all the exact same cost.

[DontEatRawHagis]

My store would have broke street date for me had the books been delivered to the wrong store. There are three of these stores in the area and the one I preordered did get theirs before Black Friday, sadly I was at the other store Wednesday and had to drive to see my family in another state.

I'm really digging the world building stuff. A friend pointed to other books that have done it as well but I just really like how they did it.

[EvilAnagram]

Just got mine as a birthday present!

First, it gives excellent suggestions on how to design and structure campaigns. It shows you how to tailor things to specific play styles and pace an adenture to avoid losing interest. The first few chapters are wonderful for new DMs.

Second, the magic item list is cool and the illustrations are gorgeous. I really love it. My favorite is the wand of polymorph (literally drawn as a desiccated toad tied to a stick).

[JoeJ]

I'm enjoying reading it so far, though i've not got much beyond chapter two.
It's got some good advice in it so far, lots of the things I often tell new DM's are set out and codified and there's a definite focus on story which is nice to see. Also the art in the magic items section is amazing. So many illustrations of so many things! I also love that it has an entire appendix of maps, that's such a good idea, it would have been nice to have a sheet of Hex paper to photocopy along with the discussion on mapping, but I guess in this age of internets that sort of thing is at everyone's fingertips anyway.

Overall it's great.

If you need blank hex or square maps, Warehouse 23 has The Great Salt Flats (http://www.warehouse23.com/products/floor-plan-2-the-great-salt-flats-1) available as a free PDF.

[DontEatRawHagis]

Yeah you can actually look up websites that will print off hex maps if you want.

Just finished going through the Magic Items list and peppering them through my Rogue's Gallery.

I have an idea of a Jester that runs around asking travelers to draw cards from the deck of many things.

The rooms for the dungeon generator are surprisingly interesting. Less about what is just cool and more about what is practical. Like a Dungeon with a Planar Portal might have a torture chamber to interrogate those who come through it uninvited.

[Naanomi]

The return of potion miscability made me smile

[Ziegander]

I can't wait to get my hands on one, and I'm hoping my players will get me one for Christmas, but that said, while I haven't yet read the whole thing, from the excerpts and spoilers that I have read thus far it seems like the 5e DMG really dropped the ball on magic items. From early designer reports and even from initial impressions after reading the 5e PHB, it seemed like they had some really great ideas for the implementation of 5e magic items. But unfortunately, the limitation to "three attuned magic items" barely seems to matter as loads of magic items don't even require attunement, and worse still there appears to be the shadows remaining of 3.5's wealth by level guidelines shoehorned in here effectively killing and burying any thoughts of running a low magic item 5e game without first heavily houseruling it.

Still, the basic 5e rule set is both extremely promising and seems itself (and also seems to be intended by the designers) to be much more open to houseruling than the previous two editions, almost to the point that it could have been built to be houseruled. And I like that about it. :) I know a lot of folks wouldn't, but I think it allows for a very rich and robust environment for 3rd party publishers and future, official supplemental material to really flesh out the system and give it tons of interesting, dare I say, "modular" content to keep us interested for years to come. For what are houserules if not new material just waiting to be packaged and published and given its day in the sun?

[MaxWilson]

worse still there appears to be the shadows remaining of 3.5's wealth by level guidelines shoehorned in here effectively killing and burying any thoughts of running a low magic item 5e game without first heavily houseruling it.

This really isn't true. All you have to do to run a low-magic game is to restrict access to the formulas. No formulas, no crafting.

[Knaight]

If you need blank hex or square maps, Warehouse 23 has The Great Salt Flats (http://www.warehouse23.com/products/floor-plan-2-the-great-salt-flats-1) available as a free PDF.

I find this (http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/) better. They are particularly usable tools, and there are more types of blanks available.

[DontEatRawHagis]

This really isn't true. All you have to do to run a low-magic game is to restrict access to the formulas. No formulas, no crafting.

Yeah. There is a chart in the book about how many magic items players should have by which level but it is broken into low, medium and high magic settings.

As for the attunement being left at 3 items there are plenty of items that do require attunement. Mostly weapons and armor.

[EvilAnagram]

But unfortunately, the limitation to "three attuned magic items" barely seems to matter as loads of magic items don't even require attunement,
This isn't that big a deal. The more common an item is, the less likely that you will need to attune to it. The truly awesome items need attunement.


and worse still there appears to be the shadows remaining of 3.5's wealth by level guidelines shoehorned in here effectively killing and burying any thoughts of running a low magic item 5e game without first heavily houseruling it.
This is actually not true. There are no magic shops in the basic setting, so you can't just buy things. On top of that, the DM can heavily control what magic items characters can craft because of the need for formulas, and crafting time costs tend to be prohibitive.