Which Book Should I Get?

[firgadin]

Okay, I'm brand new to Dungeons & Dragons; never played a game, nor do I really now the rules for it. I'm planning on DMing for a bunch of my friends that also have never played, but I can only buy one of the core books right now, so which one should I get to get a good head start on understanding the game and being a DM. I always hear that the Player's Handbook details all the rules, but obviously, the Dungeon Master's Guide would help me out as far as DMing, so...which one?

[lisiecki]

Okay, I'm brand new to Dungeons & Dragons; never played a game, nor do I really now the rules for it. I'm planning on DMing for a bunch of my friends that also have never played, but I can only buy one of the core books right now, so which one should I get to get a good head start on understanding the game and being a DM. I always hear that the Player's Handbook details all the rules, but obviously, the Dungeon Master's Guide would help me out as far as DMing, so...which one?

Depends on the series you want to get.

If your going for 3r edition then you really just need the DM guide and the rules located http://www.d20srd.org/
(Third edition the Player book is brown with a gold seal, and the DM guide is blue/silver)

[caden_varn]

If you can only get one book, players guide is essential, but really you need a bit more than that. You really need the information in the 3 core books for the edition you plan to run. Players guide contains all the information about creating characters and the bulk of the combat rules. Monster Manual provides details of enemies to put against your group. Dungeon Masters guide contains scenario building advice, and rules for special situations etc.

You can use the srd for 3.5, which I think covers the main rules from all three books, but its much easier to use a physical book with an index in my opinion.

If you want to use 4th Edition, you really will need to get the books, or get the PHB and a published adventure (preferably one designed for level 1 characters, which will contain the bits from the other manuals you need to run that scenario. (I advise against Keep on the Shadowfell, though - I thought it was a particularly bad module).

[Tempest Fennac]

http://crystalkeep.com/d20/ is also really useful for races, feats, spells and base classes. I'd say Complete Psionic and Tome of Battle are good choices due to how they contains stuff which isn't in the SDR or Crystal Keep.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

If you're getting one book for everyone, I would suggest the PHB. The players are going to need it to make their characters, and you can make do with the SRD. If one of your players is getting a PHB, I suggest mooching off of that and getting a DMG.

I also suggest starting everyone at level 1 and throwing some easy, light-hearted encounters at them, like a couple of agitated badgers, for example, so the players can get the hang of the mechanics without getting killed in the process.

If you don't get the DMG, note that the SRD isn't going to tell you how to allocate experience or build challenging, non-suicidal encounters, since that information was kept proprietary. You're probably fine allocating experience ad-hoc, but building challenging encounters is more difficult. Like I suggested before, err on the easy side at the start, and you'll get a feel for it. According to some, you might actually do better building encounters by feel instead of relying on D&D's challenge rating system.

[BobVosh]

www.d20srd.com + friend with a laptop/work with a good printer/playing near a desktop works well, and I would say Monster Manual 3.5 As it is easier to do monsters from the book imo

For 4ed...I would probably go with the MM again, provided players have access to the PHB. If not, PHB wins. There is a reason all three books are considered "core" though...

DMG is apparently choked full of good infos for new DMs though.

GURPs, hackmaster, paranoia, alternity (those this one is hard), exalted, maybe NWoD (someone confirm this), most of the White Wolf racial expansions (promethean, Changlings, etc) and probably a few others can be played with only 1 book for the whole group. Slow making chars this way though.

According to some, you might actually do better building encounters by feel instead of relying on D&D's challenge rating system.

QFtST (quoted for the sad truth)

Although I'm not one of those guys who go and say that a blind, drunk man being attacked by some form of feral, dire land shark can do better at this throwing darts at a board and using his score to determine CR. However, I do see a flaw with things like this: Mr. TPK on LegsThat damn crab (second monster posted)

[caden_varn]

Another option would be to try a different system. D&D has three basic manuals that it fairly much expects a DM to have access to (via the manuals or SRD for edition 3.5).
Other systems put everything in a single manual. Something like Earthdawn has a fairly similar feel to D&D, and Warhammer Fantasy roleplay is another one (although with a darker feel to it). For both of those, you only need the one rulebook.

[Devils_Advocate]

Maybe you could buy a Dungeonmaster's Guide, and convince your friends to buy a Player's Handbook? That book is for the players, after all, and will be as helpful to them as to you. Maybe if you all pooled your money you could get a Monster Manual, too.

Actually, since it's best for the whole group to be familiar with the PHB, maybe you should buy that first. You can give it to your friends once you're done reading it, and hopefully by then you can buy the DMG.

[Animefunkmaster]

Might I interest you in 'BESM 3.0' (not to be confused with besm d20). Its very lenient to both player and GM/DM, only requires 1 book, and is fun to play.