dungeons and dragons 5th edition dmg materials

If Id known I wouldnt be DMing again (for many decades), I probably would have dropped into one amazingly long funk.

Wizards of the Coast has released its 5th edition Dungeon Masters Guide, and with that book the trio of books that has formed the basis of Dungeons Dragons for decades is united again in a new edition.

Earlier this year, WotC released the 5th edition Players Handbook and followed it up with the 5e Monster Manual.

Based on reviews and fan reaction and my own informal discussions with numerous players during my own Adventurers League gathering every Wednesday evening, the opinion seems to be that the 5th edition is a welcome return to traditional dungeon crawls and role playing to satisfy veteran players while bringing in enough new content and rule updates to freshen up the game and make it welcoming to new players.

These reactions, however, have been based on the Players Handbook, Monster Manual, and the handful of ready-made adventurers that have been offered up to dungeon masters and players through the Expeditions and Encounters events.

Its here, and you can expect dozens and dozens of reviews to begin popping up as new and old DMs begin to explore the books material and share their thoughts and experiences.

Mine will follow shortly, but before I head in that direction, I want to take a brief look back at the original DMG.

It was a black-and-white advertisement placed inside the issue and not offered in full-color on the inside front cover or the back cover.

It featured a traditional fighter and magic user facing off against an Efreet with the stereotypical female in the grips of said creature and dressed in almost non-existent armor and showing plenty of flesh.

Gary Gygax in the August 1979 issue 28 of Dragon magazine regarding the release of the ADD DMG and how it affected ODD and the why response for ADD even being necessary.

Also of interest is that up to issue 31 there were very few mentions of ADD (even though the ADD MM and PH were already out) although issue 30 featured the first ADD module advertisement for S2 White Plume Mountain and issue 31 had an advert for ADD T1 The Village of Hommlet.

Once the ADD DMG hit the shelves, however, the floodgates opened and Dragon magazine would begin offering ADD articles for years and years.

I was the only player for some time to own the DMG, and that started me on the path of being the DM most of the time.

I didnt mind. I ran a mix of both ADD modules as well as my own custom adventures.

If I had to guess, Id estimate I read the entire ADD DMG probably three to four times over a number of years.

I dont think it was really designed to be read like that, but 7th grade classes were often extremely dull and I needed something to fill the time.

At the time, it was all we had and we loved it but decades do allow for a more critical view.

The book lacked a formal chapter breakdown instead, the book was just one section after another with no apparent logic to the order of topics.

Alignment was followed by a discussion of Money that moved into Armor that merged into Hirelings.

Some topics were heavily favored (Psionics, for example) while others sometimes received a laughable mention Mirrors, for example, get an entire header (MIRRORS) but only a single sentence (page 60) related to their existence and use in an adventure Charts were EVERYWHERE, including an individual To Hit chart for each class and a Saving Throw chart for over a dozen materials (ceramic, cloth, etc) against a dozen attack methods (acid, electricity, etc.).

I realize that a small number of DMs likely used each and every chart at some point in their games, but I imagine most DMs just made quick decisions about many events and skipped the tedious details.

Artwork ran from humorous cartoons (complete with text punchline) to amazing multi-page spreads such as the one that begins on page 170 (generating a random dungeon) and continues to page 173.

I have fond memories of both playing and DMing with the ADD ruleset, and even though the ADD DMG and its content is mostly out of date I remember flipping and flipping and flipping through the pages, looking for inspiration, something new to throw at my players.

I dont remember exactly when I closed the DMG and shut down my role as DM, but thats probably a good thing most likely it wasnt intentional, and that final game was played with the thought there would be another and then something changed.

Dungeons And Dragons 5Th Edition Dmg Materials