Fantasy

Dungeon Master's Guide

Dungeon Master's Guide

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-11-26 00:21:50
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Mike Mearls
  • ISBN：0786965622
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

Everything a Dungeon Master needs to weave legendary stories for the world's greatest roleplaying game

The Dungeon Master's Guide provides the inspiration and the guidance you need to spark your imagination and create worlds of adventure for your players to explore and enjoy。

Inside you'll find world-building tools， tips and tricks for creating memorable dungeons and adventures， optional game rules， hundreds of classic D&D magic items， and much more！

- The third of three core rulebooks， this book contains tools a Dungeon Master needs to provide captivating stories and game play。
- An excellent resource for new and existing Dungeons Masters to engage in both adventure and world creation， with rules， guidelines， and sage advice from the game's experts。
- Created as part of a massive public playtest involving more than 170，000 fans of the game。

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Reviews

Becky ，

TBH， I am not convinced DMs need this one。Or， to put it another way， I have DMed many campaigns over past few years and I almost never use this book。 I don't even own a copy。 I have borrowed my roommate's copy for loot tables， but at this point I tend to just go online for that stuff。 Possibly if you are DMing for the first time and you haven't been a player very often， you might find this book super helpful。 I played for a couple of years before I tried DMing， and the few times I have picked th TBH， I am not convinced DMs need this one。Or， to put it another way， I have DMed many campaigns over past few years and I almost never use this book。 I don't even own a copy。 I have borrowed my roommate's copy for loot tables， but at this point I tend to just go online for that stuff。 Possibly if you are DMing for the first time and you haven't been a player very often， you might find this book super helpful。 I played for a couple of years before I tried DMing， and the few times I have picked this book up for inspiration or help， I didn't find what I was looking for。 The PHB and the Monster Manuel are both far more important than the DMG。 。。。more

Arthur B ，

Useful toolkit which also espouses a very sensibly-devised "big tent" philosophy of RPGs。 Full review: https://refereeingandreflection。wordp。。。 Useful toolkit which also espouses a very sensibly-devised "big tent" philosophy of RPGs。 Full review: https://refereeingandreflection。wordp。。。 。。。more

Nicholas Klotz ，

Quite an endeavor to read this cover to cover。 It is very， very dry reading。 But that is to be expected from a rule book I guess。 Some parts were more interesting than others。 Certain sections were more exciting to read about than others。 Certain chapters made me want to pull my hair out with the tediousness of them。Overall， Informative and useful。 It mentions all of itself is optional though， which I find a good thing。 I used to do a lot more freeform style of DMing。 I admit though， it was a ha Quite an endeavor to read this cover to cover。 It is very， very dry reading。 But that is to be expected from a rule book I guess。 Some parts were more interesting than others。 Certain sections were more exciting to read about than others。 Certain chapters made me want to pull my hair out with the tediousness of them。Overall， Informative and useful。 It mentions all of itself is optional though， which I find a good thing。 I used to do a lot more freeform style of DMing。 I admit though， it was a hard read to get through， the Player’s Handbook was easier by far。 。。。more

Francisco ，

Intended mainly for the Dungeon Master running a Dungeons and Dragons game， this is actually a pretty useful book beyond that， and could even say that it is interesting beyond the boundaries of the game itself， as well。 The objective of this is to give the DM tools not only to run his game but to create original， interesting worlds。 The book does this by giving the DM a huge number of random tables for generating monsters， treasure， events， plot points， NPCs and all kinds of things you could eve Intended mainly for the Dungeon Master running a Dungeons and Dragons game， this is actually a pretty useful book beyond that， and could even say that it is interesting beyond the boundaries of the game itself， as well。 The objective of this is to give the DM tools not only to run his game but to create original， interesting worlds。 The book does this by giving the DM a huge number of random tables for generating monsters， treasure， events， plot points， NPCs and all kinds of things you could ever imagine in the context of a Dungeons & Dragons game。 It is full of tools to help tell a fun and engaging story， but those are skills that are transferable to outside the game。 If you are trying to write fantasy fiction， for example， this book is full of ideas which could really spark your imagination and the random nature of a lot of the generation tables helps one escape cliché。The book is also full of great illustrations and alternate rules and very niche troubleshooting that would really make little sense to include in the Player's Handbook。 There are good things here for players too， however， such as the Eladrin and Aasimar player races， for example， which appear to illustrate how the DM can create new races for players but have since become a part of D&D as a whole。 Invaluable for DMs， but actually pretty fun even if you are not planning to run a D&D game。 。。。more

Aaron ，

Consider me informed。

Leslie Holm ，

Honestly， my heart remains with 3。5 。 。 。 or really with 2nd ed。 If I was a beginning dm， I think I would really feel lost， trying to plough through this。 Luckily I'm not， and it was fine。 Having been away from the game for a number of years， and having skipped 4e （which I've been given to understand was a blessing）， I really expected more changes。If you are new to dming， get the book by all means - but I recommend also joining one of the many online groups that offer advice， like D&D Beyond or Honestly， my heart remains with 3。5 。 。 。 or really with 2nd ed。 If I was a beginning dm， I think I would really feel lost， trying to plough through this。 Luckily I'm not， and it was fine。 Having been away from the game for a number of years， and having skipped 4e （which I've been given to understand was a blessing）， I really expected more changes。If you are new to dming， get the book by all means - but I recommend also joining one of the many online groups that offer advice， like D&D Beyond or Roll20 to name but a couple， in order to get some more specific guidance。 。。。more

Negar ，

فکر کنم حدود یک سال دیگه ادیشن بعدی میاد و حقیقتا از دیرترین وقتایی که می‌تونم اینو تموم کردم。 خیلی از قسمت‌هاشو می‌دونستم در کل، ولی اوایلش که برای ساختن دنیا بود برام کاملا جدید بود و اتفاقا خیلی هم دوستش داشتم، ایده‌های قشنگی برای ساختن کمپین داشت و راهنمای خیلی خوبی بود。 متوجه نیستم که چرا فصل قوانین فصل 3 بود و فصل دو نه، کل فصل دو می‌تونست کاملا بره جزو ضمایم به طور کلی。 قوانین اختیاریش هم خیلی فرق دارن، یک سریاشون واقعا ایده‌های جالبین اگه به فضای بازیتون می‌خوره، یه سریاشون حقیقتا وحشتنا فکر کنم حدود یک سال دیگه ادیشن بعدی میاد و حقیقتا از دیرترین وقتایی که می‌تونم اینو تموم کردم。 خیلی از قسمت‌هاشو می‌دونستم در کل، ولی اوایلش که برای ساختن دنیا بود برام کاملا جدید بود و اتفاقا خیلی هم دوستش داشتم، ایده‌های قشنگی برای ساختن کمپین داشت و راهنمای خیلی خوبی بود。 متوجه نیستم که چرا فصل قوانین فصل 3 بود و فصل دو نه، کل فصل دو می‌تونست کاملا بره جزو ضمایم به طور کلی。 قوانین اختیاریش هم خیلی فرق دارن، یک سریاشون واقعا ایده‌های جالبین اگه به فضای بازیتون می‌خوره، یه سریاشون حقیقتا وحشتناکن و نمی‌دونم چرا کسی باید این کارو بکنه。 :）） برای هر کسی که دوست داره کمپین بسازه و دی‌ام باشه کتاب اجباری‌ایه، حداقل فصل اول و رندوم تیبل‌های ضمایمش بسیار مفید و خوبن。 برای بقیه‌ هم حداقل برای نقاشی‌های خوشگلش هم که شده توصیه‌ش می‌کنم。 。。。more

Klara ，

Immer wieder in der Hand gehabt als Nachschlagewerg， nun aber endlich mal so richtig abgeschlossen。 Zugegeben， manche Abschnitte hab ich mehr überflogen， aber um für die Zukunft zu wissen wo ich was nachlesen kann， hilft so eine Leserunde dann doch。

Horrorsage ，

Good evening and welcome fellow Children of Chaos。D&D 5e is a beginners game， and I don't mean that as a dig。 It is meant to get players into the hobby， so it is very easy to learn and very player facing。 As such this book holds very little for anyone who is an experianced DM to do as， while the magic items are cool， there are not a lot of hidden rules or secrets for the DM to keep as opposed to previous editions *cough 2e cough*。However there is some interesting ideas on world building。However Good evening and welcome fellow Children of Chaos。D&D 5e is a beginners game， and I don't mean that as a dig。 It is meant to get players into the hobby， so it is very easy to learn and very player facing。 As such this book holds very little for anyone who is an experianced DM to do as， while the magic items are cool， there are not a lot of hidden rules or secrets for the DM to keep as opposed to previous editions *cough 2e cough*。However there is some interesting ideas on world building。However there are 2 very VERY stupid things in here1） Random encounters。 Don't fucking roll random encounters on a trip。 It's fucking lame and it slow and it's just bad。 Roll them before the session sure。 But no one wants to sit there， watch the DM roll 3 sets of dice， say "there is a statue here" and the players know since it's random they can ignore。 If an encounter is interesting then give it to the players， if not， skip it。2） The part of DMing a game and rewards。 This is some fucking 90s adversarial DM shit。 "If a player cannot make the session do not give them rewards。" If one of your player's daughter had to go to the hospital then PUNISH HIM。 HE SHOULD KNOW HIS PRIORITES！。If a player is a level or two lower it's ok they will have less agency and mechanical input in the game。 Maybe he should have skipped his son's baseball game to play fucking D&D with you and not missed out on a huge XP payout。 That'll how them！ Fuck that trash。 This shit should have died in the oughts， in the year of our lord 2014， this tripe is inexcusable。 。。。more

Ian ，

There is plenty of useful information and guidance for new and veteran Dungeon Master's。However， It's not always well laid out， easy to reference， or likely to yield consistent results （for new DMs following what the book says and rolling on the tables included）。Magic Items are a mess in almost all regards， rarity， access， tables， and cost。 There are just enough half answers to look like it's all there。My main criticism with 5e is the reluctance to create a baseline and provide DMs with the tool There is plenty of useful information and guidance for new and veteran Dungeon Master's。However， It's not always well laid out， easy to reference， or likely to yield consistent results （for new DMs following what the book says and rolling on the tables included）。Magic Items are a mess in almost all regards， rarity， access， tables， and cost。 There are just enough half answers to look like it's all there。My main criticism with 5e is the reluctance to create a baseline and provide DMs with the tools and support needed to vary from it。 Instead， there is just a vague mess that gives an illusion of a baseline， with no simple tools or variations to deviate from it。 You see popular resources online， such as "Sane Magic Item Prices" because the DMG doesn't bother providing anything close to that information。At this point， most of what you'd want from the DMG is found recreated online and with more rigour。 。。。more

Anna ，

The Dungeon Master's Guide is a fairly exhaustive collection of considerations for planning and running a D&D game （fifth edition）。 Pretty dense， and I'm not sure how much sense it would make to someone who doesn't already have experience playing D&D。 Lots of interesting stuff to consider though--this could even be useful for creative writers looking for fantasy ideas。 The Dungeon Master's Guide is a fairly exhaustive collection of considerations for planning and running a D&D game （fifth edition）。 Pretty dense， and I'm not sure how much sense it would make to someone who doesn't already have experience playing D&D。 Lots of interesting stuff to consider though--this could even be useful for creative writers looking for fantasy ideas。 。。。more

Amélie ，

Although I had managed to DM with the help of the Player's Handbook + the Internet before getting this， it's still useful to have all the relevant information on hand。 I especially love all the magical objects。 Although I had managed to DM with the help of the Player's Handbook + the Internet before getting this， it's still useful to have all the relevant information on hand。 I especially love all the magical objects。 。。。more

Sam Sciarrotta ，

I AM choosing to log this， mind your business！！！ It's really a perfect guide， though。 I AM choosing to log this， mind your business！！！ It's really a perfect guide， though。 。。。more

Lili ，

Well what can I say？ I'm gonna use this book a lot in the following time^^ Well what can I say？ I'm gonna use this book a lot in the following time^^ 。。。more

Allie ，

Absolutely fantastic。 A great guide for new and old GMs alike。 Best edition yet。

James Argyropoulos ，

To someone who has never played Dungeons and Dragons， it might seem ridiculous to give a glorified game manual a five-star rating。 But to speak about the DMG in the same breath as the rules packet included in a monopoly box would be straight up disrespectful。 The core set of Dungeons and Dragons rulebooks unironically deserve a place in the annals of literacture。

Kayla ，

I miss 3。5。 I just cannot turn off my 3。5 brain。 This is going to be hella hard lol But it's about time I made the switch。 I miss 3。5。 I just cannot turn off my 3。5 brain。 This is going to be hella hard lol But it's about time I made the switch。 。。。more

Dalton Glenn ，

Far too much information on building your own setting， not enough on actually running the game。

Michael ，

This title has a long tradition。 With each new edition of “Dungeons & Dragons，” the world’s best-known （and generally best-selling） tabletop roleplaying game， there have been “core rulebooks” provided: generally a “Players Handbook” for all participants， a “Monster Manual” listing all of the beasts to be （usually） fought， （sometimes） negotiated with， or （rarely） befriended， and a “Dungeon Master’s Guide” to be used by the referee in arbitrating the process。 The DMG is in some ways the one that h This title has a long tradition。 With each new edition of “Dungeons & Dragons，” the world’s best-known （and generally best-selling） tabletop roleplaying game， there have been “core rulebooks” provided: generally a “Players Handbook” for all participants， a “Monster Manual” listing all of the beasts to be （usually） fought， （sometimes） negotiated with， or （rarely） befriended， and a “Dungeon Master’s Guide” to be used by the referee in arbitrating the process。 The DMG is in some ways the one that has changed the most since the first edition of “Advanced” D&D that I played back in the early eighties。 At that time， you couldn’t even arbitrate combat without it – most of the core rules for playing the game were within its pages crowded with tiny print。 You can （and in fact I have） run the current Fifth Edition for years without this book， however， so long as you have the Player’s Handbook you have the core rules。 So why bother？ Well， even granting that it no longer seems as “core” as in previous years， this book has a lot of materials that Dungeon Masters （or DMs） will appreciate。 The largest section is actually the same as the largest section of that long-ago Gygax volume: detailed descriptions of all the magic items that are included in a standard game。 Conforming to the new approach， these descriptions have been standardized so that they can be arbitrated easily with common sense when players （inevitably） want to try to do something unusual with them。 Much of the rest of the book presents variants， optional rules， and more general tips on worldbuilding， creating adventures， and running the table。 Many DMs will find this material interesting， even if few will actually apply more than a small part of it。 For me， one of the most interesting sections covered the “multiverse” in far more detail than was the case in the first edition， with brief descriptions of the many “planes” of existence in the game， which can be used for creating new adventuring locales or just to inform one’s understanding of the strange denizens of those planes when they show up in the “prime material” where most adventuring takes place。 Art has always been a big part of the imagination-stimulating experience of D&D （even that cramped Gygax edition found space for some lovely illustrations by the likes of Dave Trampier， Dave Sullivan， Tom Wham， Darlene， and others）。 This one has page after page of professional， full-color fantasy art that will thrill young fans today and please some old codgers like myself。 Some of it has been used in other D&D books， but there are nice depictions， for example， of each of those Planes of Existence and many （not quite all） of the magic items。 The credits at the front list seventeen lines of artists （at least three per line， yielding well over fifty artists without taking a count）， but the styles are remarkably integrated， making for a package that is attractive and consistent。 Unfortunately， few of these seem to be signed， making it harder for new fans to follow their favorites。 In short， this book may not be necessary in the way I would expect a “core rulebook” to be， but it is useful and appealing， and probably worth seeking out by serious Dungeon Masters。 。。。more

Noah Bielecki ，

This Guide for Dungeons and Dragons is， in my opinion， NOT a must-have。 However， it is very useful for new players learning to DM their first campaigns。 It provides multiple tutorials for fights， monsters， and ideas for writing campaigns。

Cori ，

What intrigued me: Cody asked me to play the dungeon master for our first D&D adventures。 What I liked: Good thought starters and information about world building！ What I didn't like: This is A LOT of work。 This book has so much reference material it is a little overwhelming to know what you actually need to get a game started。 You need the player's guide as well to have everything you need to DM。Favorite quote: N/A What intrigued me: Cody asked me to play the dungeon master for our first D&D adventures。 What I liked: Good thought starters and information about world building！ What I didn't like: This is A LOT of work。 This book has so much reference material it is a little overwhelming to know what you actually need to get a game started。 You need the player's guide as well to have everything you need to DM。Favorite quote: N/A 。。。more

Caleb ，

This is not a helpful textbook if you're studying to be a warden。 This is not a helpful textbook if you're studying to be a warden。 。。。more

Paulo De ，

Livro com a mesma qualidade do original。 Não gosto muito da tradução da Galápagos， que não respeitou termos consagrados ao longo de todas as edições dos livros。 Mas a editora tem o mérito de realmente trazer os livros em português。 Só quem sofreu com Devir e Abril sabe o que é isso。Enfim， talvez um dos melhores Livros do Mestre já feitos。 Há muito foco na construção de mundos e aventuras， e pouco em detalhes que não serão usados。

Matt ，

Nice。 I'm partial to the version I read back in the 80s， but they did a good job overall。 I liked the additions on world building and adventure building， which is where this DM sorely needs help。 The monster and magic item creation guidelines seem like way too much work。 I plan to just wing it。 Nice。 I'm partial to the version I read back in the 80s， but they did a good job overall。 I liked the additions on world building and adventure building， which is where this DM sorely needs help。 The monster and magic item creation guidelines seem like way too much work。 I plan to just wing it。 。。。more

Pádraic ，

A fantastic guide， packed with helpful resources， tools， tips and tricks， stuff to add or change， all of it with the goal of making your game as good as it can be。 There's a ton of tables to roll on to generate things randomly， and instructions on how to make your own。 I have some minor organisational quibbles， and I wish the outer planes were a little more varied （how many fiery wastelands does the multiverse need？）， but all in all it's great， and I wish I hadn't put off buying it for so long。 A fantastic guide， packed with helpful resources， tools， tips and tricks， stuff to add or change， all of it with the goal of making your game as good as it can be。 There's a ton of tables to roll on to generate things randomly， and instructions on how to make your own。 I have some minor organisational quibbles， and I wish the outer planes were a little more varied （how many fiery wastelands does the multiverse need？）， but all in all it's great， and I wish I hadn't put off buying it for so long。 。。。more

Joe Stevens ，

Probably not a book that should be read straight through and I must admit I skimmed the 80 pages of descriptions of magical items。 There are plenty of great ideas for creating worlds and adventures。 Someone mentioned that this book was surprisingly good for sparking ideas for writers。 I agree as I had several plots pop into my head during my read-through。The layout is solid and there are lots of decent pictures all through the book。 Should serve its primary audience of game masters well。

Shelly ，

Continuing my DM studying。 This is a very all purpose book and there are a few things I wish it explained more clearly。 Especially for first time DMs trying to figure out what is going on behind the screen。

Sophie Crocker ，

banger

Thom ，

This book isn't necessary to be a dungeon master in 5e （source: I ran a 3-month campaign exclusively using the Player's Handbook）。 However， it is very， very helpful， and if you're seriously considering running a campaign in the long-term， absolutely buy this book。 It's more or less half rules （which are very， very useful） and half tools to use to break those rules。 While some tools aren't the most useful （I completely skipped over all the settings and made my own）， some of them are immensely use This book isn't necessary to be a dungeon master in 5e （source: I ran a 3-month campaign exclusively using the Player's Handbook）。 However， it is very， very helpful， and if you're seriously considering running a campaign in the long-term， absolutely buy this book。 It's more or less half rules （which are very， very useful） and half tools to use to break those rules。 While some tools aren't the most useful （I completely skipped over all the settings and made my own）， some of them are immensely useful， such as the homebrew guides towards the end。 The list of magic items is excellent and gives a heck of a lot of variety， and between this and the Player's Handbook you are opening yourself up to hundreds of hours of fun。 。。。more

Evan Leister ，

This looks like an essential resource。 Really thoughtful stuff peppered throughout; much in here I probably will not use but it's all things to all players and that is v。 nice。 This looks like an essential resource。 Really thoughtful stuff peppered throughout; much in here I probably will not use but it's all things to all players and that is v。 nice。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Dungeon Master's Guide

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Dungeon Master's Guide&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Dungeon Master's Guide&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0