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Title: Dungeon Master's Guide: Core Rulebook II (Dungeon & Dragons, Edition 3.5) ISBN: 0-7869-2889-1 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 18 July, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.17 (23 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Great for the unitiated, but disappointing for veterans
Comment: I've played D&D since the early 1980s when I was introduced to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Dungeons & Dragons has gone through many evolutionary changes to reach its current 3rd Edition state - many of which I do not favor. I must agree with a previous reviewer in saying that this is not the D&D I remember playing; rather, it is an overcomplicated game meant to satisfy a generation of computer and console gamers by emphasizing combat development of super-heroic player characters over social roleplaying. While it is nice to see Advanced Dungeons & Dragons become simply, Dungeons & Dragons, again; the trendy Digital Age version nomenclature of 3.5 is rather sad.
Criticisms of 3rd Edition aside, this tome is vital for gaming in the 3rd Edition world. It resolves issues presented in the previous 3.0 release. If you own the original 3rd Edition DMG, you might be better off looking for the errata elsewhere.
This DMG, along with other 3rd Edition books, has very high production value (which adds to the cost). The pages are full color and glossy. We old timers had grainy paper and black & white artwork until 2nd Edition when pages had more color. I was disappointed to find that the groundbreaking artwork found throughout the 2nd Edition pantheon of books has been replaced with distorted, almost comic book-like works, that just do not do D&D justice.
The DMG by its very nature is like a college textbook full of tables and charts. The book isn't supposed to be entertaining reading, unlike the many other books in the D&D pantheon. Therefore, the decision to use extensive color and graphics in this book is more for consistency than function. Overall, while the book is very attractive, I found the graphics and typography to be a major distraction that would slow me down if I needed to shoot through the book to find an important chart. I preferred the more mundane appearance of the 2nd Edition books.
Since the advent of 3rd Edition D&D, there is a new "Behind the Curtain" feature that gives reader some insight into why a particular rule change was made. I like this, and I hope to see it more extensively used. Unfortunately, these footnotes run sparse in the DMG. Of all the D&D books, the DMG should have used this feature the most.
I did enjoy the introductory chapter that explains to aspiring DMs their role in the game, and I thought that the Chapter 5 section on Campaigns does a good job of outlining some of the more noticeable details of a game setting.
As with all previous D&D editions, you will need more than this one book in order to run a game. If you just want to play D&D, get the Player's Handbook. If you are like me and continue to run Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st or 2nd Edition games, then you will not get much from 3rd Edition. You'll already have your own house rules, and you'll probably agree with me in saying that 2nd Edition offered more supplements to evolve your character.
If you are new to Dungeons & Dragons, don't be alarmed. For the unitiated, D&D 3rd Edition is a solid game based on time-tested mechanics. You won't have any biases or expectations to satisfy. Realizing that the 3rd Edition will lay serious damage to your wallet, you might consider collecting the 2nd Edition books, which though out of print, will provide you with limitless options for gaming at a much lower cost and give you a faithful introduction to now famous settings as the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, and Dark Sun.
Rating: 4
Summary: An updated Guide to DMing
Comment: Now, I am not going to say that they needed a 3.5 edition. I am going to say that a revision does seem to make the classes and their abilities more balanced (by making some weaker and a few stronger). Monsters are much more powerful in general terms. Also, there is a lot more helpful information included in the books, especially in the DM's Guide. The DM's Guide contains a great deal more information, helping the DM to make intelligent choices and guide the world of his or her players. All the magic items now include information for Detect Magic and the like, easing that all too familiar problem for DMs. All the included Prestige Classes are also useful. By far the two most important and useful things are the combat/spotting/etc. related information and the free map, counters, etc. at the end of the book. So far I've found very few errors.
Rating: 1
Summary: Might as well call it something other than D&D
Comment: As someone who was first exposed to D&D in the late 70s, I have to say that this game is not what it used to be. Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 (I love the hip, contemporary "3.5" denotation as if this is computer software) is obviously aimed at the adolescent, power-gaming, comic book-reading gamer. Even the style of artwork suggests it, the D&D of today looking more like an extension of the comic book realm, with superhero player characters and hip monsters and humongous steroid warriors who look like they're out of the pages of Spawn.
It's with a long, wistful sigh that I remember the days of DM manuals with cheesy homebrewed art and the beautiful Erol Otus covers on the game modules. It was the days when D&D was spoken of by the general public as if it was the dangerous pastime of Devil-worshippers and cultists. It was a mature, intelligent game that drew heavily upon the great fantasy realms of Tolkien, Howard, and Leiber, not to mention centuries of old folklore and mythology. Even the language used in the manuals was sophisticated and not easily digested by someone with less than a college reading level. It was a game of substance, a game with real SOUL. It was geeky and esoteric and a lot of fun. You played wizards and warriors, clerics and thieves, and each class had its own drawbacks and advantages. Some were even plainly more powerful than others. That's just the way it was. There was no obsessive attention paid to making every class so perfectly balanced, into turning AD&D into egalitarian fantasy, but since when is everyone in life so equal? Wizards were pathetically weak early on but then turned into the most dangerous of characters at higher levels, undoubtedly wielding the greatest power in the game. Cavaliers were unbalanced too, and barbarians. Yet at the same time the game wasn't so crazy like the D&D of today where suddenly everyone has loads of skills and super abilities and anyone can do anything and the object seems to be making your character into a superhero. But I suppose that's what everyone is looking for nowadays, Diablo II with pens an paper. A pity, because so much richness has been lost over the past 20 years, ever since TSR started cleaning up its image in the mid-eighties and marketing its games towards teenage gamers. That's what big business is about though, and how can a company reap big profits nowadays without turning "corporate" and catering to the lowest common denominator? And profits are obviously WOC's primary concern. It really breaks my heart though to see what's become of a game that once meant so much to me. At least I still have all my old 1st and 2nd edition books and they'll always be there.
Let me close by saying this to everyone: No one's forcing you to be sheep and run out and spend money on this crap. If you're happy with what you're playing then what's the need to ever "upgrade"? Why not do the truly creative thing and stop buying this garbage that Wizards of the Coast is churning out and use your old stuff (be it 1st or 2nd edition or 3.0) and make your own adventures? And who needs a company's house rules when any decent DM can make up his own? Give me a break people. Think for yourselves and stop being victims of consumerism and slick marketing.
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Title: Complete Warrior (Dungeons & Dragons Accessory) by Andy Collins, David Noonan, Ed Stark ISBN: 0786928808 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 03 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Book of Exalted Deeds (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement) by James Wyatt, Darrin Drader, Christopher Perkins ISBN: 0786931361 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 29 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $32.95 |
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Title: Arms and Equipment Guide (Dungeons & Dragons Accessory) by Eric Cagle, Jesse Decker, Jeff Quick, Rich Redman, James Wyatt ISBN: 078692649X Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 05 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: The Draconomicon (Dungeons & Dragons) by Andy Collins, James Wyatt, Skip Williams ISBN: 0786928840 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 14 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: Monster Manual II (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement) by Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Steve Winter, Ed Bonny, Skip Williams ISBN: 0786928735 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 25 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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