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Dungeon Master's Guide 2: A 4th Edition D&D Core Rulebook |  | Authors: Mike Mearls, Robin D. Laws, Greg Gorden
Brand: Wizards of the Coast
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
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Seller: outlook_books
Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 16480
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 11.7 x 8.7 x 4.5
MPN: 24206
ISBN: 078695244X
Dewey Decimal Number: 793.93
EAN: 9780786952441
ASIN: 078695244X
Publication Date: September 15, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Dungeon Masters Guide 2 Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition by Wizards of the Coast |
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Product Description
WOC24206 Dungeon Masters Guide 2 Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition by Wizards of the Coast
A source of inspiration for Dungeon Masters of any level
This core rulebook for the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game features advice and rules for Dungeon Masters of all levels of experience, with a particular focus on running adventures and campaigns in the paragon tier (levels 11 - 20). It includes advanced encounter-building tools (including traps and skill challenges), storytelling tips to bring your game to life, new monster frameworks to help you craft the perfect villain, example campaign arcs, a comprehensive look at skill challenges, and a detailed home base for paragon-tier adventurers - the interplanar city of Sigil.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 11
 Anyone who runs RPGs can profit from reading this. October 26, 2009
Jacob G Corbin (Prairie Village, Kansas United States)
46 out of 49 found this review helpful
As anyone who plays RPGs knows at this late date, the fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons (or D&D4E) has engendered a lot of controversy in the community by breaking dramatically with the game's past in several key areas, replacing decades-old systems like "Vancian" casting and skill checks with power lists and collaborative skill challenges. Where did these innovations come from? "4E rips off World of Warcraft," say people who in most cases know very little about either. The truth is that a lot of 4E's mechanics and underlying philosophy were heavily influenced by the burgeoning independent RPG movement of recent years, a collection of writers and designers that have worked to stretch the boundaries of what is possible in the world of roleplaying games. Games without dice or any random elements, games without referees or dungeon masters, games without rules...a whole new world of strange delights that Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson could never have foreseen.
Influenced by these innovators, the people who made 4E went under the hood of Dungeons and Dragons and rebuilt it from the ground up. Nothing was sacred. We've seen the result of their efforts in the rules of the system to date, but now, with the release of Dungeon Master's Guide 2, we see the philosophy illustrated, not with rules, but with storytelling techniques that any DM, for *any* system, can profit from. Very little of the advice is specific to 4E, or even to Dungeons and Dragons. It shows you, with examples, how to harness the power of collaborative storytelling, how to enlist your players in worldbuilding and how to tell stories that engage everyone at the table.
Let me share my own story. The day after getting this I was due to begin a new game of Star Wars Saga Edition with a new group of people - some friends and some strangers - and I was stumped for what to do. I was having serious trouble coming up with characters and stories, and I dreaded showing up unprepared. But I took the advice from chapter 1 of this book and during character creation at the first session, I went around the table and had each of my players describe for me a positive relationship their character has with another PC, a negative relationship they have with another PC, and to name and describe an NPC that they have a relationship with. Here's the thing: that may sound basic, but often, many players have thoughts about their characters and the game as a whole that they never share with each other or with the group - but here, as we went around the table, the characters came to life, not only in their players' minds, but in each other's as well, and they began relating to each other with a level of excitement and drama that in the past took weeks or months of play to form. And meanwhile the players had, completely without knowing it, given me enough story fuel to last for months! The game has been a huge hit and the players love seeing the NPC and setting details they created reflected in the world around them. I've been DMing for two decades and that simple trick had never occurred to me, and now I'll never run another game without it.
The book is full of useful, practical advice like that. But there's a challenge inherent in much of the advice, and it involves being willing to let go a bit of the old ways of doing things. Many DMs are immensely possessive of "their" story and "their" world, and the suggestions in this book will sound like madness to them. They want to stick with what's worked for them. And I can't blame them for that, but what this book has shown me is that even in a field as well-trodden as Dungeon Mastering there are still new things to try. In a way, it's liberating, to realize that after all this time, I am still a learner.
Good Candy October 9, 2009
Alloyed (Ann Arbor, MI)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
A very solid book throughout, as much for the advice on techniques and food for thought as the crunchy bits. Which are pretty nice, too, by the way.
The book provides some good alternatives to magic item progression, for those who find that undesirable, and also some good nuts-and-bolts type advice for building traps and skill challenges (as well as a number of sample plug-and-play challenges you can adapt very easily). The Sigil section is very well done; it captures the feel of the old Planescape material without being overwhelming for those who've not had the pleasure of reading about it before. My only complaint with that section is that there's a lot of Cant slipped in, but no centralized place to look it up so you can use it when adventuring there. STill, that's a minor complaint; there's still plenty of resources for that kind of thing on the interwebs.
All in all, an awesome book. Would definitely recommend to any DM who wants to up their game.
Well worth it! October 1, 2009
J. P. Meyer
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
The advice from Robin Laws is worth it alone, but when you add on top of that character boons, good skill challenge advice (and errata), and excellent Paragon Tier play breakdowns...well I can't recomend this book enough.
Consider this DMG: Advanced for DM's looking to take their core D&D 4E games beyond the basic game.
fantastic new DMG 2 October 16, 2009
Jason Hobson (Portland, OR USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic new guide. It far out paces the material from the 3.5 DMG2. There is so much material here for new and experienced DMs to digest. The most useful parts for me was on skill challenge design and traps.
Great addition for 4th Edition October 15, 2009
M. Stewart
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is a great addition to a Dungeon Master for 4th edition. The information is good enough to expand ideas you had or may have in the future. The book was a good buy and definitely will help in future plans I want to do in D&D.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 11
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