Review by C.J. Bunce
A decade since we first encountered a new edition of rules from Dungeons & Dragons, a new trilogy of Core Rulebooks are here. It began with the D&D Player’s Handbook, discussed here in September, and continues with the updated D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide, coming to online and brick and mortar shops today and available here at Amazon (the third book, the Monster Manual, is available for pre-order now here, with a street date of February 18, 2025). Based on a decade of feedback, this DM Guide is a new and improved rulebook for the 5th Edition of “the world’s greatest roleplaying game” that attempts to make your gaming easier and all the content you want more accessible. The goal is for regular players to easily get accustomed to the new format, while making it easier for new players to get roleplaying.
As with the new D&D Player’s Handbook, you’ll notice this book is much bigger than the edition from 2014, adding sixty more pages to make a hefty 384-page book (plus a fold-out map).
Key updates compared with the 2014 edition include new tips for DMs throughout the entire book. Tracking sheets, also available online, are designed to aid in planning and tracking the progress of each adventure. One section updates combat procedures, another allows players to build bastions/strongholds.
A full 119 pages cover every detail you need to know about magic items, including an alphabetical expanded and revised guide to literally hundreds, as well as several randomizer tables. A chapter on cosmology shares some global, world-building information recently recounted in the 50th anniversary Worlds & Realms book, discussed here at borg.
Technically a DM can begin creating a campaign with only this book. Sample adventures and 30 pages of a setting based in Greyhawk provide a guide for your own homegrown campaign or they can be used as-is to create your first adventure. An included giant pull-out, fold-out map of Eastern Oerik with the Free City of Greyhawk on the back can be coupled with any of 14 pages of grid maps.
The above new Dungeon Master’s Screen released with the rulebook can be purchased separately here at Amazon.
While you’re at it, you’ll probably want to pick up the new soundtrack, Bardic Inspiration: A Musical Journey Through the Forgotten Realms, available in digital or vinyl here at Amazon, to be released Friday, November 15, 2024. It features 12 musical tracks to evoke D&D worlds, composed by Michael Gatt, ideal as background for your next game night.
Inclusivity remains a focus in these recent Wizards of the Coast products. A ten-page glossary in the Dungeon Master’s Guide is a quick reference for new players, featuring the most popular heroes, villains, creatures, locations, and materials.
Here are all the details from the promotional materials:
- NIFTY RESOURCES FOR DUNGEON MASTERS—We’ve packed this book with incredibly useful tools and advice for Dungeon Masters of all levels. Make your game sessions special with over 400 total and 18 new magic items, practical solutions for common Dungeon Master pitfalls, and Greyhawk, a customizable premade campaign setting.
- WONDERFUL WORLDBUILDING INSPIRATION—Introduce inspiring new mechanics into your game! Tinker away with revised rules for crafting magic items, creating NPCs, and more. Excite your party and keep them engaged between sessions with the new system for bastions, which are strongholds built and controlled by players.
- STUNNING ARTWORK—Delight in spectacular artwork featuring new magic items, legendary D&D figures, cinematic fantasy landscapes, a double-sided poster map of the Greyhawk setting, and more!
- LEVEL UP YOUR DUNGEON MASTER EXPERIENCE—We’ve built useful handouts and resources to help you keep track of your campaigns and added a Lore Glossary that helps you easily find information about key D&D characters and locations.
- PART OF THE 2024 CORE COLLECTION—1 of 3 revised Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks, the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide is designed for use with the fifth edition 2024 Player’s Handbook and 2024 Monster Manual
But the point is giving a Dungeon Master all the tools to know how to create a fun experience for players. The book explains the role of the DM, how to design a campaign, and how to run it, including guidance on keeping everyone involved, excited, and engaged. Tyler Jacobson created the “regular” cover for this book with Olena Richards creating the game shop edition cover. Here is that alternate edition cover:
It’s bigger and better, reviewed and vetted by the community of fans who love the game. As stated above, the new D&D Player’s Handbook was the first of three updates to the Core Rulebooks. The second, the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide, is now available here at Amazon, and the 2024 Monster Manual is available for pre-order now here, coming in February.
