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The Dungeon Master’s Guide II is not winning awards for originality in naming. It is obvious from the title that this is a book for the Dungeon Master, and that this is the fourth core book. The question is, how core is it?
Chapter One: Running a Game
Since the inception of RPGs, there have been hundreds of articles and chapters devoted to telling a DM/GM/Referee/Ultimate Arbiter of Rules how to run a game. Nearly every core book has such tidbits of useful wisdom as ‘make sure you have fun’ and ‘give everyone a chance to play.’ However, this chapter is easily the best game-running advice essay I have ever read.
The chapter starts out predictably enough, with the old adages we all know so well. Provide something for everyone, be prepared, keep the game moving – we all know this. What this chapter does differently is give actual, practical advice for doing those things.
The chapter identifies stereotypes in players, like the power gamer, the planner, and the guy who just wants to be as cool as possible. It tells a DM how to spot these different play styles, and useful ways to make sure they all have a good time. The advice is not the fluff and vague redundancies usually seen in RPGs. I was extremely impressed by the wealth of advice, and may even have learned a thing or two.
Other advice is also presented here, like how to adapt your DMing style or how to maintain adequate communication. It also discusses obvious things we never consider, like body language and the organization of the room. All told, this is chapter is much more useful than I ever thought it could be.
Chapter Two: Adventures
After the first chapter, the reader might think that a chapter on adventures will dwell almost entirely on theory. Happily, that reader would be wrong. This chapter does address the methodology of constructing adventures, but it also provides suggestions for adapting published adventures and linking adventures together.
Not only is there advice in this chapter, there is a huge amount of fun stuff to toss into an adventure. This is like a buffet table for adventure ideas. There are new traps, treasures, locations and encounters. There is lengthy advice on using miniatures, and adapting the D&D Miniatures game for the RPG. Finally, there are several pages of encounter tables and sample treasures. In short, this chapter is both a timesaver and a bag of tricks.
Chapter Three: The Campaign
Like the chapter before it, this chapter is one part theory, three parts grab bag. Several pages discuss the different kinds of campaigns, from finite campaigns that begin and end, to continuity campaigns that go on indefinitely. Some campaigns are action-packed escapades of constant dungeon delving and warfare, where others are slower and indulge in character development and subplots.
This chapter discusses how to build a good campaign, and provides considerable advice for the theory of campaign design. Also included is a wealth of information on medieval life, crime and punishment, cities and towns, languages, and more. The information here is not intended as a total campaign-builder’s handbook, but it is rife with good advice and great ideas.
One excellent feature of this chapter is the section on magical events. These go far beyond an epic-level spell, and are events that can only come to pass through a series of incredible tasks. Players are likely to be attempting to stop these events or dealing with their consequences. A prime example of one such event is the Consuming Vortex of Traal, a tentacled, semi-intelligent magical vortex that devours everything in its path, eating whole cities.
Chapter Four: Saltmarsh
The city of Saltmarsh is a stereotypical D&D metropolis. It is almost fully developed in this chapter, complete with a map, notable NPCs, and more than 50 locations. One of the more interesting locales, the Andrigal Mansion, also includes a map and makes a decent adventure.
The purpose of this city is two-fold. First, a DM who needs a ready-made city can grab Saltmarsh as it is, rename it as desired, and plug it directly into his campaign. Second, a DM designing a city can use Saltmarsh as a sort of template, lifting ideas and locations however he wants.
Chapter Five: Nonplayer Characters
Villains, cohorts and allies all have to come from somewhere. This chapter provides ways to make your NPCs memorable. You can give them hideous diseases, past lives, or vestigial twins sprouting from their chests. You can create cardboard cutout bartenders all you want, or make every one different. Advice for managing NPCs is also included.
Rules for contacts and hirelings are in this chapter as well. Whether your heroes need to regularly get in touch with a fence for their stolen goods or hire a half-orc for some heavy lifting, there are tips and rules for those situations.
This chapter also contains roughly a dozen different complex NPCs. These are not named, or anything, they are just descriptions and stat blocks for NPCs who could be anything from giant slayers to master wizards.
Chapter Six: Characters
Chapter Six begins with a discussion of apprenticeship. A PC who becomes a student of a master has access to improved training, though he must serve that master in exchange. Eventually, the PC could become a master and have an apprentice of his own.
Many PCs get involved in running businesses, whether those businesses are criminal enterprises, taverns or fighting schools. With interesting ways to make running the business part of the campaign, this chapter will allow a game to focus on what is often little more than an afterthought.
When a group of PCs has been working and training together for a while, they can improve their abilities, becoming more than the sum of their parts. They can avoid traps, effectively employ area effect weapons, or sweep an area for invisible foes. These abilities and more are listed here, along with rules for learning and using them.
The companion spirit concept is one that is new, at least to this reviewer. In essence, a group can bind a spirit to the group, providing subtle bonuses to their actions and protecting them. There are many abilities, available, from improving spot checks to providing a little extra armor.
There are several more tips and rules in this chapter, from making new prestige classes to creating PC organizations and guilds. For a book built for the DM, there is a wealth of information to improve characters.
Chapter Seven: Magic Items
Possibly the most-desired treasure in any trove is the magic item. However, after a group has been adventuring long enough, they may get a little bored with another +1 short sword. This chapter presents so many alternatives to the stock magic weapon that players are sure to want more.
Signature traits are mostly cosmetic or thematic alterations to standard items, but they are decidedly cool nonetheless. For instance, a sword that always oozes a trickle of blood or a suit of armor adorned with blinking eyes are much more memorable than standard items. Just having a cloak that changes colors every few hours is reason enough to keep hunting treasure.
Another way to make magic items more personal is to bond them to their users. A sword that protects its user from fire because the bearer once survived a conflagration is much more interesting than the same weapon created by a faceless mage. These bonded abilities can also be limited to use by the intended bearer, providing minimal or no bonuses for others.
Before launching into a very long list of specific magic items, this chapter discusses magical locations. The footprints of a dead god or the burial ground of a thousand torture victims are just two possibilities for magical locations. These locations can also be used as rewards, providing players with a way to access to powerful abilities should they succeed at specific tasks or rituals.
The list of specific magic items is awesome. There are specialized armors, weapons, rings and artifacts, just to name a few. The list is huge, and any DM who can’t find something to dump into a treasure is not looking hard enough.
Observations
The Dungeon Master’s Guide II is actually a little plain when compared to the other core books. The cover is fairly simple, though still better than many game books. The art inside is likewise good, but not as impressive as many other game books, even some outside Wizards of the Coast. In all fairness, however, the pictures are not nearly as important as the written material, and the content in this book is 280 pages of good advice, great tips, and excellent optional rules.
The real treasure in this book is the awesome amount of material provided for the DM. This is like an enormous toolkit, loaded deep with power tools and instruction guides. With the wealth of powerful information now at the disposal of the DM, the Dungeon Master’s Guide II earns its place as the fourth core book.
Style: 4 – Good, but not really up to par with other books by Wizards.
Substance: 5 – Easily earns the position of fourth core book.
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