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The Good: The art is charming all the way through. The play advice is generally of high quality for those new to the game.
The Bad: The book would work better as a series of free web-articles. The book has little to no reusability except possibly as something to be loaned to other new players, but then it strikes me that just talking with them about the game would work as well or better.
The Physical Thing
This 160 page full color hardcover showcases the same high quality production values found in other Wizards of the Coast products. The interior artwork is comical and puts the reader in the right frame of mind for engaging meta-content about how to go about playing the game. The formatting and editing are both excellent, resulting in an easy to read product, while a comprehensive table of contents speeds navigation.Under the Cover
Split into four chapters, PSG covers 1. Building Your Character, 2. Building Your Party, 3. Strategy and Tactics, and 4. Playing the Game. The book starts out with a comprehensive look at character creation with plenty of discussion of what the different combat roles mean, what mechanical options are good choices for different classes, and how to find a build that works best for your play desires. Discussion of the usefulness of different Skills, Feats, and other character options is given plenty of attention along the way and does a good job of helping the novice navigate the large volume of material currently available to them.Throughout this discussion, and the rest of the book, sidebars discussing the characters and experiences of various D&D designers and WOTC staff members are included. Sometimes nuggets of insight are included here, but on the whole I found them to be somewhat boring. The sidebars are appropriately titled “Tell us about your character” and the illicit the same result as a stranger stating similar words – detached boredom. The stories are ho-hum D&D fare, the sort most folk have heard or played a dozen times, and tend to show fairly one dimensional characters in stock standard fantasy campaigns. These might have made for an interesting idea for an online ad campaign, but as a major component of the book they add little.
Building your party focuses even more heavily on the function of roles in combat. Useful advice is provided on fulfilling each of the required functions, and we see here one of several great suggestions found in the book: linking character backgrounds for the benefit of the story and group cohesiveness. It's a pretty basic tip, the sort of thing that should really be in the PHB, but it's still a nice item to include. Tips of building groups that lack a specific role are spot on, and a number of example parties are provided to get the reader in the mood for party creation.
As for strategy and tactics, most of those included here are pretty basic. The book goes out of its way to discuss the importance of focusing damage on a single target, on tracking different conditions, and on saving powerful attacks for powerful foes. General movement suggestions, such as using terrain and being sure to flank whenever possible, are included along with advice on resource management and when to make use of different resources. Those who have played any addition of D&D will already be familiar with these strategies, especially with resource management which has always been an element of the game, but it's useful for those who have yet to spend much time at the table.
The book wraps up with a chapter focused on roleplay considerations. This may be the best part of the book in that much of the discussion is excellent and focuses on helping a player contribute as much as possible to a fun game. The reader here is encouraged to actively push the story forward, to work as a team, to narrate powers, to create story hooks, and so forth. Other, more general, advice is also offered such as keeping a game journal, how to approach treasure, and how to make sure everyone is having fun.
