Dungeons & Dragons 5e 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide Review - A True DM's Best Friend

One of the most highly criticized books from 2014's Dungeons & Dragons release is the Dungeon Master's Guide. This book meant as a resource for DMs to craft their own worlds and adventures had issues with it's structure as well as efficiency of contents leading to a book that was cumbersome to get through. Now that we have our hands on the 2024 DMG how much of an improvement is it?

Running A Game

The first two sections of the DMG focus on running the game. The basic things that every DM should know and the rules and resolving outcomes. It might seem smart to begin at the beginning, but when the 2014 rulebook launched potentially new DMs into the rules with the pantheon of Gods this revised layout is great.

DMs will be taught what they need – players, dice, ways to make notes – and the preparation tools for running a session. Much like the revised Player Handbook the DMG also includes examples of play.

These scripted session provide an example for the potential DM reading to not just understand what they need to be aware of, but also why they're making those choices. As the party heads into a dangerous location asking something simple like "Whose leading the way" doesn't just help the players, but it also means if that hidden monster is to jump out who will be the one getting ambushed.

This section also highlights how differently something can be ran at a table. This is very important, especially for new DMs, as you don't want to fall into the trap that there's one perfect way to run a D&D game but instead try out a few different methods and see not only what works well for you, but also your table.

As this portion of the book continues there's an excellent balance of offering the DMs a wide variety of possibilities to pick from while also letting them know that they don't need to offer players the world. There are limits that DMs need to know to set, whether that be content limits or calming down disruptive players. I spoke about some of the good ways that the PHB subtly taught that DMs can say 'no' to a player while still enabling a fun game and it's in this section that you'll also learn that players should be respectful of you and your efforts.

This approach to teaching DMing, first in the tools you'll need and how to run the game, to the different expectations you should understand and accept for yourself but also all of your players is an excellent tact. It starts small, building up the game from the ground, without scaring a new DM with any big-picture ideas from the get-go.

Enabling The DM To Create Wonders

This DMG offers a LOT of different tools for DMs to fill their worlds with entertaining objects and obstacles. Here you'll find instructions for creating items for players to interact with like magic items and spells, as well as elements of the world like gods and settlements.

The range of things to learn, and a variety of their permutations was incredible. All of the things you could think you would need to build up a session or a world are present, and so many other things you might not have ever thought about. Want to run a chase sequence but need mechanics for it? What about if the magic potion wasn't brewed correctly and has a side effect? How should I balance the damage of a trap of my own design?

Most of these sections also have context for premade ideas, like traps, and then how to build them yourself. The DMG continues its methodology of showing you something to prompt your creativity, and then handing you the tools to carry your creation to the finish line.

Building Your Own Adventures

Forty two pages of the 2024 DMG are dedicated to the creation of Adventures, the generic term for a one-shot/smaller group of sessions, and for full-on Campaigns. Each of these sections details how you should go about creating the premise for the journey, how you can make the characters relevant to the world, and how you can plan encounters to be driving the plot forward.

This is a must-read section for DMs of any level of experience. Does well to explain and highlight the collaborative nature of storytelling in D&D, not just an adventure for the DM to write for the party to read but how they can all influence the world that they'll be joining.

This section also highlights important aspects of planning for multiple avenues of problem solving and how to get players more invested.

I also appreciated how it demonstrated that you could use the book to build a competent and fun adventure, and then string it to another, and another, and another to create a campaign that successfully builds upon itself, but it fun for everyone the whole way. It's not just about the destination or the journey, but both.

Campaign Setting, Some Assembly Required

A campaign setting for Greyhawk has been included as a reference for the DM to craft adventures within. This is a great setting off point.

This section gives a good overview of the regions and major locations of Greyhawk as well as cultural information like local gods, and a map of the world. It feels like a nice blueprint for any of the adventures that reading through the prior segments could be built up from.

That being said this isn't going to be a comprehensive guide to the ins and outs of Greyhawk, a DM will still need to do a lot of fill up this world as their players continue to progress through it.

Bastion Sweet Bastion

The final major section details Bastions, a returning mechanic from older editions of Dungeons & Dragons that allows the party to create a "home base" that they will likely call home between adventures. Bastion's can be introduced as early as level 5 and will continue to grow with the party.

This is a really fun way to allow your party to have a piece of the world to call their own, something that players of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist might be familiar with but with a whole lot more practical uses.

Bastion's start as a blank slate, but can be leveled up with different facilities that can offer all kinds of amazing effects. A meditation hall that can offer advantage on saving throws, a workshop to crate new tools, or a place to craft Spell Scrolls.

This adds further to the idea that was important in shaping the adventure, it's not just a story for the DM to write, but a place where all players are collaboratively able to craft a world and adventure together.

Dungeon Master's Guide 2024 Review | Final Thought

The Dungeon Master's Guide has managed to completely eclipse it's predecessor and become exactly what this book is meant to be, a guide (and best friend) to the Dungeon Master. Actually playing the game will be on your shoulders to do, but this book offers everything you need to know before become a DM, clear instructions not just how to run a game but the variety of ways a game can be run, and mechanics behind almost everything that your players will interact with in the world.

It's laid out well, features plenty of alternative ways of learning, and is quick to reference those minor details mid-game. This does feel like an upgrade in all ways, while you might not want to pick up the new PHB immediately, the DMG is definitely a must purchase for a DM planning their next session.

The Dungeons & Dragons 5e 2024 Player Handbook was reviewed with a copy provided by the publisher - All images for this review were taken by the reviewer