Book Description
BradyGames’ World of Warcraft Master Guide, Second Edition includes the following:
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Class strategies, abilities and talents.
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Essential stats and updated strategies for each of the 8 races and 9 classes for both the Horde and Alliance.
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Updated must-have quest data--contacts, objectives, item rewards and more.
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Updated profession sections provide data on created items, requirements and item components.
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Weapon, armor and item tables, ability and spell lists, and bestiary.
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Updated maps of each city and region, with call outs for characters, quest locations, dungeons, and more.
Platform: PC
Genre: Role-Playing Game
This product is available for sale worldwide.
Customer Reviews:
World of Warcraft Master Guide, Second Edition (World of Warcraft) .......2007-09-23
Amazaing book to start out with, includes everything you need to now about the game and even things that you dont. The book is so finley detailed with everything from your first dagger to level 60(70 if burning crusade) and soon to be 80
Good Start.......2007-08-12
The book helps you in the early stages of the game. Does not have anything on the two new expansion set that the only problem.
A great guide with tiny print!.......2007-07-07
A very useful refence - but we older gamers might need a magnifying glass to read!
WOW Guide.......2007-06-27
After using the burning crusade guide, this guide is getting me a lot of info on the other areas
Very helpful!.......2007-06-26
Very helpful book, both for reference and reading. All you need to know to play WoW is in this book.
Book Description
Weave exciting tales of heroism filled with magic and monsters. Within these pages, you’ll discover the tools and options you need to create detailed worlds and dynamic adventures for your players to experience in the
Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.
The revised
Dungeon Master's Guide is an essential rulebook for Dungeon Masters of the
D&D game. The
Dungeon Master's Guide has been reorganized to be more user friendly. It features information on running a D&D game, adjudicating play, writing adventures, nonplayer characters (including nonplayer character classes), running a campaign, characters, magic items (including intelligent and cursed items, and artifacts), and a dictionary of special abilities and conditions. Changes have been made to the item creation rules and pricing, and prestige classes new to the
Dungeon Master's Guide are included (over 10 prestige classes). The revision includes expanded advice on how to run a campaign and instructs players on how to take full advantage of the tie-in
D&D miniatures line.
Customer Reviews:
Help the Dungeon Master! Please!.......2007-08-07
This is a great supplement for the DM. It gives you loads of great information in a clear manner. I really like the way this book is organised, it is quite intuitive. The re-vamp of Magic Items is a great improvement, as well as the introduction of Prestige Classes. My group LOVES prestige classes, maybe a little too much!
Overall if you want to introduce you group to the wonderful world of D&D 3.5 pick up this book plus the Player's Handbook 3.5 and you will find them both clear and easy to read.
EXCELLENT SERVICE!!!.......2007-06-15
Everything was here faster than all other orders and in great shape!!!
DM.......2007-05-25
My boyfriend's birthday was coming up and instead of just getting him a steak dinner and some electronic device, I decided to get him something that was a little more exciting. DM's Guide. He wants to start a game this summer and this is a must so I bought him a couple books and we are on our way. Nothing says I love you and I want to be with you a long time than a Dungeons & Dragons book.
(plus it arrived the next day -it was great)
I Have Nothing Bad to Say About this Book.......2007-05-10
Pros
* Increased detail in the Adventure's section. Encounter charts, for example.
* The inclusion of a section on the planes. While this has little use for those who own Manual of the Planes, it considerably opens up the options to d20 companies.
* Epic Level rules, while simple, open up characters above 20th level to other game designers.
* Many additional prestige classes. While most of these are published elsewhere, their inclusion here (and therefore in the SRD) means that game designers can now include arch mages and duelists (to name two examples) in their d20 products.
* Many great changes in the magic items department. They gave Adamantium a purpose, finally, made certain magical properties effect only the price of an item, not its overall plus. They fixed the price of skill bonus items, as well.
* Inclusion of templates at the back of the book allow for more ease of play, were miniatures are involved.
Cons
I have nothing bad to say about this book.
Good magazine material, poor hardback material.......2007-04-15
Dissapointing is an understatement. There is not a bit of information in this book that would not have been better placed in Dragon magazine. It's useful to some extent, but most players view hardback books as "cannon" and softback as "suggestion" - and everything in this book is in the catagory of suggestion. No DM should be held to anything in the DMG-2. You can agree to adopt some of it's good ideas if you want to, but this is not golden enough to justify the price tag. If you want it, get it used, and don't spend more than $10.
Book Description
Getting into graduate business school has become an increasingly competitive and complicated process. Each year approximately 100,000 applications are sent to top schools. Written by two current MBA students who successfully gained admission into multiple schools, Your MBA Game Plan provides a strategic framework for putting together winning applications.
Your MBA Game Plan helps you navigate the application process by providing detailed analyses of every application component including:
--GMAT
--TOEFL
--Essays
--Recommendations
--Interview
--Data sheets
--Transcript
--Resume
Essays and other application samples are provided to highlight strategies that successful applicants have employed to get into top schools. Your MBA Game Plan also demonstrates how to assemble a document that crystallizes your application strategy. Finally, this book shows you how to apply application strategy to 30 top schools.
With Your MBA Game Plan in hand you will be well positioned to gain admission to the top business schools.
Customer Reviews:
Good addition.......2007-08-17
This book is a good supplement to the other "How to get into the top MBA programs." It's a lot smaller and goes much less in depth. I found it was a nice supplement to the other book, but I would not suggest this one as your main source for application tips and strategies.
Good luck! It's tough competition but it's worth it!!
How To Get Into the Top MBA Programs, 4th Edition (How to Get Into the Top Mba Programs)
AMAZING!!!!.......2007-08-01
AWESOME!! Omari and Scott have put in so much effort in writing this book.
Great work!! I love it!!! Have recommended it to many friends and they all love it and have successfully gotten into the school of their choice thanks to this wonderful book!!
Great MBA prep book.......2007-02-08
This is a great book for understanding how the US MBA admission process works. Coming from Africa this book guided me through the whole process of essay writing, GMAT, application and I got admitted into a top 10 US MBA school. I don't think this would have been possible without the knowledge I got from it.
I highly recommend it to prospective MBA students; especially those coming fron outside the USA.
I got in!.......2007-02-04
I was only trying to get into one school, it was the only one with the program I needed. It is just starting to make the lists for top 50 business schools. This book was invaluable. It really walks you through all the steps of applying. A few things didn't apply to me but it was all useful. I didn't have the chance to do an interview for a backup school first as it recommends, because I didn't have one. But with this book I was prepared. So, long story short, I got in and even recieved a significant scholarship.
Great for MBA Application Preparation.......2007-01-10
This book is great. It is a great tool to get you to really evaluate yourself as an applicant for any business school you are applying to. The MBA Game plan will also be a great tool to make sure your recommenders are on the same page as you. I highly recommend it!
Book Description
A follow-up to the Dungeon Master's Guide, designed to aid Dungeon Masters and reduce game preparation time. The Dungeon Master's Guide II builds upon existing materials in the Dungeon Master's Guide. It is specifically designed to facilitate play, especially when the Dungeon Master has a limited amount of preparation time. Chapters include discussion on running a game, designing adventures, building and using prestige classes, and creating campaign settings. Ready-made game elements include instant traps, pre-generated locations, treasures, and a fully realized and rendered town.
Customer Reviews:
DM Guide II .......2007-07-23
This book has several good points. It has some new material and a few new things for players and GM's alike. It's one irritating thing is the number of "after you buy the canned game book spend 4 hours reviewing it". It could have had a lot more things to help those of us with a creative mind that like to generate our own worlds. It is, overall, worth the money.
Useful to Any DM.......2007-05-10
All right. Let's begin with a discussion of irony. Not irony as in the Alanis Morissette song (the greatest irony of which almost none of the things she calls ironic actually are). Instead we will talk about true irony.
Those of you who have read my previous reviews may have noticed a certain resistance to a phenomena I call "prestige class bloat." DMG II arrived at my door a bit late for a review copy, and I had some time to think about how I would view the prestige classes in this book. Every other book has drawn my anger, my disdain, sometimes even my pity for their prestige classes. But this book, I thought, "You know . . . I'm gonna give them a pass on this book. They might put the contents into the SRD at some point (it's possible). I'll let this one go."
And there are no prestige classes in this book.
I might weep. I might actually weep.
Anyway. We won't hold that against them. We won't. My review will be objective. Honest.
Actually, that won't be very hard. There's a lot to like in this book. Almost everything is useful. Some of it is downright insightful. When I reviewed the first DMG all those year's ago (all right, the first 3.x DMG . . . I'm not that old, people) I was amazed at how good the advice was. This wasn't just a set of DM specific rules, it really was a guide to being a good DM.
So here we are, years later, holding DMG II.
Chapter 1 deals with the actual running of a game. Now, in many ways this chapter resembles the Gamemaster's Law product from ICE. For years I've said that was the best book on GMing ever written. I'm friends with one of the authors. I'm crushed to say this, but, I like this one better. The bits on how to actually run are pretty blaise, although if your DM routinely shows up surly, sleepy and unwashed you might make him read this book. No, the true genius is the treatment of the different play styles. There was a lot of insight here I've missed over the years. In this section they talk about the different type of players and how to tailor a game for them . . . most importantly, they talk about how to avoid the pitfalls caused by these players. For instance, I've had problems with "Outliers" over the years. These are the players that choose strange class/race combinations, bizarre backgrounds, and seem to set themselves up to fail. An outlier can cause a great deal of trouble in a game if they go out of control at a bad moment. This book gave the simplest advice, to give the outlier the opportunity, a specific set up, to allow him to fail spectacularly early in the session, when it won't hurt anything. By doing this you'll avoid the problem of the character imploding later and taking your plot line with him. It's the simplest advice, but I've missed it for years, and now I know. I'm anxious to put it into use.
Chapter 2 deals with adventures. Now, this was sort of a ho hum chapter for me. When it's useful, I expect it to be very useful, but otherwise I doubt I'll ever look at it. It gives a section on using published adventures that I hope no one needs to read (but if you do, study it. I'm going into business as an e-publisher). It follows this up with some new traps, which are probably the most consistently useful thing in the chapter. Then it moves on to strange locations, such as the tree top city and all the rules necessary for play there. Then it moves onto special encounter rules, such as how to deal with mobs, which again, could be useful. Finally it wraps up with miniature and encounter advice, which was fine.
Chapter 3 deals with building a campaign. Most of the advice is pretty good, but the detailed examples of some medieval environments was truly spot on. I've studied a lot about medieval culture (I'm no expert, but above the gamer layman) and I thought they did a fine job here, especially in examining the fine line between realism and the style of play that is conducive to a good game. You absolutely need to compromise to find the perfect ground between the two, and I loved this book for even trying it. The rest of the chapter treats with general subjects like building a city or magical events and I looked upon it and I called it good.
Chapter 4 outlined the city of Saltmarsh. You know, I could have done without this chapter. I mean it was fine and all, but I thought the locale was a little too evocative of specific images to be as universal as a city in a book like this needed to be. We needed a Homlet, or better yet, a location that doesn't carry the baggage of roleplaying history with it (either good or bad). This chapter just didn't work for me as is. No offence to the writer. I believe this one went astray at conception (and as a game designer, I know the feeling. I've taken the fall for decisions that weren't mine in at least one book.)
Chapter 5 deals with NPCs. Its starts with a treatment of contacts and hirelings, plus a section on unique abilities. Then it hops into my favorite part, the complex NPCs. Lets face it, when you suddenly need a Blackgaurd, you need it now and it's not something you can wing and do it justice. This section gives a nice sampling of these types of difficult-to-improvise characters.
Chapter 6 is the character chapter, it starts with apprentices and mentors and moves on to running a business. Then it hits on teamwork benefits, like those given by special training in Heroes of Battle. I'm still glad these were added into the D&D system and I'm anxious to see more. Then it moves onto prestige classes. Sigh. Now, I was willing to see a few prestige classes in this book, hoping they'd make it into the SRD. Let's face it, only so many people can create versions of the Knight before you're accidently stepping on a half-dozen copyrights. I doubt anyone would sue you over retreading the same ground as everyone else, but we need to stop beating this poor horse. Still, they went a different way. This section is on how to build even more prestige classes. When I read the words, "Why make your own prestige class?" I wanted to find a set of precision needles and stick the one after another into my eyes. Flash forward ten years. "Why did he kill so many people, officer?" "Well, prestige class bloat was bad enough, but then they came out with DMG II. It was the beginning of the end." The chapter wraps up with some stuff on PC organizations.
Finally, the finishes with expanded magic item rules. The book needed this section, and I was happy with it. Of particular note is the section on magical locations which are essentially giant, immobile magic items. These types of locations have worked their way into my campaigns several times over the years. I was happy to see them here.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I would recommend that everyone who intends to run a game read at least the first chapter. I thought it alone was worth the cover price, and so if you can find a good use for the other material in the book, so much the better. Now I'm going to take a nap an imagine a world where prestige classes are few, balanced, and in some way prestigious.
New stuff is good.......2007-04-26
While this book is not nearly the resource that many of the more staple books are, like the Epic Handbook and PHB2, it is still extremely useful to add more flavor to the campaign. It gives some very good tips to create details and subtlties that make the campaign much more real without seeming narrated to the players. Anyone creating a new campaign could benefit with some of the examples in the Saltmarsh city, novice and veteran players alike.
There are also new and interesting traps, items, and rules that make this book very useful. I havn't read anyone talking about the Teamwork benefits, which are very interesting to me. I intend to implement them into my next campaign, assuming the players want to use any of them. The basic idea is that the group has worked and trained together, so they have studied each other to an extent that you gain special abilities and even feats when certain conditions are met. For example, a character with high Spellcraft and the Evasion ability can teach the rest of your party when to dodge a spell cast by a teammate. This means that the mage can cast fireball right on the fighter wading into melee and he gets to avoid the damage on a reflex save.
The new items, magic locations, and traps have some good ideas behind them, but nothing that a clever DM can't come up with on their own. I'm not saying they are useless, but many are hard to place into a campaign. The magic locations grant the owner specific powers and abilities, but in order for the players to get the location, it almost has to be the entire focus of the campaign. Very few are "side-quest" material, and the majority can take several sessions to get to, capture, find reagents to use them, and defend in order to reap the marginally useful benefits.
Most of the rest of the book is given over to npcs. There is a very large section of sample npcs to use for a fight. Unfortunetly, many aren't optimized, but that doesn't prevent them from being used by a lazy DM that doesn't feel like leveling up every single important npc in case the players fight him. There is also a section on making npcs more distinctive. This can easily be skipped over since DMG1 has a very similar section.
Overall, I have to say there is some interesting material and ideas to make a campaign world more interesting and unique. On the other hand, nothing in this book is game-changing. Useful? yes. Needed in any way? no
A decent read, not great.......2007-02-18
Overall this book contains about 50 pages of useful materials. The rest is really just fluff and made for a beggining gamer/DM who needs ideas for their campaigns.
I would recomend just buying a low level adventure if your starting out as a DM, and save your money on this book as its quite expensive for what you get.
For those who are familiar with the game, there is usefull material in the book on items, treasure charts, etc. Its just a smaller portion of the book.
If you have an extra $35 dollars go for it, it not don't worry your not missing much.
Good supplement.......2006-07-13
This book is a useful supplement for DMs. The new magic item traits and the magical events and locations can really spice up an otherwise stale treasure hoard, and the specialized example NPCs are pretty cool.
While it is by no means necessary (hence it being a supplement), it is not as full of fluff as some of the other d&d 3.5 books out there. Everything in it can be of some use to DMs and players alike.
My one complaint is that WOTC forgot to proofread it before sending it off to the printers. It's chock-full of typos and spelling mistakes (I must say, though, that it's not as bad as the Monster Manual 3.5, which actually has a proofreader named in the credits and yet still manages to come off looking like a rough draft).
Definitely worth getting if you're a DM looking to spice up your game a bit and don't know how/don't have time/can't be bothered to think of ways of doing it yourself. Also useful for new DMs, as it has tips on managing unruly players and the like.
Book Description
A Master's Guide to the Ultimate Game.
The award-winning first book in the Learn to Play Go series by Janice Kim 1 dan and Jeong Soo-hyun 9 dan, two masters of the 4,000-year-old Asian game of strategy. Takes the complete beginner step-by-step all the way to playing real Go in one afternoon. Suitable for kids, demystifying for adults. Includes a complete Go set with 9x9, 13x13, and 19x19 playing grids and punch out
Customer Reviews:
Loved it.......2007-09-19
Great book! Helps you progress quickly with many examples and exercises. I intend to buy every book in the series!
A great help.......2007-06-08
This book has been everything I had hoped for in a beginners tutorial. It presents a little bit of an over view of how the game ought to be played plus some simple down-to-earth techniques. As a bonus, it includes a paper board and stones so the student can examine the techniques (or even play a full game).
I haven't fully digested the book but I'm playing better, already.
A great way to introduce yourself to the game of go........2007-03-23
This book steps through all of the basic strategy of Go. It is well illustrated and written in clear and understandable terms. I reference this book and the others in the series constantly.
My only critque is that, as a series, the books tend to be a bit repetitive and do not delve much into more complicated strategy.
clear but not filling.......2007-03-23
The book is very easy to read. This might be an advantage or a disadvantage., depending on your needs.
(I'm not quite a beginner, so I bought the book number 5.)
Many pages just contain one diagram, which is fine, but does not make for a lot of content.
If you're a serious reader, I'd rather recommend "Elementary Go" series by Kiseido
Learn To Play Go Easily.......2007-02-01
Janice Kim and Jeong Soo-hyun have made and excellent book. I had wanted to play go for a long time, yet I did not know what book to choose. Learn to Play Go: A Master's Guide to the Ultimate Game was very helpful.
The book is organized into chapters, and at the end of each chapter, there are some problems for you to try yourself. The book is very easy to understand, and you feel very satisfied when you successfully answer a question.
You don't have a go board? No problem. There is a go set inside. It has a reversable mat with a 19 by 19, 13 by 13 and a 9 by 9 board. There are also 'stones' made out of a thick paper.
This instructional book has everything from ko and life and death, to information about go history and playing go on the computer. If you have never played go before, definately buy this book.
Book Description
2001 Origins Awards Game of the Year!
Customer Reviews:
not bad but not great either........2007-07-03
If you have the first edition AD&D stuff by Gygax, then you really don't need this book. Its basically AD&D with some funny commentary every once in a while. I bought this thing when i decided to get back into gaming. I wanted something simple so i could introduce new players to dungeons and dragons. I took one look at the character creation part and decided that Hackmaster wasn't for the group i was putting together. It would have taken three hours to roll up. definately not a way to introduce new folks to the game, but if you hate the D20 stuff and you want to get into gaming the way it was in the good old days then you should give hackmaster a try.
OLD TIME AD&D IS BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER!.......2005-09-13
Call it AD&D with a big bold sense of humor and lots of murder and mayhem. Hackmaster is the game and you're not going anywhere without this Hackmaster Game Master's Guide. Hackmaster is a truly brilliant game from Kenzer & Co., and something that veteran (I hesitate to say old) AD&D gamers like myself will love. Hackmaster freely and with permission uses the original AD&D rules (hence the remarkably similar covers) to those original Ad&D books of the late 70's and early 80's but imbues it with a sly sense of humor and an in your face attitude to provide the kind of gaming experience that you used to love before TSR and now Wizards of the Coast went nuts and started putting out a gazillion supplements.
Veterans (there's that word again) will recognize much of the material contained in side this massive book but you'll still have to pay attention because the designers have added their special little nuances throughout to make this one hilarious but still straight-forward, RPG experience. Everything you'd expect to be covered is, including character creation, class, race, etc, but these guys have added their own little touches such as character quirks and flaws that add new depth to those two-dimensional character. These quirks take form in things like male pattern baldness, lips, and nosebleeds. Some could even aid your character. Turning to combat, Hackmaster has, hands down, the largest critical hit table that I have ever seen, even including an anatomical drawing to help show where the damage is done.
Hackmaster provides a tool that is overdue by some 25 years...a Smartass Smackdown table. This table is used for dealing with out of control players. Roll a D100 and see the results. Perhaps that whiner develops a twitch, perhaps that ruthless killer of NPC's is infected by a skin-eating bacteria, maybe the dawdler slowing down the game finds himself the object of unnatural love from a powerful NPC (I'll let you define unnatural) It's touches like this that make the book a scream. Want another nice tool? How about a random tavern name generator? Now that really works!
The magic item selection contains all those great items you remember from the original DM guide although some of the names have been changed to protect...someone. Thus we have the Hand of Vectra, along with the companion Eye, and, new to this book, the Feet of the Lich Vectra. There's also the Ring of Mercy Killing (AKA the Ring of Kavorkian), the Rod of Gender Bending, and the Bolt of the Month Pouch. If I am making this sound like a parody it's really not. At it's core Hackmaster is good, old time AD&D hack & slash fun. The designers have simply taken what is a great game and added a little humor that was probably already there to begin with in your own campaign. And, Hackmaster also has the largest random encounter tables I have ever seen, requiring the roll of a D10,000 to find out what you run into. What a superb book and what a great tribute to a simpler time of RPG gaming.
Reviewed by Tim Janson
Forget about WOTC! This book has it all!.......2004-01-18
This book contains Most of the 1st and 2nd edition rules for AD&D,and a whole lot more! Unlike 3rd Edition which claims to be clear and concise this book actually is organized and clear in it's presentation. The art is good, but not distracting from the content. Plus the book is actually ENJOYABLE AND EASY TO READ. Seriously, I could hardly put it down.(I stopped trying to decipher the 3rd ed D&D after Chapter 1 Yecch! What a headache.)
Plus this version of the game actually stops all those annoying arguments people get into over the rules. (Just do as the GM says or get a roll on the Smack-Down Table) They thought of EVERYTHING!
This is more than a Roleplaying game. It's also Primer for how to play a roleplaying game. Loaded with Good advice. Wow!
A+ Good job Kenzer Keep em coming!
So much more than an RPG:.......2002-10-26
I for one, totally than WOC for fecking up D&D. This allowed for Hackmaster to be readily available. I've been gaming off and on for more than 5 years. I thank God my GM decided to drop D&D and convert to Hackmaster.
It is funnier, more interesting and more fun than D&D could ever hope to be. I just got the GM guide, and can't wait to begin GMing.
Old school gaming with some great new twists.......2002-10-22
The HackMaster GMG, like all HackMaster material, reads like the original 1st Edition AD&D gamebooks by Gary Gygax, but with lots more humor and with plenty of good-natured ribbing to the "Godfather of Gaming".
The HM Gamemaster's Guide is a great book, and like it's old 1st Edition AD&D counterpart, it can give a GM plenty of ideas for his/her campaign, simply by opening it and taking a look around. It's creative, well-written, better organized than most RPG's GM reference material, and it is DEFINITELY more entertaining (most RPG reference books read like VCR instructions and are about as dry as plain saltines with nothing to wash them down).
In short, if you like the fun you had years ago with your hack-n-slash AD&D campaigns, and you're not interested in the new gaming system that Wizards of the Coast is trying to pass off as "D&D", then HackMaster is for you. Don't believe those that try and tell you that HackMaster is just a parody of a popular RPG... it's a full-scale, playable, well-thought-out, and well-playtested RPG based on the game that started an industry!
Book Description
A deluxe, leather-bound version of the essential tool every D&D Dungeon Master needs.
The follow-up to the special edition Player’s Handbook™ released in 2004 for the 30th anniversary of
D&D, this special release of the Dungeon Master’s Guide™ features an embossed, leather-bound cover and premium, gilt-edged paper.
Customer Reviews:
D&D.......2007-05-26
loved the book. the leather binding gives it a beautiful touch on one of the Dungeons and dragon most bought book i loved it.
Warning: Not truly "leather bound"! .......2007-04-10
From WotC's description, the Special Editions are "premium black bonded leather". "Bonded leather" is a manmade compound; it is essentially leather fibers plus latex. This is far from the quality of a true leather-bound book (which would use real leather). As one bookbinder puts it: "recommended for use only if the book will be used infrequently."
new and improved.......2007-01-12
I think this is one of the areas where WOTC actually improved the D20 exepience. The DM's guide is well organized and contains lots of quality info and tools. I think this manual better lends itself to the person trying to create their own story line than the past offerings did. The only bad part was that the silver paint on the edges of the pages was literally painted on, so when I first opened the book I had to carefully seperate each page from the others.
Master Class.......2007-01-10
If you truly appreciate the quality of Dungeons & Dragons gameplay then look no further than this edition of the DMG. I have a leather bound copy of the Player's Handbook as well and will soon purchase the Monster Manual leather bound.
Beautiful tomes and highly recommended.
fantastic.......2006-07-13
I am most pleased with this book. The faux leather cover is just so cool, and it's so nice to have all but the most recent errata corrected in the book already. I didn't mind having to separate each page when I first got it -- as someone else said, it just proves you really are the first person to open the book.
D&D 3.5 is all about choices. Fans of older versions might not like it for various reasons, but that's ok. 3.5 has been designed with the next generation in mind -- it's simple, straight-forward, and endlessly customizable (thus giving it much broader appeal than previous versions). If you prefer the more restrictive and sometimes confusing rules of the older versions, don't play this game. You can still find older edition stuff secondhand.
My only real complaint is with the quality of WOTC's illustrations. They just aren't as good as the ones from 2nd edition. Those were truly reflective of 'epic fantasy', especially the full-page pics ... but the 3.5 pics are all fairly cartoonish, and some are downright silly. My guess is that WOTC couldn't afford to employ TSR's artists.
(As a side note, the Amazon.com image of the cover really doesn't do it justice. This book is actually black with silver -- the image here makes it look rather bland and grey.)
If you're like me and don't want to have to pencil in all the changes to the rules, get this copy. It's cheap enough here at Amazon. Otherwise, go for the regular version of the DMG. Maybe WOTC will release the SE printing in a regular cover soon like they did with the player's handbook.
Amazon.com
The 3rd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide focuses on how to create and run a fun Dungeons & Dragons game. Like previous editions, the 3rd Edition DMG further explains the rules introduced in the Player's Handbook. But this book goes beyond rules and offers valuable tips on pacing, story creation, conflict, villains, motivation, and player rewards.
Novice DMs will benefit from the sections on creating individual adventures and describing action, while even experienced DMs will appreciate the notes on extended campaigns, detailed world creation, and high-level play. We loved the "Behind the Curtain" blurbs, which explain the reasoning behind the changes made in 3rd Edition. Well-considered optional rules are offered to daring DMs, including rules for monsters as PC races (troll paladin, anyone?), high technology, and guidelines for creating custom races and classes.
The nuts and (lightning) bolts of DMing are also covered in great detail. The book teaches DMs how to gauge Challenge Ratings for players and monsters in order to create balanced encounters. These encounters are easier to run thanks to 3rd Edition's standardized monster abilities, each of which are covered in depth. Rewarding players for successful encounters is also easier, now that the cumbersome treasure tables of 2nd Edition have been replaced. Particular attention is paid to magic items: how to award them, how players create them, how to adjudicate them, and how to take them away. The new magic item enhancement rules (similar to the magic items in the computer game Diablo) are also detailed.
One dramatic departure from D&D as we knew it could have used a bit more attention. The DMG introduces the concept of prestige classes, and includes rules for six sample prestige classes: arcane archer, assassin, blackguard, dwarven defender, loremaster, and shadowdancer. Characters can't take these classes at first level but must instead work toward them by choosing specific classes, skills, and feats. For example, before taking a level in arcane archer a character needs to be an elf or half-elf and have a high attack bonus, specific archery feats, and the ability to cast at least one arcane spell. Unsure how these classes will affect your game? Want tips on how to properly create and balance these classes? Sorry, the DMG does not provide adequate answers.
But aside from this complaint the DMG stands out as an honestly useful guide book to the incredible new Dungeons & Dragons game. The rules and tips are well organized and easy to find, thanks to a detailed table of contents and full index. Artwork, examples, and diagrams are liberally placed throughout the book. All this attention to detail makes the DMG an easy and effective read. We wouldn't want to DM without it. --Mike Fehlauer
Book Description
The Third Edition Dungeon Master's Guide is an essential rulebook for the D&D game and is a must-have for every Dungeon Master. A Dungeon Master runs the Dungeons & Dragons(r) game-part storyteller, part actor, part referee. The Dungeon Master's Guide features 224 pages of beautifully rendered, intuitively presented rules and material designed to get a Third Edition D&D campaign up and running.
Customer Reviews:
Dungeon Master's Guide.......2007-05-09
You sit down at the table, and the players are amicably chatting about Everquest or the upcoming D&D movie. You listen to the conversation as you begin to organize your notes. As the conversation draws on, you know that it's time to reel it in and begin, but somehow, you can't seem to work up the courage.
What do you do if a character falls into a water trap? What are the chances of having an encounter? Did you put enough combat into the adventure? Too much? Will it be a challenge?
This is your first time at the head of the table. You've been talking up a good storm, but now it's time to put you money where your mouth is.
Are you prepared?
There are two things that are important in a gamemaster's book. The first are all the rules necessary to run a game, those that players don't need to know. The second are all the little bits of advice necessary to make a person into a fine gamemaster.
Let's tackle those subjects one at a time.
First of all there are all the DM only rules. This is an area the all versions of the DM's Guide have been strong in. In fact, certain additions (2nd, for instance) seemed to concentrate solely on these issues.
There is a wealth of information in this book. They handle many of the old standby's. There are sections on NPC's and encounters. There are rules for assigning experience and treasure. There are methods of generating magic items. None of this is, in and of itself, a surprise.
We have some new additions. There is a system for generating towns. This allows you to calculate the highest level person of any given class in a town. It also tells how rich the town is, showing the most expensive object than can be purchased and total funds that can be taken out of a town (for the purposes of selling items). This was a welcome addition.
Another new feature are Prestige classes. These are classes that allow a character to explore career opportunities not usually available to a starting character. The arcane archer is a fascinating example of a prestige class, perfect for the elf who wishes to combine magic and archery.
Also, we have the new concept of NPC classes. In truth, NPC classes have been around for a long time, but they were never official and almost always set apart by how powerful they were. The NPC classes in the new addition deal with all the things PC's usually find too dull to explore. Why doesn't a commoner raise levels? Now they do, within the commoner class. Are all those town guards fighters? No, they are probably the less powerful warrior. NPC classes add a fine new element to the game.
Ever since Tomb of Horrors debuted at Origins, traps have been an important part of the D&D game. The new DM's Guide actually acknowledges this fact, listing several typical traps, along with all their stats. This allows a DM to easily extrapolate on traps of his own. Also, traps have challenge ratings now, which means they are worth experience.
Another big surprise comes in magic items. They are now organized (at least on the charts) by power level. This makes it very rare to roll a Staff of Power for the treasure a kobold is carrying. It also allows a GM to track more accurately the amount of treasure that his party is receiving.
All in all, a very strong showing.
But what about the second part? Does this book teach you to be a better DM?
Yes. Whereas 2nd addition had little dedicated to making a person a better gamemaster, the new edition seems to treat the subject very seriously.
There is an entire chapter dedicated to world building. Through it, a DM can gain advice on designing his own world. Various forms of governments are discussed, and the chapter is at times thought provoking. Not all that it should be, however. I wanted more on subjects like communication and healing, which can radically effect a game where magic is the norm.
The chapter on designing good adventures fares much better. Perhaps it should have been called, "Adventures for Dummies." This section discusses how to craft an adventure to suit the tastes of your group. It even goes so far as to give a statistical breakdown for the encounter levels of every fight.
Ever since I read Rolemaster's Gamemaster's Law, books have been fighting an uphill battle when it comes to teaching a person to be a good GM. This book falls far short of that mark. Still, it is a good beginner's guide to running a game.
Where did this book fall short? Well the art, right off. The art is not nearly up to the quality of Player's Handbook or Monster Manual. It is obvious they saved their best artists for those.
They also failed to complete some very good thoughts. For instance, they have sample character stats for all the PC classes, but not for the NPC classes. They could have done more with traps, I think. I'd also have liked to see more on environment (cold, heat, drowning etc.).
Still, a thumbs up. This is a strong addition to the D&D line.
DM'ing Made Simple.......2003-06-09
Let's face it. All my fellow DM's know Dungeon Mastering is hard. You need to be in tune with the entire game enviornment, and every NPC and every monster and...I could go on, but I'm not going to bore you. Anyway, I think 3rd Edition rules are pretty darn good, but this Dungeon Masters Guide is useless for experienced DM's.
There are many useful tables throughout the book based on almost everything imaginable. They are quite useful for in-game reference. The classes included are quite interesting. My personal favorite is the "Paladin Gone Bad." It's real name is the Fallen Blackguard, and he is very bad-arse. They have other interesting ones, like the Arcane Archer, and Loremaster. There are tips in the first chapter of the book for beginners, that could come in handy.
The problem is this book is geared for neophyte DMs. Experienced ones can rip out Chapters 1,4, and 5, because they just give you pointers on what adventures and campaigns are and how to control them. Trust me, If you've DMed for a fair amount of time, don't even bother buying this, and stick with your 2E Dungeon Master's Guide for reference. iF you are new to DMing, this is the perfect review for you.
The How and Why of D&D3e.......2003-01-08
The 3rd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide is exactly what it should be - a description of the how and why of 3rd Edition rules.
It is so much more than a collection of tables and charts. Sure, those are there as a short cut, an easy reference. What the book really brings to the table, though, is a system for knowing how to modify the system and add things to the game without throwing the power balance all out of whack. An example of the is the "Most important thing for a DM to know:" a quick and easy rule for modifying a situation. If it's easy, give a +2 bonus. Difficult? -2. REALLY difficult? -4. After the session is over, look up the actual 'rule' on the situation, and most times you'll find that you were right.
Most importantly, though, is that the book does this without cramming a default campaign setting down your throat. Many DMs out there, myself included, want to play in our own worlds that we've created, and the DMG lets you do exactly that.
This book is better laid-out than the Player's Handbook, which is why I gave it 5 stars. If half stars were available, I would have given it 4.5, since the book isn't perfect. Sure, there are some problems, but they're so much more minor than 2ed, with so many more possibilities for expanding the system that they're easily overlooked.
3rd Edition is what brougth my circle of gamers back to the table. It's so much easier to play that I can't imagine how we ever dealt with other systems. Much more time to roleplay, and less time taken looking up rules!
So much less than it seems..........2002-11-27
The Third Edition DMG is not the book it should have been. It is a disjointed collection of rules that really don't fit together very well.
The most important flaw is the experience and rewards systems. It's designed to rocket the characters to 20th level without ever placing them in any real danger. Please, since when is one lone 4th level NPC a challenge for four 4th level characters? Any why are 1st and 3rd level characters treated the same on the experience chart? A 3rd level party is going to have more than triple the resources that a 1st level party has available. Combined with a reward chart that puts a truckloads of magical items into the characters hands, this book puts Third Edition D&D solidly into the munchkin world (For the RPG terminology impaired, that's like a Monty Haul campaign but without any danger of loosing).
Other irregularities include the fact that there are rules on drowning and being crushed to death by water pressure (deep under the sea), but no rules for actually moving in water or fighting under water.
There are rules for generating towns and cities. Those rules do not function in a reasonable manner, unless the DM manually saturates the cities with specifically placed characters. Even something as simple as using the tables to determine what the levels of the high priests of the religions present in a city breaks down unless there are less than four seperate religions present in the city.
The section on magic items is poorly laid our and difficult to use for anything other than random magic item rolls. Some of the magic items are undervalued, overly powerful, or both.
A lot of space is devoted to incomplete tutorials on how to be a game master. Ironically, that's not matieral that should actually be in the Dungeon Master's Guide. This is supposed to be a reference book for running a campaign, not "The Dummies Guide to Dungeon Masterery".
The rules for gunpowder weapons and lasers are useless filler that takes up space that could have been devoted to environments that average game master would actually like to see his characters in, like say astral combat rules and underwater combat rules. Who cares how much damage a laser might do if it were in the hands of a barbarian. Anyone who actually wants to use laser weapons is just going to use a d20 modern or futuristic sourcebook anyways.
The D&D economy is so disfunctional that no wizard or sorceror who can create any magic items (including scrolls) should ever be allowed to die. It's always worth a cleric's while to bring the chump back from the dead and make him work off the investment. Also it becomes blatantly clear that NPCs are supposed to give special respect to the PCs simply because they are PCs, otherwise how can you explain the fact that a character can earn a wage of 15 gps a week as a stablehand but only needs to pay his stablehands 1 gp per week.
The section on special abilities is redundant because most of it is repeated in the Monster Manual and the encounter tables are useless without the Monster Manual. Since they were also rendered useless by the first expansion printed for the Monster Manual, it is very obvious that they should have been printed in the Monster Manual itself.
Half of an entire chapter is dedicated to charts of stats for average characters of each of the classes at each level. This space is completely wasted.
Overall, the DMG is first book produced for Third Edition that was simply bad. No attempt was made to turn a collection of notes and rules into a good refence book for Third Edition D&D. Instead it seems to have been thrown together with a nice binding and cover and some artwork and rushed out the door. Not all of the material is bad, but all you have to do is try to use the book to realize how useless it really is.
I would only recommend this book to someone who is being forced to run Third Edition D&D.
Simply Great.......2002-09-25
The PHB was awesome, and the DMG is doulbly so. Prestige classes are a great tool. What's more are the very useful NPC classes. Finally there are rules for making magic items. I don't know why 2nd edition rules assumed that only NPCs can make these things. Now I have something for my players to strive for!
Book Description
In the dark of the night the Vampire rules supreme. Masters of dark necromantic acts, terrible treachery and violent combat the Vampires of the Old World make ideal antagonists for would be heroes. Within this tome is contained all manner of truth and lies about these powerful beings. Learn of their bloody origins, murderous wars and secret plans for the Old World. Packed with information about the Vampire bloodlines, their culture, necromantic powers and deadly weaknesses, this book is a must for any player hoping to hunt these masters of undead. Gm¿s too, will find dark delight in this detailed sourcebook, for contained within is information on Vampires as enemies, allies and patrons, as well as a disturbing adventure in the region of Sylvania.
Book Description
Lottery Master Guide is the most comprehensive book on scientific lottery strategy ever written. Once you apply the methods in this book, you will never look at Lotto numbers the same way again. By using the powerful and effective rules and tools in Lottery Master Guide, you'll learn how to spot specific numbers for specific drawings, and make the best use of the dollars you spend on Lotto. You will learn to recognize the winning patterns that produce winning numbers--and spot the Hot Numbers of tomorrow... TODAY!!!
Lottery Master Guide is a virtual library of indispensable lottery information--everything serious players need to know about pick-5, pick-6, pick-10, Powerball and The Big Game. It also lists state and Canadian lottery addresses, telephone numbers, drawing result hot lines, odds, drawing days, etc. After you have read Lottery Master Guide from cover to cover, not only will you be on your way to winning more prizes, but you will be an authority on lotteries--and you will have the world's best strategies to beat them!
LOTTERY MASTER GUIDE REVEALS HOW YOU CAN:
* Turn a game of chance into a game of skill. (Page 2)
* Reduce the odds by millions. (Page 32)
* Buy fewer tickets yet have a greater chance to win. (Page 90)
* Discover the one thing ALL jackpot winners have in common. (Page 165)
* Tell if a number is about to start a long losing streak before it loses 15 or 20 games or more. (Page 53)
* Know when to play--or when not to play--a specific number for a specific drawing. (Page 68)
* See how often you can expect to trap the six, five, four or three winning numbers in your wheeled group. (Page 128)
* Tell which "cold" number is best to play. (No, it is not the number out the longest!) (Page 44)
* Detect at a glance which numbers are hot and which are not. (Page 53)
* Avoid playing Lotto numbers that are sure to lose. (Page 19)
* Cash in on the luck of others. (Page 152)
* Eliminate one quarter to one fifth of the Lotto numbers in your state's game and turn a 49-number game into a 39-number game. (Page 39)
* Know how many cold, lukewarm, and hot numbers to include on your tickets. (Page 41)
* Spot a Hot Number before it gets hot--so you can be on it when it starts its winning streak. (Page 53)
* Know which of last game's WINNING numbers has the best chance of winning the next drawing. (Page 65)
* Know which of last game's LOSING numbers have the best chance of winning the next drawing. (Page 68)
* Tell which numbers have an affinity to win most often with your strongest numbers. (Page 71)
* Cash on the most predictable indicator--the balancing Bias Tracker(tm). (Page 34)
* Learn how to choose the best and eliminate the rest. (Page 45)
Customer Reviews:
Simplistic and very overpriced........2007-05-09
I assumed a book costing $25 would be a valuable addition to my knowledge of playing the Lotto and Lottery. Gail Howard is more hype than substance. Having read and studied Professor Jones' books, and other significant authors on the subject of statistical analysis, this book is trite and unsubstantial.
Like "Sylvia the Psychic" on Montel, Ms. Howard has parleyed her image to connote a knowledge of Lotto but I would pass on her book. I feel like it was a sham and it cost me $25 for nothing.
Lottery Master Guide.......2007-01-18
Just what I was looking for. An in depth look at a statistical way to predict lottery numbers, balanced wheels, and strategy guide. I am writing my own software and this book is proving very usefull for that effort.
Lottery.......2007-01-11
It was a good book and was very specific, but fun, in ways to play the lottery and win.
Powerball Winner.......2006-10-05
On 8-30-06, I had four out of five white balls and the red Power ball for a $10,000.00 win along with the Power Play of four (4) for a total of $40.000.00. I used the information in Gail Howard's "Lottery Master Guide" to select my Power ball. I used Gail's system 53130-2 Win 3 with 4 right, 30 Numbers in 9 games (2 Power) system for $9. Gail Howard's systems have allowed me to win many small prizes, however, this was my first big win.
Ron Johnson
LOTTERY MASTER GUIDE.......2006-07-15
As yet, I have not put the contents of this book to the test. It is the only guide to winning the Lottery that I have attempted to read, but am, so for, impressed.
The strategies make sense and I expect them to work for me.
A key message is that there is no such thing as 'random'. This is an ordered Universe and Lotto numbers are no exception. They create patterns. A study of those patterns will reveal the secret to winning.
A favourable review of this book could be counter productive. Many winners means less money to go around. However, it does require patience and some diligent self application. This, I hope, will be a deterrent.
Books:
- A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels and Other Subversive Spirits
- A Gift of Fire
- A Long and Terrible Shadow: White Values, and Native Rights in the Americas Since 1492
- A Thousand Splendid Suns
- AdvancED Flash Interface Design (Advanced Design)
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
- Ascended Masters Oracle Cards: 44-Card Deck and guidebook
- Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity
- Big Book of Cartooning
- Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
Books Index
Books Home
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