It looks like WotC is making separate PDF downloads for the Player and DM parts of the Basic D&D 5e rules.
Whether or not you plan on buying, playing or running 5e, you do owe it to yourself to look at the newest edition of the D&D rules. At the very least, you might find something to houserule into one of the older rule sets you happen to prefer.
As an aside, the Player's rules have been updated to v2.
DM's rules are v1, and include general DM guidelines, monsters and magic items. The core here is the monsters.
You can grab both the newer Player rules and the new DM rules at the WotC site linked here.
I have been tempted to the dark side with this new edition...and the free PDFs...
ReplyDeleteHelp....
Don't let the DM guide fool you.. its basically what 50 something pages out of 60 of monsters... very weirdly organized and often duplicated in weird ways for monsters.. being used to B/X and 1E and even 2E... its weird to see separate entries in there for Black bear.. brown bear..when it was listed as BEAR and then below that split in three neat columns for each. Shrug.
ReplyDeletePlus fantastic monsters like the goat, frog, cat, bat, spider (not "giant" spider mind you...that's a separate entry), soft-shelled crab, etc.
DeleteGiant goats, too...include them in your campaign at your players' peril!
; )
I had the same issue that I noted on my blog, but I believe they were rushing this out the door for Gen Con and the alphabetizations and groupings will be corrected in later iterations.
Deletehttp://ragingowlbear.blogspot.com/2014/08/dnd-5e-dm-basic-rules-quick-critique.html
When is the DMG coming out, again?
ReplyDeleteDMG is slated for Nov 18. It lists at $50 but is only $34 on amazon. PHB is only 29 on Amazon and $50 in stores so keep that in mind if money is tight.
ReplyDeletethank ee!
DeleteThe general consensus is that the DM guide was put together in a hurry before Gencon. I think its function is to provide experienced DMs with monsters so they can start creating their own adventures. In fact, the monster listings are just essentially stat blocks; there is no more than a sentence or two as description. It definitely feels like a limited resource to tide us over until the MM comes out.
ReplyDeletePeople seem to also agree that the entry system is weird and hopefully not what will appear in the Monster Manual. I suspect the MM will be organized differently.
One nice thing about the DM guide is that there are simple rules for monsters that would help someone to design/convert monsters. Also, there are guidelines for building encounters for those who like that sort of thing.
The DMG is scheduled for Nov 18.
It's not as if creating your own monster is hard. It's also more rewarding and prevents player knowledge from infiltrating the game.
ReplyDelete