D&D 5: Dungeon Master's Guide

So my next-gen set is complete with the D&D 5 Dungeon Master's Guide. Thoughts?

It is a nicely put-together book, with so much art inside it almost feels like one of those coffee table art books you used to buy around Christmas time. Part of me feel like this is a tribute book to the original AD&D DMG, as many of the familiar elements are present, the sample dungeon, the random tables, the structure of the book, and even random dungeon generation.

As a DMG, it works and delivers the information you need to play the game. Surprisingly, higher-level magic items are present (to around a +3), and this continues the strict control of numbers and roll ranges the game is based upon.

The create-a-monster system is back from 4th Edition, and this is a good thing. I like being able to come up with challenges on-the-fly for anything in my world, so a quick-stat system is essential for how I play. There are sections for NPCs and the like as well, which helps as well.

I liked most of the art, and I think this is the book's greatest strength, inspiring dungeon masters. They do a good job here.

The D&D cosmology of the planes is back and one of the first things in the book, and I don't know, I am tired of the typical D&D plane-hopping focus by now. They tore up the planar structure with 4th Edition, and in 5th Edition they try to present alternatives while still keeping in the basic D&D wheel framework. To me, I am growing out of the need for "star hopping" planar adventures, and they do not really attract or excite me anymore.

I need to explain this further, yes, but to me, having a billion planes to visit takes away so much focus from the game world it makes the primary world feel unimportant and small. D&D 4 was bad enough that they assumed you started plane hopping at 10th level. With fantasy being inspired by Game of Thrones and other "single world" epics, being able to hop around to entirely different worlds just removes the tension and 'cage match' feel for the original world. Who cares about never having a safe haven in the game world when you could just leave the world and live somewhere else? What does it matter the orcs have setup a war camp in the next valley over when you are off on some plane-hopping excursion?

To me, either you go all planes or no planes, with none being my preference since I like strong and important game worlds. To be fair, they allow for this option, but I dislike the familiar D&D planar structure and it's been so well trodden and it is built to open the door to rampant god-meddling (by both players and gods) that I am really looking for something different in my fantasy experience nowadays.

There are rumors of the OGL returning to this edition, but we haven't heard much more on this yet, but nothing concrete. This would be another good step, but I want to see something official before making a commitment and heaping praise. Promises are not action, and a full and unrestricted OGL is something that needs to happen in D&D 5.

There are also rumors that Wizards is trying to keep the yearly flood of books to a manageable level. Pathfinder and 4th Edition both tired me out with that constant arms race of desktop publishing creations, and I am frankly not in the collector's market mood of buying books to never use them much more nowadays. This is another good move to recognize you can over-publish your system into un-play-ability, and they deserve some kudos for this intention of self-control. Books being sales and revenue, we will see how well this works out, but I like the plan.

We also have a major old-school focus and vibe with this version of D&D, and this is likely a reaction to the old-school resurgence of games like Labyrinth Lord, Basic Fantasy, and others. Those games are still free in their complete forms and widely available, so rather than dropping $100 to $150 dollars on this set of books (while nice and pretty and new), the OGR/OSR games are still a widely better value and still worthy of play and support. I know this is probably heresy to say because this edition is nice and giving us a lot of what we wanted; but really, I still support the free and open old-school games out there as a matter of principle, and they still occupy proud and prominent positions on my shelves.

So D&D 5 is a throwback game inspired by the classics while still retaining some modern design sensibilities. It isn't as map-focused as I'd like, since one thing I liked about D&D 4 was it could sit right beside Warmachine and Warhammer as a respected and tactical tabletop experience. You could say D&D 4 was a better version of D&D Miniatures. This is different, it is back to the story telling roots of the hobby, and that isn't a bad thing. If you are just getting started with D&D, this is a good option along with the OGR games.

To me, I battle with my exhaustion with the D&D cosmos. I've been at this since the first books, and I have had to restart my D&D experience and outlook with every major revision. Third, fourth and now fifth have all been major revisions, and it is getting hard to get excited about starting all over again, only this time with more of the same. It is the classic "get there from here" syndrome. For my group, the old-school games fill the niche of the 'classic D&D' experience. D&D 5 going back to its roots is a good thing, but I have been playing the old-school for a while now with some of the games that have kept the old-school torch burning, and aren't loaded up with the plane-hopping focus I am a bit weary of now.

So in short, a good job and a solid book to finish the series. I like the classic focus of D&D 5, but I am in a position where I want something new and compelling to excite me. It feels like a reboot movie in a way, while I like to see a new team's take on a classic franchise, they still haven't convinced me that I should pour myself into the experience and buy in yet. A lot of the elements are there, but I need that extra something else to get excited about. It's ultimately like an operating system or game console to me, while it is a cool piece of hardware, it's the games on it that matter.

And yes, I know we make the games, but I would love to see something new and exciting come out of the 5E team - something to make D&D their own, like a new world or mythos to pull their design together. Eberron had it for 3.5E, Faerun had it for 2E, and even Grayhawk had it for AD&D. I know this isn't likely, but for a new direction and take on the game, I always love to see something new and fresh come from the creative team behind the game.

I'm still waiting for that AAA experience here, but good job on the base system.