Overview
The 2024 Dungeon’s & Dragon’s Dungeon Master’s Guide is the cornerstone of the Dungeon Master’s role within D&D. The book is comprised of so much helpful information for new and experienced DMs alike.
At a total of 384 pages, this book isn’t a small one at all. Building upon the 5th edition rulebook from the 2014 release which had 318 pages total. The extra pages are full of great and useful content.
The layout of the book starts with the basics of what a DM is, what they do in the game and a section about respecting everyone who takes part in your game. This is actually a very interesting part of the book as it is something that I assumed was common practice, but new players may not actually understand the etiquette involved in playing in a group of others.
Included is a section on preparing a session, how to run it and a great example of play within a session. The given example is brilliant, especially for a new DM. As I am usually a player, but this time I’m stepping into the shoes of the DM, which is quite an exciting prospect. Having the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide to hand is going to make my life a lot easier and smoother when I run my first sessions.
Artwork
The artwork throughout the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide is of a very high quality. The pictures have little descriptions on them which paint a great story for some of the pieces.
The book also includes a huge double sided poster map that depicts the Eastern Oerik area from the World of Greyhawk. Included is the City of Greyhawk which looks pretty cool. The map quality is beautiful and very nicely done. Very clear images across the whole thing make it a great setting for future adventures.
To get you up and running quickly, there is also 15 reusable maps that allow you to get a session going. The quality of the pieces are brilliant, well thought out and laid out.
Using The Dungeon Masters Guide In Play
Chapter 3 is titled the DMs Toolkit, containing helpful information with included charts that help with creating your own creatures etc.
The chapter has bits on Alignments, Traps, Dungeons, Doors, even a fun part about Death. This Chapter I found to be one of the most helpful bits in the whole book alongside the maps.
Chapter 4 covers the creating of your own adventures, a step by step holding your hand guide. This allows for new DMs to get to grips with what they can and can't do within the game. Having this in one chapter makes so much sense, and gives the reader a much easier time with their work. This along with Chapter 3 has all the helpful extras to round off the adventure nicely.
Chapter 5 covers expanding the adventures into a full campaign, again in a step by step walkthrough as the chapter progresses.
It also covers the Greyhawk setting for a campaign, including important names, conflicts within the Greyhawk world and a beautiful map of the city of Greyhawk.
Chapter 6 is titled Cosmology, this covers the different Planes of existence, travel between all of the Planes and finally a tour of the Multiverse. An interesting read with some really good information that helps spin the stories that the DM tells.
Chapter 7 covers the Treasures that can be found within the realms of Dungeons & Dragons. This chapter is full of helpful tables to spice up the rewards given out to the players. It also has some really good descriptions and artwork for some of the magical items that can be found. The artwork is detailed and clear, matching the description well.
Chapter 8 covers Bastions. These are player owned lands that could be inserted into your campaigns. It adds a new and more complex level to the game for the players. Not only do they have to manage their characters on adventures, but they also have to manage their lands. The roleplaying potential of these lands adds another whole new level of detail to the Dungeons & Dragons universe.
Lastly, spread throughout the book are helpful tracking sheets which are a great help to a DM, for tracking bits from past adventures, to what the players can currently do in game and their stats.
My Favourite Part
The premade maps are my favourite part of the book. Having them from day 1 is a massive help when planning an adventure. It gives great ideas for what you can add in to your campaigns. This allows you to utilise the maps and customise them to your liking. These are at no extra cost after buying the book so them being included really makes sense. Definitely a step in the right direction from the 2014 release of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
My Final Thoughts
The 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide is the perfect tool for any DM to have at hand. The sheer amount of detail that has been squeezed into this book is mind blowing. When comparing it to the 2014 edition, the 2024 edition is the perfect upgrade, a work of art. I love it and have learnt so much from this book in the short time I have owned it. A great buy for sure.
Score out of 100: 85/100
Artwork 5/5
Complexity 3/5
Replayability 5/5
Player Interaction 5/5
Component Quality 5/5
Good Points
So much beautiful artwork that it’s a joy just admiring the works.
The amount of information inside is amazing, the layout is so well thought out that it makes perfect sense throughout.
The perfect companion for any Dungeon Master
Bad Points
Only 15 cool maps, we want more!
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