OMG DMG!

As I said, I got a shiny new toy: the DMG.

I haven't had a chance for much in-depth reading, but flipping through I've got some general impressions.

Like the other books, it is absolutely gorgeous with some fantastic art (there's a particularly adorable chibi modron march on page 66). Granted, Wizards has had some great art from the beginning. (Admit it; you bought some Magic cards because the picture was pretty/cool!) It features lots of advice on building worlds, adventures, and campaigns, optional rules, and (of course) the copious section of magic items.

Some things I have had time for more in-depth reading. The 4e DMG had a list of player motivations. There's a similar, slightly compressed list in this new one. It includes Acting, Exploring, Instigating, Fighting, Optimizing, Problem Solving, and Storytelling. While the actual player personalities and reasons for playing are more complex than that, it does provide a good baseline, particularly while building or choosing adventures to appeal to your players. My regular group frequently features very take charge Problem Solving players, a fair share of game crunching Optimizing players, the occasional Instigating player, and the odd Storytelling player.

I would say our group has Optimizing and Storytelling players, but the younger players also feature plenty of Instigating and even some Acting (kudos on that, guys). My own runs more toward Storytelling, but I've been known to do some Optimizing and Acting.

I also did some reading of the magic items to track down their bonus curve. Much as with everything else, this edition has flattened that. Bonuses now cap at +3 for basic armor and weapons. This means an optimizing attacking character (either a barbarian with a 24 Str at 20th level or a Dex 20 ranged character with the Archery fighting style) caps at +16. That's a 9 or better to hit the tarrasque or Tiamat (the two toughest monsters published so far).

I'll add more about the DMG as I read through it. Until then, the holidays are upon us. At the risk of preaching, when buying for the gamer geek, remember to patronize your local game store. If you're in Tucson you have Isle of Games on the east side, Hat's Games and Heroes and Villains in the central area, and A to Z Games in the northwest. Why the local local game store? Money you spend at locally owned business tends to remain local, improving the economy. And local game stores provide something big box stores and internet shopping either don't or can't: game space. Many an awesome gamer friend has been made through events at these game spaces.

All that said, I'll return.