The Dungeon Master's Guide (Advanced Dungeon and Dragons) [Hardcover]

Gary Gygax (Author), David Cook (Author), TSR Staff (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1989

Augments and expands on the rules of play for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, explaining the role of the Dungeon Master and reconciling previously discovered inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and other problems.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: TSR, Inc; Revised & updated edition (June 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880387297
• ISBN-13: 978-0880387293
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars D&D for Grown Ups, December 22, 2009

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GCronjo "Cronjo" (SC) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Dungeon Master's Guide (Advanced Dungeon and Dragons) (Hardcover)

Sadly this was TSR's last real edition, with the purchase of TSR by Wizards of the Coast in 1997 the game took on a entirely different direction with the inception of 3rd edition in 2000. For many of us that have and still do play AD&D, 2nd edition is the best, it cleaned up some of the short comings of it's predecessor, while adding new dimensions to game play and simplifying some of the more frustrating aspects of game play. This is the Gem of Dungeons and Dragons evolution, the following editions were in many ways overly simplified, or dumbed down to better fit WotC's target audience. You know the Magic the Gathering, and other collectible card game crowds, in other words largely 8 year olds..

2nd edition introduced one of the greatest abundance of variety into AD&D with the Al-Qadim, Birthright, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, and Spelljammer campaign settings becoming available, and the expansion of The Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, and Dragonlance settings, into the form we most of us think of and are most familiar with due to the writings of various authors such as Margret Weiss, and R.A. Salvatore. All in all 2nd edition offers more pre-made variety and resources than any edition prior or since, multiple campaign settings, well thought out classes, monsters, magics, and races, an almost endless supply of supplemental books such as the The Complete Book of Elves, and the Complete Clerics Handbook which aren't ,necessary but provided expanded possibility, you just can't go wrong with skipping the current incarnation and going with AD&D 2nd Edition.

For those wishing to experience Dungeons an Dragons at it's finest you'll want this book along with at least the Players Handbook and the Monstrous Manual. Add in a creative personality, some good friends and you've got an endless supply of fun and adventure all waiting for you or your friends to throw 3d6 and start building a character.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but 1st Ed. AD&D DMG suggested, with this..., December 10, 2011

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B. Laue (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dungeon Master's Guide (Advanced Dungeon and Dragons) (Hardcover)

The 2nd Ed. of AD&D greatly expanded the classic game, and this book is a must for playing 2nd edition. However, when TSR published the revised, 2nd edition books, they added material to the classic rules, lifted, and copied them into new volumes. Some things were not copied, unfortunately, and they are buried, and scattered, throughout the books, both PHB, and DMG. I keep my 1st Ed. books stacked with my 2nd Ed. books, and between the two, I have everything I need.

I almost did not purchase the 2nd Ed. books, when they came out -- I had been playing for 7+ years, and I had not even scratched the surface of what is possible within the game. Why would I want to buy this new edition -- what did I need it for? I purchased the PHB first, and after scanning the new ideas on character sub-classes, and specialized priests, I was sold! I loaned my PHB to two of my players, and that was all it took -- my entire group switched from 1st, to 2nd, and we never looked back!

Third Edition never intrigued me. Fourth Edition seems to be more focused on miniature gaming, which I enjoy as a separate, but closely related, hobby. Neither 3rd, nor 4th has interested me enough to even buy a single book to check them out... I am a die-hard fan of 2nd Ed., and I doubt I will change my interests, no matter what. This is one of the core volumes of 2nd Ed. games, and I highly recommend it, as part of the definitive edition of D&D, bar none. If you prefer role-playing, to rules-playing, and miniatures gaming is not the forefront of your RPG desires, then 2nd Ed. AD&D is precisely what you are looking for.

There are many, many books, from 2nd Ed. rules, which are still available. This edition of AD&D came out in 1989. It is now 2011, 22 years later, and the game is still quite popular, it is still being played, in spite of 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0! It is, in my opinion, the very best of the true role-playing, fantasy games. Cheers!

5.0 out of 5 stars The tools of the trade., February 10, 2010

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Aaron Sutherland "SSJPuppy" (Newburgh, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dungeon Master's Guide (Advanced Dungeon and Dragons) (Hardcover)

I wrote a long review about the AD&D Player's Handbook that discuss the feel of AD&D a little bit so for this review I'm just going to cover this, the Dungeons Master's Handbook. The DM's Handbook is an extremely useful tool...for some things. You in no way NEED it to play AD&D. The DM's Handbook is for your DM only and is a guide to how to DM basically. It gives you examples of how to set up encounters, how to build a dungeon, and how to make a campaign or quest. For me there are only two areas that I find extremely useful. One is that the DM's Handbook gives you your saving throw tables to see if a character is affected by a spell or poison or what have you. The other is that this book contains a list of tons of magical items and other useful/rare items that your characters could find.

Now, you may wonder why I feel this book is still not completely needed. The reason is that if you are a more experienced DM or you just like doing everything yourself then you don't need this book. Things like saving throws can be completely story based for example. If your story needs a character to survive or fall then you just say it happens without rolling for it. If you want the currant battle to end quickly then you just say it does. Inside of the AD&D world the DM is the absolute controller of all so you shape the story as you like, with the players cause fun and trouble along the way. The magical items are nice to have but if you like to create then you can just make up your own items that better fit your campaign. In the end this book is great for new DMs or times when you need a quick encounter or item to throw at the party.