Customer Reviews

Dungeon Master's Guide: Special Edition (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The qualities I enjoyed about this book are the same as those of its predecessor, the Special Edition Player's Handbook.

If you love the look and feel of a well-made leather-bound book, then this book is for you. In fact, it is ONLY for you, as you have no reason to buy it if you otherwise have the 3.5 DMG. And that is a good thing. It was nice that, as with the Special Edition PHB, they incorporated the erratta, but that was already available online. With no new content, this is no money-sop for Wizards. This is just an extra choice in the marketplace for those who love books, love the game, and want to have a book that can take years of heavy thumbing as a reference work that a rulesbook requires.

Like the Special PHB, some may complain about the pages sticking together initially due to the gilded edges, but I think that is a boon. They unstick easily enough the first time you open them and you can quickly separate them all with a quick spin past your thumb. I like it because it tells me that I'm the very first person to open the pages of the book. (And they don't make a papercut hazard as someone fretted about with the PHB - in fact, the silver gilded edges make the paper thicker on the ends, making a paper cut less likely). It also makes the book have a stiffer, more substantial feel as you flip through the pages, as if it were an older tome rather than a modern book.

The blue cloth bookmark, as contrasted to the red one with the Special PHB, was a nice touch. It helps identify the books, which look at a glance to be very similar when they are lying on the tabletop. When one is stacked on top of the other, the red and blue cloths make a nice contrast and there is almost an artistic beauty to seeing the books together that way.

This is a well constructed book that is sure to last a long time and I love having it under my fingertips with each game.

I'd love to see a few other of the more heavily-used Wizards books given this treatment - like perhaps the Monster Manual (to make the core books complete) and something like the Spell Comependium.

I am most pleased with this book. The faux leather cover is just so cool, and it's so nice to have all but the most recent errata corrected in the book already. I didn't mind having to separate each page when I first got it -- as someone else said, it just proves you really are the first person to open the book.

D&D 3.5 is all about choices. Fans of older versions might not like it for various reasons, but that's ok. 3.5 has been designed with the next generation in mind -- it's simple, straight-forward, and endlessly customizable (thus giving it much broader appeal than previous versions). If you prefer the more restrictive and sometimes confusing rules of the older versions, don't play this game. You can still find older edition stuff secondhand.

My only real complaint is with the quality of WOTC's illustrations. They just aren't as good as the ones from 2nd edition. Those were truly reflective of 'epic fantasy', especially the full-page pics ... but the 3.5 pics are all fairly cartoonish, and some are downright silly. My guess is that WOTC couldn't afford to employ TSR's artists.
(As a side note, the Amazon.com image of the cover really doesn't do it justice. This book is actually black with silver -- the image here makes it look rather bland and grey.)

If you're like me and don't want to have to pencil in all the changes to the rules, get this copy. It's cheap enough here at Amazon. Otherwise, go for the regular version of the DMG. Maybe WOTC will release the SE printing in a regular cover soon like they did with the player's handbook.

Having been a gamer all my life (since 1980) and have coddled and loved and invented different covers for many of my DnD books, this Special Edition just spoke to me. After receiving it as a gift and going through it, it is now my favorite gaming book. Satisfyingly reminds me of all the things I imagine in my game worlds, books of spells, lore and adventure.

The CORE RULEBOOK II V. 3.5 is a 'must' for any Dungeon and Dragons player: it's a special edition for collectors bound in a handsome black leatherette cover with silver edging on pages and a handsome reprint of the v.3.5 rules, updated to include the most current rules errata. Blend the updates into your DND game and become a better Dungeon master with this handbook, which helps newcomers grow into Masters and helps those with background to improve. From the foundations of DND, from styles and playing to using rules, handling nonplaying characters, creating campaigns, handling magic items and more, each chapter comes packed with DND management tips, encounter levels, instructions and tables and charts. Power levels, ability scores, teams and player directions pack rules which are meant to keep DND vital and moving. A 'must' for any would-be Dungeon Master.

one word Beautiful. I enjoy being the only one at the game table to own both the special edition DMG and PHB. One problem i did have was that the gilted edges were stuck together and I had to go through the book one page at a time and carefully seperate the pages.

recomend it for everyone who plays D&D

What can I say.... It's leather covers... it's silver edges.. fully updated... what more can a D&D fan want

From WotC's description, the Special Editions are "premium black bonded leather". "Bonded leather" is a manmade compound; it is essentially leather fibers plus latex. This is far from the quality of a true leather-bound book (which would use real leather). As one bookbinder puts it: "recommended for use only if the book will be used infrequently."

I wholly agree with the previous review, but have one thing to add. What can't be seen on the picture is that the leatherwork also features quite a lot of silver, which just seems over the top to me. Specifically, the D&D logo, DM globe and Core Rulebook logo are all in silver but could just have been left embossed to my tastes. Also, I was sorely disappointed that the battle grid was ommitted from the Special Edition. Would have rated it 5 stars otherwise!

As a final note, I do love absolutely the incorporation of the errata, I just hate having to flip through a second source just to be sure that the information is all correct, and I wasn't planning on sticking my books full of sticky notes either.

I think this is one of the areas where WOTC actually improved the D20 exepience. The DM's guide is well organized and contains lots of quality info and tools. I think this manual better lends itself to the person trying to create their own story line than the past offerings did. The only bad part was that the silver paint on the edges of the pages was literally painted on, so when I first opened the book I had to carefully seperate each page from the others.

If you truly appreciate the quality of Dungeons & Dragons gameplay then look no further than this edition of the DMG. I have a leather bound copy of the Player's Handbook as well and will soon purchase the Monster Manual leather bound.

Beautiful tomes and highly recommended.