I'm interested to find out how many people have the DMG II and what they think of it. Is it an indispensable companion to the DMG that everyone should have ... or more of an optional book that's kind of cool but not vital?
Thanks!
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Well, Monte Cook (the author of the 3.0 ed of the DMG) was bummed because it was such a great product, and he would have loved to have been a part of its creation. Does that help?
I personally think it's a great book. Robin Laws has a hand in the first section, talking about playing to your players interests and strengths, it suggests methods for running a city, complete with a sample city of Saltmarsh, and some of the usual magic items, et al.
I could have lived without it, but am very glad to own it.
Interesting ... I really like Monte Cook. You said Saltmarsh ... as in from the module U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh??? I LOVE that module (I'd love to see a 3.5 update of it!)
Anyway, what does everyone else think of the DMG II? I also just read there will be a Players Handbook II ... anyone have any idea what will be in it?
Is it an indispensable companion to the DMG that everyone should have ... or more of an optional book that's kind of cool but not vital?
Indispensable? Not really. It is however, a very cool book with lots of good stuff in it that should have been in the first DMG for 3.5...it has a lot of things reminiscent of the old 1E DMG.
I was skeptical at first, but then I looked through the book closely and decided to buy it. I'm glad I did, now that I have it, I use it almost every session.
And yes, it is the same Saltmarsh from U1, updated for 3.5E and ready for insertion into your game.
M@
Love the DMG II. It's one of those books that presents ideas that makes me stop and think about the DM-player interaction. The first section breaks down player archetypes and how to get them more involved. The chunka section on Saltmarsh is fantabulous - it gets down into the nitty-gritty on how to really expand upon a city and its inhabitants. Everybody's got a hook or interesting background or interesting tale - really made me pay attention to my NPCs and make them become more alive.
If you're a new(er) DM, I'd get this book. If you're a more experienced DM, then you may not get as much use out of this book (unless you really really like Saltmarsh - it's been very well detailed, but loose enough for you to play with it).
Wow, like I said - I loved that module. I have to ask ... does it talk about the house on the cliff (the one that was 'haunted') and give the map? I have such fond memories of running that module ... once my players had completed the adventure, they came back, pulled all their money and resources and fixed up the house. They ended up living there and using it as a kind of home base ...
Anyway, it looks like I'm going to have to give the DMG II a closer look. I'm anxious to see if this new Player's Handbook II will be as worth it. I just checked out Wizard's 2006 products page and it says the Players Handbook II will have new classes as well as varients on the exsisting classes ... interesting.
By the way, here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/953747200) is the link to the page ... check out the Players Handbook II cover! What a great tip of the helm to all of us old 1ST Edition AD&D players!
I liked it - if you had the 2nd edition book Catacombs I'd say the first third or so is very similar to that - but I have to admit that I felt Catacombs dealt with the material better in general - except regarding read aloud text (were I mostly think they dropped the ball).
I liked the chapter on Saltmarsh and they probably mentioned the house on the hill in there somewhere but there is no map. The Saltmarsh chapter is on the city AFTER the venerable series of modules. Its a really well done city along the lines of the Diamond Lake or Alaster supplements that have recently appeared in Dungeon except that instead of being focused on a specific adventure its full of adventure hooks. Pretty much every PC described in each of the detailed locations has some kind of a plot hood that a DM could develop into an adventure but none of those adventures are actually developed themselves. Think of it as a well developed small city/large town full of adventure ideas.
I've considered using it for a later campaign if I ever decide that I would like to put together a campaign with a looser overall story and lots of potential roleplaying opportunities.
I found much of the last half of the book somewhat underwhelming. Whole rules on players running their own business and such. Think Fantasy Corner Store Owner the RPG.
I feel it was a worthwhile buy but its not critical.
Creative Director
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The Saltmarsh section was one of the sections I wrote for the book; the original outline called for a "fully detailed sample small town to serve as a sample home-base for adventurers" or something like that. Saltmarsh seemed to me to be the perfect choice, since it was not only a small town with a history of adventure, but in the original trilogy of adventures it was very undeveloped. It was left mostly to the individual DM to detail. I felt a little wary about choosing such an iconic location for updating, but it looks like people like this section so that's cool.
The haunted house isn't actually in the town of Saltmarsh; it's a bit up the coast and doesn't appear on the map. There is, however, a house within city limits that is very much inspired by the haunted house. The writeup of Saltmarsh assumes that the events in U1–U3 occured several years in the past, and some of the encounter locations and characters are taken from these adventures (the lizardfolk, Ned Shakeshaft, and a few others), and several of the sample PCs from the character roster at the end of the adventures are now citizens (in some cases, they're even respected citizens).
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The Saltmarsh section was one of the sections I wrote for the book; the original outline called for a "fully detailed sample small town to serve as a sample home-base for adventurers" or something like that. Saltmarsh seemed to me to be the perfect choice, since it was not only a small town with a history of adventure, but in the original trilogy of adventures it was very undeveloped.
I loved the Saltmarsh section, James. I have a campaign based out of Port Toli and one of the threads deals with an urban druid who was hired by the Free City of Port Toli (opposing the Scarlet Brotherhood remnants) to make improvements. He was hired from a town a ways to the north... Saltmarsh. That DMG II section was a great bridge (both from past to present and in my personal campaign)!
Well, Monte Cook (the author of the 3.0 ed of the DMG) was bummed because it was such a great product, and he would have loved to have been a part of its creation. Does that help?
I personally think it's a great book. Robin Laws has a hand in the first section, talking about playing to your players interests and strengths, it suggests methods for running a city, complete with a sample city of Saltmarsh, and some of the usual magic items, et al.
I could have lived without it, but am very glad to own it.
I agree here. The book gave me a great amount of advise on what types of adventures to throw at my players. I had a great laugh as the book described some of my guys down to the last gaming quirk.
-Rath