The ''Dungeon Master's Guide II'' is a
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...
of
rules for the
3.5 edition of the ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
'' seminal
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
role-playing game.
Contents
Like the ''
Dungeon Master's Guide
The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (''DMG'' or ''DM's Guide''; in some printings, the ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' or ''Dungeon Master Guide'') is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' c ...
'', this book focuses on providing
Dungeon Masters with assistance in running the game. It provides advice on aspects of running the game as well as complex pregenerated characters (often using Prestige Classes).
Player types
The ''Dungeon Master's Guide II'' introduces Dungeon Masters to various types of people who enjoy the ''D&D'' game, and it explains what they enjoy.
Examples include:
* Brilliant planner—A leader-type who is happiest when planning for the night's adventure
* Cool guy—Player who likes to get cool powers and cool weapons
* Lurker—Someone who is happiest when left to his own devices
* Outlier—An oddball player who likes to see his character lose, seeing it as a victory more than a defeat
* Psychodramatist—A player who likes exploring the background of his or her character, and would love to have a session centered on that character
Publication history
The book was written by
Jesse Decker,
David Noonan,
Chris Thomasson,
James Jacobs, and
Robin D. Laws
Robin D. Laws (born October 14, 1964 in Orillia, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Canada. He is the author of a number of novels and role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled rolepl ...
, and was published in June 2005. Cover art is by
Matt Cavotta, with interior art by
Kalman Andrasofszky
Kalman Andrasofszky (born August 21, 1975 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian comic book artist, writer, inker, letterer, penciller, and designer.
Kalman is a native Torontonian and resides there still.
Career
Much of his work has been i ...
,
Mitch Cotie
Mitch is a short form of the masculine given name Mitchell. It is also sometimes a nickname, usually for a person with the surname Mitchell. It may refer to:
People
* Mitch Altman (born 1956), hacker and inventor
* Mitch Apau (born 1990), Dut ...
,
Ed Cox,
Steve Ellis,
Wayne England
Wayne England (d. 9 February 2016) was an English artist whose work regularly appeared in role-playing games, wargaming rulebooks and magazines and was used on cards for collectible card games such as ''Magic: The Gathering''.
He died on 9 Feb ...
,
Emily Fiegenschuh,
Randy Gallegos
Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of them ...
,
Brian Hagan,
Ginger Kubic,
Raven Mimura
Raven Mimura is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Early life and education
Raven received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design. He spent a year teaching art and building his portfolio ...
,
William O'Connor,
Michael Phillippi,
Vinod Rams
Vinod Rams is an American artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Early life and education
Vinod Rams attended the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. He did product design at the Franklin Mint in Philadelphia, Penn ...
,
Wayne Reynolds
Wayne Reynolds is a British artist whose work has appeared in comics and role-playing games.
Early life and education
Wayne Reynolds was born in Leeds, UK. He attended art college in Dewsbury and Middlesbrough.
Games
Wayne Reynolds has continu ...
, Dan Scott,
Ron Spencer
Ron Spencer is an American illustrator whose most famous work has been for the collectible card game '' Magic: The Gathering''.Felt, Kevin (December 17, 2007). "Painter of 'Magic' cards inspiring random acts of kindness", ''San Gabriel Valley Tri ...
,
Arnie Swekel Arnie Swekel is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Background
Swekel was born May 2, 1964, and grew up in River Rouge, Michigan. After graduating high school he briefly attended The Center for Creative Studies (now called Coll ...
, and
Franz Vohwinkel
Franz Vohwinkel (born 1964 in Munich, West Germany) is a German artist and illustrator whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Works
Vohwinkel drew the cover art for the book ''Dataware'' (1998) for TSR's ''Alternity'' game, and illustra ...
.
David Noonan explained that this book offers words of wisdom on how to manage a game or even a whole campaign more creatively, and broadens the scope of adventuring to include more city and campaign-based material. He "wanted this book to have something for players too. Thus, the ''DMG II'' contains more magic items, plus some new rules elements designed for players, such as teamwork benefits and PC organizations".
''Dungeon Master's Guide II'' was followed by the ''
Player's Handbook II''.
Reception
The reviewer from ''
Pyramid
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
'' commented that: "The ''Dungeon Master's Guide II'' is a supplementary volume intended to make the referee's job easier, but it achieves only mixed results."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dungeon Master's Guide Ii
Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks
Role-playing game supplements introduced in 2005