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 phys ...
of
rule
Rule or ruling may refer to:
Education
* Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), a university in Cambodia
Human activity
* The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power
* Business rule, a rule pert ...
s 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. (T ...
'' 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 drama ...
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
.
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'' co ...
'', 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
Jesse Decker is an author, designer, and editor of roleplaying game material.
Biography
Decker began playing '' Dungeons & Dragons'' in 1983 during recess at his elementary school. During the summer of 1996, he began doing "temp work" for Wiza ...
,
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 games as well as an anthologist.
Career
Robin D. Laws ...
, and was published in June 2005. Cover art is by
Matt Cavotta
Matt Cavotta is an American artist and writer. His artwork is focused on the fantasy genre, with notable contributions to popular games such as '' Magic: The Gathering'' and ''Dungeons & Dragons''.
Career
Cavotta wrote a weekly column for Magic ...
, 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 ...
,
Mitch Cotie,
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 Fe ...
,
Emily Fiegenschuh
Emily Fiegenschuh is an artist and children's book illustrator whose work has also appeared in role-playing games.
Early life and education
Emily Fiegenschuh attended art school at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, and ...
,
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 the ...
,
Brian Hagan
Brian Hagan is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Education
Brian Hagan graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 1994. ,
Ginger Kubic
Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of le ...
,
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
Michael Phillippi (born ) is an American artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Education
Michael Phillippi started his illustration career in 1997 after graduating from the Savannah College of Art & Design.
Career
His ''Dungeons ...
,
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, Penns ...
,
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 contin ...
, 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
''Player's Handbook II'' is the title of a third edition ''Dungeons & Dragons'' supplement. It is a handbook of rules and guidelines for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. As the name implies, the book is a supplement to the edition's ...
''.
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, quadrila ...
'' 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