The Guide to Dungeon Mastering: Picking an Edition

Welcome to an informal chat about DM basics. I'll be giving tips and tricks that I've learned over the years.

This is a topic for new players more so than anyone else. But let's start with my experiences:

I was introduced to DnD via 3e and 3.5e then joined a group playing a modified version of 2e. Later, I bought into the hype that was 4e and through a multitude of reasons I determined that I didn't like it. I currently run a game with modified 3.5e rules and join in on D&D Encounters so I can experience 5e.

In short, I have played every major version of the game that has been popular in the last 20 years.

Some people might argue that I am qualified to say which version is the best; to which I claim that there is no best version now shut up silly voice in my head. The question comes down to what do you want the rulebooks to do for you and this is because every version of the game does at least one thing well, but remember that the rules are never written in stone. In fact I think that deserves a bullet point.

• Rulebooks are to used as a guide only.

It is possible to go completely out of the realm of the books and oftentimes the game improves when this occurs. With so much freedom, how do players find the right edition? The good news is that I've got a system for that:

1. Get a group together.
2. Determine the DM.
3. Edition is based on DM's experience and availability of books.

Getting a group together is often the hard part (especially if your friends are not interested in RPGs) but there are resources out there. Roll20 serves as a virtual tabletop so that groups can play over the internet and they also have a Looking For Group (LFG) service. There exists a Subreddit known as r/lfg which serves the purpose of getting groups together online or offline. Otherwise, go old-school and put an ad in a local game or comic shop as that tends to reliably work out.

Once you have your group you can determine which among you should be the DM. Alternatively, you could volunteer for the job in your ad but only do so if you truly desire the job. The DM (or GM, I'm a DnD guy after all) should want to do it and should be at least familiar with the game. Beyond that I can attest to the merits of learning on the job but don't be afraid to offer help to your DM.

Finally, I feel that the edition should be the DM's call. The reason for this is simple: The DM is running the damn game! If the DM has 3.5e books and wants to run that game then let him run that game. Just ask to borrow the Player's Handbook so you can create a character.

Here is where it starts getting complicated.

Earlier I mentioned that rulebooks are to be used as a guide only. Well, now I'm going to say that they are important; kind of...

Think of the rulebooks as a reference for a report. They serve as a guide for how accurate things are but this is only good if you have the ability to reference them. So, you need books. In DnD there are three books that are required for play: Player's Handbook (PH), Monster Manual (MM), and the Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG). Players only need access to a PH in order to play; but anyone who wants to be a DM needs all three books (on the other hand Pathfinder is a system that is very similar to DnD but condenses itself to a single book).

So far it sounds like the answer to which edition should I get? is best answered by which edition am I most familiar with? That much is true; however, what if you are brand new and trying to figure this out for yourself? Those books I mentioned are not cheap and a newcomer cannot be expected to buy every book for every edition ever made. How does a newcomer choose?

See step one.

Decide based on what your group wants to play. If you are all brand new then I have a great solution. Choose 5e, it is the most recent version and will be supported by Wizards of the Coast for years to come. Also, it was created with new players in mind. 5e is the edition that is the easiest to get into and I will gladly run this edition in the future.

I've said a lot in this post but now I'm about to say the most important thing of all.

• Forget my rules and pick an edition dammit.

You see, we can argue about the proper protocol behind picking an edition to play but the short answer is that it's not really all that important. A good DM can make any edition work and good players will help make that DM's job easier. While there may be some differences to make note of between the editions that doesn't change a simple fact: No one is going to understand the game until they start playing.

This brings about the biggest point that I can make: It is impossible to find the "best" edition without first trying everything that is available to you. Why do I like 3.5e? Because the rules offer enough freedom for the players to do literally anything with just the core rulebooks. Why did I like 2e? Because I had fun with my friends who were playing it.

So stop arguing about the editions and just take a vote already. I'll play 4e again even though I don't like it.