Updates bard, druid, monk, paladin, and ranger, spell lists and levels, skills, more feats.

    It gives you the basics on running a great game, info for more advanced dungeon mastering, guidelines for creating adventures, and tips for building a campaign. It shows you how to: Handle all the expressions of DMing: moderator, narrator, a cast of thousands (the nonplayer characters or NPCs), player, social director, and creator Use published adventures and existing campaign worlds or create adventures and campaign worlds of your own Conjure up exciting combat encounters Handle the three types of encounters: challenge, roleplaying, and combat Create your own adventure: The Dungeon Adventure, The Wilderness Adventure. The Event-Based adventure (including how to use flowcharts and timelines), The Randomly Generated Adventure, and the High-Level adventure Create memorable master villains, with nine archetypes ranging from agent provocateur to zealot To get you off to a fast start, Dungeon Master For Dummies includes:A sample dungeon for practice Ten ready-to-use encounters and ten challenging traps A list of simple adventure premises Mapping tips, including common scales, symbols, and conventions, complete with tables Authors Bill Slavicsek and Richard Baker wrote the hugely popular Dungeons and Dragons For Dummies. Bill has been a game designer since 1986 and leads the D&D creative team at Wizards of the Coast. Richard is a game developer and the author of the fantasy bestseller Condemnation. They give you the scoop on:Using a DM binder to keep records such as an adventure log, PCs' character sheets, NPC logs/character sheets, treasure logs, and more Knowing player styles (role players and power games) and common subgroups: hack'n'slasher, wargamer, thinker, impulsive adventurer, explorer, character actor, and watcher Recognizing your style: action movie director, storyteller, worldbuilder, puzzlemaker, or connector Using miniatures, maps, and other game aids Using 21st century technology, such as a Web site or blog, to enhance your game The book includes a sample adventure, The Necromancer's Apprentice, that's the perfect way to foray into DMing. It includes everything you need for a great adventure--except your players. What are you waiting for? There are chambers to be explored, dragons to be slain, maidens to be rescued, gangs of gnoll warriors to be annihilated, worgs to be wiped out, treasures to be discovered, worlds to be conquered....

    You’ve read both Dungeon Master’s guides. You’ve run a few games. You pick up ideas here and there on the net. Or maybe you're an old grizzled vet who has run games for 20 years.Maybe your game is feeling a little stale. Maybe your encounters didn’t run exactly as you wanted them too. Maybe you feel like you're stuck in a rut. Maybe you feel a bit overwhelmed when you have to come up with an exciting, creative game every week.You’re not looking for a huge tome on game theory. You don’t need yet another take on world-building. You’re looking for some practical tips you can use today to help you focus your energy in the right places and make some kick-ass D&D games for you and your friends. You want something you can read quick and start using right away.My friend, here is the book for you.This book was written to give you solid usable tips to help you build your story, design exciting encounters, and run a great game when you’re at the table. It’s a short book, designed to be read quickly and referenced often.Oh yeah, and it’s got some awesome original artwork by Jared Von Hindman of Head Injury Theater.This is a completely original book. Every chapter was written from scratch to help you focus on what’s important and get past some of the roadblocks we all face when designing a D&D game.

    Laws, noted game designer (Feng Shui, Hero Wars, Dying Earth, Rune) and columnist (Dragon magazine, The Play's The Thing) has sojourned long in the gaming wilderness to bring you the techniques required to take your mastery of Game Mastering to the next level.

    Will you cut your way through monster-filled ruins and cities rife with political intrigue to emerge as a famous hero laden with fabulous treasure, or will you fall victim to treacherous traps and fiendish monsters in a forgotten dungeon? Your fate is yours to decide with this giant Core Rulebook that provides everything a player needs to set out on a life of adventure and excitement!This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an open playtest involving more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook includes:- All player and Game Master rules in a single volume.- Complete rules for fantastic player races like elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, and half-orcs.- Exciting new options for character classes like fighters, wizards, rogues, clerics, and more.- Streamlined and updated rules for feats and skills that increase options for your hero.- A simple combat system with easy rules for grapples, bull rushes, and other special attacks.- Spellcaster options for magic domains, familiars, bonded items, specialty schools, and more.- Hundreds of revised, new, and updated spells and magical treasures.- Quick-generation guidelines for nonplayer characters.- Expanded rules for curses, diseases, and poisons.- A completely overhauled experience system with options for slow, medium, and fast advancement.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds

    Whether sinister or seductive, ferocious or foul, the creatures lurking within these pages will challenge the most experienced characters of any campaign. This supplement for the D&D game unleashes a horde of monsters to confront characters at all levels of play, including several with Challenge Ratings of 21 or higher. Inside are old favorites such as the death knight and the gem dragons, as well as all-new creatures such as the bronze serpent, the effigy, and the fiendwurm. Along with updated and expanded monster creation rules, "Monster Manual II" provides an inexhaustible source of ways to keep even the toughest heroes fighting and running for their lives. To use this supplement, a Dungeon Master also needs the "Player's Handbook" and the "Dungeon Master""'s Guide." A player needs only the "Player's Handbook."

    Featuring easy-to-follow and entertaining explanations of how spells are created and used in the game, along with original illustrations of the game's essential magical characters, this book shines a spotlight on the mystical side of D&D.The perfect jumping-on point for young fans of fantasy looking to give D&D a try, Wizards and Spells also features prompts to encourage creative problem-solving skills in the dangerous situations that may be encountered in a Dungeons & Dragons adventure.

    Even if you’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons, you probably know someone who has: The game has had a profound influence on our culture. Released in 1974—decades before the Internet and social media—Dungeons & Dragons is one of the original ultimate nerd subcultures, and is still revered by more than thirty million fans. Now, the authoritative history and magic of the game is revealed by an award-winning journalist and life-long dungeon master.From its origins on the battlefields of ancient Europe, through the hysteria that linked it to satanic rituals and teen suicides, and to its apotheosis as father of the modern video game industry, Of Dice and Men recounts the development of a game played by some of the most fascinating people in the world. Chronicling the surprising history of D&D’s origins (one largely unknown even to hardcore players) while examining the game’s profound impact, Ewalt weaves laser-sharp subculture analysis with his own present-day gaming experiences. An enticing blend of history, journalism, narrative, and memoir, Of Dice and Men sheds light on America’s most popular (and widely misunderstood) form of collaborative entertainment.

    you find yourselves cut off from the world you know. The castle is fraught with peril. Members of the strange Amber family, some insane, some merely deadly, lurk around every corner. Somewhere in the castle is the key to your escape, but can you survive long enough to find it?

    The "Dungeon Master's Guide II "builds upon existing materials in the"Dungeon Master's Guide." It is specifically designed to facilitate play, especiallywhen the Dungeon Master has a limited amount of preparation time. Chapters include discussion on running a game, designing adventures, building and using prestige classes, and creating campaign settings. Ready-made game elements include instant traps, pre-generated locations, treasures, and a fully realized and rendered town. JESSE DECKER is the development manager for Wizards of the Coast, Inc.whose recent roleplaying game design credits include "Complete Adventurer"(TM), "Races of Stone"(TM), and "Unearthed Arcana"(TM). DAVID NOONAN is an RPG designer/developer at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Recent credits include authoring "Complete Divine"(TM) and co-authoring "Races of Stone "and "Unearthed Arcana." CHRIS THOMASSON previously served as Editor-in-Chief of "Dungeon"(R)Magazine. His design credits include "Fiend Folio"(TM) and "Monster Manual"(TM)"III," as well as "Bow and Blade "for Green Ronin Publishing. JAMES JACOBS is the associate editor of "Dungeon"(R) Magazine and has published numerous articles in "Dragon"(R) Magazine. His most recent credits with Wizards of the Coast, Inc. include co-authoring "The Book of Aberrations," "Races of Faerun"(TM), and "Frostburn"(TM). ROBIN D. LAWS, game designer and novelist, is best known for the roleplayinggames "Feng Shui," "Heroquest," and "Dying Earth," along with, "Robin's Laws ofGood Gamemastering."

    Fortunately for GMs, the Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide is here to back you up. Packed with invaluable hints and information, this book contains everything you need to take your game to the next level, from advice on the nuts and bolts of running a session to the greater mysteries of crafting engaging worlds and storylines. Whether you've run one game or a thousand, this book has page after page of secrets to make you sharper, faster, and more creative, while always staying one step ahead of your players.The 320-page Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide is a must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.The Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide includes:- Tips and tricks for preparing and running a better game, suitable for beginning GMs and battle-hardened veterans.- Step-by-step walkthroughs for creating campaign worlds, cities, cosmologies, feudal systems, and alternate dimensions.- Difficult player types, and how to handle them gracefully.- New rules for subsystems like hauntings, chase scenes, fortune-telling, gambling games, mysteries, and insanity.- Charts to help you generate everything from interesting NPCs and fantastic treasures to instant encounters in any terrain.- Advanced topics such as PC death, game-breaking rules, overpowered parties, solo campaigns, and derailed storylines.- Sample NPC statistics for dozens of common adventuring situations, such as cultists, guardsmen, barmaids, and pirates.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds

    Once the dust settles, these four find themselves faced with an impossible choice: pretend to be adventurers undertaking a task of near-certain death or see their town and loved ones destroyed. Armed only with salvaged equipment, second-hand knowledge, and a secret that could get them killed, it will take all manner of miracles if they hope to pull off their charade.And even if they succeed, the deadliest part of their journey may well be what awaits them at its end.

    From the depths of Hell to the heights of Mount Celestia, from the clockwork world of Mechanus to the swirling chaos of Limbo, these strange and terrifying dimensions provide new challenges to adventurers who travel there. "Manual of the Planes" is your guidebook on a tour of the multiverse. This supplement for the D&D game provides everything you need to know before you visit other planes of existence. Included are new prestige classes, spells, monsters, and magic items. Along with descriptions of dozens of new dimensions, Manual of the Planes includes rules for creating your own planes. To use this supplement, a Dungeon Master also needs the "Player's Handbook," the "Dungeon Master""'s Guide," and the "Monster Manual." A player needs only the "Player's Handbook."

    Whether you're running a single adventure or masterminding a complete fantasy campaign, the Dungeon Master's Guide is an absolute necessity. The 2nd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide puts all the information you need right at your fingertips - in a fresh, new format, fully indexed for your convenience. Here you'll learn all there is to know about magical spells and items, as well as monsters, combat, travel, NPCs, treasure, encounters, awarding experience, and more!

    This will be the perfect, easy-to-use replacement for the bulkier compendiums of the past. Illustrations, some in color.