The primary architects behind the 2024Dungeon Master’s Guideare designers working atDungeons & Dragonspublisher Wizards of the Coast, but they’re not the only ones who had a hand in the new book.In honing advice for dungeon masters, WotC turned to some external creatives, including some celebrities famous for their skill at running the game. FromCritical Rolehost Matt Mercer toDaredevilactress Deborah Ann Woll, the influence of outside DMs played an important role.
In aninterview withScreen Rant,D&DCreative Director Chris Perkins described the process of consulting with outside dungeon masters, in whichWizards of the Coast would send out chapters on DM advice along with a list of questions. Consultants would read the chapters with those questions in mind and provide feedback, ranging from “this is great” to “this is actually bad advice if you’re a neurodivergent DM.” Senior Game Designer James Wyatt would then compile everything from both outside and in-house consultants into a spreadsheet to guide changes made to the book.
Chris Perkins: As we were finishing up chapters of the book that focused on DM advice, we sent those chapters, we bundled them up and sent them to our consultants with a list of questions. So as they’re reading through the material, they would just keep these questions in mind as they’re sort of digesting the advice and thinking about whether or not it’s good or not.
And so it was questions like is there a better way to say this, or is this too complicated, or does this ring true to you? And so they read the advice that we were compiling, and they sent us back detailed notes. And they said, this is great, but this part here makes no sense to me, or this is actually bad advice if you’re a neurodivergent DM.
DM Consultants Impact The 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide
More Voices Shaping The Advice
Every DM has their own way of doing things, but consulting with a few who are known for their talents makes sense.D&D’s 2014Dungeon Master’s Guidesuffered from problems with poor organization and struggled to effectively introduce DMs to thefundamentals of running the game.Bringing in more voices could help ensure that the advice inside will be useful for as many DMs as possible, and the main goal of theDungeon Master’s Guideis to serve as a widely accessible resource.
D&D’s 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide Makes The Best Magic Item Even Better
A fan favorite magic item is better than before in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide, but it’s also facing stiffer competition this time around.
Streams ofD&Dactual play haveintroduced many players to the gameover the past decade, and the consultant process for the 2024Dungeon Master’s Guidereflects that. Based on the process described,the book still shouldn’t be dominated by any single voice. The book lists a total of seven external consultants, along with eight “additional consultants” that work for Wizards of the Coast.
Every Great D&D Dungeon Master Is Different
There’s No Universal Set Of Rules
Like a lot of people, I’ve had DMs like Matt Mercer affect theway I think about runningD&Dgames.It’s ultimately important to develop a personal styleand work to suit the needs of a group rather than mimicking one personality, but the consulting process should ideally encourage that individuality rather than stifle it. The 2024Dungeon Master’s Guideis the product of a lot of different opinions about how torun aDungeons & Dragonsgame, and reflecting that diversity of experience could prove to be a strength.
