Post/Author/DateTime	Post
dmjacques 11-16-06, 10:06 PM	Hay sorry but I dunno were this goes( what books should I buy for some one wanting to become a good dm) my books core 3.5 and complete warrior , arcane, and adventuer
Toloran 11-16-06, 10:10 PM	You might want to get complete divine (since you already have all the other base complete series). Complete Mage is a good idea (since it expands upon complete arcane). As far as becoming a good DM, what books you have has little to do with it. Experience is the most important factor (its also the cheapest). You can get by quite nicely with homebrew monsters and quests.
AmariltheBard 11-16-06, 11:33 PM	players hand book 2, and check out the monsters manuals and get another one or two that you like, and armor and equipment guide or (not that im promoting it) just find a torrent for d&d books, and you can get tonnes of things
Mitchell 11-17-06, 12:08 AM	Complete divine, just because you have the other three and this would expand the options for the divine characters as well. DMG II is an option. Experience, as mentioned, is the biggest thing.
WhiteRaven810 11-17-06, 12:15 AM	If your goal alone is to be a good Dungeon Master, no book, sans the Dungeon Master Guide, will really help. Dungeon Master Guide II may sound like what you need. But while I love parts the book (and silently shun other parts), it really doesn't have anything that will make you a "better" Dungeon Master besides a few no-****-Sherlock hints in the first chapter. I suppose Wizards has released a series of enviroment books (Sandstorm, Stormwreck, Frostburn), a series of monster books (Lords of Maddness, Libris Mortis, Draconoium), and a series of theme books (Heros of Battle and Heros of Horror). I own a good portion of the list and they have some decent "DM only rules". Monster Manuel III (avoid II and don't touch IV with a standard ten foot pole) would work along the vein of keeping things from getting stagnant. Plus it has the rules to play the Warforged, the second coolest race (flavor wise) in all D&D. I throughly recommend Complete Warrior II. . . err. . . um. . . Player's Handbook II, but mostly just because it's a kick ass supplement.
dmjacques 11-17-06, 12:29 AM	these are all great suggestions( also I have went and purchased a few as we speak) but I have heard of a book called city scape and I figured it could help me with my very poor quality city creation( is it worth it)
j_gunder 11-17-06, 02:37 AM	All the books in the world aren't gonna make you a better DM, and they might just make you worse. Experience is key, as it has been said, but I would also place a great deal of importance on making the most out of what you have, and honing your ability to take skimpy amounts of material and turn it into an interesting, dynamic playing environment. If you're looking for a repository of ideas, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (even though most of the PrCs and such are technically 3.0) is great, as is the Eberron Campaign Setting. You don't need to buy all 700 FR and Eberron books, but the original campaign settings for both are full of ideas. The more books of mechanics you add to the mix (completes, books of..., et cetera) the more difficult your life becomes as a DM. That's not to say that these books don't have a place in gaming, of course...but develop a sound knowledge of the core books, and what additional books you have before you delve into new books. The quickest way to suck at DMing is to have to spend 30% of each session with your nose in a book looking stuff up. Also, one bit of advice--do your homework. Stat out encounters before the session, have terrain for some encounters mapped out to allow for quick set-up (if you use 3D terrain stuff and minis), and if you use minis, make sure to grab the ones you need before the game starts...waiting for your DM to dig through a box of 300 minis looking for Snig the Goblin sucks when it could be better spent moving along a combat or a plot. The more preparation you do before the game, the quicker the game moves along, and (usually) the more fun had by all.
j_gunder 11-17-06, 02:39 AM	Oh, and as for building cities, as you expressed that you were poor at it, there was a web enhancement for the Dungeon Master's Guide available at the WotC site that was awesome for building cities of any size. I don't know if it is still there (can't confirm from work due to a stinky firewall), but maybe someone can point you to the link.
malakaiunseen 11-17-06, 03:35 AM	I've been DMing for a while now, and although I am much better than when I started I am still not what I would consider a great DM. But thats not for lack of books. I own over 50 books, and while they're good for minor points of inspiration, they definately don't make u a good DM. If anything they distract you from becoming more familiar with the core rules, which is what, eventually, makes you better. Preparation is one of the most important things about being a good DM. Don't prepare the storyline, so much as the background. Think of yourself as the game-coder. The more NPC's you have fully fleshed out, the more cities you have mapped out, the more events happening around the PCs the more real it will feel for them, and the easier it will be for you to concentrate on the game when it is happening. And I just bought Cityscape. Its not bad, but not as good as the other environmental series books. I would reccomend DMGII over it for a budding DM, DMGII also has a very nice and completely fleshed-out example city in it for you to use as a base of ideas. For just making cities, I would also reccommend this free Web-Enhancement to the DMG3.5 which J Gunder mentioned, called "Building a City" available for free downlaod here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20030719a).
coomber 11-17-06, 04:37 AM	Just thought I'd add my bit as people are mentioning what books they like/dislike. I didn't buy MMIV after seeing it was mostly filler and old monsters with character levels added, but I think MMII is a good book, with plenty of templates and good creatures (although it's 3.0). Complete Divine is the only 'Complete series' book I own. While I felt it did not give much of an insight into the different religions (which is what I wanted) it does provide lots of decent plot-hooks and you may like the extra classes and prestige classes (I wasn't keen to be honest). Libris Mortis is a great book for fans of the undead and I strongly recommend it.
GenghisUber 11-17-06, 05:24 PM	Cityscape is good because it helps get you thinking about cities as locations for adventures rather than just as locations that you hit between adventures (I hate that "okay, you spend 2 weeks in the city. The wizard scribes scrolls and the rest of you enter a period of torpor and do nothing because there are no game mechanical advantages to downtime to most classes"). Player's Handbook 2 sharpens the game. You could almost say it's a redefinition of the game that really hammers some of the dents out (like having a high level fighter that doesn't get boring to play) and takes things that gamers have been doing for years (like multiclassing) and makes them smoother. The mind flayer chapter of Lords of Madness was great, and the Serpent Kingdoms book (a forgotten realms supplement) gives some ideas about building a campaign around a monster type. If you're worried about your DMing ability, then I suggest you pick up as many Dungeon Magazines as you can get your hands on, especially the adventure paths. The Shackled City was good for its time, but the Age of Worms was truly epic. It makes an amazing template for how a campaign should be run. I suspect that the Savage Tide adventure path will do to Age of Worms what Age of Worms did to Shackled City. The Age of Worms had some weak adventures early on that sometimes felt out of place, but the Savage Tide really moves the characters along while still giving them time and freedom to do what they wanted.
LukiLoki 11-17-06, 05:40 PM	I agree with others here that if you're looking to gain experience and become a better DM, loading up with a bunch of non-core supplements is not the way to go. Stick to the core rules. When you have a good handle on running the game, then you can start introducing material from the Complete books, etc. That said, if you're interested in a few "tweaks" and interesting variants and character options for your players, Unearthed Arcana is good for that. And I'd go with the DMG II over Cityscape for help with creating cities. Oh, and the "Dungeoncraft" series of articles from Dungeon Magazine a few years back are some of the best "how to" guides for DMing. Maybe they're archived online somewhere. I'll get back to you if I can find them.
dmjacques 11-17-06, 06:02 PM	KK I got all I needed please alow this thread to fall off the abyse that is my mind into the rocky cut up mess of my shatterd heart into a dark see of black blood to its imminante doom
Thubby 11-17-06, 09:17 PM	phb2, and dmg2. they were HUGE help, dmg2 expands on alot of teh more vague ideas in DMg. saved me many a headache
KurenaiYami 11-18-06, 01:31 AM	Just popping in to say I very much support the idea of Dungeon Master's Guide II. I read through it in my earlier days and I think it helped a lot.