D&D has no shortage of players; however, it can’t survive without birthing Dungeon Masters. Dungeon Masters are essential to the lifeblood of the hobby. Players are birthed every day, but a lack of ease and stigmatized fear of what it takes to DM rebukes many players. With equipment, spells, characters, and some monsters all in the PHB… why not add a customizable DIY micro-adventure in the back of the book.

This already imbedded content could show how fun, creative, and easy DM-ing can be with the PHB alone (especially to players that NEED Wizard of the Coast approval stamp on everything). For ease of creation, the text could walk the to-be-DM through a few steps. Providing a generic and somewhat customizable setup, while also promoting the benefits to the DM’s Guide … Example:

The following adventure assumes there is a party of 4 1 and/or 2 level: A worried relative to the villain approaches the characters. The relative exclaims how they found a dark artifact that has been speaking to them. Scared, they told the to-be-villain about it. After the to-be-villain spent time investigating the dark artifact, they became corrupted by its evil influence committing minor-evil deeds. After local authorities caught on, the villain fled. Though the villain may still be redeemable, their relative fears that prolonged exposure to the artifact’s corruption will darken their hearts fully. They are suspected to have taken residence in the old east ruins four miles away. Please dispose of the book, and convince the villain to give up their evil ways so they may return home. The worried relative offers 50 GP upon their return 25 GP if the villain cannot be saved.

• Create a Villain: Use the PHB making a 3 level character. From the Personality and Background chapter, give them characteristics with an Evil This will bring them to life and possibly provide their dark motive. They will be located in Room 4 on the map.
• Monster Minions: Now we need to find your villains minions. Use the Creature Statistics chapter to pick a creature with a CR higher than 0. These creatures will be controlled or aligned with your villain. The artifact your villain holds magically binds them to their command.
• Create an Artifact: Randomly roll or pick an item from the Trinket section under Equipment for your dark artifact. Give it a unique name. It has the following attributes: Those that hold the dark artifact hear voices, and promises of achieving the holders Ideal if they listen to the artifact’s evil commands. Once the wielder commits an act commanded by the artifact, the wielders alignment becomes Evil. The artifact attracts your chosen Monster Minions, and allows its Evil wielder to understand and control them, aiding in the dark artifact’s evil deeds.
• Traps: Place two traps somewhere amongst the hallways or doors in the dungeon. You can use a hidden Hunting Trap found In the PHB under the Equipment Alternatively, you may choose a 1 level Spell that triggers when a creature enters within 5ft of the trap’s location. This trap will trigger when a character opens a room door or walks through the hallway’s center. If you need an unprovided Dice Challenge (DC), use a DC 13 or + 5 to attack.
• Treasures: Look through the Equipment section of the PHB for 4 - 6 interesting items. Place and/ or hide these items through the dungeons rooms to reward exploration. Some good examples are: Basic Poison, Arrows, Alchemist Fire, Antitoxin, Oil, or Rope; It is assumed that your Villain or his minions uses the items in some way.

Generic Dungeon Stand-in:  Obviously they should provide an actual map. Rooms are 25 x 25 feet, Hallways are 5 x 20 feet, Entrance into Room 4 have doors.

Outside --- [ Entrance/ Room 1] --------------- [Room 2]

                                      I                                              I

                                      I                                              I

                                      I                                              I

                              [Room 3] ------------------[Villain/ Room 4]

The point is I think this would be an easy nudging solution for others not to be intimidated by DM-ing. Should they do this? They could add how the DMs guide has way more material for such things.

I third party could write up a simplified step by step guide to becoming a good DM.

Especially with the wise guidance on how to limit player choices to make the new Dm have an easier time of it.
A simple guide on how to modify or even create a simple first game.
It could even include a few simple missions to start things off. Some Maps and a few NPC's to fill things out. Typical dungeon, and an outdoor adventure and a village to start from or call home base.

But most of all this in already included in the basic booked set.
Though honestly that set could be greatly improved on. And it will need improved with the new rules coming out anyways. A third party could make a few bucks this way.

All that stuff is in the basic rules or free products. The PHB itself should be, as its name implies, focused on players.

I agree with the premise that it is in WotC's best interests to teach people how to DM and build a new generation of happy DMs so there are more tables with more seats for all interested players.

I don't think it's a good idea to wedge it into the 2024 PHB - the 2024 DMG is focused on the DM's role and should cover "How to get started?" quickly.

Better to have two books with two clear jobs vs. dilution.

As others said, DM stuff belongs in the DMG, not the PHB. 
And a lack of DMs has been a problem for about 50 years now. I applaud you for taking a crack at it. However, the number has stayed fairly stable at about 20% of players for a long, long time — across multiple editions of differing DM complexity. I think it’s probably better to just accept that and move ahead with the understanding that only a few people want to DM, as opposed to trying to force it. 

Kinda wish these innovative surveys would take the trouble to see what the publisher has actually already said about the core books and how each is supposed to function in playing and/or running/facilitating the game.  Pretty sure when a release schedule has been published, it's a little late to petition an innovative format change, whether the proposal is actually innovative or aware of how the game is traditionally learned etc.  Starter sets exist, across the entire TTRPG hobby, to 1.) see if the consumer enjoys the experience enough to make the higher price point investment in the fuller rules, 2.) acquaint the players with both the player and DM/GM roles.  The PHB in its present form gives players everything they need to play fluidly.  Whatever rules exist in the DMG is stuff designed with which to challenge the players.  The preference for keeping the content separated is understandable and just practical.  

The PHB isn't a starter set, and need not function as a starter set since WotC has proven themselves, especially in 5e to be very adept at creating an orientation product in the starter sets. 

I believe it would be better to have a Dungeon Master's Guide that is better formatted and teaches a player how to DM step-by-step as you read it.  

Also, if they could give the Index a larger font size and not make the color of the page numbers only barely different from the page's colors I would find that very helpful. 

I disagree with your survey, as the options don't fit my perspective. I would select "No", but not because "it wouldn't help", but because the Player's Handbook should be focused on players and not DMing. This would be a good addition to a new Dungeon Master's Guide, or even just a resource document in the "Basic Rules", but I don't agree with putting it in the Player's Handbook.

I agree with most that the DMG is where that should be. If they have room for it (and we don’t know if they have something like this already in the new DMG). 

Or a supplement to go along with the Basic rules for DMing. A Basic Dungeon Mastering Giide, if you will. 

Quote from Rathkryn >>

I believe it would be better to have a Dungeon Master's Guide that is better formatted and teaches a player how to DM step-by-step as you read it.  

Also, if they could give the Index a larger font size and not make the color of the page numbers only barely different from the page's colors I would find that very helpful. 

I think this is really the core issue. D&D really doesn't do a very good job teaching prospective DMs how to run it, even if they do buy the DM-focused products. The DMG is a mess, the basic rules are intentionally quite limited, and the adventure books vary wildly in quality and even design philosophy. Their entire instructional approach needs a re-think, and I think the ideal place for it would be in an updated Basic Rules, rather than any paid product.

Quote from Mdhe >>

Quote from Rathkryn >>

I believe it would be better to have a Dungeon Master's Guide that is better formatted and teaches a player how to DM step-by-step as you read it.  

Also, if they could give the Index a larger font size and not make the color of the page numbers only barely different from the page's colors I would find that very helpful. 

I think this is really the core issue. D&D really doesn't do a very good job teaching prospective DMs how to run it, even if they do buy the DM-focused products. The DMG is a mess, the basic rules are intentionally quite limited, and the adventure books vary wildly in quality and even design philosophy. Their entire instructional approach needs a re-think, and I think the ideal place for it would be in an updated Basic Rules, rather than any paid product.

 I really lie your idea that there needs to be a DM-teaching guide. I would personally do it through a adventure module that is simple like LMOP, with extra tips for a DM in every chapter.

Quote from Xalthu >>

And a lack of DMs has been a problem for about 50 years now. I applaud you for taking a crack at it. However, the number has stayed fairly stable at about 20% of players for a long, long time — across multiple editions of differing DM complexity.

I've seen this statistic a few places, but I don't think it really proves anything? Even if DMs consistently make up 20% of actual players, that doesn't say anything about the demand for DMs.

Look at it this way: if a group of 5 newbies wants to play D&D, and one of them decides to DM, that adds 1 DM and 4 players, keeping the ratio at about 20%. If a group of 5 newbies wants to play D&D, but none of them is willing to DM, that adds no new DMs and no new players, keeping the ratio at about 20%. Sure, some of those 5 might go join existing games and affect the ratio, but there's only so much capacity for that.

Basically, I could believe that the unmet demand for new DMs is overstated, but I don't think the 20% figure really demonstrates that without further qualifiers.

My experience is that experienced players will eventually run a game; a large majority of the gamers I personally know have run a game (not necessarily with D&D). However, it's very rare for new gamers to be comfortable running a game; the usual experience is that someone plays in a game for a while, goes "I think I could do that and I have ideas", and when an opportunity arises (current DM steps aside, or they join/establish a new group for some reason) they take the opportunity. This tends to result in branching gaming communities with legacies that go back for decades, even if current players haven't played for all that long.

The problem is for groups without that sort of history: starting to DM from just the books is hard, because unlike being a player, where you can start knowing nothing more than the few details about how your character works, being a DM is a lot of reading. Not sure how one fixes that -- prefab adventures with everything you need might be helpful.

Quote from Mdhe >>

Quote from Xalthu >>

And a lack of DMs has been a problem for about 50 years now. I applaud you for taking a crack at it. However, the number has stayed fairly stable at about 20% of players for a long, long time — across multiple editions of differing DM complexity.

I've seen this statistic a few places, but I don't think it really proves anything? Even if DMs consistently make up 20% of actual players, that doesn't say anything about the demand for DMs.

Look at it this way: if a group of 5 newbies wants to play D&D, and one of them decides to DM, that adds 1 DM and 4 players, keeping the ratio at about 20%. If a group of 5 newbies wants to play D&D, but none of them is willing to DM, that adds no new DMs and no new players, keeping the ratio at about 20%. Sure, some of those 5 might go join existing games and affect the ratio, but there's only so much capacity for that.

Basically, I could believe that the unmet demand for new DMs is overstated, but I don't think the 20% figure really demonstrates that without further qualifiers.

 I didn’t say the number meant any anything about demand. It’s just what it is — fwiw, it’s the number WotC throws around if you want a source. My comment was more that an intro adventure is not the solution. DM’ing is harder and takes more time, there’s just not as many people willing to make that commitment, and that has been true since the beginning. Some editions have been easier to run, others more difficult, and the numbers are about the same.

If you want proof that there is a demand for DMs, look no further than the paid DM market. People wouldn’t buy it if they could get it for free. Or just go to a LFG forum or game shop and post you are starting a game; you’ll find players in short order.

Now I’ll agree the current DMG is a mess. Perkins and JCraw have said as much themselves. And the new one is planned for a big organizational update. Maybe be that will help — certainly it won’t hurt. But I doubt it will move the needle much on how many people are willing to put in the extra work it’s takes to DM.

Quote from Xalthu >>

 I didn’t say the number meant any anything about demand. It’s just what it is — fwiw, it’s the number WotC throws around if you want a source. My comment was more that an intro adventure is not the solution. DM’ing is harder and takes more time, there’s just not as many people willing to make that commitment, and that has been true since the beginning. Some editions have been easier to run, others more difficult, and the numbers are about the same.

If you want proof that there is a demand for DMs, look no further than the paid DM market. People wouldn’t buy it if they could get it for free. Or just go to a LFG forum or game shop and post you are starting a game; you’ll find players in short order.

Now I’ll agree the current DMG is a mess. Perkins and JCraw have said as much themselves. And the new one is planned for a big organizational update. Maybe be that will help — certainly it won’t hurt. But I doubt it will move the needle much on how many people are willing to put in the extra work it’s takes to DM.

Sorry mate, didn't mean to put you specifically on the spot. I see that 20% figure thrown around a lot in these kinds of discussions and just wanted to use the opportunity to talk about how it doesn't really tell us anything aside from the fact that the preferred group size is 5 people; 4 players and 1 DM. I acknowledge that cutting the stat out of your overall post was not a very courteous way to make that topic shift, and I apologize for that.

To go to your actual point, I'd agree an intro adventure isn't a silver bullet, but I do think it would help. Part of the issue is that D&D really takes at least 3 purchases to get ready to run: the DMG, the Monster Manual, and an adventure. That's at least 75 bucks for a hobby you're not even sure you're going to like yet. I know there's a free adventure but let's be really honest: the free adventure usually sucks, and it always assumes you've made the 60 dollar investment into the DMG and MM.

Publishing a real intro adventure that actually teaches you how to run the game and is fully functional without additional purchases would make the game dramatically more accessible to new DMs. I agree that DMing is hard, and probably always will be, but they definitely could make it easier to get into; the more folks we get over that first hurdle, the more who will stick with it.

Now, is the PHB the place for that? Probably not. I believe the place is the Basic Rules. If WotC has faith in their product (which is a genuine if) they should feel confident enough to give away enough information to actually play it.

Quote from Mdhe >>

Sorry mate, didn't mean to put you specifically on the spot. I see that 20% figure thrown around a lot in these kinds of discussions and just wanted to use the opportunity to talk about how it doesn't really tell us anything aside from the fact that the preferred group size is 5 people; 4 players and 1 DM. I acknowledge that cutting the stat out of your overall post was not a very courteous way to make that topic shift, and I apologize for that.

To go to your actual point, I'd agree an intro adventure isn't a silver bullet, but I do think it would help. Part of the issue is that D&D really takes at least 3 purchases to get ready to run: the DMG, the Monster Manual, and an adventure. That's at least 75 bucks for a hobby you're not even sure you're going to like yet. I know there's a free adventure but let's be really honest: the free adventure usually sucks, and it always assumes you've made the 60 dollar investment into the DMG and MM.

Publishing a real intro adventure that actually teaches you how to run the game and is fully functional without additional purchases would make the game dramatically more accessible to new DMs. I agree that DMing is hard, and probably always will be, but they definitely could make it easier to get into; the more folks we get over that first hurdle, the more who will stick with it.

Now, is the PHB the place for that? Probably not. I believe the place is the Basic Rules. If WotC has faith in their product (which is a genuine if) they should feel confident enough to give away enough information to actually play it.

 I appreciate the reply. I hope I didn't come back at you too hot.

The thing is, you actually don't need to spend anything to play. The basic rules are free.  Stormwreck Isle is free (I think, I might be wrong there). If you want a hard copy of both of those, the starter set is going for $14 at Target, and it even includes dice. I can't say how good the adventure is, as I've not read it myself. I will say I read and played LMoP. while I'm far from a new DM, I found it pretty useful and it seemed like it would have been a good resource if I were a new DM. Not sure if Stormwreck works as well. But the free resources and entry-level adventures are already there.

Quote from Xalthu >>

Stormwreck Isle is free (I think, I might be wrong there).

Only the introduction to the adventure is free, which I suppose is meant to last a session or so.

Quote from Mdhe >>

Publishing a real intro adventure that actually teaches you how to run the game and is fully functional without additional purchases would make the game dramatically more accessible to new DMs.

 So... you're saying Wizards should put out a starter set?

Quote from Mdhe >>

I think the ideal place for it would be in an updated Basic Rules, rather than any paid product.

If you're looking for a free product there are plenty of How To DM/GM videos out there. The basic rules are free because they're basic. They're not going to be as instructive as an actual Dungeon Master's Guide. It's like everything else. If you want the highest quality you're going to have to crack open your wallet. 

As others have said, I also do not agree with putting GM facing content in a player facing book. A lot of books are already a pain in the ass to carry due to containing both GM and player content. In my opinion, since they are already releasing the new versions of the core three, they might as well do a better job of organizing and consolidating their content, and reorganize DMG, MM, PHB, XGTE, TCOE, and MP:MOTM into DMG2, MM2, and PHB2. It is frankly quite stupid to make a player go through the four books of PHB, XGTE, TCOE, and MP:MOTM just to create a character; and due to how poorly organized current books are, the player may have to go through a setting and adventure book, totalling six (or more) books, just to create a campaign specific character.

Nobody should start D&D with purchasing the DMG, MM, and PHB; been there and done that, the information overload and decision paralysis are real. This hobby should be started for free with BR/SRD and free adventures. Free adventures do not suck. LMOP is free and very good, and it is beefy enough to be a short to medium campaign. As good as LMOP is, I think new GMs should start with one shots like Intro to Stormwreck Isle, and then progress to something longer like Frozen Sick and Prisoner 13, and then to LMOP. As others have said, various boxed starter sets are nice and worth it, but I cannot in good conscience tell new GMs to buy them without telling them about the all the free stuff first.

And for new GMs who are not new to D&D, I believe they have enough experience to decide for themselves whether they want to go the free route or spend money on boxed sets.