As a DM, the DMG would definitely be advised. Monster Manual too. Depends though on how much you are running from modules and how much you plan on writing your own adventures for your players.
well MM shouldn't be hard, I just read the chapter 1 and rest is all monsters. The DMG looks helpful but so many tables and I skimmed over- you're right, I should read it, but have too less time T.T. I plan to read plane-specific books when I decide to run a campaign there.
I’d suggest at least taking a look at everything you’re allowing in the game players might choose to use - things like magical items go through the DM anyway, so you can read up on them on a case by case basis, but things like classes, races, backgrounds etc I’d try to have an idea of what’s available. Anything they do pick for their character, you should probably familiarize yourself with. So , Xanathar’s I’d give a cursory read at minimum.
The DMG is about DMing, so how much of that you want to read up on is largely your call. A lot of it can be skipped. I would make a note of / mark with a sticky note a couple of sections or tables though. 1) The equipment table on p. 38 gives a good idea of what an expected amount of items is for PCs at various levels for this edition. What it doesn’t note (unfortunately) is the profound effect items that give stat, AC or save bonuses can have in 5E due to bounded accuracy. Not going into detail about that here, look it up if you want to, just keep in mind that those kinds of bonuses have a bigger impact in this edition than previous ones. 2) I’d mark the combat encounter math stuff on p. 83. 3) I’d skim through chapter 5 (adventure environments) and mark the bits I’d expect to come up in the next session or two (which might be nothing, up to you). 4) the Treasure chapter is entirely on an as needed basis, but look up attunement on p. 136. 5) Appendix B: Monster Lists (p. 302) is convenient for making up a random encounter on the fly.
I’ll definitely advise spending some more time with the DMG if you can, particularly chapter 8 (running the game), but the above is the minimum effort I’d spend in any case.
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I'm busy enough to play D&D only a bit these days, let alone read the books page by page.
I've read the PHB and skimmed through the DMG and XGtE, but nothing else. The thing is, do I really need to invest time to...
well MM shouldn't be hard, I just read the chapter 1 and rest is all monsters. The DMG looks helpful but so many tables and I skimmed over- you're right, I should read it, but have too less time T.T. I plan to read plane-specific books when I decide to run a campaign there.
I’d suggest at least taking a look at everything you’re allowing in the game players might choose to use - things like magical items go through the DM anyway, so you can read up on them on a case by case basis, but things like classes, races, backgrounds etc I’d try to have an idea of what’s available. Anything they do pick for their character, you should probably familiarize yourself with. So , Xanathar’s I’d give a cursory read at minimum.
The DMG is about DMing, so how much of that you want to read up on is largely your call. A lot of it can be skipped. I would make a note of / mark with a sticky note a couple of sections or tables though. 1) The equipment table on p. 38 gives a good idea of what an expected amount of items is for PCs at various levels for this edition. What it doesn’t note (unfortunately) is the profound effect items that give stat, AC or save bonuses can have in 5E due to bounded accuracy. Not going into detail about that here, look it up if you want to, just keep in mind that those kinds of bonuses have a bigger impact in this edition than previous ones. 2) I’d mark the combat encounter math stuff on p. 83. 3) I’d skim through chapter 5 (adventure environments) and mark the bits I’d expect to come up in the next session or two (which might be nothing, up to you). 4) the Treasure chapter is entirely on an as needed basis, but look up attunement on p. 136. 5) Appendix B: Monster Lists (p. 302) is convenient for making up a random encounter on the fly.
I’ll definitely advise spending some more time with the DMG if you can, particularly chapter 8 (running the game), but the above is the minimum effort I’d spend in any case.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].