So I have a friend who is starting a campaign with online players. He asked my advice on which books to read first as a DM. I told him to get the starter set and read the booklet in there because honestly I found that the most helpful and great to keep for quick reference even if you are not using anything else in the set. (Although, I like having the extra character sheets and dice.)
He has already bought the 3 main books (DM guide, Player Handbook, and Monster manual) and does not want to purchase the starter set. He would like to know which book to read first and which one will help him start the campaign? He's going to start the campaign before he can finish all of the books but I am not sure what to suggest to him. I read PH and then the DM guide and I have found MM to be least needed to read fully. But it has been a while since I read them fully and I have found experience to be the best teacher.
He is doing a homebrew and only has done a couple of pop-ins PCs in my group so he only has very limited experience with D&D.
So before I just tell him to read one of them I wanted to see what others DMs think.
Agree, with Matthias, although I'd note that reading the Monster Manual after (or maybe even in parallel with) the DMG can really pay off. There are a lot of story hooks, lore, and just useful ideas from reading the descriptions as well as the stat blocks.
The Monster Manual is probably the best to save for last for a full read through, because I have run games where I just reference it when putting the monsters onto the field. Its probably more necessary for a DM than the DMG, but not critical to read in its entirety.
He should definitely read all three books before DMing, but I would recommend reading the PHB first. It contains most of the relevant rules for actual play, and it's also the material the players will be most familiar with, so ideally the DM should know it like the back of their hand. After the PHB, probably the DMG next and then the MM.
I would also strongly suggest that your friend find a secondary source of information with tips on how to DM. The DMG is great for some story hooks, various tables and list, more complex rules, magic items, and other things, but it doesn't necessarily provide the best advice on actually being a DM.
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So I have a friend who is starting a campaign with online players. He asked my advice on which books to read first as a DM. I told him to get the starter set and read the booklet in there because honestly I found that the most helpful and great to keep for quick reference even if you are not using anything else in the set. (Although, I like having the extra character sheets and dice.)
He has already bought the 3 main books (DM guide, Player Handbook, and Monster manual) and does not want to purchase the starter set. He would like to know which book to read first and which one will help him start the campaign? He's going to start the campaign before he can finish all of the books but I am not sure what to suggest to him. I read PH and then the DM guide and I have found MM to be least needed to read fully. But it has been a while since I read them fully and I have found experience to be the best teacher.
He is doing a homebrew and only has done a couple of pop-ins PCs in my group so he only has very limited experience with D&D.
So before I just tell him to read one of them I wanted to see what others DMs think.
PHB first if you're not very familiar with D&D 5e. DMG next.
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Agree, with Matthias, although I'd note that reading the Monster Manual after (or maybe even in parallel with) the DMG can really pay off. There are a lot of story hooks, lore, and just useful ideas from reading the descriptions as well as the stat blocks.
The Monster Manual is probably the best to save for last for a full read through, because I have run games where I just reference it when putting the monsters onto the field. Its probably more necessary for a DM than the DMG, but not critical to read in its entirety.
He should definitely read all three books before DMing, but I would recommend reading the PHB first. It contains most of the relevant rules for actual play, and it's also the material the players will be most familiar with, so ideally the DM should know it like the back of their hand. After the PHB, probably the DMG next and then the MM.
I would also strongly suggest that your friend find a secondary source of information with tips on how to DM. The DMG is great for some story hooks, various tables and list, more complex rules, magic items, and other things, but it doesn't necessarily provide the best advice on actually being a DM.