Does the Player's Handbook contain anything that would specifically help dungeon masters?
I am curious about this because I am trying to find out if I can honestly learn a lot about Dungeons and Dragons by buying the book.
[RPG] Does the Player’s Handbook contain anything that would specifically help dungeon masters
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Related Solutions
When you're just getting started, it is certainly possible to figure out the game from the books and just start running it for your friends. That's how I and others learned to game "back in the day." But there are certainly things that can help.
Huh? If you are profoundly and existentially confused about "what is roleplaying", see What is role-playing, and where do I start? and if confused about the general nature of D&D see I'm at a loss with “Dungeons and Dragons.” How does one play it, anyway?
READ THE BOOK. The Player's Handbook (PHB), cover to cover. I know you said you've read it, but no really, read it. Especially with 4e D&D they really tried to write to a simpler grade level and have copious examples of anything trying. If you closely engage and read the book, many of those questions will go away (and you'll get less newbie haters when you subsequently go looking for help). Use normal lookups - a word you don't understand? If it's a game term look at the Glossary or index; if it's a normal English word check a dictionary. See also: Playing 4th Ed D&D for the first time, what should I read to avoid holding everyone back?
Join a game. This is going to be your #1 route to very, very quickly answering 200 possible basic questions because in one round of combat you'll see people doing all the dice addition, checks, etc. Check with your friends. See Where can I find other RPG players? For D&D, there's a D&D Encounters program where there are demos and games being run in most gaming stores on an ongoing basis. You can join in, or if you just want to watch, you can watch. There's meetups, conventions, any number of places where you can join or observe a real live game.
Watch a game. If you are having trouble in meatspace, consider watching one of the many video and/or audio podcasts of what is usually called "actual play." See Where can I find actual play podcasts for RPGs?, search on iTunes, etc. Or you can read play-by-post games, see Where can I find transcripts of actual game sessions?
Try the beginner box. If the full game is still too confusing, consider the D&D Starter Set (Red Box). It's fewer rules and more newbie-helpful guidance.
Seek help. Needless to say if you know anyone who's played an RPG they can explain it to you better (and I GUARAN-DAMN-TEE you know someone who's played D&D - it's been around since the '70's and have been popular over time, so a parent, a teacher, a friend, someone's done it - ASK AROUND). If you are a brain in a jar, then for super basic "I totally don't know how to do this" questions it's probably quickest to do it in RPG.SE chat. If you want someone to personally take you under their wing and show you the ropes, ask for help there or on a forum, like one of these.
Ask questions on RPG.SE. It's not that beginner questions aren't welcome here - there are just some questions so basic that it's much more efficient to have someone in person or chat talk you through "how to add 1d8 + 4" without clogging the site with hundreds of those questions - you'll get answers faster.
Note that as soon as you have played a game, further questions (like about the DMG or MM) can be asked here, that's not too basic, as long as you've read the book first).
Head designer Mike Mearls has tweeted
Lots of Q's about the staggered release: You will not need the MM or DMG to run a campaign. Or the PH or Starter Set to make a character.
To what extent this is true in practice remains to be seen! To me, the last point suggests they might have some basic resources available online for free, which might include a small amount of monsters.
And indeed, they have now announced "Basic D&D". The key quote:
At the launch of the D&D Starter Set, Basic D&D will include the material needed to create characters and advance to 20th level. In August, with the release of the Player’s Handbook, Basic D&D will expand to include the essential monsters, magic items, and DM rules needed to run the game, along with the rules for wilderness, dungeon, and urban adventuring. (The Starter Set already covers the aspects of these rules that you need to run the included campaign.)
They will also update Basic to keep it compatible with released adventures:
As we introduce new storylines like Tyranny of Dragons, we’ll also make available free PDFs that provide all the rules and stats missing from Basic D&D needed to run the adventures tied into the story. The adventures released as part of Tyranny of Dragons are playable without requiring any of the core rulebooks or the Starter Set.
Best Answer
Yes, the Player’s Handbook contains the majority of the actual game rules, which a DM is required to know to run the game. The DM needs to read all three core books — Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual — to be able to run the game using those books. (I say “those books” because the core 3 is not the only source to choose from; see below.)
That is assuming that you’re talking about learning to play and run the game using the core books. If you’re using the free Basic Rules, you don’t need to read the PHB, but the same idea applies: you need to read the Player’s Basic Rules before the DM’s Basic Rules will make sense.
If you’re using the Starter Set, then that contains everything you need and you don’t need the core books or the Basic Rules. In that case though, you still need to read everything the box contains.