Many dabbled in D&D, but those who owned the
Dungeon Master's Guide were addicts.
This was the book that turned this quirky little game with its odd-shaped dice into a full-fledged obsession. Not only did it show you how to play and referee the game, it provided the tools to generate full-on worlds filled with all manner of monsters, tricky traps and tantalizing treasure. New adventure after new adventure could be created via this book with all of its lists, tables, and charts filled with everything the players would need in the way of fantasy adventuring gear, world-building info on climate, geography, governments, etc...heck there's even more information
after the glossary and index!
Actually, it's almost too thorough. I think many people were turned off of playing D&D when they saw the size of the chunky rulebooks that came with it. Sure, you could and many did adhere to the rules laid down herein word for word. My cousin did, which added intense boredom to what should've been a fun game. No, I think all the information was provided to help the players along, give them guidance and something to fall back on, not hinder them with fact-researching every time a player searched for a secret door, stabbed a giant jelly or passed wind in a sacred temple. This book helped countless sweaty, pimp-faced teens without an ounce of understanding about the greater world around them seem like omnipotent gods.
Regardless of the fact that there were good Dungeon Masters...
and there were bad DMs...
All of them absolutely
had to own this book.