Fifth Edition Foes Monster Book

The PDF's out? How cool!

 

[I'm A Banana]

I think it's pretty darn cool. It actually *feels* nothing like the 5e Monster Manual, so take that for what it's worth. It gives me Fiend Folio vibes, and that's fine with me.

I love this thing right here:

Huh. They're not using the same format as 5e monsters...which is a bit of a shame. The 5e monster format pretty clearly calls out what a critter can do on its turn vs. what is a more passive thing. Hm.

Still, exciting to see this out! It's easy to love Necromancer Games.

 

[Nebulous]

 

[Nebulous]

Huh. They're not using the same format as 5e monsters...which is a bit of a shame. The 5e monster format pretty clearly calls out what a critter can do on its turn vs. what is a more passive thing. Hm.

Still, exciting to see this out! It's easy to love Necromancer Games.

Yeah, it's very different. I like it actually. It's not a better or worse for me really, just different.

 

[Nebulous]

If this is just a mashup of the monsters from 1e/2e/ and fiend folios, how is the conversion math? 5E isnt set on too many concrete rules for monster conversions...

Is it worth it? Or just convert on the fly yourself?

I'm not sure about the "math" part of it. What will save time, and more importantly maybe, spark your imagination, is where they come up with new stuff in Traits that detail special abilities. That part would require much more brainpower to generate on your own.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Interesting...I backed the project but haven't received a download link. By off chance, do you know if there was a rolling release or something?

I'm in the same boat, but I only chose the spells PDF. Maybe they are rolling them out one at a time.

 

[Nebulous]

Having not been around for the Fiend Folio days, how would you say it differs from the Monster Manual?

How is this FEF different from the 5e Monster Manual? Or how is the original Fiend Folio different? It's day and night in either case. The FF always had some really weird critters, many of which were later incorporated into D&D canon.

 

[Nebulous]

I'm very, very glad that I got this. It's too early to say for sure, but I might like it better than the core MM.

 

[steeldragons]

( [MENTION=6785485]painted_klown[/MENTION] - I really should have mentioned you before since this is basically responding to your query...and then also expanding on Nebulous' post )

Well, the original FF was "canon" in that pretty much anything up to Unearthed Arcana (again, the 1e version) was back then. The Fiend Folio was the volume that included the -now so precious- drow and deep gnomes, such classics as the death knight, the bullywug, and aarakocra, home to the Princes of Elemental Evil, hook horrors, and, of course, the flumph.

The more international diversity for its "real world" monsters of legend and general mix of myth-based and utterly made-up whole cloth creatures lended to the FF gaining the reputation as the book with the "weird" monsters in it (and don't get me wrong, some of them are utterly bizzare and/or terrible -as in "would never get used") vs. the MM's that had, primarily, mythic things that people recognized like dragons and giants, elves & goblins, unicorns and zombies.

So, yeah, the FF was the second "canonical" manual of monsters for D&D and predates 1e's MM2 (filled mostly with creatures people had been introduced to through modules) by a couple of years, I believe [check wikipedia, don't quote me on that. I'm pretty sure though]. That's really all it is, another bestiary. But it has achieved this lore/mystique for bizarre/off the wall creatures.

 

[painted_klown]

How is this FEF different from the 5e Monster Manual? Or how is the original Fiend Folio different? It's day and night in either case. The FF always had some really weird critters, many of which were later incorporated into D&D canon.

My apologies, I suppose I wasn't clear there. I was meaning how the MM differed from the old FF.

Your answer explains it though. Monsters that are a bit weird/different than what would be in the standard MM.

 

[Nebulous]

My apologies, I suppose I wasn't clear there. I was meaning how the MM differed from the old FF.

Your answer explains it though. Monsters that are a bit weird/different than what would be in the standard MM.

Well the 5e mm has the aarokraka and drow and death Knight and bullywugs and flumph and they were all originally from the fiend folio. There's probably more. It's all just dnd now. Now this new one has some weirdo stuff that feels kinda fringe. So it's retaining that feel.