D&D 5E Player Races in Upcoming Volo's Guide to Monsters

[Benji]

Regarding the art from the guide: on http://dndwizards.tumblr.com/ they have 2-3 lines of text about the monsters depticted (Ki-rin, Pit master, Flail snail and Death Kiss).

Good catch. The pit master states that it's involved in 'The Races' buisness, which means it's a variant/champion of some other race, meaning Yuan-ti suspicions just took a step forward.

 

[gyor]

So Mr Snakearms is a Pit Master. I haven't heard of it and a quick Google search didn't reveal anything. The description seems to be purposely vague. I'm still guessing that it's a yuan-ti variant.

Thank, I was curious. Some people were suggesting Yuan Ti Abomination others were suggesting Kraken Society Cultist, Pit Master sounds cool. It sounds like they stand somewhere between Purebloods and Abominations in rank and power.

 

[gyor]

For those still upset that Gnolls won't be in, Mearls has said that simular creature will be in. Its my belief that it is the Flind, which is a badass verison of the Gnoll, stockier and slightly shorter, but less demonic, kind of like what the Gnolls may have been like before mixing with demons and worshipping that demon prince of their's.

 

[gyor]

I look up Yuan-Ti Pit Masters, but found nothing, it seems like their new. Plenty Half Bloods, Abominations, Pure Bloods, Anthemas, Hisschi, Broodguards, Igauns, Mageslayers, Holy Guardians or something, but no Pit Masters. They sound interesting.

 

[Xohar17]

For those still upset that Gnolls won't be in, Mearls has said that simular creature will be in. Its my belief that it is the Flind, which is a badass verison of the Gnoll, stockier and slightly shorter, but less demonic, kind of like what the Gnolls may have been like before mixing with demons and worshipping that demon prince of their's.

Has it been confirmed anywhere that they won't appear in Volo's? Maybe a tweet from Mearls or something?

 

[Jester David]

They really should've just called it "Fiend Folio"...

All the better because it lacks FR references, but is strongly anchored to the D&D brand.

I imagine they didn't because they explicitly didn't want to make a Monster Manual 2 product, that was just the MM but with different monsters.

MM2 tend to be hit-and-miss with about 50% classic and cool monsters and 50% filler that exists to round out the remaining pages. Changing the name lets them play around the presentation without misleading fans that might otherwise expect 200+ new monsters.
The Volo's Guide aspect allows them to add more lore to existing monsters, while also adding an unreliable narrative to said lore. (It also allows them to subtly publish a FR product, allowing them to retain the license to that world.) And it allows them the ability to add the player racial content, which might otherwise be ill suited for a MM2, but is on theme for a "book about monsters".

 

[Demetrios1453]

Has it been confirmed anywhere that they won't appear in Volo's? Maybe a tweet from Mearls or something?

Gnolls will be appearing in the book (it says so in the summary on the WotC website), they just won't have the option of being a playable race.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I imagine they didn't because they explicitly didn't want to make a Monster Manual 2 product, that was just the MM but with different monsters.

MM2 tend to be hit-and-miss with about 50% classic and cool monsters and 50% filler that exists to round out the remaining pages. Changing the name lets them play around the presentation without misleading fans that might otherwise expect 200+ new monsters.
The Volo's Guide aspect allows them to add more lore to existing monsters, while also adding an unreliable narrative to said lore. (It also allows them to subtly publish a FR product, allowing them to retain the license to that world.) And it allows them the ability to add the player racial content, which might otherwise be ill suited for a MM2, but is on theme for a "book about monsters".

That's a good summary of what I expect as well. I imagine that the FR-specific stuff will be kept somewhat low, as to make it useful to everyone. After all, all a good DM needs are the stat blocks and some details that can be used adventure hooks/complications and the rest is good to go.

I'm wondering what we will be seeing concerning dragons in the book. As they are half of the game's name, a monster book without them making an appearance seems unlikely. Will we get a new dragon sub-type or two (such as brown or deep dragon?), or maybe the whole slate of gem dragons (yes, no psionics rules yet, but they could still be done, like mind flayers, using the base rules and updated later when psionics are properly introduced), or perhaps rules on modifying dragons (such as how to quickly calculate CRs when adding significant spellcasting - several dragons in SKT have a good amount of spellcasting and have higher CRs as a result), or maybe just stat blocks for a few some example named dragons as interesting challenges?

 

[thalmin]

That's a good summary of what I expect as well. I imagine that the FR-specific stuff will be kept somewhat low, as to make it useful to everyone. After all, all a good DM needs are the stat blocks and some details that can be used adventure hooks/complications and the rest is good to go.

I'm wondering what we will be seeing concerning dragons in the book. As they are half of the game's name, a monster book without them making an appearance seems unlikely. Will we get a new dragon sub-type or two (such as brown or deep dragon?), or maybe the whole slate of gem dragons (yes, no psionics rules yet, but they could still be done, like mind flayers, using the base rules and updated later when psionics are properly introduced), or perhaps rules on modifying dragons (such as how to quickly calculate CRs when adding significant spellcasting - several dragons in SKT have a good amount of spellcasting and have higher CRs as a result), or maybe just stat blocks for a few some example named dragons as interesting challenges?

i hope we get stats for Bahamut.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Since we have ki-rin, maybe we'll get lung dragons. That would be cool.