Preview VOLO'S GUIDE TO MONSTERS

Polygon has scored a look at the upcoming Volo's Guide to Monsters from WotC - six full pages, in fact, which give a very clear idea of what we can expect from the book when it arrived next month! From the looks of their article, it seems that WotC is using this as a testbed for the way they handle future sourcebooks. Polygon confirms the overall product description - 96 new (to 5E) monsters, tons of rules for monster PCs (goblins, orcs, firbolgs), and a buch of deep dives into some iconic monsters. The beholder section is nearly 14 pages on its own. Check out the article at Polygon for more!

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[Parmandur]

Shouldn't be any issue with reusing the monsters from Tome (any of them). We "open sourced" all of them, including the ones we got permission from WotC to use. It's all in each of the Open Content declarations in each of them. About the only thing we didn't open source was the artwork and title of the book.

Was it a situation where WotC thought nobody would be interested in the content in the future...?

 

[Grazzt]

Was it a situation where WotC thought nobody would be interested in the content in the future...?

No idea. We just came up with a list of monsters we wanted to do in the first Tome, secured permission from them to include and OGC them, and that was that.

 

[Henry]

No idea. We just came up with a list of monsters we wanted to do in the first Tome, secured permission from them to include and OGC them, and that was that.

Cool! Great to know the full deal, thank you!

 

[JeffB]

Yeah, Im pretty sure Paizo and I know Troll Lord Games have utilized the original TOH open critters. A whole bunch of C&C's Classic Monsters book is conversion of TOH monsters.

I didnt pick up 5th Edition Foes, but I assumed the same thing...?..

 

[Connorsrpg]

Wouldn't it be great if these discussions didn't get side-tracked by price so often? Page 2 of forums & I am done (again). Maybe people constantly bringing up the price argument could start a new thread, or moderators could open a whole forum section where people can analyse until their heart's content, but I am sure for many reader/posters here this is getting irritating and monotonous.

 

[BMaC]

Another example of WoTC and the DD5 team somehow getting it. This feels right and the evisceration illustration alone would sell me on the book.

It's very similar to the one in 2e's The Illithiad
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17448/Monstrous-Arcana-The-Illithiad-2e?it=1

Volo's looks like a great book. An interesting combination of lore, player content, and much-needed additional monsters.

 

[Demetrios1453]

It's very similar to the one in 2e's The Illithiad
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17448/Monstrous-Arcana-The-Illithiad-2e?it=1

Volo's looks like a great book. An interesting combination of lore, player content, and much-needed additional monsters.

I'm wondering if this goes over well if we'll see similar Volo's Guides in the future with similar formats. I could definitely see, for example, a Volo's Guide to the Planes, which would include lore (detailing the planes for the new edition), player content (new player races, and if they feel a bit daring, using new backgrounds in conjunction with the old Planescape faction system), and additional monsters (planar creatures that haven't been covered so far). Heck, come to think of it, it could be used for any setting (Volo goes to Greyhawk and now it's Mordenkanen setting him right). Outside of updating settings, it could be used for updating other facets of the game (Volo's Guide to Dragons or Volo's Guide to Psoinics perhaps?)

 

[Parmandur]

I'm wondering if this goes over well if we'll see similar Volo's Guides in the future with similar formats. I could definitely see, for example, a Volo's Guide to the Planes, which would include lore (detailing the planes for the new edition), player content (new player races, and if they feel a bit daring, using new backgrounds in conjunction with the old Planescape faction system), and additional monsters (planar creatures that haven't been covered so far). Heck, come to think of it, it could be used for any setting (Volo goes to Greyhawk and now it's Mordenkanen setting him right). Outside of updating settings, it could be used for updating other facets of the game (Volo's Guide to Dragons or Volo's Guide to Psoinics perhaps?)

I think that's a real possibility, for sure; a Volo's Guide tobDragons seems like it would have huge potential: give in depth detail on all the core dragons, including Gem dragons, go over Dragony PC stuff (Dragonborn ecology?), more variant dragons and dragon related monsters than you can shake a stick at... personality tables by dragon type would be fun.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

I'm wondering if this goes over well if we'll see similar Volo's Guides in the future with similar formats. I could definitely see, for example, a Volo's Guide to the Planes, which would include lore (detailing the planes for the new edition), player content (new player races, and if they feel a bit daring, using new backgrounds in conjunction with the old Planescape faction system), and additional monsters (planar creatures that haven't been covered so far). Heck, come to think of it, it could be used for any setting (Volo goes to Greyhawk and now it's Mordenkanen setting him right). Outside of updating settings, it could be used for updating other facets of the game (Volo's Guide to Dragons or Volo's Guide to Psoinics perhaps?)

I would love a Volo's Guide to the Planes. I think the snide side comments from Elminister would actually work well there (harken back to the tongue in cheek tone of Planescape).

As for Dragons, well it almost wouldn't feel like a new edition without a Draconomicon. So count me in for that one too (WotC, this is practically a license to take money from me).

The Psychic one is also a good idea. Since the biggest controversy with the psychics in 5e is the proposed tie to the Far Realm, having an unreliable narrator push that theory would seem to satisfy everyone.

 

[delericho]

True. This is the main sticking point for me. 224 vs. 352 pages. $50 is a bit rich.

Core rulebooks always have a vastly better price point, due to the much larger print runs. So that's never going to be a fair comparison.

On the other hand, until now $50 has bought a 256-page storyline book. (Not to mention the 450-page "Tome of Beasts"...)

But, honestly, I'm not too bothered by the price of the thing. I'm rather more bothered by them choosing to fill half of the book with lore that I don't want in preference to more monsters that I do.