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<blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2011268" data-attributes="member: 18387"><p>The original <u>Tome of Horrors</u> book has seen nearly as much use in my campaign as the Monster Manual. I came back to D&D after over a decade of playing other systems, skipping 2nd edition almost entirely. As a result, my games are full of nostalgic, "First Edition" feel. The original <u>Tome of Horrors</u> brought me back to those old days, lying on my bed with the Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II, dreaming up adventures featuring those wonderful monsters. Many of those ideas didn't see actual play back in the 1980's, but with the Tome of Horrors I was gleefully able to resurrect those old plans and inflict them not only on my older, jaded gaming crew, but also upon our new game-playing children.</p><p></p><p>When I heard that a sequel was in the works, devoid of any conversions from previous editions, I was skeptical. What was the point? I've not been impressed with most third-party D20 monster books. They just don't have the "feel" I look for - they are suited more exclusively for other campaign settings which I have no intention of ever using. While I've gained a lot of respect for the talents of Scott Greene, Erica Balsley, and the rest of the crew at Necromancer, I really wasn't too sure how well this book would be used. After all, there are a couple of similar books on my shelf gathering dust already. </p><p></p><p>I shouldn't have worried. Browsing through the pages, I experienced a strange form of nostalgia. It was very similar to the feeling I had when I opened up the pages of the Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II for 1st edition way back in the early 80's. These entries had the same kind of feel - they would have been right at home in an official book back in 1982. Necromancer Games lives up to its motto, "Third edition rules, First edition feel." I don't know how they managed to capture and evoke that sense of "old-school" gaming, but it's there. </p><p></p><p>So what's to love? Plenty. </p><p></p><p>* <strong>Fiends</strong>: The first Tome of Horrors was demon-heavy; this new one has its share, but also plenty of our favorite lawful-evil fiends. A pantheon of devils who followed the banished former ruler of Hell, Lucifer, is fleshed out with plenty of story hooks for the DM to spin into an adventure. </p><p></p><p>* <strong>Animals and Vermin</strong>: I've had to convert a bunch of animals from older modules and supplements, generally falling back upon the stats for a somewhat similar creature in the Monster Manual. There are plenty of nicely researched and statted animals - normal, giant, and prehistoric - available here. Mammoths, mastadons, giant pikes, mountain lions, and more. We also have a LOT of giant vermin to play with, too. Giant Yellowjackets, plenty of new giant beetles, giant fleas... amusing stuff to throw at your players.</p><p></p><p>* <strong>Plants</strong>: There are several spells and abilities (particularly for druids) emphasizing power over plants - but very few plant monsters in the core books. There are several new plant monsters in here, and many have a few more powers than simply choking hapless players who stumble across them. The Witch-tree is one of my favorites... something I expect to become a regular in my campaigns. </p><p></p><p>* <strong>Undead</strong>: I got annoyed at some of the undead in recent WotC offerings - they had some great unique abilities, but there was no real description of how these things came to be or why they existed. So you have something that looks like a zombie dragon... was it a dragon in life, or is it something else altogether? No clue. The new undead types in this book are given appropriately creepy origins and ecological niches. Like the murder-born... hateful creatures that arise when a mother and unborn child are murdered. THAT could creep out some of my players! It's not just the undead that are given such description though, to be fair --- all of the creatures are NICELY described with a discussion of their origins and motivations. Good stuff to wrap an adventure around. </p><p></p><p>* <strong>Templates</strong>: I'm a sucker for templates. Frankly, it's a lot easier to slap a template on a monster to turn it into a more powerful, 'exceptional' representative of its race than it is to advance it through other means. And its a lot more noticeable (and memorable) by the players. There are nine templates to be found here. Some of them are pretty boring - like the Corpsespun. Undead Lords are handy but nothing to write home about. The Landwalker and Debased Fey are very interesting templates in that they allow you to bring some creatures that the PCs normally wouldn't encounter in a conflict (sea creatures and good fey) in as enemies. The artwork of the landwalker shark is a little silly, but somehow I don't think my players would be laughing too hard if the encountered the things.</p><p></p><p>* <strong>The N'Gathau</strong>: This appendix is really crying out for a module / setting of its own - this chapter describes the Plane of Agony, a nice, evil addition to the standard D&D cosmology. Most evil outsiders aren't clearly different from each other outside of their alignments and their collection of resistances / immunities (come on... can you really tell the difference from a demon, devil, daemon (yugoloth), and demodand if you didn't already know which is which?). These creatures are actually mutilated humanoids who have undergone incredible torture of their bodies and spirits until they've gone native. Intriguing and nightmarish ideas. I wonder if Scott Greene has trouble sleeping at night? </p><p></p><p>* <strong>The feats</strong>: Some very cool monster feats appear here which I can't wait to add to standard monsters. The "Strength of the Grave" feat for undead is my favorite. This feat allows the undead creature to save against and partially resist the efforts of a cleric to turn it. I've hated how turning is such an all-or-nothing effect... either the cleric succeeds and yields and easy encounter, or she fails and things turn very badly very quick. This feat provides something between the extremes.</p><p></p><p>* <strong>Unusual swarms</strong>: How about a swarm of fey (grigs)? Or pirhana? How about a swarm of tiny constructs? These are PERFECT for several situations. Swarms of poisonous frogs and velvet ants are also provided. GREAT stuff. </p><p></p><p>* <strong>Some new / old favorites</strong>: The BLACK SKELETON (anyone familiar with Rappan Athuk will love / hate this creature ) gets 3.5 stats. The Inphindians are a very cool race of snake-people from the mega-module Necropolis. Very different in flavor the Yuan-Ti, they nevertheless could provide an OGL-compliant substitute for the Yuan-Ti in D20 modules. Ditto for the Encephalon Gorger - an alien-race of brain-devourers who could provide a substitute for Mind Flayers in a commercial D20 product, but nevertheless have an entirely different flavor from the old (non-OGL) favorite. The Piercer is revised from its Tome of Horror I appearance. There are others, like the Cinder Ghoul, Sand Kraken, Demoriel the Devil, Caasimolar the former president of Hell, Cerebral Stalkers, and Fear Guards that I expect could become staples of my campaigns. They are just *COOL* and seem easy or very fun to use.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Some things I'm not QUITE so keen on:</p><p></p><p>* <strong>A few silly an uninspired monsters</strong>. I'll admit to kind of a love / hate thing with Red Jester (an undead comedian) - I didn't like it at first but I think it would be funny enough to throw against my players in a real game. Some of the others... the Troblin (Troll / Goblin crossbreed) and Ogren (Ogre - Hobgoblin crossbreed) are just not that exciting. Maybe these appeared in modules I haven't read yet. And the Screaming Skull is just one of those old "DM Specials" designed to freak out the metagamers. Amusing to use once, maybe.</p><p></p><p>* <strong>Golems</strong> - Okay. I LIKE the golems. I'm trying to nitpick here. It seems that those crazy magic users are making golems out of absolutely ANYTHING these days. The ones in this book are better and more interesting than those I've seen in many other recent supplements, so I'm sure I'll use them, but still... It seems like golems are becoming filler for monster books these days... can't fill your page count? Come up with some other item around the house that a wizard could make a robot out of. Any day now I'm expecting to see a book with a Belly-Button Lint Golem, Pencil-Shaving Golem, and a golem made from the waste from the privy. (Actually.... that would be pretty cool, if gross...)</p><p></p><p>* <strong>Low-Level Monsters</strong>: My biggest complaint. Like most other monster supplements, this book concentrates on creatures with a CR under 12. Sure, the lower-level creatures can be advanced several different ways, but the fact remains: I now have enough low-level monsters to run a hundred campaigns without the players every encountering the same monster twice, or ever having to fall back on the old standbys of orcs, goblins, and kobolds. But in spite of having seven dedicated monster supplements, I'm still struggling to find the "right" monster to throw at my high-level party. And like most other monster books, too many of the high-level monsters are outsiders. Come on... can't we have some good CR 17 vermin, oozes, undead, plants, and magical beasts for a change? Do they all have to be a dragon or come from the outer planes?</p><p></p><p>Nitpicks aside, I'd recommend this book with no reservations. It's an outstanding work, and one I'm very pleased to have on my shelf. I expect it will see a LOT of use in the coming years.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Messageboard Golem, post: 2011268, member: 18387"] The original [u]Tome of Horrors[/u] book has seen nearly as much use in my campaign as the Monster Manual. I came back to D&D after over a decade of playing other systems, skipping 2nd edition almost entirely. As a result, my games are full of nostalgic, "First Edition" feel. The original [u]Tome of Horrors[/u] brought me back to those old days, lying on my bed with the Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II, dreaming up adventures featuring those wonderful monsters. Many of those ideas didn't see actual play back in the 1980's, but with the Tome of Horrors I was gleefully able to resurrect those old plans and inflict them not only on my older, jaded gaming crew, but also upon our new game-playing children. When I heard that a sequel was in the works, devoid of any conversions from previous editions, I was skeptical. What was the point? I've not been impressed with most third-party D20 monster books. They just don't have the "feel" I look for - they are suited more exclusively for other campaign settings which I have no intention of ever using. While I've gained a lot of respect for the talents of Scott Greene, Erica Balsley, and the rest of the crew at Necromancer, I really wasn't too sure how well this book would be used. After all, there are a couple of similar books on my shelf gathering dust already. I shouldn't have worried. Browsing through the pages, I experienced a strange form of nostalgia. It was very similar to the feeling I had when I opened up the pages of the Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II for 1st edition way back in the early 80's. These entries had the same kind of feel - they would have been right at home in an official book back in 1982. Necromancer Games lives up to its motto, "Third edition rules, First edition feel." I don't know how they managed to capture and evoke that sense of "old-school" gaming, but it's there. So what's to love? Plenty. * [b]Fiends[/b]: The first Tome of Horrors was demon-heavy; this new one has its share, but also plenty of our favorite lawful-evil fiends. A pantheon of devils who followed the banished former ruler of Hell, Lucifer, is fleshed out with plenty of story hooks for the DM to spin into an adventure. * [b]Animals and Vermin[/b]: I've had to convert a bunch of animals from older modules and supplements, generally falling back upon the stats for a somewhat similar creature in the Monster Manual. There are plenty of nicely researched and statted animals - normal, giant, and prehistoric - available here. Mammoths, mastadons, giant pikes, mountain lions, and more. We also have a LOT of giant vermin to play with, too. Giant Yellowjackets, plenty of new giant beetles, giant fleas... amusing stuff to throw at your players. * [b]Plants[/b]: There are several spells and abilities (particularly for druids) emphasizing power over plants - but very few plant monsters in the core books. There are several new plant monsters in here, and many have a few more powers than simply choking hapless players who stumble across them. The Witch-tree is one of my favorites... something I expect to become a regular in my campaigns. * [b]Undead[/b]: I got annoyed at some of the undead in recent WotC offerings - they had some great unique abilities, but there was no real description of how these things came to be or why they existed. So you have something that looks like a zombie dragon... was it a dragon in life, or is it something else altogether? No clue. The new undead types in this book are given appropriately creepy origins and ecological niches. Like the murder-born... hateful creatures that arise when a mother and unborn child are murdered. THAT could creep out some of my players! It's not just the undead that are given such description though, to be fair --- all of the creatures are NICELY described with a discussion of their origins and motivations. Good stuff to wrap an adventure around. * [b]Templates[/b]: I'm a sucker for templates. Frankly, it's a lot easier to slap a template on a monster to turn it into a more powerful, 'exceptional' representative of its race than it is to advance it through other means. And its a lot more noticeable (and memorable) by the players. There are nine templates to be found here. Some of them are pretty boring - like the Corpsespun. Undead Lords are handy but nothing to write home about. The Landwalker and Debased Fey are very interesting templates in that they allow you to bring some creatures that the PCs normally wouldn't encounter in a conflict (sea creatures and good fey) in as enemies. The artwork of the landwalker shark is a little silly, but somehow I don't think my players would be laughing too hard if the encountered the things. * [b]The N'Gathau[/b]: This appendix is really crying out for a module / setting of its own - this chapter describes the Plane of Agony, a nice, evil addition to the standard D&D cosmology. Most evil outsiders aren't clearly different from each other outside of their alignments and their collection of resistances / immunities (come on... can you really tell the difference from a demon, devil, daemon (yugoloth), and demodand if you didn't already know which is which?). These creatures are actually mutilated humanoids who have undergone incredible torture of their bodies and spirits until they've gone native. Intriguing and nightmarish ideas. I wonder if Scott Greene has trouble sleeping at night? * [b]The feats[/b]: Some very cool monster feats appear here which I can't wait to add to standard monsters. The "Strength of the Grave" feat for undead is my favorite. This feat allows the undead creature to save against and partially resist the efforts of a cleric to turn it. I've hated how turning is such an all-or-nothing effect... either the cleric succeeds and yields and easy encounter, or she fails and things turn very badly very quick. This feat provides something between the extremes. * [b]Unusual swarms[/b]: How about a swarm of fey (grigs)? Or pirhana? How about a swarm of tiny constructs? These are PERFECT for several situations. Swarms of poisonous frogs and velvet ants are also provided. GREAT stuff. * [b]Some new / old favorites[/b]: The BLACK SKELETON (anyone familiar with Rappan Athuk will love / hate this creature ) gets 3.5 stats. The Inphindians are a very cool race of snake-people from the mega-module Necropolis. Very different in flavor the Yuan-Ti, they nevertheless could provide an OGL-compliant substitute for the Yuan-Ti in D20 modules. Ditto for the Encephalon Gorger - an alien-race of brain-devourers who could provide a substitute for Mind Flayers in a commercial D20 product, but nevertheless have an entirely different flavor from the old (non-OGL) favorite. The Piercer is revised from its Tome of Horror I appearance. There are others, like the Cinder Ghoul, Sand Kraken, Demoriel the Devil, Caasimolar the former president of Hell, Cerebral Stalkers, and Fear Guards that I expect could become staples of my campaigns. They are just *COOL* and seem easy or very fun to use. Some things I'm not QUITE so keen on: * [b]A few silly an uninspired monsters[/b]. I'll admit to kind of a love / hate thing with Red Jester (an undead comedian) - I didn't like it at first but I think it would be funny enough to throw against my players in a real game. Some of the others... the Troblin (Troll / Goblin crossbreed) and Ogren (Ogre - Hobgoblin crossbreed) are just not that exciting. Maybe these appeared in modules I haven't read yet. And the Screaming Skull is just one of those old "DM Specials" designed to freak out the metagamers. Amusing to use once, maybe. * [b]Golems[/b] - Okay. I LIKE the golems. I'm trying to nitpick here. It seems that those crazy magic users are making golems out of absolutely ANYTHING these days. The ones in this book are better and more interesting than those I've seen in many other recent supplements, so I'm sure I'll use them, but still... It seems like golems are becoming filler for monster books these days... can't fill your page count? Come up with some other item around the house that a wizard could make a robot out of. Any day now I'm expecting to see a book with a Belly-Button Lint Golem, Pencil-Shaving Golem, and a golem made from the waste from the privy. (Actually.... that would be pretty cool, if gross...) * [b]Low-Level Monsters[/b]: My biggest complaint. Like most other monster supplements, this book concentrates on creatures with a CR under 12. Sure, the lower-level creatures can be advanced several different ways, but the fact remains: I now have enough low-level monsters to run a hundred campaigns without the players every encountering the same monster twice, or ever having to fall back on the old standbys of orcs, goblins, and kobolds. But in spite of having seven dedicated monster supplements, I'm still struggling to find the "right" monster to throw at my high-level party. And like most other monster books, too many of the high-level monsters are outsiders. Come on... can't we have some good CR 17 vermin, oozes, undead, plants, and magical beasts for a change? Do they all have to be a dragon or come from the outer planes? Nitpicks aside, I'd recommend this book with no reservations. It's an outstanding work, and one I'm very pleased to have on my shelf. I expect it will see a LOT of use in the coming years. [/QUOTE]
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