In Praise of the Fluff-Light Monster Manual (Forked: Ecology of the Dragonborn up)

[Jhaelen]

Time (They're still working on it). My point being that it won't be lacking for 4e. You won't need to look through every book. Just pop up the Compendium, and you'll find it all. Being searchable, it will be really easy. And if at any time they're missing any book's input, you won't need you're entire library. You'll only need the one missing book.

Ah, allright I'll retract that objection then. I was under the impression they'd turned the Compendium into something that was only useful for character building. It's good to hear they're working on adding other things as well.

My Treasure Trove has all the magic items from Dungeon, Dragon and the PHB readily searchable by type and level. *coughshamelessplug*

Thanks for the link

 

[racoffin]

I was a bit disappointed by the lack of fluff myself, though I can see what they were going for.

Plus, the paranoid cynical side of me thinks this opens up an opportunity for an all-fluff book to be released, with pages of ecology notes and extra pictures.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Note: the view the honorable Mr. Dustyboots speaks of is that fluff should be absent from rulebooks.

*puts on helmet*

The 4th edition Monster Manual is the single best Monster Manual I've ever seen. It has as much fluff as it needs, it packs close to 500 stat blocks with over 200 unique monsters into its pages, it has knowledge checks for every kind of monster, and it has art for damn near everything in the book.

It sets a new gold standard for value and page economy.

/bonk

It has just as much fluff as you need if you've played previous versions of D&D or are reading DDI and other outside sources. As a vision of a world, it's unbelievably lacking. The Worlds & Monsters preview book was a vastly better Monster Manual in that regard.

Prediction: Monster Manual II will be much more traditional in the amount of lore in the books. Heck, they might even describe the illustrated monsters.

 

[Nightson]

I think the amount of fluff in the MM is about the perfect level for me.

 

[Byronic]

I usually love fluff but... I'm quite happy with the books being mostly fluffless.
While the fluff in the MM is nice the rest of the fluff is terrible. The deities are plastic, the cosmology seems so-so and the race descriptions were made for 12 year olds. The only thing most of the fluff in the books has done is inspire me to rewrite it all. I've already rewritten Elves and Eladrin and am starting on the cosmology, deities and a few other things.

Dragon articles are a lot better but I found the new dragonborn fluff.. a C+.

 

[Rechan]

I do not like the absence of fluff. Especially with things that I have no idea what the hell it is. Berbalang, I'm looking at you.

Fluff: It gives Context.

 

[Rechan]

But isn't that exactly what you get from the DMG and PHB?
The DMG has a table with appropriate stats per role per level and templates, including npc templates. The PHB lists hundreds of powers for every level. The only thing you don't get is monster-only abilities apart from those already assigned to specific monsters. I found it pretty easy to mix and match stuff to create customized monsters.

I do not count the PHB as "Cool list of powers" because many of the monster powers are beyond what PCs can do.

Prime example: Look at the Night Hag's ability to make someone go unconcious and then disappear inside their head. The Shadar-kai witch can zap you and limit your Line of Effect to two squares.

Sure, the powers in the PHB are great if you want to use player powers. But not when you want to do something that PCs simply cannot do. Or do something that someone with the PHB hasn't seen.

 

[Agamon]

Yep, the lack of extensive fluff in the MM is a good thing. That's good for products like Paizo's or articles in Dragon. Otherwise, I think there's enough to get by for noobs, and not too much to waste space for people like me that take the monsters and do their own thing with them.

 

[Rechan]

As for people saying "Just look at DDI/Paizo for your fluff", that's great ... if you want to spend money on Paizo or DDI.

Hint: Noobs, not going to. Nor are the many gamers out there who, gasp, don't use the internet.

 

[Lizard]

As for people saying "Just look at DDI/Paizo for your fluff", that's great ... if you want to spend money on Paizo or DDI.

Hint: Noobs, not going to. Nor are the many gamers out there who, gasp, don't use the internet.

I doubt there's many gamers who don't use the Internet. If there were, you'd think we'd see them post more often.