Wow. Just began reading Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes -- WOTC is really putting out some awesome books.

[Gardens & Goblins]

I also liked them, particularly the Real world equivalent names like the Celtic ones. In my birthright revival campaign I’m working on the elves have Celtic/welsh sounding names.

The problem with internet name generators is you have to wade through a lot of tosh to find good ones.

I find https://www.behindthename.com/ is easy to use and produces names quickly.

 

[flametitan]

I can find a online table of names pretty easily, so I didn't *need* Xanathar's Guide to Everything's tables, but having it in one book so I don't *have to* is pretty nice. (Though to be honest, I would've liked it in the DMG, to go along with the NPC generator included)

I started with 5e, so I hold no love for the old lore. That might be a major contributing factor to why I liked Volo's Guide of Monsters and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes more than Xanathar's Guide. Xanathar's was just powercreep and fixing things that weren't broken, to me. It's also probably why I don't care about the prevalence of the Forgotten Realms in the adventures, as I don't care enough about the proper names to be concerned that it's only one world, so far. That said, I seem to be the only person who liked the SCAG, and thought it made the Forgotten Realms somewhere worth adventuring in, so I am by no means the dominant voice of D&D.

 

[TheSword]

The message is: I want to throw money at D&D, but only when it excludes the Realms or when they are one of many worlds, even if it's "first among equals".

I’m sorry to say, you’ll probably be waiting a long time. All the indicators are that this incarnation is hugely successful beyond the creative teams wildest dreams. I’m not sure why on earth they would depart from their winning strategy of linking most books to the realms.

Not buying Volo’s Guide to monsters because of the title is cutting off your nose to spite your face when 90% of the book is Realm neutral and has nothing to do with any individual campaign setting. Even the stuff that is specific is easily modifiable. You’re therefore missing out on a great book which is a shame. With millions of new players WOC can probably live with the disapproval of players clinging to settings not supported for decades in some cases.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I’m sorry to say, you’ll probably be waiting a long time. All the indicators are that this incarnation is hugely successful beyond the creative teams wildest dreams. I’m not sure why on earth they would depart from their winning strategy of linking most books to the realms.

Not buying Volo’s Guide to monsters because of the title is cutting off your nose to spite your face when 90% of the book is Realm neutral and has nothing to do with any individual campaign setting. Even the stuff that is specific is easily modifiable. You’re therefore missing out on a great book which is a shame. With millions of new players WOC can probably live with the disapproval of players clinging to settings not supported for decades in some cases.

To go a bit deeper into this, only the giants section in Volo's draws heavily on Forgotten Realms lore (and even then there's a sidebar on how to adapt it), everything else is pretty much setting neutral, or, in the cases of the gnoll and yuan-ti sections, actively contradictory towards previous Forgotten Realms lore. So basically, except for the giants section (easily adaptable), and Volo having his name on the cover and the little sticky side-notes here and there in the book (all easy to ignore), it's not a Forgotten Realms book at all. As this poster states, to actively ignore it due to its name is simply to willfully deprive yourself of an excellent sourcebook for reasons that are for the most part not even true within the book itself.

 

[Shasarak]

15 pages of names that you can easily ignore means the book is awful, got it.

I dont know if it is as awful as you say because I did not buy it.

Having to ignore 15 pages is not a great selling point for me.

 

[gyor]

To go a bit deeper into this, only the giants section in Volo's draws heavily on Forgotten Realms lore (and even then there's a sidebar on how to adapt it), everything else is pretty much setting neutral, or, in the cases of the gnoll and yuan-ti sections, actively contradictory towards previous Forgotten Realms lore. So basically, except for the giants section (easily adaptable), and Volo having his name on the cover and the little sticky side-notes here and there in the book (all easy to ignore), it's not a Forgotten Realms book at all. As this poster states, to actively ignore it due to its name is simply to willfully deprive yourself of an excellent sourcebook for reasons that are for the most part not even true within the book itself.

The Yuan Ti section was a biazzaire mix of FR lore and new default lore and they made it unclear where one started and the other ended. It had some awesome parts, but it was also the biggest mess in the book and along with the Gnoll retcon was the weakest part of the book (but with some cool parts).

 

[TwoSix]

The planar lore in MToF is absolutely packed with retcons and retcons of omission.

The artwork is spectacular, and if you've never read any prior D&D material it's probably awesome, but if you're a fan of previous settings and prior lore, it's frustrating.

I'm a fan of the prior lore, I've read most of the 2e Planescape material. I just see no need to keep it around; a new edition is a perfect opportunity for a reboot and reimagining. Continuity across decades is for comic books.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

The Yuan Ti section was a biazzaire mix of FR lore and new default lore and they made it unclear where one started and the other ended. It had some awesome parts, but it was also the biggest mess in the book and along with the Gnoll retcon was the weakest part of the book (but with some cool parts).

No the Yuan Ti lore had nothing to do with FR lore.

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

I dont know if it is as awful as you say because I did not buy it.

Having to ignore 15 pages is not a great selling point for me.

I guess I'm not as privileged as you are.

Tell me something, if the book didn't have those at all, would you still buy the book?

 

[gyor]

No the Yuan Ti lore had nothing to do with FR lore.

Dendar the Night Serpent is FR specific Elder Evil, every important in FR lore, the other deities mentioned come from FR as well like Sseth