D&D 5E Monster Manual Expanded III HARDCOVER/PoD is FINALLY OUT! Get it now from the DM's Guild!

[Stormonu]

I am sooo getting this book as POD when it becomes available.

The dog-sphinx has me wondering - might we see a Dragonne? I miss them so much!

 

[Ibrandul]

Apologies to Fitz and Jeremy if my response came a bit too strong. To clarify, when you submit a product to DM's Guild (which allows you to use WoTC IP), you enter into a contract that makes your product exclusive to DM's Guild (the author's cut is 50%, DMG and WoTC get 25% each I believe). While it's permitted for us authors to send complimentary copies for the purpose of promoting the product, making orders (at cost at DMG's expense) for the purpose of selling them for profit (as Uni stated) is in direct violation of the contract (because DMG doesn't earn from it). The DM's Guild community manager made this clear when I first inquired about this last year (after several folks reached out to me with the same inquiry Jeremy had).

As a consumer though, I don't see any issue if you purchase a book directly from DMG and then sell it with a markup (again, as Uni mentioned). I believe this is what several international FLGS did (and are still doing I think), ordering by bulk (to minimize shipping costs) and then selling them at a markup that was reasonable for secondary consumers (who found it more affordable than purchasing directly from DMG).

Thanks for clarifying, sorry I misunderstood. Yeah, international shipping from the DM's Guild is very expensive, so the buy-in-bulk-and-mark-up strategy sounds like a potential winner for international shops. Funnily enough, shipping to for example Europe is (according to the site's FAQ at this moment) potentially much faster than shipping to the USA and Canada, because the European printer isn't so overwhelmed right now.

To get back to the heart of this thread: however long shipping takes for the MME3, I know it'll be worth the wait. (I'm in no huge hurry, as evidenced by my prior advocacy that you should take your time with the POD after PDF release, to catch as many errors as possible.) Visually the MME2 was already a step up from MME1, and the images in this thread from MME3 look absolutely stunning. And if I may say so, in terms of game content MME1 and 2 are the best third-party 5e monster books on the market.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I am sooo getting this book as POD when it becomes available.

The dog-sphinx has me wondering - might we see a Dragonne? I miss them so much!

It's in the MME2 if I'm not mistaken (I'm on vacation away from my books right now so unable to confirm).

 

[Dax Doomslayer]

Dragonnes are in the MME II page 100.

 

[Stormonu]

Dragonnes are in the MME II page 100.

Oh, thanks! I was looking through my copy last night and must have missed them!

 

[Nixlord]

Monster Manual Expanded III Art Previews #22: More humanoids! This time, gnolls will be coming your way to butcher your players, including four legendary bosses: The Nimrod of Gorellik, the Priest of Refnara, the War Leader, and the Witherlock!

 

[AnotherGuy]

Haha, I am trying my best, but even if I rush this, I only have 2-3 artists regularly working for me (and they still have a lot of work to do). The best forecast is around the 2nd quarter of next year.

Echoing others - they are amazing!

 

[Nixlord]

Echoing others - they are amazing!

Thanks! I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but just a quick update to temper people's expectations: after a couple of months of art delays this year, I don't think I'll be able to hit my 2nd quarter target. It will definitely be the 3rd quarter now, but I am looking at July at the earliest, August at the latest. Really sorry about this, but I promise everyone it will be worth it!

 

[Stormonu]

@Nixlord, out of curiousity, do you use any tool to calculate the monster CR? And is it a case that you tend to pick the CR first and then build the monster, or the reverse?

 

[Nixlord]

@Nixlord, out of curiousity, do you use any tool to calculate the monster CR? And is it a case that you tend to pick the CR first and then build the monster, or the reverse?

I do. I use both CR calculator and iadndmn. Using two helps me minimize the margin of error.

It's definitely building the creature first then determine its CR. I then adjust if I need to (lowering damage output or hp, etc.) but not sacrificing any of its iconic features. This happens when I am targeting a particular CR range or number, like what I did to fill out most gaps in celestials, fey, beasts, and a particular creature type you'll see soon. Same with creating the new low level (CR 3 to 6) humanoid legendary bosses.