D&D 5E 07/08/2013 - Legends & Lore Monsters and the World of D&D

[Gundark]

Privateer Press printed the "Monternomicon" for their Iron Kingdoms setting. Each creature had a 2 page write up complete with what locals believed about the monster (knowledge check DCs) and ways that the PCs might find value from the defeated creature (achemists might find the creatures spleen useful for potions). By far the best monster book I've read.

 

[Shemeska]

The 2e MM was the high point of D&D monster entries, and the 4e MM the nadir IMO.

Mind you, the issue can be polarizing, with some people hating heavy flavor text and only wanting a book of statblocks, and others like myself wanting the flavor as much or more so than the stats, because it's the descriptions and fluff that make me interested in a monster and give me tons of ideas on how to do so. The PF writeups are a pretty good middle ground, with much more flavor than 3e and 4e monster entries.

 

[MarkB]

Personally, I think the proposed level of detail is fine for a Monster Manual entry. Inevitably, some parts are going to be ignored by some DMs when adapting the creatures for their own use, so too much detail just becomes more to discard.

I think the best way to 'detail-up' the entries would be to add a regular "Ecology of the Wossname" online article on, say, a two-weekly basis, that methodically works through every major monster in the manual, providing a page or two of extra detail, maybe a couple of setting-specific sidebars, and one or two bits of crunch, whether stat-blocks for particular variant creatures, or magic items or class features that relate to them.

 

[Savage Wombat]

Hmm. I personally favor the cross-pollination (thanks) when handled well. A new DM looking through a new monster entry should get ideas for encounters, not just how to use a monster in a fight. But if the examples given feel wrong (turn into araneas) it makes the concept unpopular.

I remember several books (possibly non-D&D altogether) that listed rumors about monsters. Suggestions that could be true in your game or not, depending on the DM. What if there were a handful of bullet-points at the end of the entry, suggesting possible uses for the monster?

* Displacer beasts are capable of human speech, and use this to lure travelers to their doom.
* Displacer beasts are the enemies of blink dogs, and attack them with berserk fury. They automatically detect blink dogs within 500'.
* Displacer beasts have been known to serve high-ranking gnolls as mounts.
* Displacer beasts worship Demogorgon, but have no formal religion.
* Displacer beasts serve charismatic female drow in a manner similar to unicorns and elves.

 

[MarkB]

One thing with this "tying monsters into the world" concept they've got going, with the "ettercaps / pixies / night hags" one being a good example - I hope they manage to track these and cross-reference them in other entries, so that, for instance, whether you go to the entry for Ettercaps or Pixies or Night Hags, you'll see that connection and be able to incorporate the related monsters into your scenario.

Maybe once the MM is published, someone can compile a big flowchart-style "relationship map" showing how they all interconnect.

 

[Obryn]

I'm another huge MV fan. I am (and have been) very critical of the 4e MM1, but the MV made up for it. It stole the title from 2e's Monstrous Manual.

 

[Paraxis]

I believe hands down the best monster book for D&D is the Monster Vault for 4th. Take the stirge as an example it has a great piece of artwork, a few descriptive paragraphs about them and 5 different stat blocks from level 1 to level 10 each with interesting abilities that make a stirge fight different from any other fight.

 

[Blackwarder]

I read the MV, it was a huge step up from the original MM but I wasn't blown away, for me ecology/society and habitat is much more interesting than state block, Especialy since I tend to change the state blocks to suit my needs.

Warder

 

[Obryn]

I read the MV, it was a huge step up from the original MM but I wasn't blown away, for me ecology/society and habitat is much more interesting than state block, Especialy since I tend to change the state blocks to suit my needs.

Warder

For me, it's a combination of interesting hooks, strong fiction, and the best-designed stat blocks for interesting encounters in D&D. 4e gave us great stuff like making goblins play differently from kobolds and orcs on the table - not just in the fiction. And then Monster Vault kicked it up a notch; every monster is well-made and interesting, with unique mechanics.

So given this, it's not a contest for me. I love my 2e Monstrous Manual, but the stat blocks just aren't as good. Taken as a whole, this puts it in second place.

(And while we're talking about bad monster books like the 4e MM1, can we talk about the terrible 2e Monstrous Compendium binders?)

-O

 

[gyor]

Split the difference, stats blocks can be closer to MV style and the description can be more mm2e style. Everybody wins.