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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 9581558" data-attributes="member: 59082">My personal context is important for what follows. I am not an active player - haven't played in a game in about five years, nor do I plan on playing within the foreseeable future. I will always love D&D, follow the game, and am not closed to playing at some point, but it just isn't a priority for me right now. I am a Gen Xer and generally prefer "older school" style of games, and have particularly felt less interested in the more recent aesthetic turns towards various tropes that just aren't to my liking. No big whoop, really, both because I'm not actively playing, but also because I've always taken the approach of the official rules as a toolbox, not as a prescribed style of play. If I were to start a game up, I'd probably go with one of Free League's wonderful games, which are more appealing to me for a variety of reasons. If I were to run a D&D campaign, though, I'd be fine with the 2024 books, with the caveat that I'd do what I've always done (and how I still think the game is "meant" to be played): take what I like, ignore what I don't - and create a world that fits my aesthetic preferences and/or serves the campaign I had in mind.I picked up the Monster Manual today, approaching it from the perspective of "I know I'm not the main person WotC imagines pulling it off the shelf, but I'm curious about the latest iteration of the D&D monsterverse." In my view, the Monster Manual--perhaps more so than the PHB or DMG--has always been one of the best windows into the flavor of the game, each volume being a nice "taste" of the edition. So far I have only briefly skimmed it, but was pleasantly surprised. The art was generally to my liking and well done, without any obvious pictures that turned me off. I was impressed with the book as a whole - I really liked both covers, but got the alternate because it is really quite striking.The general feeling of the book just feels very...fun. It does a great job, from what I can tell so far (admittedly, a cursory glance-through), of embodying D&D in a broad sense. It feels like D&D to me, and even carries a sense of that old wonder I felt when I would pore over the 1st edition Deities & Demigods during recess with friends back in the early 80s. I even loved the feeling of it just be packed full...it is a big book, and every corner seems filled.Anyhow, after some of the recent talk I thought I'd share this. That one can appreciate new offerings, even if not part of the current "D&D flavor zeitgeist." I'm very far removed from being the target audience for WotC, but I still appreciate at least some of what they're bringing forth (and am looking forward to some of the future offerings). This book at least doesn't feel so specific to "nuD&D" that it excluses "auldD&D." It just feels like...D&D.</blockquote>

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