D&D 5E Am I the Only One Not 100% Impressed with the Monster Manual?

[KarinsDad]

Given your list of minor gripes, I have a feeling that you wouldn't be "100% satisfied" regardless of how good it was.

No doubt.

I did mention that my gripes were minor. It was a discussion starting point.

I'm also a bit bothered by the size of the art. The PHB took up about 20% of pagecount with artwork and the MM probably took up at least that much. I do think that they could have made the art a bit smaller and crammed more content in without sacrificing anything real. But that too is a minor gripe. Less content means more monster books in the future.

 

[Joddy37]

I like 95% of the book. The only bit I feel is a bit of wasted space is all the good dragon entries. We're unlikely to fight those guys, we dont really need them. I would have preferred some more higher level bad guys in that space.

Why? Doesn't a fight against say giants and a chromatic dragon be an awesome and memorable encounter if you have a gold dragon by your side as an ally?

 

[Thank Dog]

I did mention that my gripes were minor. It was a discussion starting point.

Eh, nothing is ever perfect and nothing will ever be exactly what everyone wants. I guess I don't see minor gripes as worthy of discussion.

I'm also a bit bothered by the size of the art. The PHB took up about 20% of pagecount with artwork and the MM probably took up at least that much. I do think that they could have made the art a bit smaller and crammed more content in without sacrificing anything real. But that too is a minor gripe. Less content means more monster books in the future.

They got roasted over the coals for the content of the 4e MM and lack of flavour. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

 

[Psikerlord#]

Why? Doesn't a fight against say giants and a chromatic dragon be an awesome and memorable encounter if you have a gold dragon by your side as an ally?

No! No ring ins! well, maybe yes, on very rare occasion. I still would have preferred more high level bad guys.

 

[Nebulous]

I like 95% of the book. The only bit I feel is a bit of wasted space is all the good dragon entries. We're unlikely to fight those guys, we dont really need them. I would have preferred some more higher level bad guys in that space.

Far, far too many dragons. Too much art, I agree, even though it is exceptionally great art. I can google any piece of illustration I need from the entire world. Quality 5th edition stat blocks are not possible to google. The PHB had too much art, it was overkill. But the MM overall? An awesome book.

 

[Nebulous]

Why? Doesn't a fight against say giants and a chromatic dragon be an awesome and memorable encounter if you have a gold dragon by your side as an ally?

That sounds like a set piece battle that would be mostly hand-waved by me (the DM). The stats of any one dragon, from anywhere, can suffice for the stats of another. One memorable fight I ran was between an adult white dragon and a flying kraken. No statistics were even required, or dice rolled, just two big miniatures and colorful description of the battle.

 

[Hussar]

Considering the degree of angst that was expressed after 4e left out good dragons, there wasn't a chance in hell they were going to do that again.

 

[KarinsDad]

They got roasted over the coals for the content of the 4e MM and lack of flavour. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

There is no lack of flavor for slightly smaller art. The flavor is the same.

 

[prosfilaes]

I wasn't impressed at all because I like for game books to be functional, not overshadowed by the art. I didn't buy an art book.

Monster books are very visual things, because people want to see these things. I can't remember the number of times a DM has awkwardly covered the rest of the page so we could see what we were fighting. Smaller pictures would make it harder to see the creature, both in that situation and in general.

 

[KarinsDad]

Monster books are very visual things, because people want to see these things. I can't remember the number of times a DM has awkwardly covered the rest of the page so we could see what we were fighting. Smaller pictures would make it harder to see the creature, both in that situation and in general.

True. I had not considered this. Course, the pictures are on average bigger than many of the pictures in earlier editions and those were usable. But this is a good point, at least in that situation of showing the players the monsters.

In general, not so much. The pictures being smaller while someone is reading the book doesn't really affect things much.