Anyone else miss monster books?

[JustKim]

Really, because I found many of the early CC monsters to be disparate and ridiculous, especially the entire line of Carnival Krewe, which could hardly be said to have anything in common.

Our all golems are spontantous (or at least funded by a city.) Well maybe a good number of them are anyway.

Now this is just untrue. Spontaneous golems were a type of golem in the third book but the Creature Collections were among the worst offenders of golem saturization with more than twenty "whatever's on my desk" golems between them.

 

[Odhanan]

Theme-based monster books like Libris Mortis? Check.
Setting based monster books like Legacy of the Dragons (for the Diamond Throne) or Denizens of Darkness (Ravenloft)? Check.
Old school monsters (Tomes of Horrors)? Check.

I guess I'm a good public for monster books. It's always inspiring somehow if the design and ideas sound right.

Will I buy Monster Manual IV? I'd have to buy III before...

 

[DMH]

*has Monsternomicon* I still don't get why anyone likes it... yes the monsters are interesting. Yes it's makes the more than stat blocks. But honestly, I just don't FEEL the monsters like I do in ToH or the CCs.

Well, I sold my copies of TOH, CC 1 and 2 and returned TOH 2. I don't care much for many of the creatures in the Monsternomicon but I keep it with the IK books. The two that I really enjoy are Complete Minions, Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary, Liber Bestiarus, Brixbrix's Guide to the Creatures of Ados and The Iconic Bestiary. I wanted to like the TOH, but it just was :\

 

[Knightfall]

Likewise. So much can be built from the ground up, so easily, and so many of the standards can be adjusted with levels and templates, that it becomes hard to justify too many monster book purchases, IMO.

Plus, I'm a bit of a monster design junkie and oftem prefer to create my own versions of monsters for my homebrewed worlds. Case in point, check out my Monster Compilations for my World of Kulan homebrewed campaign setting. (Note this is not material designed as being usable under the OGL. It's better described as "fan material".

Monster Compilation One
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1788942&postcount=90

Monster Compilation Two isn't done yet but I have a ongoing thread in the Creature Catalog Forums. (The link listed there takes you to the link above.)

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=102804

Cheers!

KF72

 

[John Cooper]

I enjoy a good monster book. The more, the merrier!

 

[Nightfall]

Really, because I found many of the early CC monsters to be disparate and ridiculous, especially the entire line of Carnival Krewe, which could hardly be said to have anything in common.

To each his own. Disparate is what a Carnival is all about, even if they are of one branch or another.

Now this is just untrue. Spontaneous golems were a type of golem in the third book but the Creature Collections were among the worst offenders of golem saturization with more than twenty "whatever's on my desk" golems between them.

Maybe so, but at least with Spontaneous Golem there was a reason some might emerge. Worst offenders? Dunno about that. I just know that there were more Golem then BECAUSE they came out first with out really looking around. Was that right? Dunno.

 

[Nightfall]

Well, I sold my copies of TOH, CC 1 and 2 and returned TOH 2. I don't care much for many of the creatures in the Monsternomicon but I keep it with the IK books. The two that I really enjoy are Complete Minions, Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary, Liber Bestiarus, Brixbrix's Guide to the Creatures of Ados and The Iconic Bestiary. I wanted to like the TOH, but it just was :\

You returned ToH2?! *floored* I just...DMH dude, I can semi-appreciate you feeling that way about CC I and CC II, (though I felt CC2=way better but still), but doing that to ToH?! No way.

Never head of the Brixbrix Guide, but then again I don't get those semi-specialized ones. Iconic Beastiary was good as was Complete Minions. I just couldn't get into the others. Nothing wrong with them, just didn't FEEL that strongly about any of the monsters. I will at least say you have unusual taste but not a bad one since Complete Minions and Iconic Beastiary are two very solid monster books.

 

[Knightfall]

Well, I sold my copies of TOH, CC 1 and 2 and returned TOH 2. I don't care much for many of the creatures in the Monsternomicon but I keep it with the IK books. The two that I really enjoy are Complete Minions, Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary, Liber Bestiarus, Brixbrix's Guide to the Creatures of Ados and The Iconic Bestiary. I wanted to like the TOH, but it just was :\

Ah yes, I had CC1 for a while. I sold very quickly. Too much campaign-specific fluff built into that book for my tastes. I've never found much of a reason to seriously consider the TOH series of monster books. While I like BOZ's conversions and hanging out in the Creature catalog forums, I just have been put off by the price that goes along with the TOH series. (Remember, I'm in Canada, so books tend to be a little more pricey. This is why I haven't bough the Conan campaign setting book yet.)

KF72

 

[I'm A Banana]

I am burnt out on monsters.

I do love the things, but I have a running database of the monsters I use -- over 3,000 unique entries. And me only using 2-3 monster types each night.

I can use more. Certain things need to be fleshed out. But these require specialized monster collections. Rather than a case of hollow-point shells (like the ToH and ToH2), I need precision shots. Less quantity, more quality.

And for that I'm wanting to turn more and more to campaign settings or supplements. I want a book, for instance, of monsters suited for the cold northern fjords of my land, or the icy marsh, or the rocky desert. I don't need more temperate forest critters or evil undergroudn aberrations or dinosaurs or giants.

I could also use a Monster Manual filled with NPC's that you might meet. Because it takes me WAY too much time and effort to stat up an NPC when I have a proper CR monster in the right niche sitting right in front of me -- sometimes 2 or 3.

 

[Voadam]

Never head of the Brixbrix Guide, but then again I don't get those semi-specialized ones.

It's a big pdf monster book on www.rpgnow.com for a specific setting with fewer creatures but longer entries for each critter. I got it but haven't gone through it yet.