Coming in May: Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes! [UPDATED!]

So they just gave the title and showed the cover mock-ups; no specific info till Monday?

 

[pukunui]

I was hoping for something more alliterative.

 

[lkj]

I was hoping for something more alliterative.

Mordenkainen's Magnificent Manual of Master Menageries.

 

[lkj]

. . . for Modrons . . .

 

[Imaro]

Hiya!

Had my coffee. I'm ready to get my Curmudgeon-Grognarditis flaring up again...



This is specific and it specifically pre-empts (?) many, many, DM's campaigns where it doesn't exist (mine), or has been resoloved/changed (friends). Anything on a "Blood War" is wasted space that is too campaign-specific to be useful in a, supposedly, 'generic' book for a DM to use.




No. Just, no...again. Same problem. It's all FAR to 'campaign specific'. All this would do is clutter up pages that could have been better spent helping a DM figure out his own deity/pantheon conflicts.




Semi-no here. Maps would be pointless unless done in VERY rough idea to help DM's get a grip on just what this "Planar Wheel" layout is (us 1e old timers know it almost off by heart, but I've had some new players just not 'get it'; they have maps hard-wired into their brains that if you walk far enough in one direction you will run into an ocean, other country, etc...and the planes don't work like that because they are infinite).



Ah-HA! Now this guy gets it! If THIS was how they handle the whole book...where it's not so much as "Here is X, Y and Z", and more of "You can use the alphabet, or numbers, or shapes, or colours, or whatever to craft your own"...then I'd be TOTALLY down with that! Give me the TOOLS & MATERIALS...don't give me a completed table. Alas, I don't suspect I'll get that if the past books are anything to go by.

I believe my 1e Manual of the Planes is still going to be forced into service once again. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, I love my MotP!

^_^

Paul L. Ming

The weird thing is I don't think I'd pay for something as generic as you seem to want this book to be... I mean there's plenty of this type of general info in D&D blogs, or D&D youtube videos, generic (systemless) campaign building books and so on, with the added bonus that most don't cost a dime... I'm not sure i see what value a book that is as generic as you seem to want it to be would provide...

EDIT: Which isn't to say I wouldn't mind a chapter of generic advice and general examples on building out my own stuff but an entire book devoted to it would be a non-starter for me.

 

[darjr]

Mordenkainens Modron recipe book!

 

[Agray Day]

anyone recall the code word for this release and the code word for the next release?

 

[OB1]

Here would be my wishlist for the page count

50 pages general planar lore and rules (2 pages each to the 16 outer, sigil, feywild, shadowfell, 4 elemental, prime material, far realm)
50 pages - in-depth look at 5-7 great conflicts in the planes
45 pages Foes - 15 in-depth looks at Tier IV cosmic forces that fuel the great conflicts at 3 pages each
100 pages - 150 minions of the foes, averaging 3/4 page each
20 pages - 5 new planar pc races


Sent from my iPhone using EN World

 

[pukunui]

anyone recall the code word for this release and the code word for the next release?

This is "Marathon". The next two are "Broadway" and "Catacomb".

 

[Mistwell]

You can use this to translate the symbols.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Hiya!

Had my coffee. I'm ready to get my Curmudgeon-Grognarditis flaring up again...



This is specific and it specifically pre-empts (?) many, many, DM's campaigns where it doesn't exist (mine), or has been resoloved/changed (friends). Anything on a "Blood War" is wasted space that is too campaign-specific to be useful in a, supposedly, 'generic' book for a DM to use.




No. Just, no...again. Same problem. It's all FAR to 'campaign specific'. All this would do is clutter up pages that could have been better spent helping a DM figure out his own deity/pantheon conflicts.




Semi-no here. Maps would be pointless unless done in VERY rough idea to help DM's get a grip on just what this "Planar Wheel" layout is (us 1e old timers know it almost off by heart, but I've had some new players just not 'get it'; they have maps hard-wired into their brains that if you walk far enough in one direction you will run into an ocean, other country, etc...and the planes don't work like that because they are infinite).



Ah-HA! Now this guy gets it! If THIS was how they handle the whole book...where it's not so much as "Here is X, Y and Z", and more of "You can use the alphabet, or numbers, or shapes, or colours, or whatever to craft your own"...then I'd be TOTALLY down with that! Give me the TOOLS & MATERIALS...don't give me a completed table. Alas, I don't suspect I'll get that if the past books are anything to go by.

I believe my 1e Manual of the Planes is still going to be forced into service once again. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, I love my MotP!

^_^

Paul L. Ming

I don’t follow your logic at all. The Blood War is a bad example when I mention it, but just fine when someone else mentions it?

Okay.