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D20 Menace Manual - Is it worth buying?
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Bran Blackbyrd
Explorer
I like it a lot.
It has some supernatural creatures in it, but I like it because of the number of "non-magical" monsters. Even though some of them have some pretty way-out-there abilities, they can fit into a campaign that doesn't revolve around "Urban Arcana".
It has something for everything really.
If your game has...
Aliens, but no supernatural? The book has greys, alien probes, MIBs, Alien Hybrids, Mothmen and more.
Urban folk monsters but no aliens or supernatural? It has Bigfoot, Mongolian Deathworm, Loch Ness Monster, Mapinguari, Drop Bears, Doom Hag, Cat Folk, Giant Anaconda, Thunderbird, Hoop Snake, Yeti.
Horror? It has the bogeyman template (great for your Jason and Michael Myers types), Crawling Claw, Dread Tree, Revenant (The Crow, anyone?), Night Terror, Star Doppelganger (The Thing)...
Or the full on X-Files mix with Black Helicopters, government agents, Skin Feasters, Charred One, Demonic Machine, Montauk Monster, Infester, Crawfordsville Monster, Chemical Golem, Sewer Sludge, Robots, Litter Brute, Malleable Creature Template...
Regular animals like Monitor Lizards, Hippopotami, Wild Boars, Chimpanzees, Scorpions etc...
And finally the very D&D-esque Urban Arcana creatures like the Harpy, Intellect Devourer, Ghoul, Grimlock, Demons, half-demons, Animated Objects, Thought Eater.
The list goes on. Plus it has some premade organizations (government and otherwise) to either ally with or pit against your PCs. And a section full of quick NPCs like Attorneys, Firefighters, Scientists, Cops, SWAT Teams, Doctors, Etc. And some heroic caliber NPCs.
There's always someone around here grumbling about how they don't like a particular book no matter how good it is. Maybe someone will sell you theirs.
It goes without saying that you won't get mine.
It's a pretty versatile book with monsters from the mundane variety (snakes and mobsters) to the fantastical (harpies and demons), to the alien (sand slaves and zeikune).
It has some supernatural creatures in it, but I like it because of the number of "non-magical" monsters. Even though some of them have some pretty way-out-there abilities, they can fit into a campaign that doesn't revolve around "Urban Arcana".
It has something for everything really.
If your game has...
Aliens, but no supernatural? The book has greys, alien probes, MIBs, Alien Hybrids, Mothmen and more.
Urban folk monsters but no aliens or supernatural? It has Bigfoot, Mongolian Deathworm, Loch Ness Monster, Mapinguari, Drop Bears, Doom Hag, Cat Folk, Giant Anaconda, Thunderbird, Hoop Snake, Yeti.
Horror? It has the bogeyman template (great for your Jason and Michael Myers types), Crawling Claw, Dread Tree, Revenant (The Crow, anyone?), Night Terror, Star Doppelganger (The Thing)...
Or the full on X-Files mix with Black Helicopters, government agents, Skin Feasters, Charred One, Demonic Machine, Montauk Monster, Infester, Crawfordsville Monster, Chemical Golem, Sewer Sludge, Robots, Litter Brute, Malleable Creature Template...
Regular animals like Monitor Lizards, Hippopotami, Wild Boars, Chimpanzees, Scorpions etc...
And finally the very D&D-esque Urban Arcana creatures like the Harpy, Intellect Devourer, Ghoul, Grimlock, Demons, half-demons, Animated Objects, Thought Eater.
The list goes on. Plus it has some premade organizations (government and otherwise) to either ally with or pit against your PCs. And a section full of quick NPCs like Attorneys, Firefighters, Scientists, Cops, SWAT Teams, Doctors, Etc. And some heroic caliber NPCs.
There's always someone around here grumbling about how they don't like a particular book no matter how good it is. Maybe someone will sell you theirs.
It goes without saying that you won't get mine.
It's a pretty versatile book with monsters from the mundane variety (snakes and mobsters) to the fantastical (harpies and demons), to the alien (sand slaves and zeikune).
Last edited:
Viktyr Gehrig
First Post
It is, hands-down, the best supplement for d20 Modern I have seen. Yes, I would reccomend buying it at any price you can get (up to the cover price, naturally).
King of Old School
First Post
Absolutely, it is IMO the most worthwhile supplement yet published for d20 Modern. Indispensable to any prospective GM.
KoOS
KoOS
Psychic Skeksis
First Post
reveal said:
Well, Bran did a superb summary of the highlights of the book, so I won't repeat it. Suffice it to say, the Menace Manual is simply outstanding. If you combine the creatures in the Menance Manual with the creatures in Urbana Arcana and the d20 Modern core book, you have more challenges for your PCs than you'll ever need.
Menace Manual gets a huge thumbs up. My only two (small) gripes are (1) It's too short, and (2) Not every monster is illustrated (though most are, and the artwork is outstanding).
My personal favorite: STAR DOPPLEGANGER. Last seen in John Carpenter's THE THING.
MrFilthyIke
First Post
One word: Ditto.
Bran Blackbyrd
Explorer
I'll add that most of the monsters without illustrations are either real-world creatures like the hippo or D&D monsters like harpies, which you're pretty likely to already have pictures of, or know where to get some. So the lack of illos for them isn't terribly bad.
dream66_
First Post
Bran Blackbyrd said:
Bran did a fantastic review but I thought I'd add one more thing, reread the Ghoul, it's been changed from it's DND roots to be a Resident Evil style Zombie
I can't recomend the book more, when I first read the Dimentional Horror's entry I thought, "I can run an entire campiagn around just these guys" Then I realized over half the creatures in the book are that way.
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