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Does Anybody Else Seriously Love the Monster Manual? My Thoughts on the MM.
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<blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 6499021" data-attributes="member: 7635"><p>A few rebuttals...</p><p></p><p>A (Tiny Portion) of the Writing is Eye-Rollingly Bad: This is (of course) YMMV. Personally, the writing on the whole is much better than 1e/3e and miles above 4e's original MM. However, there are always clunkers in any book.</p><p></p><p>I Kind of Really Miss Monster Roles: I don't. 4e's MM seemed redundant when it reprinted the same monster 3-5 times. Making a hobgoblin an archer is to give him a bow. Making a siege engineer is a hobgoblin with proficiency in balista. The only thing I (kinda) agree on is casters, but that is easily fixable (see below). </p><p></p><p>Many Monsters Feel Very Mundane and Same-y, from a Crunch Perspective: Again, not a real need to re-invent the wheel. Its very in line with AD&D or 3e era monsters. Some monsters could have used more options. </p><p></p><p>The Creators Seem Almost Scared to Throw Magic-Using Monsters at You: This is a reaction to 3e's "Every creature has Spell-Like Abilities" mantra. People complained that monsters were too complex; with feats, SLAs and stuff making monsters a pain to run. So 5e opted to simplify the process.</p><p></p><p>Needs More Templates: Not really. Most of the templates were more trouble than was necessary. What is the difference between an orc or human skeleton? An elf vampire or a tiefling vampire? Most of these changes would only need to add a few key racial traits and description to the monsters. Similarly, swapping out lich spells or giving a vampire casting is much easier than having to build a full NPC and then rebuild him with the template. A few others are redundant (half-fiendish compared to cambions or tieflings) or unneeded (summoning aside do you need the celestial template?)</p><p></p><p>Needs Standard Humans/Elves/Dwarves as Enemies: Didja MISS the giant section of NPC stat blocks? Cultist, Arcmage, Knight, Thug, Guard, etc? THERE are your Human NPCs. Want elves and dwarves? the DMG has a quick page of add ons to make elven archmages, dwarven knights, etc. The DMG page also has some simple monster race stats too, so you can make hobgoblin cultists, skeleton knights, orc thugs, etc. You can even use this page to customize other monsters (elf vampires, hobgoblin ghouls) if you want.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Remathilis, post: 6499021, member: 7635"] A few rebuttals... A (Tiny Portion) of the Writing is Eye-Rollingly Bad: This is (of course) YMMV. Personally, the writing on the whole is much better than 1e/3e and miles above 4e's original MM. However, there are always clunkers in any book. I Kind of Really Miss Monster Roles: I don't. 4e's MM seemed redundant when it reprinted the same monster 3-5 times. Making a hobgoblin an archer is to give him a bow. Making a siege engineer is a hobgoblin with proficiency in balista. The only thing I (kinda) agree on is casters, but that is easily fixable (see below). Many Monsters Feel Very Mundane and Same-y, from a Crunch Perspective: Again, not a real need to re-invent the wheel. Its very in line with AD&D or 3e era monsters. Some monsters could have used more options. The Creators Seem Almost Scared to Throw Magic-Using Monsters at You: This is a reaction to 3e's "Every creature has Spell-Like Abilities" mantra. People complained that monsters were too complex; with feats, SLAs and stuff making monsters a pain to run. So 5e opted to simplify the process. Needs More Templates: Not really. Most of the templates were more trouble than was necessary. What is the difference between an orc or human skeleton? An elf vampire or a tiefling vampire? Most of these changes would only need to add a few key racial traits and description to the monsters. Similarly, swapping out lich spells or giving a vampire casting is much easier than having to build a full NPC and then rebuild him with the template. A few others are redundant (half-fiendish compared to cambions or tieflings) or unneeded (summoning aside do you need the celestial template?) Needs Standard Humans/Elves/Dwarves as Enemies: Didja MISS the giant section of NPC stat blocks? Cultist, Arcmage, Knight, Thug, Guard, etc? THERE are your Human NPCs. Want elves and dwarves? the DMG has a quick page of add ons to make elven archmages, dwarven knights, etc. The DMG page also has some simple monster race stats too, so you can make hobgoblin cultists, skeleton knights, orc thugs, etc. You can even use this page to customize other monsters (elf vampires, hobgoblin ghouls) if you want. [/QUOTE]
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