D&D 5E Does anyone who got an mm at Gencon want to offer up spoilers to us?

[Shemeska]

The way I'll probably DM it is that modrons and slaadi hate each other. They'll kill each other on sight. Slaadi promote one version of their creation story, the one you mentioned, and the modrons promote the 5e MM story. The true is lost to time.

Maybe the whole thing is some weird religious war.

Thaumaturge.

The current Primus probably has no firm idea if its own story is the truth, given the discontinuity and corruption in the Modron Energy Pool after Orcus/Tenebrous used the Last Word on the previous incarnation of Primus and temporarily assumed his position.

Neither Slaadi nor Modrons necessarily need a reason to go all Blood War on each other. Every alignment conflict on the Outer Planes is a "weird religious war".

 

[Curmudjinn]

some pics


http://imgur.com/GiUOF5p
http://imgur.com/XBdVs43
http://imgur.com/qmSZduz
http://imgur.com/8h1RdhQ
http://imgur.com/Lu7lm50
http://imgur.com/lwbDi4F
http://imgur.com/mqVcuAm
http://imgur.com/kJgdmjD
http://imgur.com/S0IHzUQ
http://imgur.com/xGtvjH2
http://imgur.com/GiCn7M8
http://imgur.com/izwoQRs
http://imgur.com/R6G7qxY

Oh, and the art is gorgeous. The book is very pretty to look at.

The quotes they give each monster can be pretty corny at times. The Pixie quote is this: "Acorn caps and petal gowns, are so last summer." - Rivergleam, Pixie Fashionista

Would you be up for sharing the Mind Flayer, and other psychic creatures? I'd like to mess around with psionic ideas shorn from the MM entries.

 

[Kunimatyu]

Can someone tell us a bit about the 5e aboleth, and how it compares to its previous incarnations?

 

[Fion]

Thanks for the pics Jamesmanhattan.

Is it just me or is the only edition to ever get the look of the Pit Fiend just right 2nd ed with the Monstrous Manual. That thing was just a lava-red giant bat monster with huge wings and rows of teeth. It was different enough from the Balor while still very unholy and monstrous in appearance. The art you posted isn't terrible, but it isn't too similar to the balor.

That said, the art you linked is very well done, certainly on par with the PHB. And thanks much for the XP by CR list, that's a must have before the MM & DMG hit.

This.. is a pit fiend! My favorite D&D monster and bad-ass devil of the 9 hells!

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Thanks for the pics Jamesmanhattan.

Is it just me or is the only edition to ever get the look of the Pit Fiend just right 2nd ed with the Monstrous Manual. That thing was just a lava-red giant bat monster with huge wings and rows of teeth. It was different enough from the Balor while still very unholy and monstrous in appearance. The art you posted isn't terrible, but it isn't too similar to the balor.

That said, the art you linked is very well done, certainly on par with the PHB. And thanks much for the XP by CR list, that's a must have before the MM & DMG hit.

This.. is a pit fiend! My favorite D&D monster and bad-ass devil of the 9 hells!
View attachment 63806

Well we don't know what the 5e Balor looks like yet.

 

[Quickleaf]

I have a bit of concern about the monsters we've been spoiled so far...

1) From the Shadow it looks like ability score damage is back. Does the MM give any indication that handling this is less onerous than in past editions where some players would have trouble reworking their attack bonuses, etc? I know it might sound silly to experienced gamers, but I have seen so many times when a player handling modifiers and then ability damage on top of it ended up taking too long or needing help from other players.

2) It seems like a fair number of monsters have innate spellcasting, meaning my previous assumption that only true spellcasters would have spells is wrong. Referencing spells is something I would like to minimize so the game flows better. Is my perception that there are a lot of monsters in the MM referencing spells right?

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I have a bit of concern about the monsters we've been spoiled so far...

1) From the Shadow it looks like ability score damage is back. Does the MM give any indication that handling this is less onerous than in past editions where some players would have trouble reworking their attack bonuses, etc? I know it might sound silly to experienced gamers, but I have seen so many times when a player handling modifiers and then ability damage on top of it ended up taking too long or needing help from other players.

2) It seems like a fair number of monsters have innate spellcasting, meaning my previous assumption that only true spellcasters would have spells is wrong. Referencing spells is something I would like to minimize so the game flows better. Is my perception that there are a lot of monsters in the MM referencing spells right?

The shadow appears to be the only one that does that.

Innate spellcastings tends to be pretty simple and most monsters still don't have it.

 

[GX.Sigma]

How is Appendix A organized?

Those of you who have the DM basic rules can see that it's annoyingly alphabetized by the first letter of the name of the monster (Giant Owl; Giant Poisonous Snake; Giant Rat). In the book, is it all nicely in order (Horse, Draft; Horse, Riding; Horse, War)?

 

[Grazzt]

The shadow appears to be the only one that does that.

Innate spellcastings tends to be pretty simple and most monsters still don't have it.

Throwback to 1e. IIRC, the shadow was the only monster in 1e (MM, MM2, or FF) that drained ability scores.

 

[jadrax]

Throwback to 1e. IIRC, the shadow was the only monster in 1e (MM, MM2, or FF) that drained ability scores.

It pretty much looks like they have gone right back to the original version of almost every monster in the game.