D&D 5E Don't Throw 5e Away Because of Hasbro

[dave2008]

Tales of the Valiant has it's Monster Vault 2 in kickstarter. That will be new monsters since they are done covering 5e monsters in the SRD with MV1. Plus they have 4 other monster books. Their 3rd campaign builder book 'Dungeons & Ruins' just shipped. Labyrinth will be out around June-ish as well. That will have new subclasses, spells, etc.

I can't say how much new content 5.5e will have, but Kobold Press is running circles around WotC with new content and IMO it's all better quality. WotC will do fine, because it's so big and people don't look for other options. However, if you are looking for something new for 5e, pick what you are looking for from Kobold Press is my $.02.

To each their own. I have not been impressed with Kobold's monster books in the past, so I stopped buying them for 5e. Not that I think WotC designs are better, I don't. In fact, neither Kobold, MCDM, A5e, nor WotC design monsters better for the way we play than I do. I find them all lacking. Conversely I can find some inspiration in all of them too. For me, the only real reason to buy the 2024 MM (or any monster book at this point) is the art* and I would easily pay $50 for a fantasy art book. The stat blocks and lore are just icing on the cake.

*Minor correction: since we didn't get detailed monster creation rules in the DMG, I also want the MM to reverse engineer then new monster creation rules. I have become less interested in this though since I plan to stop designing monsters with CR soon and switch to monster levels.

 

[Micah Sweet]

There is no possible way there will be what you consider $50 worth of new content. Unless you consider 85 new monsters worth $50. Which, based on your previous remarks, I don't think that is the case. So I would not look forward to being proven wrong!

I don't expect to be convinced, but I'd love to see WotC try. They make so few things nowadays I'm interested in giving them money for.

 

[dave2008]

I don't expect to be convinced, but I'd love to see WotC try. They make so few things nowadays I'm interested in giving them money for.

Why? I mean I thought you were trying to move away from WotC. Why would you want them to make something you want. It seems you are setting them up for failure, which maybe that is what you want, if you think there is any way they can convince you to spend $50 on 85 monsters. That is not the ROI you say you want.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Why? I mean I thought you were trying to move away from WotC. Why would you want them to make something you want. It seems you are setting them up for failure, which maybe that is what you want, if you think there is any way they can convince you to spend $50 on 85 monsters. That is not the ROI you say you want.

You're taking it too seriously. If they make something I think is worth the money they're asking for, I'll likely buy it. I don't expect the 5.5 MM to meet that standard (although as I've said I'd happily accept it as a gift). That's all I meant.

 

[dave2008]

You're taking it too seriously. If they make something I think is worth the money they're asking for, I'll likely buy it. I don't expect the 5.5 MM to meet that standard (although as I've said I'd happily accept it as a gift). That's all I meant.

OK, when you doubled down I though that implied you were serious, my apologies.

 

[SlyFlourish]

I have often wished there was a good way to learn what fans who aren't forum posters think about changes to the game. We're always saying that people here aren't representative. How do we know what people who are representative think of all the stuff we argue about here?

I’ve largely given up worrying about the silent representative sample. We have enough people we can talk to who do read stuff like this, or watch videos, or chat about it on other platforms that we can get a gauge from that. No one has the answer to what the silent majority thinks or says but we can listen to those who talk to us so let’s focus on them.

Also, our own opinions as customers matter. We don’t have to argue on behalf of a hypothetical player. We can argue for ourselves or those we know and play with.

That’s my philosophy anyway.

 

[Faolyn]

Tales of the Valiant has it's Monster Vault 2 in kickstarter. That will be new monsters since they are done covering 5e monsters in the SRD with MV1. Plus they have 4 other monster books. Their 3rd campaign builder book 'Dungeons & Ruins' just shipped. Labyrinth will be out around June-ish as well. That will have new subclasses, spells, etc.

I can't say how much new content 5.5e will have, but Kobold Press is running circles around WotC with new content and IMO it's all better quality. WotC will do fine, because it's so big and people don't look for other options. However, if you are looking for something new for 5e, pick what you are looking for from Kobold Press is my $.02.

And backed.

Even if I'm not playing a D&D-alike game, I can always use more monsters for inspiration.

 

[Faolyn]

Ok I'm pretty much over this so I may no longer respond after this...
1. Yeah I know how comparisons work do you?

2. I can compare two monsters (Which I have seen in their entirety) from two books (I have not seen in their entirety) without making a commentary on the books as a whole... you realize those are two different comparisons right? In the first I have a complete picture... in the second I don't.

I'm asking you to compare two monsters you've seen. I'm not asking you to compare the gargoyle to the flumph, since I'm pretty sure we haven't seen its statblock yet.

I just find it weird you're not even willing to read the actual entries.

Why would I when I plan to wait until I can judge the book in its entirety in actual play. Tea leaf reading isn't a hobby I have an interest in.

Ah, so comparing two things we've seen = tea-leaf reading.

But it's nice that you have the money to spend on a slightly different version of monsters you probably already have.

 

[Faolyn]

There is no possible way there will be what you consider $50 worth of new content. Unless you consider 85 new monsters worth $50. Which, based on your previous remarks, I don't think that is the case. So I would not look forward to being proven wrong!

Serious question: How many of them are genuinely new monsters, and how many are just new versions of existing monsters (like goblin, goblin boss, goblin booyag or however it's spelled)? The only entirely new one I have seen is the... iota? but I admit I haven't seen a table of contents yet.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

We can see entire pages, though, like this one:

View attachment 393300

(I've seen the two-page spread--the next page goes to gelatinous cube.)

Compare to the Monstrous Menagerie:
View attachment 393301

View attachment 393303
So we can judge these two monsters together and decide which one has more useful information.

And since there have been several monsters whose entire statblocks we can see, we can compare them to LU or other monster books from other companies.

And then we can extrapolate about the entire book and decide if it's worth the money.

I wish a mashup of both...