Favorite addition to the MM2?

Dagger75 · Aug 19, 2002

Those moon rat things look cool. Probably Cranium rats from Plane Scape. I thought the Zodar sounded familiar, now I remeber them from Spelljammer.

Hook Horrors are a nice addition as well.

Phowett · Aug 19, 2002

It depends on the culture on the what is percieved as the leviathan. I always liked the leviathan viewed as a sea serpent over a whale.

ForceUser · Aug 19, 2002

I'm quite gratified by seeing some old favorites return, especially the thri-kreen, the spellweaver, and the death knight. Many of the monsters look intriguing, though I have to agree with the MM2 designer who didn't want to include the gem dragons - they never inspired me. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they wrote up the spellweaver - in the 2E version they could cast six spells simultaneously! In 3E that would probably be game-breaking, so my guess is that they simply have some form of spell haste, similar to the psionic power called scism. Can't wait for this book, new monsters are yummy!

greymarch · Aug 19, 2002

Death knights, by far. They should have been in MM1.

I hope more creatures than just the dragons are higher than CR 20 in MM2. My gaming group needs more CR 20+ creatures. The epic book doesnt have enough for our tastes.

kenjib · Aug 19, 2002

Phowett said:
I was greatly disappointed with the Leviathan though. I'd rather see the Leviathan as a big sea serpent, not a big dumb whale.

I fall decisively into the whale camp. However, you can probably easily take this Sea Drake:

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mm2_gallery/88268_620_154.jpg

and advance him in HD to create a serpentine leviathan. Speaking of which, this is probably my favorite MM2 creature so far, based on the illustrations. I think omitting a classic sea serpent from the first MM, especially when there are creatures like the Destrachan and Tojanida (especially this since it's even aquatic), is really telling about how far D&D is growing from it's mythical roots -- not to mention the cyclops, phoenix, and other classics that where likewise omitted. Anyway, I really like Sea Serpents.

spunky_mutters · Aug 20, 2002

THRI-KREEN!

I just hope it's better than the error-riddled one from the PsiH WE. Well, I hope it fits in a bit better with my uses for them.

the Jester · Aug 23, 2002

Not to get in on this late, but sons of Kyuss. For sure. No doubt at all. That monster inspired the events of my whole campaign for years in the 1e days.

Bran Blackbyrd · Aug 23, 2002

The most pleasant surprise is probably seeing Quinton Hoover doing illustrations for 3E.
I'm hoping they've done a good job on the Guardinals, and with the templates.
The half-golems should be perfect for my campaign!
The Marrashi and Effigy look interesting.

If I ever see a Giff in 3E it will be too soon. If only they'd make an anthropomorphic creature template. Then I wouldn't have to look upon the beast's moronic hippo-like countenance.

Staffan · Aug 23, 2002

spunky_mutters said:
THRI-KREEN!

The picture for the kreen in the MM2 gallery is seriously flawed, though. Aren't thri-kreen supposed to have a huge abdomen?

Hakkenshi · Aug 23, 2002

I'm just glad I see a lot of things that I DON'T know.

I've never actually PLAYED 1e, nor looked through any of its books except for the PHB, and I didn't really get into Planescape until Torment came out (best CRPG ever). So a lot of these things are new to me.

But the new monsters from MM1 were just sorta flavourless. I mean, who really uses the Tojanida? Or the Yrthak, the Chuul, etc.