D&D General How do you prefer your monster books?
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I like my monster books to be colorful.
Yet my favorite monster book is the Sword and Sorcery Creature Collections I and II.
I like monster art that inspires me to make the players tremble in their seats.
Yet my favorite monster book is the Sword and Sorcery Creature Collections I and II.
I like monster art that inspires me to make the players tremble in their seats.
Good art is very important in monster books, agreed..I like my monster books to be colorful.
Yet my favorite monster book is the Sword and Sorcery Creature Collections I and II.
I like monster art that inspires me to make the players tremble in their seats.
Voadam
Legend
I really like themed monster books with good lore.
I really liked the 2e van richtens guides for instance.
I also really like themed monster books like enworld’s terrain themed ones from 3.5 that covers a wide variety of creature types and power levels that are appropriate for a jungle, say, and then made interrelated lore for them. I got great use out of XRP’s terrain collections of OGL monster books.
So I went with the types option.
I like a lot of the 2e monstrous compendium appendices and though they are often explicitly setting themed, I think of a lot of them more as the theme behind the setting for my purposes. The Kara Tur MC appendix is more about East Asian themed monsters than Kara Tur for me. The Ravenloft one is more gothic horror themed than Ravenloft specific.
I really liked the 2e van richtens guides for instance.
I also really like themed monster books like enworld’s terrain themed ones from 3.5 that covers a wide variety of creature types and power levels that are appropriate for a jungle, say, and then made interrelated lore for them. I got great use out of XRP’s terrain collections of OGL monster books.
So I went with the types option.
I like a lot of the 2e monstrous compendium appendices and though they are often explicitly setting themed, I think of a lot of them more as the theme behind the setting for my purposes. The Kara Tur MC appendix is more about East Asian themed monsters than Kara Tur for me. The Ravenloft one is more gothic horror themed than Ravenloft specific.
KoolMoDaddy-O
Explorer
In theory I like biome- and theme-based books but often the problem is that only half the contents are usable or interesting and the rest are the editors stretching the concept to fill pages. 3e's Stormwrack, for example. Glory of the Giants did a good job of staying on-topic -- I liked the abundance of battle maps and adventure hooks.
My ideal monster book is something like the softcover Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I & II from 2e. Combination of new monsters, standard monsters that are adjusted to their setting, and unique NPCs and monsters.
My ideal monster book is something like the softcover Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I & II from 2e. Combination of new monsters, standard monsters that are adjusted to their setting, and unique NPCs and monsters.
Amphytrion
Adventurer
I like my monster books with lots of descriptions, adventure hooks, and material that helps me put these monsters into the game. I think the statblocks are secondary.
For example, I consider the 2014 Monster Manual section on Hags stellar. It is packed full of adventure hooks, each of which can be mined for a full-blown adventure, and it is also full of advice for how to portray them (descriptions, mannerisms, names, etc.). The blurb on Monstrous Motherhood alone basically describes an adventure ready to run, and I have done so across multiple groups, and it's always been a great hit.
Volo's Guide to Monsters takes that to the next level and gives me pages upon pages of gameable material to pair with hags. I can run a full campaign just with this material. Volo's, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, and Bigby's Glory of the Giants are all absolutely wonderful and I do not part with them. My Tier 1 adventures always rely significantly on Volo's first chapters. I'm still shocked that they retired the first two in favor of the much blander, much less useful Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse.
The statblocks in the 2014 Monster Manual are perfectly serviceable, especially when paired with the lair actions and alternative statblocks described in Volo's and Tome of Foes' specific monster sections . Are there better ways to capture the monster with flavorful abilities? Sure. Tales of the Valiant does a good job in its wonderful Monster Vaults (highly recommended), especially related to fiends. But the internet has about 500 different 5e versions of the each MM monster, all of them free, or I can just alter them on the fly, which is fairly easy with a system as adaptable as 5e. The important part is the advice on how to build an immersive adventure around them.
After Fizban's and Bigby's, I hope James Wyatt keeps going and writes other type-focused monster books. I'll be buying them.
For example, I consider the 2014 Monster Manual section on Hags stellar. It is packed full of adventure hooks, each of which can be mined for a full-blown adventure, and it is also full of advice for how to portray them (descriptions, mannerisms, names, etc.). The blurb on Monstrous Motherhood alone basically describes an adventure ready to run, and I have done so across multiple groups, and it's always been a great hit.
Volo's Guide to Monsters takes that to the next level and gives me pages upon pages of gameable material to pair with hags. I can run a full campaign just with this material. Volo's, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, and Bigby's Glory of the Giants are all absolutely wonderful and I do not part with them. My Tier 1 adventures always rely significantly on Volo's first chapters. I'm still shocked that they retired the first two in favor of the much blander, much less useful Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse.
The statblocks in the 2014 Monster Manual are perfectly serviceable, especially when paired with the lair actions and alternative statblocks described in Volo's and Tome of Foes' specific monster sections . Are there better ways to capture the monster with flavorful abilities? Sure. Tales of the Valiant does a good job in its wonderful Monster Vaults (highly recommended), especially related to fiends. But the internet has about 500 different 5e versions of the each MM monster, all of them free, or I can just alter them on the fly, which is fairly easy with a system as adaptable as 5e. The important part is the advice on how to build an immersive adventure around them.
After Fizban's and Bigby's, I hope James Wyatt keeps going and writes other type-focused monster books. I'll be buying them.
RoughCoronet0
Dragon Lover
Why would I choose, when I could have them all?
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