Monster Books: what makes the best monster book?

[Morrus]

There's a lot of monster books. D&D's Monster Manuals from various editions might be the best known, but many, many games boast a monster book or bestiary or two.

So. What makes for the best monster book? What monster books have you enjoyed most, and why? Which provided the most utility at the table?

 

[Hand of Evil]

There are a couple that standout to me, Monsternomicon and 13th Age's Monster book. It was things like the size table and the hooks they put into the selection of monsters, you just did not have stats and a description. You had information that brought the creatures alive in the game setting, details and personality.

I would love to see books with size charts and tactics for the monsters in them.

 

[Dualazi]

A lot of factors go into making a monster book worthwhile for me. One is simply volume of monsters, how much bang am I getting for my buck. The other is how well the monsters are designed, are they balanced? Do they bring something interesting to the table mechanically? Are they something players have seen before in other media? This is really just the quantity/quality dynamic though, it’s not really informative to say “I want lots of well-made monsters”, because that’s what every DM wants.


I really like interesting/unique monster mechanics, which is a large portion of why I enjoy being DM and running them. It’s a great source of inspiration to see an unusual ability and contemplate how to incorporate and surprise players with it. If your group is new to D&D, then the brown dragon, for instance, is a great way to surprise them with an encounter focused on a burrowing dragon rather than one who more predictably wings onto the battlefield from afar. Forcing players to adapt their playstyles and expectations is what a diverse monster list should really do, and I think variety in this regard is strongly desirable.


Artwork is another big draw for me. It is what really stokes my imagination from a storytelling perspective, and good artwork can make me favorable towards even bland offerings mechanically. When good art and good design meet though, those are my favorite monsters of all.


As far as which ones I’ve enjoyed the most? That one is harder to say. In the short term it’s Tome of Beasts, easily, but overall it’s more muddled. I really enjoy books like Open Grave and Demonomicon, but unless you’re running a themed campaign then you only tend to dip your toes in the content. On the flipside, more general books of monsters tend to have more filler content and fewer pre-built customization options. At the end of the day 4e monster books with math fixes were my favorites. Good art, good mechanics, easy to throw together on the fly.


Utility-wise I think the basic Monster Manuals tend to win simply on general principle of having many generic offerings and stats for everyday critters. Setting those aside, probably the various draconomicons. Regardless of game dragons are usually expected to be a real show-stopper and those books are great for helping ensure that happens.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Having interesting, flavorful monsters and a good index (Alphabetical, CR, and Type) go a long way. When I ran a 1e campaign a few years back, I found myself diving again and again into the Fiend Folio. The monsters were weird and had interesting abilities.

I think novelty also is important. When everyone knows the basics, being able to throw something unexpected at them is a great feeling.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

For me, what I want out of a monster book are stats to use the creatures that result in a wide variety of creature-involved encounters, and information that suggests ways in which to bring the creatures into a campaign, and otherwise inspires me to use the monsters in stories or helps me answer questions that players might have related to monsters.

To that end, the best monster book I've encountered so far is the Hacklopedia of Beasts for the HackMaster RPG. It presents combat stats, description, in-character styled information to relay directly to players, size comparison diagrams, track diagrams, and a handy reference table for any parts of a creature that might be prized in some way - the presentation style affording 2 pages at minimum to each monster, where another monster book might provide only bare-bones detail in order to fit stats + art on a single page.

 

[isaquelazaro]

Not like I've ever seen one that fulfills my deepest expectations, but in my opinion, a bestiary should have way more lore than stats. Every monster should feel unique and have mechanics built for it. Every similar effect should happen in different ways for each monster. For example, a cockatrice's bite may have it's effect through infection that leaves the body similar to stone, while the basilisk's eye may have it's effect through magic. The more detalis making every monster unique, the better, in my opinion. Also their habitat, level of sentience, how it lives, breeds, etc.
Also, tips for encounters would be nice

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Agreed. I’m reminded of some RPGs out there, where all you get are stat blocks, which can leave a GM completely adrift. You need enough lore to bring these creatures to life.

It’s not really a monster book with stats, but the old Petersen's Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters was endlessly fascinating and horrifying.

Not like I've ever seen one that fulfills my deepest expectations, but in my opinion, a bestiary should have way more lore than stats. Every monster should feel unique and have mechanics built for it.

 

[Jhaelen]

It’s not really a monster book with stats, but the old Petersen's Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters was endlessly fascinating and horrifying.

+1. Best 'monster book' ever! It's one of my most priced possessions. I'd been drooling over it since I first caught sight of it. It's very much one of the original factors that caused me to be fascinated with H.P.Lovecraft and the Mythos.

I also like the Ars Magica Bestiaries, because each creature is described the way medieval minds thought of them, and you get at least one story hook for each. Also, almost every beast is unique. It uses a toolkit approach that is similar to D&D 3e's templates and also has a lot in common with the character creation system used in Ars Magica.

'Trail of Cthulhu' also has very cool descriptions for Mythos beings: The description is somewhat incomplete, leaving room for the GM to make them their own, and each has three pieces of lore that may or may not be accurate.