D&D 5E Monster Manual 2 or Player's Handbook 2?

[DM_]

Neither. Both end up being full of stuff I'll only rarely, if ever use, as the core PHB and MM already have a ton of material in them. I would like to see campaign setting specific options books for both critters and characters, though. In other words, a Forgotten Realms book of backgrounds, spells, feats, and subclasses (no new classes) and a Forgotten Realms, dare I say it, monstrous compendium. And then a Dark Sun player option book and MC, and Dragonlance, and Mystara, etc, etc.

But, not generic PHB2 or MM2. Those, to me, end up being bland and boring.

I would very much like to see setting specific books. Though I would certainly like to see the occasional new class, such as the Artificer for an Eberron book or Psionicists for Darksun. I would get much more milage out of these than a new setting neutral PHB2. Though I can always use more monsters, I wouldn't want to pay for a new MM2 if the monsters were just expansions of ones in the MM. It would need to have more unique monster abilities, lair abilities, etc for me to pick it up.

 

[KirayaTiDrekan]

I would very much like to see setting specific books. Though I would certainly like to see the occasional new class, such as the Artificer for an Eberron book or Psionicists for Darksun. I would get much more milage out of these than a new setting neutral PHB2. Though I can always use more monsters, I wouldn't want to pay for a new MM2 if the monsters were just expansions of ones in the MM. It would need to have more unique monster abilities, lair abilities, etc for me to pick it up.

Personal preference talking here - I'd rather see psionics handled as subclasses and feats (recapturing the feel, a little, of 1E psionics perhaps), rather than unique classes. I think Dark Sun would work just fine with that style of psionics as well.

 

[The_Gneech]

Monster <3

 

[GravyFingerz]

It sounds like they are going to implement new player stuff in storyline supplements, so we don't really need a new PHB. Give me more monsters! Old monsters, setting monsters, new monsters!

 

[Zaukrie]

Monster for sure.

 

[seebs]

It is "obvious" because if material was important/critical/popular enough to warrant being in a PHB, it would have gone in, as I said, the PHB.

No, I'm not buying that argument at all. It's not even really an argument. I mean, say they trimmed the PHB down to the same number of pages as the 1E PHB. They'd have to cut something. Whatever it was, though, would have been important enough to keep in the 320-page PHB. If they'd done a 400-page PHB, we'd have 80 more pages of material.

The cutoff is arbitrary. If they'd decided to do 50% less artwork, and use 1/4" less margin on each page, and use slightly tighter line spacing and a smaller font, we'd have maybe 20-30% more words. That wouldn't suddenly make the new material more important.

Whatever these additional player options are/turn out to be, they did not "make the cut", as it were. The fact a particular race/class/subclass/player option x/player option y/etc... is not in the PHB we have makes it, by definition, "extra/add-on/optional." Thus, "it obviously [did] not warrant" a place in a PHB.

You're committing the formal fallacy called "begging the question" here. Your argument that there shouldn't be more than one PHB is that if there's only one, the stuff that isn't in it isn't important enough to justify being in "a PHB". But that's circular. If we took it for granted that there would be two, then there would be things important enough to be in the second but not in the first. If we took it for granted that it'd be an 8-volume set, then there would be things that would show up in Volume 8. There's no magic to this. The cutoff is arbitrary in quantity, and there's no guarantee that the decisions made as to which things come first are the "right" decisions.

There is no actual difference between "PHB2" and some other supplemental book full of player-oriented material.

 

[Nefzyflin]

MM 2 for sure !

And I'm really hoping Quicklings are in it. I need them to harass the party, as they make their way through forest trails, especially when they are in a hurry to get somewhere. I like to have them zip across the trail behind the group, causing 1 point of damage to the backs of pc's legs and or stealing whatever is hanging loose, all the while laughing as they do so.

Alas. For now I settle on a group of 4-6 Pixies, hiding in the woods, casting confusion on a couple pcs, polymorph ( usually into a chicken ), and entangle as necessary.

Big big happy fun times !

Nef

 

[Parmandur]

I second the call for a Creature Catalog or Fiend Folio, some distinctly named monster book that's more creative sounding than MM2.



It's clear they have a new supplement strategy with the themed player books tied to storylines; seems more useful than a generic PHB2, to be honest, while being more generally applicable than a highly specific *-book.



I love the idea, and they may just succeed in getting me to buy every 5e book!

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

I do believe there is room for more player content, but that it isn't needed now. But I'm not opposed to eventually getting players option book that expands on feats, classes, subclasses, backgrounds, etc. And I already want a set of books on races at least as good as the 3.5 Races of Stone/The Wild/Destiny trilogy.

But first, I want monster books. Not a monster manual 2, exactly, but things like the Fiend Folio or Book of Aberrations. Ultimately, I'd want a set of books that together expand all the monster types with more monsters and much more detail.

 

[Agamon]

None of the above. I'd like to see new monsters and player options come in setting and adventure books. That adds more options for those games without really creating bloat. If they want to collect the best of them in single tomes after a few years (when they've been thoroughly playtested, as a bonus), then that would be alright.

And certainly more original names than *Core Book* 2 would be nice.