Monster Manual: I miss the fluff.

[DJCupboard]

Especially with the tons of humanoids, fluff that helps you differentiate them is useful. Otherwise tehy all just run together.

Actually, this is soemthing I like. Similar humanoids running together abit. I like the Hobogoblins and Bugbears being Goblins, as the scared folk in the town you're saving probably don't differentiate them all that much, using the terms (if they know any beyond goblin), kind of interchangeably. I could even see orcs falling into this general category, depending on how much the society interacts with them. I think it gives the whole setting more of a folklore-y kind of feal.

In general I do miss the fluff, though.

 

[Lizard]

The reports I'm hearing about the nearly fluff-free nature of the 4e books fills me with giddy delight.

 

[Rechan]

Actually, this is soemthing I like. Similar humanoids running together abit. I like the Hobogoblins and Bugbears being Goblins,

Hobgoblins and bugbears have always been goblins.

But I mean, what's the difference between orcs and gnolls and grimlocks? Troglodytes, Kobolds, Yuan-ti and Lizardfolk? Kou-toa and sahuagin?

Differences, especially culture, habits, and environment are important distinctions that make them, well, feel different.

 

[MinionOfCthulhu]

I too miss the fluff from the Monster Manual. I got into D&D by way of the 2ed Edition Monster Manual, and I collected the various monstrous compendiums above all else. They were (and still are) pretty fun to read. 4th Ed seems to have even less fluff than the 3ed Edition books, but I guess that fits the mindset of 4th Ed. You're not supposed to know or care how they act when you're not fighting them because every monster is there for you to kill and pillage and never feel bad about it. Unicorns are no longer good, phoenixes unintelligent and non-good, angels being servants of any god (and thus feel free to beat them senseless), no metallic dragons...

 

[Rechan]

I'll join the chorus with "I miss 2e fluff". My earliest memories of fantasy was just sitting in bookstores, flipping through the 2e MM or a compendium looking at the art and the monsters. This was long before I actually got to play.

I still have them sitting on my shelf, too. I also love good fluff books (Monstronomicon, Classic Monsters Revisited...)

 

[Incenjucar]

I really love the old 2E monstrous manual style information pile.

I just don't think it's as necessary now as it was back then.

We have the internet and 3rd party content now to make up the difference.

 

[pukunui]

The reports I'm hearing about the nearly fluff-free nature of the 4e books fills me with giddy delight.

Hold the phone! What's going on here?! Lizard's used "4e" and "giddy" in the same sentence! ZOMG!!!!!1! Has WotC finally corrupted him?

 

[med stud]

I'm glad that they don't have 2e MM- fluff in the new MM. I think the habitat/society and ecology parts made the creatures too clinical and removed much of the sense of wonder. "Werewolves mate for life, the male gets a bonus when defending the female and the female gets a bonus when defending the cubs. Therefore the whole family hunts together so everyone gets a bonus!" That was the sound of the werewolf- concept being flushed down the toilet and it was only one example. I don't think I've ever been helped by the 2e fluff in making an adventure or a scenario even once.

Now, you could disregard that fluff but it took up space that IMO could be used better.

 

[Toras]

I miss the 2e level fluff in a number of books. Hell, I've yet to find a WOTC book that I would buy to read if I wasn't going to immediate use the rules contained within. They are unreadable.

By contrast I own a number of White wolf and Indie RPG's that are actually entertaining to read. Why is it that D&D can't do this?

 

[hcm]

I think the lack of fluff makes the books less useful. Take the dopplegangers for instance. There's no fluff at all that helps me come up with a story, to dream up possible scenarios. It's just ... uninspiring. And this is a general feeling when reading the other two books as well. In making them more crunchy, they've also made them less inspiring. To me, at least.

I don't think that the toolbox approach is altogether satisfying. I would much have preferred a default setting with more fluff in the books, even if I wouldn't use it directly. Fluff makes things come together, and that helps me put them together in new ways too.

What I *do* think has improved in the MM is the art and the whole monster system. All I'm missing is another 32 pages of fluff.