Monster Manual IV - an ongoing review

[MerricB]

It's always interesting to get a book as controversial as Monster Manual IV. When opinion is so divided about it, it really makes me wonder what I'll think of it. Well, Monster Manual IV arrived in Ballarat last week, and so did my most recent pay packet. They said hello to each other, and I now have a new book - and a little less money.

Monster Manual IV makes use of the new stat block forum that debuted some time ago in Dungeon magazine and the DMG2. In addition, it significantly expands upon the ecology and description of each monster. Where, in the original Monster Manual, you might get a paragraph or two, Monster Manual IV expands this out to fill perhaps two or three pages.

The most significant addition, from my point of view, is the addition of a "Lore" section to each creature, which quickly allows the DM to judge how much the PCs know about a monster based on their Knowledge checks. This is a wonderful addition, and has already proved useful in my game. Indeed, enough so, that I wish it was there for all existing creatures as well!

There is a shift in philosophy from previous monster books here. Where once the purpose of a Monster Manual was to give just a grab-bag of monsters, in the hope that the DM could find some of them good for their own usage, Monster Manual IV is far more interested in aiding the DM to integrate the monster into their game, in providing linked groups of monsters so that adventures and campaigns can thematically use such, and in providing "ready-to-go" material for the harried DM.

The fourth Monster Manual also takes the opportunity to expand upon popular existing creatures, such as the Drow, Ogres and Githyanki. It does this by not only providing advanced creatures (with class levels), but in taking time to expand the description of their culture and organisation. It's interesting to contrast this information to the original Monster Manual. New players, in particular may find this expanded material very useful for their games.

In general, I'm quite in favour of these changes to the format. I've been using the new stat block for over a year now, and I find it quite superior to the old. I delight in the expansion of existing monsters, for even if I could theoretically create the monsters myself, I find it easier to just take them from the book. In addition, the expanded notes on encounters, society and organisation make the use of these new monsters much, much easier for me as a DM, as I find myself more and more pressed for time to create exciting adventures.

In specific? Well, there it gets interesting.

Cheers!

 

[Mark CMG]

In specific? Well, there it gets interesting.

More, please.

 

[demiurge1138]

Ah, always the eternal optimist, eh, Merric? I look forward to what you have to say on the specifics. Even if I wasn't impressed by the expanded humanoids, I rather liked the book, and will defend to the death your right to a review-in-progress.

Demiurge out.

 

[amethal]

It's always interesting to get a book as controversial as Monster Manual IV.

What controversy?

I thought most people hated it, whilst a minority (myself included) thought it was ok. Do some people actually love it?

 

[MerricB]

Avatars of Elemental Evil
The very first monsters in the book make an extremely positive impression on me. Dungeons & Dragons has a long history, an important part of which comes from the adventures that Gary Gygax wrote. Over the years, other authors such as Lewis Pulsipher and Monte Cook have added to his conceptions. This has resulted in an extremely rich framework for new material to be added to, and it is when D&D forges in new directions but with reference to its origins that it works the best for me.

Thus, the Avatars of Elemental Evil. From the original works of The Temple of Elemental Evil, Fiend Folio (1E), The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil and other sources, Elemental Evil has grown to be an intriguing part of the D&D mythology. The avatars are the great servants of the lords of Elemental Evil, which are sent to aid their followers on the material plane.

What makes the avatars particularly interesting is their CRs: they are all quite high (15-18). One can imagine them as the final, most devastating incarnation of the Elementals - well, at least until the real forms of the Evil Elemental Lords are faced! As a result, they are best used as foes in the final stages of a plot arc.

The best thing about the presentation of the avatars is that the history of Tharizdun and the Elder Elemental Eye is laid out for players unfamiliar with the previous works. Even though some of the conclusions may be controversial (based, as they are, on Monte Cook's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil), they are consistent with the current mythology of the game. The goals of Elemental Evil, as well as the idea of the "nodes" - originally seen in the original Temple - are described and so in just a few pages the DM is given some monsters and a great idea for a campaign.

This is Monster Manual IV at its best, where history and innovation intertwine to advance the game.

 

[demiurge1138]

Ooh, this level of detail? I like. I always appreciate the chance to talk about monsters at length.

Demiurge out.

 

[MerricB]

Demons, Daemons and other Fiends
Monster Manual IV takes time to increase the host of these fiendish hordes, although the poor devils do not get a look in. I have a feeling that the importance of fiends to the game has been increasing as the years have gone on. Despite Gygax's use of fiends in his Gord books, I feel they only really came into their own with the advent of Planescape, and, with 3.5e, the new DR rules that made them more approachable as opponents.

The four new demons are the Deathdrinker (CR 18), Kastighur (CR 11), Nashrou (CR 2) and the Whisper Demon (CR 9). The new yugoloths (which I still refer to as daemons) are the Corruptor of Fate (CR 5), Corruptor of Fate Assassin (CR 10), Voor (CR 4) and Dreadful Lasher (CR 9). Other related creatures include the NE Demonhives - Attendant (CR 2), Swarm (CR 2) and Queen (CR 6) - the CE Pandemonium inhabitants that are the Windblades - Windrazor (CR 1) and Windscythe (CR 4) - and the unfortunate Wrackspawn (CR 3).

Both the Deathdrinker and the Kastighur are presented as melee combatants that make use of swift teleports to engage the enemy. What is particularly interesting about them is that each has a small suite of related special abilities. Neither has a long list of combat options, instead focusing on one "trick" to distinguish themselves and make them interesting in combat. This is extremely good design. The Deathdrinker gains in strength as it kills, and emits an aura of unlife that drains the lifeforce of those close by. The Kastighur attempts to terrify its opponents - making them shaken - and gains bonuses when attacking such foes.

The Nashrou, a low-level threat, is made interesting by actually being more vulnerable to critical hits - a critical hit automatically reduces it to -10 hit points! It's well set up to attack as a pack, and so it's presented in its description.

Meanwhile, the Whisper Demon - unusually, an incorporeal demon - attempts to drive its prey insane with its whispers, its victims becoming allips when they succumb and kill themselves.

These are good monsters. Each is distinct from the other, and rely on strong themes rather than a cornucopia of conflicting powers. It is worth noting that each is presented in two pages; quite a large amount of space. This space is taken up by their ecology & society, combat tactics, sample encounters, lore, typical treasure, and notes for adapting them for both Eberron and Faerun. I expected that this text would be merely padding. For the most part, I didn't find this to be the case.

I want to bring your attention to the "Typical Treasure" section as an example of this. The Whisper Demon is noted as not normally having treasure, "but one might carry about a ghost touch item, such as a shield, simply for the sensation of manipulating a material object." The Deathdrinker has standard treasure, mostly magic, and "its remaining treasure it typically carries in the form of jewelry, usually featuring grisly motifs such as skulls, faces distorted in anguish, or torture implements." This resonates extremely well with me, and I'm quite impressed with the result.

Moving onto the yugoloths (or daemons), the corruptor of fate uses bestow curse, an unluck ability, weapon attacks and a corrupting gaze to overcome its foes. They are described as mercenaries and assassins. The Voor and Dreadful Lashers are two forms of the same creature: a blind yugoloth that attacks with its piercing and rending tentacles, and are used as guardians and protectors of fixed locations. As one might hope, they do have blindsense!

I find the corruptor of fate to be the more interesting creature, as the Voor merely exist as dangerous melee combatants - although such can definitely be useful! The sample encounters for the corruptor suggest that one be encountered as a lone assassin, that they may be encountered due to a planar ally spell, a group could be met as a raiding team seeking to despoil a good-aligned church, as guards of an important planar gate, or as mercenary troopers hired by powerful evil forces.

This wide selection of encounter ideas is a strong feature of Monster Manual IV; monsters are diminished if you don't have a good situation to use them in, and this book provides a number of situations to aid you integrating them into your game.

The Demonhive creatures, originally native to the Abyss but now found in most of the lower planes, and occasionally are transplanted to the material plane by michievous fiends who want to cause havoc. The demonhive creatures are presented primarily to be used in such a fashion; in a short (or longer) adventure where the first swarms are encountered and then must be tracked to their lair and destroyed lest they contaminate the entire region, and the sample encounters give a structure for such an adventure.

The Windblades, windrazor and windscythe, are described as creations of Erythnul that delight in slaughter - in Eberron, as the book notes, they are inhabitants of Kythri and revere the Fury, and in Faerun, they were created by Talos the Destroyer. As their special mechanics, they terrify opponents when they inflict criticals, they rend, and they use flyby attack - the Windscythe possesses a Augmented critical (18-20/x3) that really is fearsome! The sample encounters for the Windblades present them as allies of servants of Erythnul (normally bugbears), on various missions of terror.

Interestingly, the windblades are also presented as playable characters - the windrazor has an LA of +2 and a base HD of 2, and the Windscythe has a LA of +5 and base HD of 8. In addition to this, as with all the fiends, Monster Manual IV notes what spells may summon them to the aid of PCs or NPCs, information that I greatly appreciate.

Finally, the Wrackspawn. This monster first saw light as one of the most despised miniatures of the D&D Miniature game. (It quickly gained the nickname of "WTF" due to its poor sculpt and unfortunate placement as a common). The monster description and artwork in MMIV does much to redeem it. The concept is that a wrackspawn is a good-aligned soul that has been tortured by demons until it became an evil mockery of itself, using its own bones as weapons. They are melee combatants, made distinct by being able to inflict additional pain (as they themselves suffer) on those struck by their bone weapons.

The sections on society and ecology for the Wrackspawn and Demonhive feel slightly like padding, although I'm sure that there are DMs that will find the information pertinent. Despite this, I feel that the presentation of these new fiends really adds to their utility.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Excellent review so far my optimistic counterpart.

Don't forget to post it in the review system when you're done!

 

[Huw]

What controversy?

I thought most people hated it, whilst a minority (myself included) thought it was ok. Do some people actually love it?

Well I love it. Quick review:

Bad bits: Dragonspawn are dull

Average bits: New stat block makes some things clearer (like special abilities) and some things more confusing (like iterative attacks), sample NPCs are nice but never quite what you want

Good bits: Knowledge checks for each creature, suggested encounters and lairs for many of the creatures, good selection of creatures

 

[Mystery Man]

I hesitantly, reluctantly, guardedly even, put this on order yesterday (it hasn't arrived yet), if only to complete my monster book collection. I'm feeling better about my purchase now.