Monster Manual IV, from Amazon.com

[satori01]

But come on, Wotc still has some milking of 3.5 to do. Don't tell me none of you havn't thought that there's a likely psionic monster handbook around the corner somewhere.

That would be AWESOME!!! I have used monsters from XPH to great effect in the past, they are extremely flavorful, especially in a campaign where Psionics do not play a big role. I would absolutely buy a book of Psionic monsters, (get cracking Bruce Cordel !). I would even more like to see a larger book and have monsters based off suplement material, perhaps a section on Psionic monsters, one on Incarnum monsters, one on Pact Magic monsters and so on.... t'would be greeaattt!

 

[Felon]

I got it a couple of hours ago, and I have to say I love the hell out of it. Great book with lots of great ideas that I will use. And that's what important IMO--I don't need 150 new monsters, because in all likelyhood I'm not going to use more than a dozen from a new monster book. There are plenty of perennial critters out there already.

I keep hearing WotC criticized for not observing the successes of third-party publishers. For years, books like Monsternomicon were praised for its "quality-over-quantity" approach to monsters. WotC decides to give the approach a shot and, whaddya know? Flames, flames everywhere.

Yes, its format is different from the previous books, but how is being untraditional a negative quality in and of itself? I'll have to run over to Amazon and write a review that does it justice.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Yes, its format is different from the previous books, but how is being untraditional a negative quality in and of itself? I'll have to run over to Amazon and write a review that does it justice.

Bravo. I, too, am very pleased with it. Although I am even more pleased with Secrets of Xendrik!

 

[Pants]

I got it a couple of hours ago, and I have to say I love the hell out of it. Great book with lots of great ideas that I will use. And that's what important IMO--I don't need 150 new monsters, because in all likelyhood I'm not going to use more than a dozen from a new monster book. There are plenty of perennial critters out there already.

I keep hearing WotC criticized for not observing the successes of third-party publishers. For years, books like Monsternomicon were praised for its "quality-over-quantity" approach to monsters. WotC decides to give the approach a shot and, whaddya know? Flames, flames everywhere.

Yes, its format is different from the previous books, but how is being untraditional a negative quality in and of itself? I'll have to run over to Amazon and write a review that does it justice.

Yeah, the few new monsters that it does have are pretty cool. Even the spawn of Tiamat have enough flavor and are easily usable.

I kinda wish that Hobgoblin and Kobolds had been put in the book instead of the lame-o ogres and gnolls that we got. I like gnolls, but I didn't dig the way they got statted up that's all. And Ron Spencer did a cruddy job on the humanoids

But really, the defacer, bloodfire ooze, vitreous drinker, the avatars, the concordant killer, and the clockworks, all good stuff.

 

[BryonD]

I got it a couple of hours ago, and I have to say I love the hell out of it. Great book with lots of great ideas that I will use.

Great!!

And that's what important IMO--I don't need 150 new monsters, because in all likelyhood I'm not going to use more than a dozen from a new monster book. There are plenty of perennial critters out there already.

So I guess all the other MMs so far were bad then.

I keep hearing WotC criticized for not observing the successes of third-party publishers.

Really? I don't hear that. And would that be the successes of those publishers who AREN'T doing it anymore?

For years, books like Monsternomicon were praised for its "quality-over-quantity" approach to monsters. WotC decides to give the approach a shot and, whaddya know? Flames, flames everywhere.

So the other MMs were quantity over quality? With friends like you....

Boy, if only someone had actually presented a rational arguement that MMIV may be lacking in the QUALITY they were looking for. If only....

Yes, its format is different from the previous books, but how is being untraditional a negative quality in and of itself? I'll have to run over to Amazon and write a review that does it justice.

Yep, cause that is all anyone has said. It is untraditional so burn them all. Big bonfire on the town square tonight.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I'm not sure yet about the npcs. There are quite a lot of them: Drow, Gnolls, Gith, Orcs, ogres, whathaveyou. They would have been more appropriate in an actual NPC book (though I guess Enemies and Allies was never a great success) or in adventures. The format itself looks good, and I do like entries where monsters are presented in two versions (normal and advanced/class leveled/templated one). It's just that if we get something we already have in the core rules (drow, orcs, and so on) and then just get different sample NPCs, I think we should not get it in a monster manual.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

I think your only hope is in a book that requires the XPH. You can't just throw a psionic class (save soulknife) onto a creature without reprinting pages of rules that explain how psionics work.

Cheers!

Then just DROP THE WHOLE BLEEP, BLEEPING, BLEEPED THING.

Don't put a whole paragraph (top of page 5) in the introduction about Power Points and Powers known just to get our hopes up & then not so a darn thing with Psionics.

That's just not fair.

Well, I've got it now.

And going through it. I'm still not very happy with it.

However, I've not had a chance to delve too deeply. First, it's of the "Total Enounter" school of Monster Books (Accordlands: Monsters & Lairs same way). It tries to go into depth for each entry, not just a quick stat block and a paragraph, then next monster.

Overall, I this book could be the first in an overhaul of how a Monster Book is made. This first one is kinda rough, but I can see how I could really like a book doen like this. Or, how I could never buy one again.

This book is either the 1st great step forward, or a big blunder. I'm leaning towards Great Step at this point.

 

[Truth Seeker]

Uhm, should have made a poll on this.

Now, I am boobing on the decision to get it or not.

 

[BryonD]

(though I guess Enemies and Allies was never a great success)

I may be way off, but I think there may be much more of an appetite for this kind of book now than there was so soon after D20 came out.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Picked it up last night, although I had some reservations after reading the start of this thread yesterday. After spending about an hour with the book, I'm happy with it. I like the new monsters for the most part, and the stated out creatures will be easy to use on the fly. Sure, I would have chosen a few different ones to include, but I can certainly make use of those that are there. It's not the best monster book I own, but it's also far from the worst.