Monster Manual V ?!
- Thread starter satori01
- Start date
+5 Keyboard!
First Post
Razz said:
LOL! Here! Here!
Total agreement.
Pants
First Post
yeah, inferno spiders are fun little critters.MerricB said:Funnily enough, it was the spider-monsters that I've found really great in MMIV.
Tomb Spiders and Inferno Spiders are really great.
Cheers!
Still, I hope MMV ditches the classed creatures and goes on to make a really focused and really well done monster book. MMIV, for all its faults, had some fantastic new monsters. The layout could use some tweaking, but I still consider the new monsters in MMIV to be leagues ahead of the poorly implemented crap in MMII (it had a worthy goal.... that was it).
demiurge1138
Inventor of Super-Toast
Monster Manual IV was a mixed bag for me, because I could understand both sides of the coin on the controversial design issues. I wanted more unique monsters and less classed versions of MM creatures... but I found all those classed orcs really convenient when I ran a low-level one shot for my roommates. Putting all of the Spawn of Tiamat into one book, therefore consuming a third of its page count, was stupid... but I like both the concept and the execution of most of the Spawn.
I'm hoping that MMV has less of a focus than MMIV (although if it's strongly focused on illithidae like the cover suggests, I'm likely to be more impressed than I was with the Spawn), and has less bland class-level monsters. Some of them, like the gnolls, gave neat little insights into their culture. Some, like the githyanki (which weren't even psionic, although I can understand both the pros and cons to that approach) and the drow were just vanilla.
And even if I disapprove of some of the design paradigms, I'm still going to buy it. I'm such a sucker for new monster books that it's not even funny.
Demiurge out.
Edit: My picks for the coolest of MMIV - tomb spiders, howler wasps, zern, lodestone marauders. And I was happy to see some creatures from Pandemonium.
I'm hoping that MMV has less of a focus than MMIV (although if it's strongly focused on illithidae like the cover suggests, I'm likely to be more impressed than I was with the Spawn), and has less bland class-level monsters. Some of them, like the gnolls, gave neat little insights into their culture. Some, like the githyanki (which weren't even psionic, although I can understand both the pros and cons to that approach) and the drow were just vanilla.
And even if I disapprove of some of the design paradigms, I'm still going to buy it. I'm such a sucker for new monster books that it's not even funny.
Demiurge out.
Edit: My picks for the coolest of MMIV - tomb spiders, howler wasps, zern, lodestone marauders. And I was happy to see some creatures from Pandemonium.
Thomas Percy
First Post
Me too: useful plans and maps, useful format, ecology ideas, adventure ideas, some cool monsters... i like that.rycanada said:
Mouseferatu
Hero
I really wasn't fond of the classed critters the first time I cracked open MMIV.
But I've gotta say, in actual play, I've gotten more use out of them than I have of most of the other monsters.
I can certainly see the argument that they ought to be in their own book, but whether they are or not, I'm glad to have them.
I actually felt the same way, originally, about the new encounter format. But again, while it doesn't look like the most exciting thing ever on a read-through, I've found that it's really useful in actual play.
But I've gotta say, in actual play, I've gotten more use out of them than I have of most of the other monsters.
I can certainly see the argument that they ought to be in their own book, but whether they are or not, I'm glad to have them.
I actually felt the same way, originally, about the new encounter format. But again, while it doesn't look like the most exciting thing ever on a read-through, I've found that it's really useful in actual play.
I don't mind the new stat format. The mechanical stats don't take up much space as the old one. There are just a few issues I have with the rest of the format:
---The "Knowledge Check" needs to be smaller in font. It doesn't need to be the size of a billboard.
---Half of the info on Strategies/Tactics, Ecology, and Society need to go on most of them. Only really important stuff should be written in those, not the gestation period, their favorite color, and the smell of their urine. Unless that happens to be a VERY important part of the creature, it simply doesn't belong.
---Some of the entries really only need one line, like Advancement and Treasure. There's no need for a whole paragraph.
I think WotC should've learned by now how to conserve space in their books. It's bad enough they lowered the page counts considerably and have to fill their books with a lot of "fluff".
---The "Knowledge Check" needs to be smaller in font. It doesn't need to be the size of a billboard.
---Half of the info on Strategies/Tactics, Ecology, and Society need to go on most of them. Only really important stuff should be written in those, not the gestation period, their favorite color, and the smell of their urine. Unless that happens to be a VERY important part of the creature, it simply doesn't belong.
---Some of the entries really only need one line, like Advancement and Treasure. There's no need for a whole paragraph.
I think WotC should've learned by now how to conserve space in their books. It's bad enough they lowered the page counts considerably and have to fill their books with a lot of "fluff".
