Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Monster Manual - What pictures really stood out, or changed your view on a monster?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 6401075" data-attributes="member: 1465"><p>Went to check out the MM from the local FLGS yesterday, and actually tried to keep this thread in mind to decide which monsters to check out! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Forgot to check the Merrow, but I did check out the Cockatrice. It's a really good scary picture, but actually it's remarkably similar to the same picture in the 3e MM... which was in fact great, and after reading your comment I was wondering how could they make it better. They couldn't, but they made it almost the same <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think it's quite ok. It doesn't look particularly epic, the 3e picture looked more epic but had some strange artifact in the printing that gave it a very odd black lining IIRC.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Agreed, this was one of the worst I noticed. I'll still resort to the 3e MM to show a picture of an Owlbear to the players.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I am not sure how they should be... The current pictured seemed ok to me, but a bit too disproportionate.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well I admit the art caught me unprepared, and I still don't know if I liked it or not. It's just plain weird.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I saw this artwork online and I am still undecided. Giant squid was fine for me, alien monster is fine also but the current pose makes it impossible to figure out how it actually looks like. In the original artist's webpage you can see other poses and then the monsters makes more sense, but IMO they shouldn't have picked this one for the MM.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Didn't check the Behir. As for demons and devils, I liked them all except perhaps the lesser ones. I think those from your link are way too disturbing... perhaps that's exactly what they should be, but IMHO for a regular D&D book those would be highly inappropriate.</p><p></p><p>I had Green Ronin's books of devils and demons for 3e, and even there the artwork is much scarier than the 3e/5e MM, and while not yet really disturbing, they were IMO already better suitable for a supplement with a warning label that it's not a children's product.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I loved the 5e Modrons art! I don't have the original Planescape books, but the 5e MM pictures are pretty much how I thought them to be back then in 2e. If someone told me they had recycled the old art, I would have believed them.</p><p></p><p>I am not a huge fan of Slaadi for conceptual reasons (I don't like that "ultimate creatures of chaos" follow a very regular pattern of transformations) and I found that 5e slaad have the same visual problem as in 3e: they all look pretty much the same, just in different colors. But the pictures themselves seemed very good for sure.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I saw only some of those you mentioned, but here's what I remember:</p><p></p><p>- Barlgura, not a particularly brilliant picture but fine for me (I have no idea what it was originally)</p><p>- Mephits, I remembered your comment exactly so I checked them, and you are right <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p>- Yeti, looked great to me, horns or not I honestly don't care, I am just glad they didn't do it too much ape-like or human-like or with gigantic feet because I generally hate those takes on yetis</p><p>- Angels, I liked the pictures but not the concept, they all seemed too similar, all too muscular bare-chested human males with white wings and a sword (I don't even think they need to be muscular at all, but rather have supernatural strength)</p><p>- Chimera, that one just looked fantastic!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I actually thought the cloud giant had piercing on the lips, not fangs, but maybe I didn't look carefully.</p><p></p><p>I agree that those others look "wow-ish" but they also look better IMO:</p><p>- I prefer the current orcs compared to the fuzzy boar-like 3e orcs, also because now half-orcs actually look halfway between the two. </p><p>- I like both 3e and 5e ogres, with slight preference for the new ones</p><p>- Trolls look better than 3e and much better than 4e</p><p>- goblinoids on the other hand I'm still not completely sure, one positive thing is that they now look visibly related to each other</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Li Shenron, post: 6401075, member: 1465"] Went to check out the MM from the local FLGS yesterday, and actually tried to keep this thread in mind to decide which monsters to check out! :) Forgot to check the Merrow, but I did check out the Cockatrice. It's a really good scary picture, but actually it's remarkably similar to the same picture in the 3e MM... which was in fact great, and after reading your comment I was wondering how could they make it better. They couldn't, but they made it almost the same :D I think it's quite ok. It doesn't look particularly epic, the 3e picture looked more epic but had some strange artifact in the printing that gave it a very odd black lining IIRC. Agreed, this was one of the worst I noticed. I'll still resort to the 3e MM to show a picture of an Owlbear to the players. I am not sure how they should be... The current pictured seemed ok to me, but a bit too disproportionate. Well I admit the art caught me unprepared, and I still don't know if I liked it or not. It's just plain weird. I saw this artwork online and I am still undecided. Giant squid was fine for me, alien monster is fine also but the current pose makes it impossible to figure out how it actually looks like. In the original artist's webpage you can see other poses and then the monsters makes more sense, but IMO they shouldn't have picked this one for the MM. Didn't check the Behir. As for demons and devils, I liked them all except perhaps the lesser ones. I think those from your link are way too disturbing... perhaps that's exactly what they should be, but IMHO for a regular D&D book those would be highly inappropriate. I had Green Ronin's books of devils and demons for 3e, and even there the artwork is much scarier than the 3e/5e MM, and while not yet really disturbing, they were IMO already better suitable for a supplement with a warning label that it's not a children's product. I loved the 5e Modrons art! I don't have the original Planescape books, but the 5e MM pictures are pretty much how I thought them to be back then in 2e. If someone told me they had recycled the old art, I would have believed them. I am not a huge fan of Slaadi for conceptual reasons (I don't like that "ultimate creatures of chaos" follow a very regular pattern of transformations) and I found that 5e slaad have the same visual problem as in 3e: they all look pretty much the same, just in different colors. But the pictures themselves seemed very good for sure. I saw only some of those you mentioned, but here's what I remember: - Barlgura, not a particularly brilliant picture but fine for me (I have no idea what it was originally) - Mephits, I remembered your comment exactly so I checked them, and you are right :) - Yeti, looked great to me, horns or not I honestly don't care, I am just glad they didn't do it too much ape-like or human-like or with gigantic feet because I generally hate those takes on yetis - Angels, I liked the pictures but not the concept, they all seemed too similar, all too muscular bare-chested human males with white wings and a sword (I don't even think they need to be muscular at all, but rather have supernatural strength) - Chimera, that one just looked fantastic! I actually thought the cloud giant had piercing on the lips, not fangs, but maybe I didn't look carefully. I agree that those others look "wow-ish" but they also look better IMO: - I prefer the current orcs compared to the fuzzy boar-like 3e orcs, also because now half-orcs actually look halfway between the two. - I like both 3e and 5e ogres, with slight preference for the new ones - Trolls look better than 3e and much better than 4e - goblinoids on the other hand I'm still not completely sure, one positive thing is that they now look visibly related to each other [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Monster Manual - What pictures really stood out, or changed your view on a monster?
Top