GMforPowergamers
Legend
there is never such a thing as too many monster books
D&D 5E Monster Manuals - Too Many, Not Enough?
Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
For 5e, I am quite happy with the Kobold Press books: Tome of Beasts I & II (don't have III yet) and Creature Compendium. I have a high bar to use any 3pp in games I run, and they meet it. This is in addition to the MM, Volo's, the first Mordy books, Tome of Foes. Looking forward to the second Mordy book: Monsters of the Multiverse.
My favorite d20 monster collections are the Bestiary and Bestiary II for 13th Age. Wildly evocative, and much explicit information to help use them in adventures. Just reading them makes you oooh and aww at the descriptions as well as the hooks, and then they have multiple sections of advice sections really focused on "this game is about running an adventuring party", which is a focus I think greatly helps any supplement be it a collection of monsters, a setting, or whatever.
My favorite d20 monster collections are the Bestiary and Bestiary II for 13th Age. Wildly evocative, and much explicit information to help use them in adventures. Just reading them makes you oooh and aww at the descriptions as well as the hooks, and then they have multiple sections of advice sections really focused on "this game is about running an adventuring party", which is a focus I think greatly helps any supplement be it a collection of monsters, a setting, or whatever.
Nellisir
Hero
More. Unquestionably more.
Sometimes I play "can you make a campaign/setting" with monster books. Does the book have a good mix of high and low level monsters? Does it have playable and/or civilized races? Etc etc. Does it have big bad dragon level monsters? Does it have goblin level monsters? (Yeah, I COULD "just" reskin EVERYTHING in the MM, and tweak the stats and abilities and lore...and then I've functionally created a whole new monster book, and spent way more than $50 in time & effort.)
Most books fail, btw.
Sometimes I play "can you make a campaign/setting" with monster books. Does the book have a good mix of high and low level monsters? Does it have playable and/or civilized races? Etc etc. Does it have big bad dragon level monsters? Does it have goblin level monsters? (Yeah, I COULD "just" reskin EVERYTHING in the MM, and tweak the stats and abilities and lore...and then I've functionally created a whole new monster book, and spent way more than $50 in time & effort.)
Most books fail, btw.
Nellisir
Hero
Is Tome of Beasts III out? I honestly don't know if I have it or not...there's an empty spot on the shelf where it would be, but I don't think I have it....
I'll have to look for the 13th Age ones. Thanks
Uni-the-Unicorn!
Hero
You must be more particular than your description suggests; because this seems a low bar that just about every bestiary I’ve seen meets.
Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
The Kickstarter for ToB3 finished recently, and I missed getting in.
DarkCrisis
Reeks of Jedi
As someone who’s been playing since 2E: You just need the core.
My favorite third-party monster books are the three (so far) Monster Manual Expanded volumes available from the DM's Guild.
The monsters in them mostly fall into two categories: updates of "official" TSR and WotC monsters from prior editions, and variations on the various monsters already published in official 5e books. That might sound uncreative, but from my perspective it's fantastic to have a ready-to-hand set of well-designed monsters that can breathe new life into familiar tropes that remain recognizably "D&D."
The monsters in them mostly fall into two categories: updates of "official" TSR and WotC monsters from prior editions, and variations on the various monsters already published in official 5e books. That might sound uncreative, but from my perspective it's fantastic to have a ready-to-hand set of well-designed monsters that can breathe new life into familiar tropes that remain recognizably "D&D."
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