Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
- Thread starter SharnDM
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5 out of 5 rating for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
Mordenkinen’s Tome of Foes is an excellent read, full of lore on the great conflicts that rage across the multiverse and finishes with a veritable gush of monsters for the Dungeon Master to play with. This manual will serve the needs of both Dungeon Master and Player alike with the edge of most use being to the DM, though there are new character options available in nearly every chapter.
I’ve obviously gushed, I like the book a lot. I’m sure there’s something here I will think of later that I feel is missing, or could have rounding things out a bit nicer, but everything I’ve read thus far has been really great. Granted, I’m a lore hound and this book has that in spades. I think the fashion in which they’ve presented this lore is very creative and I really hope they continue this trend. The book feels alive, it isn’t just a glut of dry information put out there for us. Great care was taken to make this manual fun and interactive. I actually enjoyed reading it! I continue to be impressed with the team behind this edition of the game.
Mordenkinen’s Tome of Foes is an excellent read, full of lore on the great conflicts that rage across the multiverse and finishes with a veritable gush of monsters for the Dungeon Master to play with. This manual will serve the needs of both Dungeon Master and Player alike with the edge of most use being to the DM, though there are new character options available in nearly every chapter.
I’ve obviously gushed, I like the book a lot. I’m sure there’s something here I will think of later that I feel is missing, or could have rounding things out a bit nicer, but everything I’ve read thus far has been really great. Granted, I’m a lore hound and this book has that in spades. I think the fashion in which they’ve presented this lore is very creative and I really hope they continue this trend. The book feels alive, it isn’t just a glut of dry information put out there for us. Great care was taken to make this manual fun and interactive. I actually enjoyed reading it! I continue to be impressed with the team behind this edition of the game.
shawnellsworth
Explorer
4 out of 5 rating for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes provides a ton of lore and over 140 monsters from across the D&D multiverse. While the character options are limited, those provided are excellent. The book really shines in the lore sections, looking at the major conflicts and providing details for those on each side. The monster half of the book is good with lots of challenging threats, even if some are reprints...
Read the Full Review
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes provides a ton of lore and over 140 monsters from across the D&D multiverse. While the character options are limited, those provided are excellent. The book really shines in the lore sections, looking at the major conflicts and providing details for those on each side. The monster half of the book is good with lots of challenging threats, even if some are reprints...
Read the Full Review
Jester David
Hero
2 out of 5 rating for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
For D&D’s 5th Edition, Wizards of the Coast committed not to releasing books that players might have purchased before. They didn’t want to just do the same book they’d done two or three times previously but with new rules. Instead, they’re experimenting with format a little. And in this case, the experiment didn’t work.
Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes is somewhat of a mess. It tries to be several things at the same time, attempting to be a monster book and a racial sourcebook for players and a DM’s book of lore and the book on demihuman deities, with multiple new subraces on top plus an introduction to the Raven Queen. And as a result, it does nothing particularly well. It wastes an entire chapter for no good reason and has lots of content you wouldn’t expect while omitting several things you would expect. While more demons, devils, and drow make sense and gith racial options fit perfectly, having this be the book with shadar-kai is unexpected, and the sea elves come out of nowhere. And I in no way anticipated this would be the halfling and gnome racial expansion book (let alone the third book I’d have with the svirfneblin write-up). And having well over a dozen pages of the book devoted to non-human deities is just a curious choice.
It really feels like they had half of a planar version of Volo’s Guide to Monsters and half of a book on the various PC races and just smooshed the two Word files together. Given the tagline I was really hoping to see more multiversal and planar conflict. Maybe more on the Modrons, and perhaps some details on angels and the good planar being’s conflict with the planes below. And it’s easy to imagine what a book on the player races could be with more room to work in feats, campaign setting variants, magic items, and more.
This is biggest selling feature of the book is the new monsters. More monsters is almost always a good thing. Tome of Foes is 135 pages of new monsters and some other stuff. Between this, Volo’s Guide to Monsters, and the offerings from Kobold Press I think I’m good for 5th Edition monsters for, well, the rest of the edition.
If you’re running Out of the Abyss and want some quick extra lore on demon, duergar, and drow, then this book is a good choice. If you want more lore on pretty any other subjects on in this book, I’d direct you to the Dungeon Masters Guild. And if you want more monsters that can pose a challenge to your party, try the Tome of Beasts instead.
Read my full review here.
For D&D’s 5th Edition, Wizards of the Coast committed not to releasing books that players might have purchased before. They didn’t want to just do the same book they’d done two or three times previously but with new rules. Instead, they’re experimenting with format a little. And in this case, the experiment didn’t work.
Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes is somewhat of a mess. It tries to be several things at the same time, attempting to be a monster book and a racial sourcebook for players and a DM’s book of lore and the book on demihuman deities, with multiple new subraces on top plus an introduction to the Raven Queen. And as a result, it does nothing particularly well. It wastes an entire chapter for no good reason and has lots of content you wouldn’t expect while omitting several things you would expect. While more demons, devils, and drow make sense and gith racial options fit perfectly, having this be the book with shadar-kai is unexpected, and the sea elves come out of nowhere. And I in no way anticipated this would be the halfling and gnome racial expansion book (let alone the third book I’d have with the svirfneblin write-up). And having well over a dozen pages of the book devoted to non-human deities is just a curious choice.
It really feels like they had half of a planar version of Volo’s Guide to Monsters and half of a book on the various PC races and just smooshed the two Word files together. Given the tagline I was really hoping to see more multiversal and planar conflict. Maybe more on the Modrons, and perhaps some details on angels and the good planar being’s conflict with the planes below. And it’s easy to imagine what a book on the player races could be with more room to work in feats, campaign setting variants, magic items, and more.
This is biggest selling feature of the book is the new monsters. More monsters is almost always a good thing. Tome of Foes is 135 pages of new monsters and some other stuff. Between this, Volo’s Guide to Monsters, and the offerings from Kobold Press I think I’m good for 5th Edition monsters for, well, the rest of the edition.
If you’re running Out of the Abyss and want some quick extra lore on demon, duergar, and drow, then this book is a good choice. If you want more lore on pretty any other subjects on in this book, I’d direct you to the Dungeon Masters Guild. And if you want more monsters that can pose a challenge to your party, try the Tome of Beasts instead.
Read my full review here.
Enrico Poli
First Post
5 out of 5 rating for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
This is a must-buy DM book. The good points:
- fantastic art;
- much needed high-CR and planar monsters;
- lore about the great conflicts of the multiverse, in particular the Blood War and the Gith infightning;
- the gith racial option.
This is a must-buy DM book. The good points:
- fantastic art;
- much needed high-CR and planar monsters;
- lore about the great conflicts of the multiverse, in particular the Blood War and the Gith infightning;
- the gith racial option.
2 out of 5 rating for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
The Fifth Edition supplements that have been released so far look more like a Best of Dragon Magazine than a coherent supplement. Demihumans, Demons and Devils would be a more accurate title, I think, for this book with the Demihumans portion being something that should have been included with Xanathar's Guide to Everything.
Another issue is the forcing of cosmology and demihuman history upon all settings, even home settings. For example, the supplement retcons Corellon to be the father and creator of all elves, everywhere. Even in settings where he's never been heard of or where it makes no sense, Foes insists it's true anyway. It's just a D&D fact of the multiverse.
The most useful for me as a DM was the kind of thing that might appear in Dragon as "10 Cults for Your D&D Game". Each cult has some interesting features to differentiate them from Generic Cult that appears so often in D&D adventures. Despite the Cults being assigned to specific entities it's by far the most useful part in the whole book as almost every D&D game has some kind of mystical cult in it.
The Fifth Edition supplements that have been released so far look more like a Best of Dragon Magazine than a coherent supplement. Demihumans, Demons and Devils would be a more accurate title, I think, for this book with the Demihumans portion being something that should have been included with Xanathar's Guide to Everything.
Another issue is the forcing of cosmology and demihuman history upon all settings, even home settings. For example, the supplement retcons Corellon to be the father and creator of all elves, everywhere. Even in settings where he's never been heard of or where it makes no sense, Foes insists it's true anyway. It's just a D&D fact of the multiverse.
The most useful for me as a DM was the kind of thing that might appear in Dragon as "10 Cults for Your D&D Game". Each cult has some interesting features to differentiate them from Generic Cult that appears so often in D&D adventures. Despite the Cults being assigned to specific entities it's by far the most useful part in the whole book as almost every D&D game has some kind of mystical cult in it.
Caliburn101
Explorer
4 out of 5 rating for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
Filled with material I will use, and all couched in the ever-interesting cosmos-view of the great Mordenkainen.
Filled with material I will use, and all couched in the ever-interesting cosmos-view of the great Mordenkainen.
4 out of 5 rating for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
Any book that give me more monsters and Lore is a winner in my book. I don't pick it apart for theme and such, just base it on does it have enough stuff I like and will use in my game....this one does!
Any book that give me more monsters and Lore is a winner in my book. I don't pick it apart for theme and such, just base it on does it have enough stuff I like and will use in my game....this one does!
4 out of 5 rating for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
Mordenkainen's has fluff, it has monsters, it has lore and is full of stuff. Quality-wise this book is top notch. The monsters (while short) are welcome additions and seem to be good challengers for higher level play. The backstories are a pleasant read--with some good adventure hooks in here but also some fluff that will never see the light of day. The book isn't without its faults. The races chapters... well I have a gut feeling these were meant for Xanathar's Guide to Everything. It feels like cut material from that reference book-especially the halfling and gnome chapter. It is good content; it just seems to be misplaced. I would have loved too see these sections filled with inner plane material. They gave us a few new elementals--I want to hear those stories--those parts of the Multiverse. Tome of 'FOES'---some of these chapters are not so adversarial.
But I can't complain too much, the content is good--though pricey when bought retail. Still, it is a must own for any DM.
Mordenkainen's has fluff, it has monsters, it has lore and is full of stuff. Quality-wise this book is top notch. The monsters (while short) are welcome additions and seem to be good challengers for higher level play. The backstories are a pleasant read--with some good adventure hooks in here but also some fluff that will never see the light of day. The book isn't without its faults. The races chapters... well I have a gut feeling these were meant for Xanathar's Guide to Everything. It feels like cut material from that reference book-especially the halfling and gnome chapter. It is good content; it just seems to be misplaced. I would have loved too see these sections filled with inner plane material. They gave us a few new elementals--I want to hear those stories--those parts of the Multiverse. Tome of 'FOES'---some of these chapters are not so adversarial.
But I can't complain too much, the content is good--though pricey when bought retail. Still, it is a must own for any DM.
RedDragonRider243
First Post
2 out of 5 rating for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
Not a fan of Mort. Wanted bad to befall him often. So this book just sealed it again. This is a planar monster manual and does not seem to have anything to do with Greyhawk. So if you are looking for Greyhawk material don't waste your money.
Not a fan of Mort. Wanted bad to befall him often. So this book just sealed it again. This is a planar monster manual and does not seem to have anything to do with Greyhawk. So if you are looking for Greyhawk material don't waste your money.
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