Needed: Good Monster Books!

[ColonelHardisson]

I'm actually not that big a fan of the Tome of Horrors. While it has some good stuff in it, most of it is Scott Greene's original monsters. Most of the older monsters that were converted -- probably should have been left behind with 2e, quite frankly.

I think I understand what you meant, but I want to clarify - most of the monsters in the book are critters that were converted over from 1e and 2e, the ones left out of the 3e Monster Manual. I believe what you're saying is that the stuff you liked most was Scott Greene's original monsters, of which there are a few in the book. I agree they're good, but I disagree about the bulk of the creatures in the book - having them converted to 3e is wonderful.

 

[Desdichado]

Yes, that's what I'm saying. I think they were left behind for a reason!

 

[BOZ]

[commercial time]
if you liked scott's originals, wait till part 2 comes out...
[/commercial time]

 

[Pants]

Yes, that's what I'm saying. I think they were left behind for a reason!

C'mon, the Flumph and the Nilbog are staples of D&D!


I suddenly feel very sick

 

[DaveMage]

I was perusing my collection this weekend, and with all the modules, campaign settings, and monster books, I have over 4,000 monsters to choose from.

Even with all that, I'd still buy new monster books.

I think it's an obsession....

 

[shady]

Monte Cook wrote a nice review of Monsternomicon at http://www.montecook.com/arch_review21.html

The key things going for the book are: the artwork, the length of the individual entries (somewhat longer than average), the fit with the iron kingdoms background, and the format (for example, a list of rumoured lore on each creature, with the rumours classified from common to rare).

Other than that, the CC and CC2 books are good, but the WoTC monster books are better in most departments. Another book to consider, when you have a lot of monster books, is FFG's Monster Handbook, which helps to customise existing monsters for your campaign.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I was perusing my collection this weekend, and with all the modules, campaign settings, and monster books, I have over 4,000 monsters to choose from.

Even with all that, I'd still buy new monster books.

I think it's an obsession....

For me, it's not an obsession as much as it is an allowance of choice.

Strangely enough, when I run off the cuff, most enemies are either low minions like minor orcs, goblins, owlbears, etc... while the main enemies are fully statted out NPCs that can be orc warcheifs, ogre barbarians, etc... This allows me to highly customize the opponents towards the characters.

However, having all of the monster books allows me to really challenge the players with different elements like the Iron Lich from the Monsternomicon. Because I haven't used a lot of the 'Steam' elements from that setting and because I've hyped the Iron Lich more as a reconstructed Necromancer as opposed to a steam meachine, his apperances are more dangerous than they would normally be.

Having the right tool for the right job is invaluable although there is often too much overlap in books.

 

[HellHound]

I can't say enough good things about the Monsternomicon, it's just downright BEAUTIFUL.

I also like the Fiend Folio, and would jump for the Creature Collection Revised if you don't have the original Creature Collection. The monsters are rich on ideas and I just love the feel of the book.

 

[woodelf]

I'm still lookin' for that baby. Care to comment a bit on Penumbra's book? What's it like that sets it apart (other than the price? )

Quick side note to the original asker: I sincerely expect Fantasy Bestiary (Penumbra, from Atlas Games) to be on the list with Monsternomicon and Tome of Horrors, but not for a few months, because it just came out around a month ago.

Ok, what's so great about the Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary? Several things. First, every monstre i looked at was cool. While i haven't bought, a nd therefore read cover-to-cover, the book, i didn't find any duds when reading it in the store. It's also very well laid-out, with good art. And the OGC and non-open content is as clearly designated as anything i've seen outside of Freeport: if it's on a white bacground, it's OGC, if it's on a gray background, it's not. That's it. No PI hold-outs, no complications.

But, more importantly, the content is top-notch. It follows the Medieval Bestiary (for Ars Magica) philosophy for design. Every creature has stats, description and flavor text, and other necessary info about the creature--much more non-combat info than the D&D books have. And then every creature has one or more adventure seeds involving or revolving around the creature. Which is so cool. That, and pretty much all of the creatures are the sorts that just make adventure ideas jump into my head, even without the adventure seeds.

And did i mention that it's pretty, and well-organized, and uncluttered?

 

[Crothian]

I can't believe one of the best monster books has not been mentioned. Monsters of the Endless Dark by Goodman games is a masterpiece. When I got it for the ENnies I read through it very fast, it was amazing.