D&D 5E Open Source dilemmas...(AKA Creature Catalog/Tome of Beasts/Tome of Horrors etc.)

[Larnievc]

Some of the early Kolbold books were ports from PF1 and had some things that, while they may not have been against the rules, didn't follow the 5e standards and guidelines. And there are other 3PP books that do similar things. You probably have them and just don't see them as an issue (which I don't either), but others do.

Ah, yeah, now I think about it one book (maybe 5E Foes- or something like 1sr Ed foes 5E feel) uses the term ‘combat advantage’.

 

[dave2008]

Ah, yeah, now I think about it one book (maybe 5E Foes- or something like 1sr Ed foes 5E feel) uses the term ‘combat advantage’.

Yep, stuff like that. But it also includes things like not following the DMG guidelines for monster creation / CR. Which some people are fine with and others are not. I find this a lot in 3PP products, though admittedly the monster creation rules are a bit cumbersome until you get used to them and some of the elements are controversial to some. It doesn't really bother me because I don't worry about CR when I make encounters (but I do when I make monsters), but it can be a problem for some. A lot of 3PP products have monsters that are tougher than there MM or DMG CR equivalent, or at least that is what I have found.

 

[Shiroiken]

Ah, yeah, now I think about it one book (maybe 5E Foes- or something like 1sr Ed foes 5E feel) uses the term ‘combat advantage’.

Fifth Edition Foes. I have it and while it's kinda cool, it was very early in the edition and there were some issues with wording. Combat advantage was because they didn't know if they could use "advantage" under the OGL. Some of the monsters also have abilities that go outside of 5E's assumed concepts, such as a monster that can break even magical weapons if hit by them.

 

[Lyxen]

Thanks guys for providing a few examples, honestly it's not that important in particular for me, but I just thought I'd mention it in case it might bother some people. But certainly feel free to disregard that comment if it's not important to you.

 

[Nebulous]

but then along comes Sandy Peterson's cthulhu treatment for DnD 5e. Which treatments to follow.....does anyone else ruminate on this?

I'm about to use a color out of space from that Peterson book in my 5e game. It is going to scare the bejeezus out of the PCs. The color is going to literally melt an ogre in front of their eyes when they get to the top level of this tower. What they do from there, I imagine is either fleeing down the eight flights or jumping from the rooftop.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Crikey. I have about 30 3rd party monster books and they all follow the same rules for 5E.

Which ones did you really like and why? I forgot to add I haev the Boreal Bestiary (which is small but interesting)

 

[Larnievc]

Which ones did you really like and why? I forgot to add I haev the Boreal Bestiary (which is small but interesting)

I really like Tome of Beasts 1-2, and the Creature Codexes. Arcanum of the Ancients has some good monsters (but it’s not just a bestiary). The Shattered Land monster book is an interesting read. There’s tons out there.

 

[Casimir Liber]

I really like Tome of Beasts 1-2, and the Creature Codexes. Arcanum of the Ancients has some good monsters (but it’s not just a bestiary). The Shattered Land monster book is an interesting read. There’s tons out there.

Wait...there're two Tome of Beasts?! Wow will take a look.....thanks for the heads up as am in a campagin-building mode

 

[Casimir Liber]

@Larnievc have found Tome of Beasts 2 and Arcana of the Ancients ...but what is the Shattered Land monster book you refer to...?

 

[Demetrios1453]

Which ones did you really like and why? I forgot to add I haev the Boreal Bestiary (which is small but interesting)

Since no one else has mentioned them, the Monster Manual Expanded books (I, II, and III) are excellent monster books available on the DM's Guild (the first two with PoD if you want, with the third, which was just released, with PoD later in the year), all with loads of monster variants on MM, VGtM, and MtoF monsters, as well as some updates for creatures that haven't made it to 5e yet...