Product page for Volo's Guide to Monsters updated

Oh that is a nice preface.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Dreadnought? Huh. My first thought was "Juggernaut" - some kind of living siege engine, specializing in charging ahead and sweeping through defensive lines so the rest of the clan can thunder in behind him. I think it looks pretty awesome.

It's Dreadnought from the Facebook post. It's a call back to the name used for WW1-era battleships, especially the original Dreadnought, which was the first "modern" all-big-gun battleship...

 

[Demetrios1453]

So, it looks like maybe we will get Wednesday previews like this til release (assuming this is a pettern); would expect to see other chapters, maybe a final preview of the TOC to really get folks excited?

I imagine we'll at least see a sample playable race and a sample monster stat block as previews. And I can't wait to see them!

 

[happyhermit]

It's a pony tail how does it not make sense?

Well, it's a braid but what bugs me is that it is in front and hanging out of the armour which makes no sense to begin with, nor is there any reason to do this except to show that it exists. What makes it worse is that the bevor, if that's what it could be called, seems deliberately designed to catch the braids. As someone who has had long hair and done things that require a lot of mobility and/or clothing and gear, as well as known many people in similar situations, it is always the goal to avoid situations where it gets in the way and can get snagged on things.

No big deal, the overall image is great, just that piece bugs me.

 

[Li Shenron]

This seems to give a bit of a better perspective on how the actual writing style will flow. The book does not seem to be overloaded with the mannerisms of Volothamp (making it much easier to read through for note taking) while Elminster's notes seem to be limited to "Hey, here's an extra tidbit" here and there, and not focused on mocking Volo. I like that there's personality, but it seems to be striking more of a balance between personality and usability.

I am not a huge fan of first-person written D&D books. The introduction preview mostly gave me a negative impression, that Elminster's notes were indeed only about mocking Volo and didn't add any knowledge at all. Their primary purpose seemed to be to setup the mood and be funny. The problem for me is that... they aren't funny at all. They were all basically the same repeated joke about Volo being a narcissistic incompetent. So maybe the first note was kinda funny, but the second wasn't, the third wasn't, and so on... Halfway through the introduction, I already hated Elminster. Hopefully this is just the introduction (which I usually read only once) and not the whole book (which I rather read all the time).

But again maybe that's just me, who doesn't particularly like jokes in D&D books, and especially this kind of (one character stretching over how another character is stooopid). I did however enjoy immensely other light-hearted bits in the core books, such as the humoristic pictures in the Conditions summary section, or the Modrons art.

 

[gyor]

The purpose of the braid is so you can tell its female, thanks to the foolish push for approitate Armour you can't tell any more, so they tossed the braid in.

 

[gyor]

Look at how the bottom of the shields are shaped, hold them together, and you backly got a snow plow.

 

[happyhermit]

The purpose of the braid is so you can tell its female, thanks to the foolish push for approitate Armour you can't tell any more, so they tossed the braid in.

That is probably the idea, except it doesn't even work. It would be weird to try to associate a long braid with sex or gender if you are looking towards inclusiveness and not particularly effective either in a genre like D&D that includes so many historical influences.

 

[pkt77242]

The purpose of the braid is so you can tell its female, thanks to the foolish push for approitate Armour you can't tell any more, so they tossed the braid in.

Why is it foolish for females to have appropriate armor?

 

[Demetrios1453]

The purpose of the braid is so you can tell its female, thanks to the foolish push for approitate Armour you can't tell any more, so they tossed the braid in.

I assume it's a beard braid, so I assume the giant a male.

 

[flametitan]

I am not a huge fan of first-person written D&D books. The introduction preview mostly gave me a negative impression, that Elminster's notes were indeed only about mocking Volo and didn't add any knowledge at all. Their primary purpose seemed to be to setup the mood and be funny. The problem for me is that... they aren't funny at all. They were all basically the same repeated joke about Volo being a narcissistic incompetent. So maybe the first note was kinda funny, but the second wasn't, the third wasn't, and so on... Halfway through the introduction, I already hated Elminster. Hopefully this is just the introduction (which I usually read only once) and not the whole book (which I rather read all the time).

But again maybe that's just me, who doesn't particularly like jokes in D&D books, and especially this kind of (one character stretching over how another character is stooopid). I did however enjoy immensely other light-hearted bits in the core books, such as the humoristic pictures in the Conditions summary section, or the Modrons art.

I was talking about the new preview of the giant personality traits, not the preface. Go read it, I'm betting it will be much more to your liking.