Product page for Volo's Guide to Monsters updated

Oh that is a nice preface.

 

[flametitan]

The product page for upcoming Volo's Guide to Monsters has been updated to include how the book sections will be divided, with the art from the Extra Life event, AND there's now a preview of the preface, with Elminster nitpicking Volothamp's words. Click on the image below!

Chapter 1: Monster Lore takes several iconic D&D monsters and provides additional information about their origins, their dispositions and behaviors, and their lairs—above and beyond what is written in the Monster Manual.

Chapter 2: Character Races presents character races that are some of the more distinctive race options in the D&D multiverse.

Chapter 3: Bestiary provides game statistics and lore for nearly one hundred monsters suitable for any D&D campaign.

SaveSave​

 

[Prakriti]

The exchanges between Volo and Elminster are too cutesy for me, as I expected.

For a comparison, does anyone know how many monsters were in the Monster Manual?

 

[Demetrios1453]

All good stuff, but by far the best news is the fact that Chapter 3 will have over 100 updated monsters on its own. There had been some debate whether the 100+ monsters would include those detailed in the "in-depth" and "PC races" sections, and I'm very glad to see it won't. So with the variants we've been told we'll be getting in the "in-depth" section, that's going to be a lot of new stat blocks for us to use in the game. I'm now much more stoked than before for this product, just on this little bit of new info!

 

[flametitan]

The exchanges between Volo and Elminster are too cutesy for me, as I expected.

For a comparison, does anyone know how many monsters were in the Monster Manual?

About 436 unique stat blocks. However, many of them are either not given write ups at all (such as the beasts and generic NPCs) or are condensed to fit multiple statblocks into a single write up, such as Devils, Dragons, Giants, etc...

 

[Leatherhead]

Not going to lie, out of all the "Canon" FR characters, Volo is my favorite.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

This book would be an instant buy for me if it wasn't for the silly NPCs narrating.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I'm more excited for this book now. I don't need another encyclopedia of monsters. The origins, dispositions, and lairs (LAIRS!) information interests me greatly, though, and since I like a cosmopolitan setting, the races would seem like a good fit. I'd get that book even if it just re-hashed the MM, so the bonus monsters are icing on the cake!

The conceit of this being Volothamp's guide is good "plausible deniability" territory, and lets WotC go wild with monster info while inoculating themselves against (most) cries of puriists. The Volo/Elminster interaction seems a bit twee, perhaps, but we shall see how that plays out!

 

[werecorpse]

Chapter 1 & 2 will maybe get some use but really 3 is all I care about

 

[Sword of Spirit]

The MM has approximately 313 yellow stat blocks, and about 40 beasts from the appendix that you can't find on modern earth. This doesn't include the NPC statblocks or the normal animals (I didn't include swarms either, although the book describes them as being somewhat extranormal in nature).