[SCOOP] New 3.5 Monster Manual Cover

[rounser]

DMG is still the best of the three, IMO - reminds me of that picture from the cover of the DM's Design Kit with the wizardy-looking guy and the curve of the world spread out before him.

The lock-and-key motif from the DMG seems to be gone. The poison needle trap from the Monster Manual also seems to be gone, which I thought was a nice touch once you knew about it. The unappealing sword and book logo from the PHB is still there, unfortunately...

The DMG now appears to have a coke can pull-ring, oddly.

 

[Chauzu]

Hmmm... the PHB and DMG look fine, but something seems funny about the MM. Perhaps there needs to be a smaller eye, or maybe the "Monster" moved towards the right a tad bit more. Dunno...

 

[fba827]

whatchu talkin' about, willis?

<snip>
The poison needle trap from the Monster Manual also seems to be gone, which I thought was a nice touch once you knew about it.

poison needle trap?

 

[rounser]

You're right, the "Monster" part of the text isn't centred so that it looks balanced...

 

[rounser]

poison needle trap?

The last words of many a rogue, I'd say.

They mentioned it in the discussions of the original covers on the Wizards web page. You'll see what looks like three gems and a circle of small iron rods (needles) on the MM cover. The idea was that you had to press the gems in the right order to unlock the book, and if you didn't get it right, one of those needles would spring up and poison you.

I've "pressed the gems in the right order" when bored at the gaming table and about to open the book, just for the hell of it...

 

[TalonComics]

I was telling someone the other day I wanted to see a 3d plastic cover of the PHB. Can you imagine that with the DMG and the MM? All 3 books would take up half a shelf.

Personally, I think they look pretty cool. Gaudy, but cool. It's like they've gone from early 60's Elvis to early 70's Elvis.

~D

 

[rounser]

It's like they've gone from early 60's Elvis to early 70's Elvis.

It looks a lot more metallic*. "Less is more" as a design principle seems to have been binned, too.

*: Happily, due to more pages and heavier-looking covers, the 3.5 ed books do more subdual damage than the 3.0 books when used to thwack fellow players over the head.

 

[Painfully]

I'm a bit concerned over how all their new revised books talk about the "integration" of the new miniatures line. How much space could it possibly take to explain how minis work? And is this the kind of info we need in the MM? I would think the combat chapter in the PHB should suffice, but they make it sound like a really big deal in the revised books.