So many monsters ... way too many, in fact

[AFGNCAAP]

I'm not that crazy about the immense # of monsters provided for the game, but then again, it's merely a matter of choice on using them.

It can be a bit frustrating if you use existing modules/adventurers (whether it's from a .pdf or issue if Dungeon or whatever), esp. when the module uses (or esp. focuses on) a critter that you normally don't use in your setting: it can be a fantastic module, but that 1 critter in there may not make the module worthwhile for you to use (keep in mind, may not, and not will not--if you have the time/patience/inclination/etc. to modify to fit your needs, so be it; however, it can be frustrating if a module isn't quite "pick up & play" for you game's needs/design).

Though I don't use all of the monsters in the book as mainstays of my setting, there are some things which I use for unique situations: the result of magical experimentation/a unique curse, the chosen form a spirit/being appearts in (very viable for fey, fiends, angels, & other outsiders), lone alien beings from other dimensions (like an aboleth here or there), last of a dying breed, etc.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

The Masters and Minions series is, AFAIK, an entirely new solution to the too many monster problem.

Our idea was to have all the new creatures tie into a classic monter that's probably already in most people's campaigns. This way, it's easier to work each one in to the ecology and storyline of your world; if everyone knows that the swamps are infested by stirges, it's not too hard to believe that some miniscule fey that have crossed over from Faerie to ride and tame stirges, for example.

Some previews are here, and all the monsters will be in our online database & SRD once the books are released at Gen Con Indy.

 

[DragonLancer]

I buy monster books rather than sourcebooks. I find them much more useful to me and my games.

The way I look at it is, that outside the MM, I have all these options but they don't exist until I use them and they appear in the game. Otherwise they can be considered legendary beasts that may or may not actually exist.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I am a picker (no not my nose) I select monsters for my world and then say that is it, it is normally about 30 to 50 different ones from different sources. Breakdown:

Plants:........05%
Undead:......25%
Low.Level:...15%
Mid.Level:....35%
High.CR:......20%​

I also find monster books to be like campign settings, I seem to pick them up just to read.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

I s'pose we wouldn't become quite so jaded and need just the right monster to surprise players if ... well, if the players weren't so gosh-darned familiar with all the monsters already. Memorized stats of every single beastie in the book? Maybe not that excessive, true, but it doesn't take much study before the average gamer has soaked up everything he needs to ruin his own surprise.

Guess when this was written: "But somewhere along the line, D&D lost some of its flavor, and became predictable... When all the players had all the rules in front of them, it became next to impossible to beguile them into danger or mischief."

If you answered "April 23, 1976, in the Foreword to Eldrich Wizardry", my hat's off to you! It just blows my mind to think that people were getting jaded with D&D when it was only two freakin' years old.

 

[Buttercup]

I love monster books, and I buy just about every one that comes out. However, I use a relatively small palette of monsters in any given campaign. It's nice, though, to have many to choose from while I'm putting my concept together. For instance, I'm presently running a campaign in Freeport, so I'm using lots of snake and sea related creatures, but no kobalds, goblinoids and so forth.

More monster books? Bring 'em on!

 

[Driddle]

... if you intend to use them all. This is the sort of things that irritates me in many Dungeon Magazines' adventures: you find often everything_and_its_brother together when crawling the most simple of abandoned cave.

Nonetheless as far as I am concerned, I only use a small selection of monsters, certainly not all.

I'll be honest and say my initial post on this thread was heavily colored by the number and content of many other message threads here. It's like living in a hospital ER and assuming that everyone else thinks about blood and injuries all day, too. ... In this case, though, it's "I Need A New Monster" threads or "How Can I Surprise My Players?"

And as Turanil noted, I've also seen too many Random Monster Roll dungeons where everything and its mutant cousin is wandering the halls.

Those of you who posted here obviously(?) don't have that same problem. We probably pick a few of our favorite critters and give them recurring cameos throughout the campaign. And that's cool; it helps build a sense of local "ecology."

 

[jasper]

I still have use all the monsters from the first edition monster manual.

 

[Turanil]

I still have use all the monsters from the first edition monster manual.

Huups!... I thought this was post from Diaglo!

 

[dren]

First of all, I have a confession. I have a fetish for monsters; big ones, small ones, short ones, fat ones, mmmmm...monsters. They are a big part of why I love the game, as the right one can bring players into an alien / fantasy world. I mean really, an orc is an orc; but a kur'teth, well, that's something entirely different than an orc.

However, while I love reading and collecting the books, I don't use all of them...I use perhaps 20-60% of all non MM monsters. Instead, I carefully populate an area, knowing the monsters that reside within & the roles they might fit into. In my broad categories, there are: bad-asses, beasties, hunters, environmental hazards & military or merchant races. I then create random monster charts based on those categories for any given region. Creatures from any given area are summarized in an excel file, so, I can call on the stats at any time.

While only 100-200 monsters may reside in any given area, the monster book are great because I can give one cold valley an entirely different feeling than a second cold valley enviroment based on the monsters that reside within.