Too Many Monster Manuals?

[WarlockLord]

Why in the heck do we have a MM5? How many MMs do we need? Isn't one big book enough, besides every splatbook for PCs having some, but noo....we get five. Doesn't WoTC print enough? Aren't there rules in the MM for creating your own monsters? Why not use those?

Do most people even buy these? I'd rather spend cash on something a PC could use, and also use it for enemy NPCs.

Thoughts?

 

[Nonlethal Force]

I've never bought any besides MM1. There are too many classed monsters and really weird monsters in MM2 - MM5. By weird I mean designs that ask me to suspend reality too far.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with buying them, this isn't a critique. Just explaining why I don't buy them.

 

[questing gm]

As a DM, the MMs are useful when you want to spring a monster on the PCs without expecting them to have read it somewhere. Some of the monster ideas you can find there are just wild.

It's good for lazy DMs like me or DMs that don't have to time to do the creative part of the hobby, which doesn't exclude the fact that i'm not really the type that is good with the development mechanics of D20 to start building from scratch.

But i do agree that there too numerous MMs in print and if they were going to do Spell Compendium, Magic Item Compendium and Rules Compendium, i guess we can expect what should be next...

 

[Greg K]

I thought that MM2 and Fiend Folio were decent enough. I haven't cared for the other WOTC MMs that followed. However, there are people that liked them so why shouldn't they have them available.

 

[WayneLigon]

.. [questions]...

How many MMs do we need?

The usual answer to this question is 'as many as the market will bear'.

Isn't one big book enough[?]

Can you come up with every cool monster you might need for the first book? I highly doubt it. How big should the one book be? 1000 pages? 500?

Doesn't WoTC print enough?

See, there's a thing called 'cash flow'. Like it or not, WoTC is a business and for a business to survive (especially a business that has to answer to stockholders), new sources of revenue must be found and generated. New books are created for this purpose as well as to provide new cool stuff for your campaigns. Also, there is a PR angle to consider. Is it more damaging to have people saying 'Wow, WoTC puts out a lot of stuff' or 'Hmm, WoTC hasn't put out a book in three months. I guess they're giving up on D&D'.

Aren't there rules in the MM for creating your own monsters?

Certainly there are. Because of time constraints and such, not everyone has time to come up with 200+ monsters on their own, even assuming they have the imagination, energy and talent that a half-dozen people who do this for a living possess. You might have that, but I sure don't.

Why not use those?

Because they may not be the right thing for the job. Maybe another monster has a cool special ability I want to use to bedevil my players, or has an interesting backstory that I can springboard off of. Maybe I want more planar monsters or devils or undersea creatures; if it's not in the MM and I don't have the time or energy to go off and create a batch of cool monsters, I guess I don't run a planar or underwater campaign for the group.

Do most people even buy these?

Obviously enough must for them to do more than one.

 

[Razz]

I've never bought any besides MM1. There are too many classed monsters and really weird monsters in MM2 - MM5. By weird I mean designs that ask me to suspend reality too far.

You're kidding me, right? You can suspend reality too far in a...fantasy game?

As for the OP's post, I like new monsters. I can never have too much new monsters. I also like monsters converted by WotC from older editions, as there's plenty their they have to still finish.

Sure, I may never use ALL of the monsters and templates out there, but it really helps to know that should a sudden urge of inspiration hit me one day, I know the material is there to let me do what I want with it. This same attitude goes for new feats, spells, prestige classes, and other crunch material.

Think of it this way if it's too hard to understand: You have a toolshed with every tool imaginable, and more may be invented in the future that you have yet to own in your toolshed. Are you ever going to use all those tools? Are you ever going to go from fixing your lawnmower to building a rocket engine for your motorcycle? No. Most likely not. But you feel good knowing you have all those tools, some of which you haven't touched at all or in years. It's there, you know it's there, and you know if you need it that it'll be there.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Too many Monster Manuals?

NO. SUCH. THING.

They aren't bought by most gamers- usually just DMs- but a lot of people "browse" them, and repeated use of monsters can lead to tiredness and/or players familiarity creeping into a PC's actions.

 

[Warbringer]

Why in the heck do we have a MM5? How many MMs do we need?

Three more

 

[Nonlethal Force]

You're kidding me, right? You can suspend reality too far in a...fantasy game?

Of course! Just because something is fantasy doesn't mean there isroom at the table for everything. You may have different limits than I do, but we all have limits as to how far our minds will be allowed to dream before we cannot participate realistically.

I'll try to give an example. I once played in a campaign where the setting was in someone's mind. In other words, the characters were essentially members of someone's dreams (or even daydreams). Each night the characters went to bed represented the daytime when the person was awake. When the person would go to sleep, the characters would wake up and participate in this person's dream. The problem was that anything the person dreamed was legitimate. The landscape changed to whatever the DM thought it should - representing a new dream. The laws of physics were subject to the "dreamer's mental state." The campaign was cool for about 2 or 3 sessions. But I quickly found myself loosing interest because it pulled me too far from my comfort zone in being able to suspend disbelief in reality. It wasn't the kind of game I enjoyed.

The monsters within the MM can have the same effect. I occasionally look at a monster and just shake my head. It pushes me too far for what I enjoy. It isn't like I say it doesn't belong in the game - or even that I can't imagine it. It just pushes me outside the type of fantasy that I enjoy.

I find the more MMs WotC puts out, the further I am pushed away - or the more I find classed monsters.

 

[caudor]

I enjoy new monster manuals. They provide more fodder to fire up my imagination; plus, I don't have to do all the crunch work and balancing. I'm willing to pay others to do the grunt work by buying the books.

This also provides me with more enemies and options to stock my own home-brewed adventures. I tend to enjoy placing monsters rather than creating them. And that's just fine me.

I don't particularly prefer classed monsters (like many people), but I believe WotC has noted that in regards to MMV. I'm looking forward to it.