URGENT - Monsters of Faerun

[Enumclaw]

I apologize in advance for the dramatics of the title, but I believe I am lacking time.

I recently purchased Monsters of Faerun and as I was looking through the pages nearly every monster was one I had seen before.

Now, I'm not sure if it is that I saw all of them years before in this very book, or perhaps a 3.5 version of a Forgotten Realms monsters manual?

I need to know whether to return the book and possibly find the monsters in another book?

I'd really appreciate a speedy response to save me the burden of owning an outdated book if I don't need to.

 

[jonesy]

Not sure if there's a 3.5 version of that book (FR isn't really my expertise), but there was a web enhancement which updated FR monsters into 3.5 (which included the Monster Compendium ones):
Web Enhancement: Player's Guide to Faerûn

Maybe what you remember seeing was the art itself:
Monsters of Faerûn Art Gallery

 

[Enumclaw]

That's totally possible that I had only seen the art. I can vaguely remember seeing the book about ten years ago when I used to play in high school.

Updating it's content with the 3.5 rules won't be a big deal, I just know I've seen a few of these monsters in the 3.5 Monsters Manual. I know WotC have taken old content and just moved them to a newer book.

Thanks for the fast response, by the way, really appreciate it.

 

[the Jester]

I don't think so- I don't think anything from MoF is in any other 3.x monster books, with maybe like one or two exceptions.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Fang Dragons popped up in Draconomicon. The Yochlol in Fiendish Codex I. There are probably a few other examples but no widespread reappearance in a book.

 

[Empirate]

Which is a shame really, coz some of the monsters in MoF are woefully in need of an overhaul, especially where their CR is concerned. The Banelar, for example, did receive an overhaul in Serpent Kingdoms, raising its CR from 5 to 8, which is much more appropriate. Other creatures in MoF seem to have been designed with the philosophy "when in doubt, CR = 5", as well.

 

[Enumclaw]

Thank you very much for the replies. It's been a few years since I've played and while I stopped short of achieving a 'full' collection when I did play, returning has brought up new confusion.

In many cases I'm not sure if some books are simply a revision of a 3.0, or completely new. Couple that with the many D20 supplements and I'm almost overwhelmed with what I should seek.

Circumstances like with the Complete Arcane and Complete Mage. Conceptually the same book, but CM is not a "remake" of CA. I'm torn between appreciating that my 3.0 books have not been rendered entirely useless, and begrudging that 3.5 did not simply take all content from the older version, reassemble it, and add new content.

 

[Empirate]

Actually they did in many cases. You'll notice that Complete Arcane does provide reprints and reissues of Tome & Blood classes, spells, feats etc. I'll give a short overview:

Tome & Blood, Song & Silence, Masters of the Wild, Defenders of the Faith and Sword & Fist have been mostly replaced by Complete Warrior, Adventurer, Divine, and Arcane. Some content has never been updated (notoriously, the Deepwood Sniper, Lasher, and Master of Chains PrCs) or nerfed into oblivion (like the Ninja of the Crescent Moon and Order of the Bow Initiate PrCs).

Complete Mage, Scoundrel, and Champion each introduce completely new stuff, although it's presented in a similar manner as in the 'update' Completes. Among the new stuff introduced here are new and interesting mechanics (Reserve Feats, Skill Tricks, and Devotion Feats, respectively).

Tome of Magic and Tome of Battle introduce completely new mechanics to apply to magic and melee, respectively. They also contain three new base classes each which use these mechanics. Using these mechanics can change the game's balance in a fundamental way.

Sandstorm, Stormwrack, and Frostburn introduce lots of rules and content to do with extreme environments (deserts, oceans, and arctic), along with similarly themed feats, PrCs, spells etc.

Those are the most important, aside from whichever campaign settings you're using. I'm not including Psionics, as I don't have the books.


Basically, 3.5 began in July 2003, with the printing of PHB 3.5. Now you'll just have to check each book you own whether it's been printed before or after. If after, it's valid 3.5, if before, check in later stuff...