What do you look for in a monster book?

[BOZ]

Something I have never really seen is a break down of creatures by zones. By zones I mean, coastal, plains, hills, mountains, air, water, underground. Then build an ecology around them.

we used to have these in 2E in the form of random encounter charts, as well as in 1E in the back of the monster manual 2.

 

[Olive]

we used to have these in 2E in the form of random encounter charts, as well as in 1E in the back of the monster manual 2.

and of course in the 3e DMG...

 

[Tewligan]

good stats are crucial. make sure they're compliant.

I'm probably in a minority, but I don't get too concerned with minor number inconsistencies. I don't worry too much if a creature has 3 more skill points than its hit dice and INT say it should, or if the CR seems a touch high or low. As long as it's interesting and fills a niche, I can overlook small number hiccups.

Oh, and I think that good art is pretty important for a monster book. For some reason, lackluster art in other d20 books doesn't bother me, but I think it makes a monster book feel really amateur.

And no bat people or gnomes, please.

 

[Hand of Evil]

we used to have these in 2E in the form of random encounter charts, as well as in 1E in the back of the monster manual 2.

Not really talking ramdom charts but more theme based monsters to devolop that area of a world, fitting into the enviroment. I always thought the ramdom encounters just dropped monsters into an area and did not explain why they are there.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Oh, also think when devoloping a monster stat block, creatures should have information on Spot Checks (for them to be seen) and scent.

 

[DragonLancer]

What I look for...

* Good artwork/Layout.
If the artwork isn't very good then its going straight back on the shelf. Same if the book looks cheap, which sadly is a lot of 3rd party books these days.

* Generic.
The book has to be generic enough to cross over into whatever campaign I am using. The Creature Collections and Monsternomicon are good examples of books that which are campaign specific but are open enough to be transplanted.

*Value for Money.
When I look through the monsters I have to have some idea of how useful they will be. Its ok to have cool new monsters but if you never end up using most of them its not worth buying.

 

[blackshirt5]

Alright, a lot of good responses on this topic, thanks for the feedback.

So far, I think I'm gonna go the route of the Monsternomicon, going for quality of monsters and descriptions, rather than quantity, with plenty of details, hooks, and background on each monster. Any more suggestions, just keep em coming, and thanks again for the help!

 

[DragonLancer]

Next question: Do you prefer undead as templates or as regular creatures?

Both. I was extremely pleased when Savage Species had undead templates for the regular undead. Its nice to have a new undead but a template to add to something that will turn it into that is also handy. I guess you could say that with a template it rules out writing up the creature anyway but I disagree. Sometimes you just don't have the time to template something.

 

[blackshirt5]

Both. I was extremely pleased when Savage Species had undead templates for the regular undead. Its nice to have a new undead but a template to add to something that will turn it into that is also handy. I guess you could say that with a template it rules out writing up the creature anyway but I disagree. Sometimes you just don't have the time to template something.

So would that be a vote for "I want templates but also an example creature"?

 

[DragonLancer]

Yes.