What's your favorite monster book?

[blackshirt5]

Just as it says; what's your favorite monster book?

I have 3; The Monsternomicon, Tome of Horrors, and Creature Collection 2.

Monsternomicon is just amazing, I love the style, and even if it's not for everyone(monsters such as the Pistol Wraith and Mechanithrall won't fit in every campaign), this is how a monster book should be done, IMO.

Tome of Horrors is gigantic, and it reproduces a lot of the old school monsters that I have very fond memories of, especially the Piercer.

Creature Collection 2 just has so many great monsters in it, like the Surged Giant. It's just a really solid, creative book.

So what're yours?

 

[Thanee]

Does the Monster Manual (3.5) count? I think, it's really well done.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Garnfellow]

I think the all-around best monster book out there right now is probably the 3.5 Monster Manual, for utility, technical design, and presentation. The 3.0 version was pretty good, but had some problems: (1) layout, (2) lack of any guidelines on creating monsters, (3) lack of guidelines for applying templates, and (4) lack of guidelines for advancing monsters. The 3.5 version addresses all those shortcomings, fixes some wonky design issues with individual monsters, and standardizes feat and skill acquisition.

That said, my personal favorite is probably the Tome of Horrors. It appeals to a strong sense of nostalgia, but moves beyond that emotional tug with rock-solid 3e rule implementation. I think the art and layout are pretty good, and it's got a wide variety of monsters. The biggest limitation is a lack of a good indices. I also think the book has suffered somewhat in that many of the monsters have been redone by WotC designers. (The Wizard versions are not always better, but I think this still hampers other game companies from adopting ToH versions.)

My second favorite is probably the Fiend Folio. It's got a good selection of interesting monsters and avoids some of the pitfalls the MMII fell into, such as providing sidebars on using Epic rules with some of the stronger monsters. It also has a trio of great fiendish prestige classes, and expands the game with new rules for swarms, grafts, and symbionts.

I'm still digesting the Book of Fiends, but so far it gets a big thumbs up. And I'm looking forward to Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary and the Tome of Horrors 2.

 

[Jaws]

Legacy of the Dragons

Legacy of the Dragons


j.

 

[Grazzt]

My fave monster book is Tome of Horrors 2. (Yeah, I know, not really fair since its not out yet...)

All that aside, my fave monster book (excepting the Tome series) would probably be the 3e Fiend Folio...very useful and imaginative stuff in there.

 

[Salad Shooter]

All of them! Especially the ones with monsters with wings...dogs with wings...horsies with wings...cows with wings...birds with wings...yay things with wings!

 

[Psion]

Ommitting the 3.5 Monster Manual -- more a staple than anything else.

Legions of Hell was an old favorite because each creature was loaded with plot hooks. Book of Fiends inherits that sensibility.

Creature Collection II. Lotsa neat ideas that can easily be swapped into my game.

Tome of Horrors is nice as well.

I like the format of Monsternomicon, but I don't find the creatures particularly adaptable to my own settings.

 

[DaveMage]

Monster Manual 3.5 is my favorite, but I really like Fiend Folio and Tome of Horrors.

Green Ronin's Book of Fiends and the Fantasy Bestiary get honorable mentions as they're certainly great ones too.

(There are other very good ones out there, but the above are my favorites.)

 

[Bendris Noulg]

For Usability: Tome of Horrors (Necromancer)

For Unusual and Interesting: Liber Bestarius (Eden)

For Strange and Inspiring: Minions Reborn (Bastion)

As an aside, I've not so much as looked within the covers of Monsternomicon, but the GM of the Oathbound game I play in uses creatures from it often, and I've liked what I've seen/encountered.

 

[Morpheus]

Monsternomicon and MM 3.5e get it done for me...