Will the MM2 have more than monsters...Forked from "advice to anyone still ..."

[balard]

I for one would like a little more fluff in the MM. Maybe one more paragraph for each monster, and one more in the main monster entry.

 

[avin]

MM4E is tha suxxor.

It's just like some medicine recipe. If you guys like stats + battles and no story, go ahead, but this is not for me.

I got a DDI subscription already for moster stats, I want some evocative stuff with NEW ideas for old or new monsters. Like alternative concepts for every monster.

Stats? Compendium > Ctrl + C > Ctrl + V > Print.

There you go.

Why should I buy something I have with my subscription? For cartoonish anatomic wrong pictures of monsters?

 

[avin]

The Monster Manual contains information on enemy groups, tactics, descriptions, and background as well as including art. It's not ALL statblocks.

Enemy groups like: "some orcs and an ooze"... seriously... the fluff is lame compared to 3E and most of the art looks bad (orcs? lol... demons and devils are fine).

I'm not a 4E basher, I like it a lot, that's all I have been DMing for months, but I can't understand why people defend the worst MM ever...

 

[Dausuul]

I 100% disagree with this. I do feel there is a place for this, but it is not in the Monster Manuals. I do expect them to largely be large statblocks for monsters (the Compendium info has to come from somewhere).

There is a place for this, but it is in the series we have that includes the Draconomicon and Open Grave.

To me, what you list is largely going to go unused. I might use one monster lair in a book, one or two might give me inspiration. The rest are wasted pages. Give me a Book of Lairs, on the other hand, and I might use more (and am more likely to buy it if that's what I need).

I agree. If I'm buying a Monster Manual, I want monsters, not pre-packaged encounters that almost certainly won't fit my campaign. I don't even like the "suggested encounters" in the current MM.

I do expect that more than 80% of D&D DMs have internet access. Given the sort of person that tends to play D&D (college students being very heavy in the "play often" category, IME), I wouldn't be surprised if 80% of the games being run have DMs with that level of internet access.

I have Internet access and a DDI subscription. You know what? I'm still almost certainly gonna buy the MM2. Sure, I can print off statblocks if I want, but what if the players go somewhere I don't expect (as players inevitably do) and I have to whip up an encounter on the fly? Besides, I just like having a physical book to use. And I don't think I'm alone in that.