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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Three stars but still worth considering..., November 20, 2000
This review is from: Creature Collection: Core Rulebook (Sword and Sorcery) (Hardcover)
I'd really like to give this book 3.5 stars because it fits somewhere between average (3) and good (4). I went with three stars because the content is not quite up to the standard set by the Monster Manual (MM) and as a result I don't think that I would use many creatures from this book without first making a few changes. That said, there are some aspects of this book that I really like and some areas in which the Creature Collection is superior to the (MM). First the layout of the book is much better than the MM. Every creature gets it's own page so its easy to tell which picture corresponds to which creature and statistic tables never get split across page boundaries (like in the MM... argh!). Second and more important, the background descriptions for various creatures tend to include a historical perspective of the creature relative to the world as a whole (Forsaken Elves come to to mind). This approach helps the DM build scenarios around the creature type and is just plain more interesting to read. This approach also provides an introduction to the 'Scarred Lands' campaign world, which actually looks very promising. On the downside the artwork in this book is not up to third edition standards. The art, while professional, is black and white and is reminiscent of first or second edition work. In addition, the creature statistics don't appear to be as well thought out or balanced as those in the MM. I often found myself thinking that a particular creature would make more sense if it had less hit dice, was one size larger, etc. Finally, the book is more expensive than the MM and doesn't have as much content. It contains roughly 200 creatures compared to approximately 500 in the MM.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good layout, but unlikely monsters make this a bit dull..., March 13, 2001
This review is from: Creature Collection: Core Rulebook (Sword and Sorcery) (Hardcover)
I guess if you want to surprise jaded players with new beasts, this is for you. If you play in the Scarred Lands, this is for you. But if you want to adapt some of these monsters to your own campaign, you are in for some work. Most of them have very specific histories that are difficult to modify. Normally I like little creative notes and world specific blurbs. At times they are inspiring. But here they just make the creatures difficult to port to my own campaign. The page layout is MUCH better than the Monster Manual, but the pictures are a dull black and white and they do not have the edgy 3E feel. Good art for 2E or 1E, but not what I was looking for. I also thought the creatures were a bit silly at times, but then I rarely use any aberrations. I am more of a humanoid/construct type who plays a lighter magic campaign. Heavy magic campaign folks may not shy away from these monsters as much as I did. Even with the drawbacks I mentioned, I still felt this was an average buy. I will likely get a few game sessions of material out of it, and in my opinion, that will pay for the cost of the product.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice addition to your D&D universe, July 31, 2002
This review is from: Creature Collection: Core Rulebook (Sword and Sorcery) (Hardcover)
One of Sword and Sorcery Studios' first publications, and what an attractive and useful tome it is. This hardcover publication features over 200 creatures, and I have already used a couple in my new third edition D&D campaign. The Creature Collection is similar to the Monster Manual, giving all the stats you need for game play. All the creatures have well written descriptions, detailing their natural habitat and special abilities. Very impressive interior art. The artists include Jeff Holt, Steve Ellis, Guy Davis, Jeff Rebner and others. The authors Geoff Grabowski and Stephan and Stewart Wieck -- among others. All in all, Creature Collection with many fascinating monsters is a nice book to add to your D&D collection.
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