Customer Reviews

Monster Manual 2: A 4th Edition D&D Core Rulebook (D&D Supplement)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book continues to build on the 4th edition core mechanics by providing tons more creatures for DM's to choose from when building encounters.

As mentioned by a previous reviewer, there are lots of variations on existing monsters and fewer brand new monsters. I personally think that is the better way to go. D&D has a lot of good core monsters, no need to include all sorts of bizarre, weird, and silly new creatures. What is much more useful is to creature variations of existing monsters at different encounter levels, and this book just does that.

The encounter groups listed at the end of each monster race entry include both Monster Manual 2 and original Monster Manual creatures, a nice touch.

Lots of humanoid races are included such as Duergar, Bullywugs, Myconids, Centaurs, and other classics from previous editions. They also expanded on some of the existing core races from both the Player's Handbook and Player's Handbook 2: Eladrin, Devas, Humans, Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, and Goliaths.

This book focuses almost exclusively on monster mechanics and it delivers exactly that. However I ding it one star for a combination of little things.

1) There is a great table in the back breaking down monsters by level, listing their type (Skirmisher, Brute, etc.) and the page number. Scattered throughout the book are pre-built encounter groups and they vary in level from the monsters they contain. It would have been trivial to gather up all those encounter groups into a table in the back of the book like they did for the individual monsters, but they didn't. (They didn't do this in the original Monster Manual, which I didn't like either.)

2) There is no good mechanism for adjusting monsters up or down in level based on the adventuring party's level. There are only so many monsters in the book so I think it would add more to the playability to have a way of altering existing monsters based on the target encounter level. I am hoping this will come out in the Dungeon Master's Guide 2 but I'll have to wait and see. (Again, the original Monster Manual didn't have this either.)

Overall a great reference for DM's.

Like others have mentioned, I like the fact that there are a lot more low-level monsters to round out the epic tier campaign... especially staples from past editions (giant ants, bullywugs, etc.). I also like the tact they've taken in providing numerous builds and variances for common monsters and races. It makes it easier to create tier-appropriate encounters on the spur of the moment (and to create preplanned adventures without having to resort to creating your own appropriate variances... at least not as many).

I almost wish this book had come out before the first Monster Manual. I know the MM had to cover a certain amount of ground with the monsters you "need": goblins, orcs, etc. But the choices at low levels were always so limited and boring.

Monster Manual 2 adds so much variety to the heroic tier, it almost makes me want to start my campaign over! What I would have given to have giant ants, myconids and bullywugs in the early days of my storyline! Oh, well, bygones.

Of course, this book is also packed with typos, contradictions, and oversights, just like every 4th Edition book ever. That's why I'm docking a star. It really is getting ridiculous that these guys can't put together a clean book once in a while.

This monster manual seems to have taken the monsters from the first manual, and added a slight twist to them. For example they take goblins and add magic to the level 1 version called "goblin acolyte of maglubiyet". They also add in a few rules for player class monsters: ie. Human noble/cavalier/hexer, Eladrin Archer, gnome entropist, etc. A few of the many new monsters in this book I like are: early game beholder, Djinn, firbolg, Shadar-kai, Elemental mixes (ie fire+earth+air, cold+fire, air+earth, etc), Direguard.

If you are looking for a book that has an even amount of monsters for every level, I would suggest skipping over this one and going for Monster Manual 3. However if you are looking for a twist on a few existing monsters this would be a good book for you. Levels 1 through 3 have a limited selection of variety, focusing mainly on lizardfolk and demons. Levels 4 - 22 have 10 - 15 monsters per level, and reintroduce monsters such as: Lycanthropes, Oozes, Phase Spider, Rust Monster, warforged, metallic dragons (silver, gold, adamantine, etc) and a few more. The last few levels, 23-30, have a selection of 1 to 5 per level, focusing on demons and dragons. Two monsters above 30 are listed, Dagon - the first demon lord, and Demogorgon - Prince of Demons.

I give this a 3 of 5 simply because I feel there could have been so much more in this selection. While it is nice to have a new look at existing monsters to provide new tactics to common encounters, there are not as many new monsters to use if the old monsters are already monotonous. The style of displaying information, lore, and tactics is the same as was done in Monster Manual 1, and is still somewhat limited.

This is one to add to your collection, but not something used every game, nor as a low level substitute for MM 1.

Over all I liked the book. The monsters we're fun and interesting additions and all, but it was one part in particular that took this book over the edge from neat and kinda handy, to super useful.

Its simple really, they added a ton (and I mean a ton there are five pages of humans alone) of new human, elf, orc types, allowing the gm to expand and add to some of the best antagonists in the game keeping them an interesting and viable threat through out the tiers, which is a godsend and can save you hours of adding class levels to humanoid monsters, or generating NPCs for every little encounter.

It's particularly handy if your like me and think other people are the best story antagonist you could ask for, and use the monsters sparingly (makes em more special imho :P).

Produto de qualidade indiscutível, bom acabamento, muito bem escrito. A Amazon é a melhor opção pra quem quer adquirir um produto de qualidade com preço acessível. A única deficiência que por sinal não é culpa da Amazon é a respeito do envio, pois o Brasil tem uma burocracia muito grande e alfandega enrolada, pois demora quase 60 dias para receber o produto.

I can't help but think there is an age divide going on with 4E products like this. Any of us who collected the 2E Monstrous Compendiums found the 3.5 Monster Manuals lacking, and that feeling has only intensified with 4E. Let me clarify: I'm no 4E basher, but the Monster Manuals could really be done better. They're really nothing more than pages and pages of stat blocs and pretty art. Two huge things are missing: New monsters and any real semblance of fluff. If you've been playing D&D for a while, you've seen all these monsters before in one form or another. But what's missing is all that great info that used to be included in the Monstrous Compendiums - how the monster fits in with the world around it, something about the societies it forms, etc. What WoTC seems to have missed here is that information was pure DM fodder. It helped us put monsters in fantasy settings in a more involved way, and even gave us cool ideas for adventures themselves. In 4E monsters are really boiled down to random things PCs are going to encounter and just kill within a few rounds. A little fluff here would have gone a long way.

Our GM finds many many wonderful monsters to kick our butts with in this. Grab it! Slay your PCs! Hear the gnashing of the player's teeth!

Better balanced monsters. The WotC team improved over the MM by more play testing and more knowledge of how encounters should run. These are just more fun. I use it instead of the MM when I can (replacing the name of a monster with the stats of an MM2 monster that is similar).

This second installment of the 4th edition monster manual is definitely a must have for any DM out there. Although it's not as thick as the first monster manual, I can say without a doubt you will be happy with the additions made in this book. It adds many new monsters and alot of older monsters to fill in different roles. They also finally added metallic dragons! The only reason I gave a 4 star is because wizards is charging 35$ (which is what I payed) and I don't feel you quite get 35$ worth, but it really is a nice addition to the 4th edition books.