Customer Reviews

Monster Manual: Special Edition (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Core Rulebook III)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoy this book for the same reason I enjoy the Leatherbound Special edition Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide.

At risk of repeating myself, If you love the look and feel of a leather book, as I do, then you will love this book. It is true there is nothing new but the errata (which is available online anyway) but then this means this book is one you buy purely by choice, a choice any book lover would be happy to make.

It is durable, like its two predecessors, able to take the beating gaming books inevitably suffer when carried around in book bags to far off gaming tables to game. I have used my leatherbound PHB and DMG in many a mobile session now and they look and feel in as good condition as when they were new, with none of the scuffle marks one gets on the regular plastic-laminated hardcover gaming books.

As I might have predicted, it has a green cloth bookmark, to contrast nicely with the red cloth bookmark with the PHB and the blue cloth bookmark with the DMG. It is a nice touch to use different colors, and a much-needed one because when the books are piled together, the black leather covers look similar, so the bookmarks set them apart. They also make a nice colorful contrast to each other in an almost artistic way that I find aesthetically satisfying.

Wizards must have heard some complaints about the pages sticking together at the ends from the gilded edges, because they do not stick at all with the Monster Manual - with the exception of a few pages very slightly at toward the binding, but those quickly separate, much like the PHB and DMG did. I must say I was slightly disappointed that I was not the one who separated them like I did with the prior two books (letting me know I was the first person to open it), but that is rather silly, since either way, once you use the book, they will be, and the books all come shrinkwrapped in plastic, so no one would be thumbing through it before me in any case.

All in all, this is a well constructed book that I expect to see heavy usage around my gaming table. I hope Wizards makes other leatherbound versions of heavily referenced books, like the Spell Compendium, because they are a joy to have and use.

(Minor confession - I bought two copies of each volume - one to use, one to put on my shelf next to my leatherbound Shakespeare and More than Complete Hitchikker's Guide to the Galaxy, just so I knew I'd have a pristine copy and so I could take my 'for play' copies with me without worrying as much about them, but they play copies are so durable I probably needn't have done so - and the pure visceral pleasure of opening and using these books at each game makes me enjoy those copies more than the pristine ones on my shelf).

If you are a fan of D&D like I am, this book is a wonderful addition to your collection of books. The pages are in vibrant colors and they have fixed some of the errors from the first printing of the Monster Manual. I've found the book is good to use in a game just like the normal ones. My only complaint is that when you first get it, alot of the pages are stuck together and have to be turned carefully to peel them apart or you can tear a page. Other than this, its a great product.

I was happily surprized that the book did not match the image suppled by Amazon and other web sites! So glad it matched the other 2 leather bound books. I hope more are produced by wizards in the future.

The leather book is similar to the previous 2 supplied by Amazon and by far Amazon has the best price.

For fans of the latest incarnation of Dungeons & Dragons, the special editions of the core rulebooks have been great. While the content is fundamentally identical to the standard versions of the books, these deluxe "leatheresque" covers enhance the fantasy feel that goes with the game. The latest release, the Monster Manual, lives up to the quality standard set by the two previous releases. The only reason I didn't give this book a 5 instead of a 4 is that strictly speaking the much less expensive, standard version of the book is just as good as far as the game goes and the little "hope you like it/thanks for buying" note from WotC slipped inside isn't actually a bound-in page (same problem as two other books). If you're a casual player, especially if you don't run games as a DM, this version of the Monster Manual is a bit pricy. But if you're a die hard fan who collects all of the D&D products this book, and its predecessors, must be on your list. This is also a great book for anyone who appreciates quality book construction with an interesting layout and page after page of great fantasy art.

Well this is going to be a bit of a short review because, after all, it's the Monster Manual. We all know it, we all love it, and we've all used it for years. It's obviously one of the core books to D&D. Part of the Holy Trinity you might call it. Back in the early days of AD&D this trilogy was all you needed, and quite frankly, all we really had. Younger gamers are used to seeing Wizards of the Coast coming out with two or three new hardcover books each month. Such was not the case 25 plus years ago. It was a few years before we got a new hardcover and even then it was the crappy Fiend Folio. Heck, you've got it made today!

Anyway this is obviously the final book in WOC's Special Edition series of the core titles and it's another gorgeous book. Leather bound with gold gilt pages, it's the kind of tome that book lovers like myself go ga-ga over. The main worry is that it's just too nice to risk getting pizza, Dorito, and beer stains on. For me the book is a collectible pure and simple like the other two are. It's something to put on the book shelf and just admire. Yes there is some new material inside that formerly could be found only on the Wizards website and so if you are a completist then I suppose you'll want to use it. Or, you could make Wizards very happy by buying two copies, one to use and one to save. Whatever the case may be it makes a classic book even better. A truly gorgeous product!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

I had the standard monster manual and ordered the special edition one, since I already had DMG and PHB special edition. Since Im a big D&D fan, I loved this special edition. But the book is exactly like the standard edition, except for cover, page marker and most recent errata.

So, if you're buying this looking for new content, forget it. If you want the most recent print with errata corrections or just want to celebrate the 30 year old edition, go for it.