Customer Reviews

Monster Manual: Core Rulebook III (Dungeons & Dragons)

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

The third of the core rulebooks is finally out, and DMs can at last fill their D&D campaigns with critters and start gaming in earnest.

Reviewing the Monster Manual is a bit of a moot point, if you plan on DMing for 3rd edition you simply need to own this book. Like all previous monster books, it reads like an encyclopedia - but there are some aspects of the new Monster Manual that are significant departures from the old way of doing things.

First off, the rulebook is thin. Surprisingly thin. "500 fearsome foes" it boasts on the back cover yet it's a third thinner than the Monstrous Compendium of 2nd edition. The alphabetical listing of monsters in the front only has 384 entries... Wha..?

Here's what's going on - each monster doesn't get their own page, they are jammed in this book with a shoehorn. In addition to the usual sub-grouping of monsters (the monstrous spider has only one entry in the front listing, yet the entry lists stats for seven types of nasty arachnid - so it's really eight monsters), there are Monster Templates. Templates are to monsters what prestige classes are to characters, additional abilities and powers that can be grafted onto any existing monster, allowing the DM to multiply their options in monster selection. The existing templates are Celestial Creature, Fiendish Creature, Ghost, Half-Celestial, Half-Dragon, Half-Fiend, Lich, Lycanthrope, and Vampire.

Templates can be sprinkled liberally into a campaign to ensure that player characters never take any monster for granted. Ghostly goblins...vampiric trolls...now nothing is certain, and no character is safe. The rules on lycanthropy are downright inspiring. In the old rules lycanthropy was something that affected a player once, and they immediately went to a cleric to get the cure. Now the cure is much less certain, and opportunities for role-playing abound. Want to surrender and become a shape-changer? You can, but as soon as you do, your alignment becomes that of whatever were-creature infected you, oops. Great stuff.

This new manual also categorizes all monsters into one of 30-odd types and sub-types. Beasts, for example, are non-magical creatures whose abilities stem from physical attributes (like a dinosaur). Outsiders (great name!) are non-elementals from another dimension...etc.

This allows DMs to use consistent, unambiguous terms to apply rules to groups of creatures, which is good. ("This sword is +1 vs all outsiders....hmmm the Shadow Mastiff is an outsider so, yes I get the bonus" etc.). --Here's the downside, looking at the entry for Naga in the new Monster Manual, you cannot find language that tells you whether or not the Naga has the ability of darkvision. It does, because the Naga is an "aberration," (as it says under the creature's entry on page 138) and on page 5 (flip, flip, flip) you can read that "Unless noted otherwise, aberrations have darkvision with a range of 60 feet."

For a DM looking to create an encounter, one-stop shopping is ideal. You look up the monster, copy the key stats and abilities, and roll some hit points. Now you have to pay attention to what type of creature your copying and check to see what other abilities that type of critter has. To be fair, this has always been an issue with monster descriptions. Shorthand phrases like "this ability is treated like the magic-user's spell lightning bolt, cast at 12th level of ability" have been annoying DMs since 1st edition. They haven't gone away in this edition either. The alternative is to ask WoTC to reprint the same ability and spell descriptions dozens of times, fattening the book and increasing the cost, so I suppose I should count my blessings. They have done a marvelous job with the monster abilities-giving DMs both a central listing of powers, as well as shorthand with each monster description-so the end result is certainly a very usable product.

I am curious why the lich was the only category of undead that was created as a template. One would think that zombie-ogres and ettin-ghouls would be sensible additions.

Next up, the critters themselves. The same cast of characters have returned, although the revamped abilities will no doubt surprise PCs the first time they run into something like an Old Red Dragon, (Be afraid, folks, be afraid...) The folks at WoTC have sensibly pointed out that the critter statistics are baseline figures and that tougher versions of each can and do exist. So anyone out there who thinks that his or her favorite critter should be meaner already has the framework to do so. Some new critters are in, some old are back - and the Tanar'ri and Baatezu are now filed under Demon and Devil again (I wish they'd make up their minds...). There are easily enough beasties to keep your players challenged and/or terrified.

Finally, the art. The art has taken a major leap forward from the cartoonish junk that populated the Monstrous Compendium (the "Giant" illustrations from the MC just make me ill). Todd Lockwood has redeemed himself in the Monster Manual, making up for those laughable depictions of female character races he did in the new PH. Several of the new artists have done some really great work as well (The frost worm looked particularly cool) and since gaming truly starts with imagination - good art is a good thing.

Hey, face it. If you're a DM and you're running 3rd edition, you'll end up buying this book. Fuss and procrastinate all you want. It's less than twenty bucks, and it's nothing short of essential. No DM wants to be without a good list of things that go bump in the night.

Enough of this, already...I gotta find some dice...

Go nuts, folks - and happy gaming.

Welcome to the outstanding 3rd Edition of the Monster Manual! Considering that all the way back in 1977, the MM was the first hardcover book ever printed for any RPG, being able to shine in that colossal shadow is an impressive thing. So what is it, exactly, that makes this tome a worthy predecessor to Gary Gygax's first groundbreaking book?

By far the most beautiful and distracting them about this edition is that the entire thing is in full color. Virtually every page is graced with a glorious new illustration, which shows the classic monsters of the game in all their glory. A few have been drastically re-worked (such as the Displacer Beast, Stirge, Chimera, Troll, and Bulette), and may not be to everyone's taste. The tone of the artwork is very similar to that found in the 3rd Edition DMG and PHB, and, if you play Magic: The Gathering, will be undoubtedly familiar. Some people will probably be overly distracted by the hyper-stylized, dramatic new renditions; those who have played for decades will likely miss the abstract detail of David Trampier, or the idealized heroic glory of Larry Elmore. (But Elmore does provide a gorgeous illustration of the Nymph.) Most newer players, however, will be overjoyed. Finally, you'll have incomparable artwork that you'll be proud to show to your players in the midst of an encounter! The one caveat I personally have with the art is that many of the creatures are displayed in "composites" - for example, the Djinn and Efreeti are shown together, as are three of the Giants. This looks fabulous, but reveals a bit too much if you want to use the artwork as descriptive color. The best thing about the art? Each dragon has its own unique, distinctive look, and they all virtually seethe with ancient gracility and power. Nicely, nicely done.

After you've digested all the eye candy (which could take a couple hours), you can analyze the book for its depth and quality. The book at first seems woefully short (224 pages), but they manage to cram over 500 monsters into the work, due to the total absence of the "1 page, 1 monster" mentality. This leaves some entries unnecessarily brief, but most have just the right level of detail, complete with brief notes on culture and behavior. In only a few cases (Shadow Mastiff, Wraith, etc.) did I feel I was looking at a heartless, empty pile of stats.

Unlike previous edtions, the preliminary text to this book is absolutely essential. For the first time, monster abilities are compiled, quantified, and all displayed in the same place. Besides a nice, detailed summary of special attacks and defenses, this portion features rules for monster advancement. This allows you to create horrifically powerful NPCs (Orcish Warlords, etc.), or even turn monsters into PCs! Dangerous stuff in the hands of the unwise, but very interesting and useful nonetheless. Having varied monster power levels adds danger and excitement to the game for jaded players.

Each monster description features the usual stats (Armor Class, Hit Dice, etc.), with a few noteworthy additions. Initiative is specifically given a numeric stat for each monster; Attack types are further formulated ("2 claws, 1 bite" as opposed to "#AT 3"); Facing and reach are given exact dimensions, if you prefer to use miniatures; Saving Throws are individualized per species; Attributes (yes, even Charisma!) are listed for ALL monster types; and even Skills and Feats are listed! The added detail seems cumbersome at first, but after 2 game sessions, I can easily say that the added detail, color, clarity, and excitement are easily worth the hour-long adjustment period. (Although 1st Edition AD&D veterans may well die of shock when they realize how different all the monsters "feel" with the added detail.)

It worries me that many classic favorites are missing from this book; but of course, that just means that WotC/TSR will be continuing in their tradition of Monstrous Compendium releases. One look at the proud entries DEMON and DEVIL, and all was forgiven. ;)~

At the back are some very useful Appendices - A complete chapter on mundane animals, details on monstrous vermin (giant spiders, etc.), and most interestingly of all, monster templates! With these customization options, the DM can create Ghosts of any species, Half-Dragons, Celestials, Fiends, Liches, innumerable Lycanthrope and Vampire variants, and more. Purists may well be horrified, but I, as an old grognard DM, am 100% for surprising the players.

This edition of the Monster Manual accomplishes many things - it formalizes monster entries with a unified, logical approach to attacks, powers and defenses; it re-envisions the entire multiverse of creatures with a coherent, dramatic look; it allows monsters to be played as PCs, or designed as NPCs of any power level; it encourages creativity in unique/surprise monster design; it elaborates all encounters with thoughtful details on skills and abilities; and it leaves novice DMs with very few tactical questions. The book could have been more detailed on monster lairs, culture, behavior, etc., and I would have dearly loved to see extensive wandering monster tables (I loved the Fiend Folio and MMII), but overall, I was tremendously impressed. It is true that WotC have gone against the grain to some degree, but virtually every change they made has been for the better. With every monster improved, re-thought, re-balanced, and given the flexible potential to grow in power along with experienced adventurers, we have here an indispensible work that will keep the players challenged, entertained, fascinated, and terrified for years. And, conventional tradition aside, isn't that what Dungeons & Dragons is all about?

It took quite a while to get all three third edition rulebooks, but now they're out. DMs and players alike will enjoy this new spin on the monster manual. It has many many many encounter charts and they have taken a whole new approach by giving PC stats on all of the creatures. I always thought that they should have done this long ago; it really helps when trying to decide, say, if an Ogrillon could bash through the locked door protecting our brave and intrepid heroes. Plus it lists standard feats and skills that certain creatures always have. This is a new move for the D&D game...it breaks down the barriers between "player" races and "monsters." Wanna be a Black Pudding fighter, go for it! But you'll really need this book to get all of the necessary information. Like the other two books, the illustrations are just great. They really help you visualize the creatures, and the artwork is a little more edgy than previous editions. Another thing that I was quite glad to see was the revival of the Demons and Devils. I mean obviously in second edition they just called them Baatezu and whatnot, but now they are back and unapologetic about it. In fact they go into quite a lot of detail as to the fauna of the lower planes, which should really make for some interesting adventures. They also have added some new spins to old creatures, the celestial hound for instance. Also a whole new subtype of creature: the dire animal. Since these are listed in the summoning tables in the Player's handbook, it is really essential that anyone playing a spellcaster get this book to find out the details....all I can say is you WON'T be disappointed.

If you have purchased the other two books and, like me, have been frustrated with the lack of good monster descriptions in the DM guide, then you really MUST buy this book.

Ever since the Diablo expansion for AD&D came out earlier this year, there seems to have been a migration towards hack-and-slash campaigns. While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with that, and I have even taken part in some pretty gory, combat-happy campaigns myself, such a trend ignores the other half of role-playing games--namely, the non-combat, character-development aspect of it.

The 3rd Edition D&D Monster Manual is nothing more than that: the bare bones description of monsters allowing for DMs to incorporate them into combat situations--as fodder for player characters. Perhaps 95% of this book is devoted to statistics and combat strategies of the creatures. All but gone are the ecological and social descriptions of these monsters, transforming them into two-dimensional adventurer-bait. Players of the old edition of AD&D can use the plethora of works detailing and describing these monsters from 2nd Edition AD&D and substitute the statistics presented herein. I imagine there will be a lot of that going on, with the focus on rules of play and combat in 3rd Edition.

With all that said and done, this is still an excellent tome. More than anything, the monsters have benefitted from the rules-overhaul and are now neatly categorized and described within the framework of the rules. There is a great sense of consistency throughout the work that helps the DM adjudicate situations that may come up in the campaign.

All of the monsters now belong in several different types, much as player characters are defined by different classes. These types determine hit die, attack bonuses, skill points, saving throughts, and various abilities. Supernatural and magical abilities were unified, as much as possible, so that one set of rules can define breath weapons, energy drains, fear auras, etc., while still allowing the variation between different monsters. A good ten pages in the beginning is devoted to all of the general rules concerning monsters and really shows the extent to which the design of this game is very smooth and logical, not to mention consistent.

The selection of monsters in this book is extensive--truly over 500 creatures. Add to that templates that allow the DM to customize creatures with a certain condition instead of simply presenting, for instance, twenty different variations of vampires, and the vast scope of this system becomes staggering.

All monsters now have an "Advancement" entry, which indicates how the monster might improve over the base entry described in this book, either in Hit Dice, or in character class levels. The ability scores given for the monsters are easily-worked with using the information from the Dungeon Master's Guide, allowing DMs to create unique, customized versions of any monster in this book, or to allow players to play monster characters.

I do have a few additional quibbles about this work, however, one of which being variant caster levels for a certain creature. For instance, pit fiends cast most spells as a 17th-level sorceror, except for the wish spell, which is cast at 20th-level, and his fear aura, which is cast as if a 15th-level sorceror. This is troublesome and confusing, and while it shows the variation of the pit fiend's different abilities...is this really necessary?

Still, this book is a well-written work by none other than Skip Williams, who has answered "Sage Advice" questions in the Dragon Magazine for 15 years. The well-coordinated rules and the seamless system of 3rd Edition D&D no doubt bears his mark, and this book is a fine example of the improvements made by TSR in this new edition of D&D.

Whine, whine, moan, that's what i hear a lot of from people about the new D&D. Why? I don't know. If soemone figures it out I hope they'd let me in on why. This book stands out as the PHB and DMG did. The cover is gorgeous. But what's in it is even more impressive. I'm continually flabbergasted at how they release these gorgeous and meaty tomes for such a reasonable price. The Monster Manual has HUNDREDS of monsters in it ready for use.

Each monster has an extensive write-up that includes all it's major stat info, a short description, follwed by it's combat tactics and then finally explanations of it's special powers. It's all printed on glossy paper stock, so many of the creatures have gorgeous full color paintings of themselves. Gone are the days of black and white pictures with color descriptions, now you can just how gross a mind-flayer really looks.

I've heard complaints from peopel that there is nothing it the MM that allows for role-playing opportunities. Wah. Go get yourself a pacifier. If I'm gonna do role-playing, I'll have my PC talk to NPC's and the like. I don't want to go into a dungeon and talk to the critters. This is a Monster Manual. This is a book of antagonists, not the NPC Manual of Role-Playing opprtunities. If you really wanna talk to that Buelette, I'm sure your DM can come up with something.

A new addition is the templates. There is no longer just a vampire. Anything can be a vampire, you just have to add the template to the original creature, and viola! A vampire goblin. Or a vampire Ettin. How about a vampire half-fiend/half-minotaur? (half-fiend is another template) Same goes for lycanthropes (Werewolves, et. al.). Also new is a system of "advancement" for every creature. Regular old orcs not strong enough for your 10th level fighters? Orcs and other humanoids (as well as other monsters) advance by class. Send them up against a group of 7 or 8th level orc barbarians. Other monsters just get tougher by adding extra HD, damage and other goodies.

All in all this book is a shining example of the great new direction that D&D is headed in. This is in a must have collection of D&D books along with the PHB and DMG.

I was among the many long-time AD&D'ers who was very nervous about WotC's remake of the AD&D game. I admit I was quite impressed with the Player's Handbook, but not so with the Monster Manual. The artwork is incredible; the fact that it's in color is a nice touch. But the big pictures, placed in the middle of the page, sometimes make it difficult to find the information one is looking for. That, and there aren't pictures for all the monsters. That wouldn't be a horrible thing, but the written descriptions are quite short and incomplete, often much more so than even the 1st ed Monster Manual (a Nalfeshnee is simply described as a 20-foot cross between and ape and a boar with wings...accurate, but I could only visualize it because of previous knowledge). Most monster descriptions/information (outside of combat stats) comprise four sentences or so.

Further, the organization is sometimes rough. The creature names in the book are only slightly larger than the subheadings, such as "combat." This is no major problem, but it makes it difficult to quickly pick out where the monster listings begin. This format was terrific for the PHB; but the MM is more of a reference work, written for information-at-a-glance, rather than for enjoyable reading.

On the plus side, some new features are included (necessary for any remarketing of old material, I suppose). Rules for augmenting monsters are a very nice addition, as are monster templates; though to be fair to 2nd ed., templates existed then even though they weren't called such or as thoroughly explained (liches were still wizards, vampires could have classes, etc.). Some monsters are new, though fairly unremarkable; some are further clarified for increased realism, most noticeably the fire elemental. In general, the old monsters were simply refitted to make them more impressive on paper; more hit points, tougher bad guys. No big whoop about making monsters more difficult by giving them better stats. I admit, I'm biased. I come from old-school AD&D, where monster hit points and armor class weren't the key to making challenging foes.

In conclusion, the book is useful for updating monsters to 3rd ed. rules, but is otherwise unremarkable. It is the perfect resource if one is already familiar with the monsters from 1st and/or 2nd ed., and is merely looking for new stats. When one considers the very reasonable price, it's a worthwhile purchase. And yes, dragons were beefed-up again.

Open this book up and in about .5 seconds you will be mesmerized by the art in this book. Almost every single monster listed has a picture, and it's all gorgeous.Add to that the detailed, comprehensive, and RELEVANT detail to each one, and you have a book that is well worth the money.The new Third Edition introduces these nifty new things called challenge ratings. No more arbitrarily throwing in monsters that accidentally end up too easy or too tough for your party. Each monster is assigned a number that tells you exactly how tough it is. Plus a quick reference chart will tell you how much experience your party gets. However, this chart, as well as the random encounter chart, is in the DM Guide, a clever way for Wizards of the Coast to make you buy all three books.

What perhaps I love most about this book is that each character is given attributes, just as if it were a player character. This means that potentially any monster in the book can become a player character in the game. So if you ever get bored with the half-orc, you can always play a pixie. More importantly, subraces for each race are listed (such as wild elves and the classic heavyfoot halflings) with appropriate attribute modifications for each.

Now what I'm about to say is no doubt going to earn me more than one not-helpful vote, but I have to say it. I don't like the new emphasis on demons and devils. TSR has always managed, despite the criticisms of it in the past two decades, to avoid outright satanic themes in D&D. Wizards of the Coast, however, flourishes them with pride. This is going to give too much bait to wackos who have been saying for years that D&D is nothing but a recruiting tool for satanic cults.

A much smaller criticism I have is in regard to many of the descriptions, which refer to the planes from which the monsters originate. Well? What are these planes? I want to know more about the planes! Wizards intends to put out a book describing the different planes in about six months, (and I'm quite certain there's some 2nd Edition material on the subject) but in the meantime I'm dying of curiosity.

Bottom Line: If you play D&D, you must own this book. Even if you never use it in a game (which you will), you will have hours of entertainment browsing through it and looking at all the pretty monsters.

For new players this might seem like the best thing ever. I have to admit I had some reservations about going from 2E to 3E with my players but they were all dying for it so away we go!

I suspect this review will be of more use to veteran types than novice types, as the latter have no comparison, but here goes:

GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE MANUAL

(1) ARMOR CLASS: a variety of factors are now used to determine AC; the dexterity of very quick creatures; the toughness of the hide; the size of the creature. Some PCs always complained that huge monsters were impossible to hit b/c they were so quick.

(2) FEATS: yes, the monsters now have cool feats; some are unique to those in the PH;

(3) MAGIC RESISTANCE: this has been changed to SPELL RESISTANCE. Anyway, it is no longer set so a creature with the old MR from 2E now has to worry about higher level spells and higher level wizards dropping it down;

(4) TOUGHER CREATURES: some creatures which seemed to be somewhat weak in 2E are now made to be much tougher; of course, this is all around;

(5) DEMONS/DEVILS: yes, they no longer fell to the pressure of giving demons and devils stupid names like tannari and baaetzu. Now, they're called, once again, what they were called in first edition.

(6) DRAGONS: are super tough. The older ones are almost impossible to kill which makes it nice since dragons were pretty weak in 1E, got better in 2E but were never quite tough enough.

(7) ELABORATION ON CLASSING: a lot of humanoid monsters can do more with classes and there are less level limitations on them. Before, most humanoids could only go so high.

(8) MONSTER HD IMPROVEMENT: creatures that used to be set in HD now can go up to a certain degree.

WHAT I DON"T CARE FOR

(1) TOUGHER MONSTERS: means a tougher world. If you already have a game going, you need to compensate for the change in power balancing.

(2) BOOK TO EXPENSIVE: for what you get in it. A lot of 2E creatures that are in the basic MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM are missing. What about two headed or giant trolls? Those creatures were great to have around. Lots of others missing, too, but you know that if you played 2E or 1E.

(3) FORMAT: the old books gave a page per creature. You dont' get that here. Yes, they're trying to conserve on space but it just looks sloppy. Two creatures detail sheets are on one page and it gets confusing.

(4) LOTS OF MONSTERS MISSING: I didn't expect them to include 2E monsters from PLANESCAPE or particular realms but geesh, lots of creatures missing from 2E basic monster book, which I like to use.

Some of them are: the two headed troll (like an ettin and troll mix with lethal damage compared to a regular troll), the giant troll (tougher and you need to do a certain amount of special damage), Dracolich (the undead dragon!), Githyanki (another cool, intelligent creature with death swords), all the different types of beholders, etc.

(5) CAN YOU SAY ECOLOGY AND HABITAT?: used to be in 2E but not in the new MM. Anybody going to tell us that orcs have an average lifespan of 40 yrs as detailed in 2E? How about the difference between good and evil dragons when territorial disputes transpire? How about spell components for potions and magic used from certain monsters?

All gone. You have to make this all up yourself or go back to 2E sources. Not good.

I understand there's no way to fit all the creatures in but they took a bit from here and there. Would have been better to keep the basics in one book, spread it out and tell everyone there would be a second one with the special creatures from PLANESCAPE and other areas.

Anyway, my advice to old and new RPGers is to consider some points I rised. It's a lot easier to change things now then later when players are used to certain rules. Whatever the case, some things are good and some are not in my opinion.

To the more seasoned people, hope this helped some. :)

After revising the rules (and doing it well), WotC had to then re-do all the monsters to suit the new rules.

Had they done nothing else, this book would rate highly because, at last, the Dragons have the majesty they deserve. Even very young Dragons are now fearsome creatures, and the OLD ones... monstrously frightening.

The design and layout is well done, and all the unusual terms and divisions are explained up-front in an easy reference section so that if a monster description confuses you, you can flip back to look up the details.

Some of our old friends are missing, but I'll concede that those which went missing were for the most part the least-used (the Brownie, for instance). The "templates" at the end are also useful, as they show how you can apply a concept to an already extant monster (vampire dragons, anyone?) and, of course, since everything is now on the same basic scale, you can really use the monsters as characters -- either player or NPC -- in a way that was much more difficult in the earlier editions.

Well worth the money.

This book has its good points and bad points.

Good points- The number of monsters-over 500!!! There are so many here.

The templates are wonderful. Liches, Fiends, Half Dragons, Vampires: its all great!

The artwork is incredible. All the pictures are very well done.

Bad points- After looking at some of the older monster manuals, I noticed that this one seems to have a lack of information about each monster.

Some things could have been more clear too....

Overall, if you plan to be a dnd dungeon master, buy this book. However, you WILL need the players handbook and DM's guide to use it to its full potential.