Let's cut to the chase: It's the third title in the series. You should already know if you want more monsters to pick from. No one needs three Monster Manuals to run a game, but I enjoy having options - even if some of those options are rather unlikely to ever get picked.
Here are the notes I took as I read through the manual last night, paying more attention to fluff and background than stats:
- Flavor text is now relies more on story material than game mechanics
- New layout for the monster stat block:
- Basic Info: HP, AC, speed, resistances, etc.
- Traits: Characteristics that are not powers (auras, regeneration)
- Actions (by type): Standard, Move, Minor, Free
- Triggered Actions
- Skills & Abilities
- Alignment, Equipment, Language
- I like the Banderhobb;seems like it should be a heroic tier monster, rather than paragon.
- For those who don't already know: In DnD, behemoth = dinosaur
- Names of monsters I do NOT look forward to saying out loud:
- Catoblepas
- Klurichir
- Nalfeshnee
- Ultrodemon (can't stop shaking my head)
- Girallon (I may have been negatively influenced by the rock-star pose in the picture)
- Imix (something that dangerous needs a better name)
- Jackalwere (Werejackal wasn't good enough because . . . ?)
- Meenloc (I'm meen, grr!)
- Nagpa
- Any type of Nerra
- Norker (fear the . . . Norker?)
- Xivort
- I am looking forward to using Cave Fishers
- Having trouble buying the Chitine as an established, organized race with a culture - based on their origin (They crawled out of a vat and overran the Drow)
- Apparently, every race needs one (or more) tainted/fallen counterpart:
- Elves/Eladrin :: Drow
- Dwarves :: Duergar
- Halflings :: Derro
- Gnomes :: Spriggan/Xivort
- Humans :: Tieflings
- Dragons :: Primordial Dragons
- I'm a little confused by the Drow fluff. Is there a difference between Drow, Abyssal Drow and Dark Elves - or are they all names for the same race? Perhaps the Underdark book holds the answer . . .
- Some monsters, like the Forsaken, have so much backstory that it seems like you'd have to build a campaign around their fluff in order to justify using them. This is a potential downside to story-driven flavor-text.
- Gremlins? Really? *sigh*
- Glad Primordials are an option for a campaign-ending villains, now.
- Which came first, the Nagpa or the Skeksis from Dark Crystal? Huge rip-off, either way.
- The Nerra live in a giant disco ball. Seriously.
- Conceptually speaking, how does one fight a shadow without using some form of light source?
- Did Tanarukks and Tulgars really need to be two separate races? They seem kind of similar to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment