The most notable of these in my mind is Challenge, which is a system that helps Dungeon Masters choose level appropriate monsters for their players’ encounters and also how much experience points to award.Īfter that it’s the monsters of course, hundreds of pages of cool creatures, descriptive text, excellent artwork and tons of little extras that give personality to the book and the monsters. If that amazing cover artwork with the adventurers fleeing a really ticked off beholder doesn’t impress you, you may be just really hard to impress but do yourself a favor and at least browse a copy at a bookstore to see the art and design going on here.Īside from the artwork, what about the book itself? The first few pages contain information on how to use the book and also necessary rules explanations, some of which has of course changed from previous editions. Not including appendices, every monster entry gets its own artwork.
The Monster Manual exceeds the Player’s Handbook in this area, mainly due to the fact that there is a great piece of artwork on almost every page. The 5th Edition books are receiving almost universal praise for their design and artwork, and they deserve it.
Yes, Dungeon Masters are players as well, but you know what I mean.Īs with the Player’s Handbook, the book looks great. Out of the three, it could be argued that it is the “optional” rulebook but truly, anyone serious about playing the game really needs all three, especially if you are the Dungeon Master and not a player. Weighing in at 352 pages and chock full of monsters, the Monster Manual is the second (of three) core rulebook for D&D. Either way, you’ll find a summary and photo gallery following the video. I plan to do the same for the Dungeon Master’s Guide in December, so make sure to keep an eye out for that review as well.įor those of you that prefer to watch and listen to reading, check out this post’s companion YouTube video. As with the the Player’s Handbook in August, in the interests of science I’ve plunked down my $49.95 plus tax to get an early copy for review purposes. The Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual is releasing this Tuesday (September 30th), although game stores in a preferred network with Wizards of the Coast have been selling it as of September 19th.
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