When I first heard of D&D Next I was extremely apprehensive, even a little annoyed that they would be releasing a new edition so quickly after the last. Slowly, after reading through an early play test build I began to feel cautiously optimistic. As the last few years passed and the rules were updated numerous times I lost track of where they were and some personal events in my life caused me to put my gaming hobby on the backburner. Imagine my surprise when I heard the game was to be released in the summer of 2014! Immediately I was enraptured with the rules, the updated artwork, and the marketing blitz that WotC seemed to have a rather firm grip on. Then the starter kit released and I nearly ran to our store to snap up the first copy. What was contained within was nothing but an appetizer to my ravenous hunger for MORE D&D! It renewed my interest in the hobby and in WotC products in general.
A few months later the Player's Handbook released, and being a member of my local WotC store, I was able to scoop up the book on the early release date. The classes, the artwork, even the physical look of the book was spot on – old school enough to entice my AD&D roots but modern enough to say, “Hey! Look at me, i'm pretty!” Soon after I had created my first character using the rules (Thokk Dwarfcrusher the Barbarian, of course!) and when I finished I nodded my head and said, “That's the stuff right there.” Something was still missing, though. Something that was integral to the game and the experience in general. Monsters. Glorious, glorious dragons, ogres, orcs, illithids, behir, barbezus, bulettes, vampires, liches, zombies, wights, and hundreds of other creatures to fling, flay, and otherwise annoy your players.
Cue the Monster Manual's early release date. I already knew the cover art was fantastic, harkening to the days of yore with a big, fat, mean looking Beholder right on the front cover, chasing down some formerly intrepid adventurers. From the first time I cracked the book and got a whiff of death and terror, I knew I was in my element. Everything about this book screams use me; from the thick, stiff cover designed to be opened time and time again to one of the neatest additions to the book, quotes describing the experiences of heroes who had encountered such beasts before. I flipped quickly through the book, glancing over the various dragons and their corresponding colors, liking a very large percentage of what I saw. I almost missed it the first time, I even had to flip back and look again. There they were, glorious and creepy and fantastic in all their lawful neutral glory. Fracking Modrons. I could not stop the big, stupid smile that lit up my face as I saw them. Perfect in every way, from their stats to the creepy little lips. Then I sat down and really looked.
Lets start with the presentation. The cover is amazing, as I have said already, but the incredible artwork doesn't stop there. Every picture is done in a hyper realistic, stylized design that lends itself well to descriptions and viewing. There were a few I did not find enjoyable, mainly because I am somewhat old school. Lets cover those first. The orcs. I know some of you will take issue but I do NOT like the new artwork for these infamous first level character killers. Something of a small gripe in comparison but I much prefer the more bestial, slavering orc to these newer, more civilized seeming ones. Also, the Kraken. I know that many recent depictions of this mythological beast have changed it from a massive, insane octopus to something more monstrous but I had hoped D&D would remain firmly entrenched in the big-ass, awesome-ass squid side of the table. I was wrong. These gripes aside, the rest of the monstrous depictions are fantastic and more than adequate to convey the danger and malice of these foes. Something that I really loved that may seem trivial to some of you – the smaller, sketched drawings beside many of the main illustrations. These illustrate some of the creatures in action poses or in the midst of casting a spell or even just moving and go a very, very long way in easing a DM's job of making them seem more real. The lich has moved back to it's AD&D position as a campaign spanning, world shaking, PC slaying beast of a villain – as they well should be. Dragons are much the same as they have always been, but there have been some minor changes to them that I find enjoyable but some may grumble about. They no longer cast spells, though some of this loss of power has been offset by lair actions and legendary actions, which I will talk about later in this review.
Now to the part most of you have waded through my ramblings to read about – the content. Let me keep this short and simple as I don't wish to spoil much in the way of specific stats. Much of what was present in third edition and possibly fourth is still here: AC, HP, Initiative, and Ability Scores are much unchanged, though the limiting of monster ability scores to 30 has forced the designers to find other ways of differentiating the best from the beasts. This is a good thing. Many of the monsters in third edition were simply copies of other stat blocks with a sprinkling of unique abilities to differentiate the creatures. 5th edition has completely scrapped this concept and instead of having cookie cutter monsters of the same CR that behave slightly differently, those differences are profound and form the basis of encountering many of the monsters contained within. Lair Actions are my personal favorite – encountering a beast in it's natural habitat is one of the most daunting tasks an adventurer can face, after all. These are abilities that a monster can use as a bonus action at initiative 20, meaning many player characters will be forced on the defensive from the very start of the fight. Legendary Actions are a bit different, however. They can only be used by the monster at the end of an opponents turn and the number available differs from monster to monster. Extra attacks, extra movement, even a free spell are amongst the many and varied options available to Dungeon Masters who wish to wreck face. Now on to something that has a small mechanical effect on a game but a much larger, profound impact on the way your friendly neighborhood DM throws big, bad, evil guys into your compaign – Regional Effects. Aboleths cause all the caves and rocky surfaces for miles around their lairs to become slippery and hard to walk on, Ancient Red Dragons cause the ground to rumble and even erupt, the Kraken controls weather and causes water elementals to flock to it's cause, vampires cause the populations of rats and bats to increase and plants within a certain distance of their lairs wither and become almost undead. This allows a creative dungeon master to simply react and throw strange weather and terrain conditions at the players that will have them scratching their heads and wondering what the hell is going on.
In summary, this is the prettiest, densest, most useful book that has been released for Dungeons and Dragons in a very, very long time. Everything within is clear, concise, and easy to read. Stat blocks are easy to pick specific information from and the creatures they cover are deadly to the extreme if used correctly. All in all, as a Dungeon Master, I say let the games begin.
Presentation – 9/10 – While a few monster illustrations had me shaking my head, the VAST majority of artwork in this book is spot on and incredible. The binding seems sturdy and my only gripe with the physicality of the book is the easily scratched glossy cover.
Content – 10/10 – WotC blew me away with it's spot on depictions of an ogre's strength and stupidity, an illithid's horrible hunger, and the always frightening rust monster's decaying abilities and there is a LOT here. Monsters enough to keep your PCs fleeing in terror for years to come pack every page with just enough space dedicated to the artwork. Also, the lich is back and badder than ever.
Modrons – 10/10 – Cause Modrons are awesome.
Overall – 9.75/10
In conclusion, I suppose I have just one thing to say. If you enjoy 5th edition D&D and are running a campaign in any way, shape, or form; you need this book. If you don't run a D&D campaign but love good artwork and descriptions of monsters that have haunted fantasy since before you were born, you need this book. Go out and get this now, you will NOT be disappointed.
- Andy
- Andy
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