Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition

I was terribly upset with the idea of online play. I always thought that Warcraft had that down. Why not leave it to the pros. I enjoy role playing with my friends; however, let's face it, the people that play this may not be the people I want to hang out with. That's just one of the many quarrels I have with this particular version of the game. Some of the other are too many of the rules that were good about 3.5 have changed. Over all, it's terrible; everything that was good about 3.0 has changed, and I believe that this big, steaming, heaping, nutty brown pile deserves to be flushed. I give it an overrated ONE out of FIVE. But bear in mind I can't give it a zero; unfortunately, Amazon won't let me. .000001/5

P.S. I'm going to play Warcraft.

One cannot review the new D&D Monster Manual in isolation from the other Core Rules books. The new system is a worthy successor to 3.5, but while it is in some ways even more consistently d20, it is also a dramatic break from 3.5 and you cannot take the monsters in this book to use in your 3.5 (or earlier) campaign.

What is interesting about the Monster Manual in particular is the variety of monsters available within a type. For example, there are 16 monsters listed under the heading of "Goblin." Now this inclues Hobgoblins and Bugbears as well as Goblins, but that is still a lot of different monsters. This allows the DM to craft a rich set of encounters even for low level characters including brutes, soldiers, casters, minions, leaders and more. This is a far cry from entering a room with 5 Goblins and a Bugbear, all with the same basic role and style of attack.

A better title for this book would be either "DMing for Dummies" or "DND Basics: DMing" If you are new to dnd or roleplaying in general then it is a great book , but for the veteran gamers. This book has little to offer other than some trap stats and the fictional setting. If you had to chose a core book to skip, this would be the one. Although the artwork is nice and most people do like having the whole set.

I waited until I actually used the 4th Edition Monster Manual in play before commenting, but it has been an absolute dream. Overall this powerful tool allows for the rapid creation of interesting encounters. The inclusion of knowledge check data, encounter suggestions, tactics and the format is incredibly succinct. If your prep time is at a minimum I have to believe you will love this rulebook. Not only is it fast and easy, but I have yet to see a monster whether they be the old standard or something very new that is hum-drum. Everything has a twist that worked for my gaming group. I was able to engage a gaming group who've been playing since Gary Gygax wrote everything himself and that was just with the goblins. Nothing's perfect but this is a lot of fun to play.

I've been playing DnD for over 15 years, going all the way back to Advanced DnD 2nd ed. with my parents their friends when I was only 7. What has always fascinated me the most is the artwork that TSR (the company that made DnD before Wizards bought them out) would put out with their book. The artwork has obviously evolved over the years, and it's very intersting to see how my peers view the monsters I've been fighting for over a decade.

I strongly recomend you or your playing group but 4th ed. My group was sceptical at first, but the more we learn, the better it's getting.

3.25 for life!

-Chris Morse