Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Monster Manual II (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement) by Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Steve Winter, Ed Bonny, Skip K. Williams ISBN: 0-7869-2873-5 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 25 September, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.95 (20 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Many improvements over MM 1
Comment: As a DM, monster books are definately one of my favorites kinds. I own quite a few of the d20 ones: Monster Manual 1, Monsters of Faerun, Monsternomicon, and the latest, Monster Manual 2.
So let's get into it.
First the good:
1) The whole first section of the book before we even get to the monsters is great. The authors explain the creature abilities, special abilities, attack routines, and monster advancement in a much more clear and concise way than MM 1. You understand exactly how improved grab works, right? And swallow whole does bite damage how many times? These things and more are now explained quite nicely.
2) If you're a big psionics fan as I am, MM 2 offers something new. They have rules for how to use the Psionics Handbook to make the MM 2 creatures with psionic powers (such as the thri-kreen) truly "psionic". They have spell to power conversions, what combat modes they'd get, etc. Very cool.
3) Monsters as playable classes. If a monster could potentially take class levels, there's information for ECL and preferred class. If the creature is psionic, it even further breaks down the information into psionic/non-psionic ECL.
4) High CR monsters. There's a lot of baddies in this book that will challenge mid-high level parties. I was a bit worried there would be nothing for lower level groups, but there's plenty of low CR mobs too.
5) Cool templates. You will like these... promise.
6) Old favorites from 1E and 2E done up with 3E stats. Welcome back the Myconids!
Now the bad:
1) Too many damn constructs. Yes I know it's hard to make a monster that challenges a high-level group, but it doesn't have to be a construct! Really the constructs are fine. They are neat. I just feel they could have diversified a bit more.
2) Recycled monsters. About 20% of the monsters are re-writes from other WotC products. If you already own the books from which the original creature came, these are not new to you. Still, it's nice to have them all in one source. No more looking through web enhancements for the gem dragons, and MotW for legendary animals.
If it wasn't for those 2 faults, MM2 would have gotten 5 stars, as it is, it gets a solid 4. Worth owning.
Rating: 4
Summary: Passable content, excellent templates
Comment: If you already own the Monster Manual or some other book of that type, you can live without the Monster Manual II. There are some neat monsters in it, but none that you just can't live without. The best thing about this book is the templates. They all seem pretty usable and most of them are pretty neat. My favorites are the Death Knight, Half-Golem, Tauric, and Monster of Legend. Using these templates, you can expand your roster of monsters exponentially.
Rating: 3
Summary: An average quality book
Comment: This book deserves three stars tops, anything more than that is too generous. Roughly about 1/3 of this book consists of 1st and 2nd edition monster conversions, some really good ones like the Hook Horror, the Grell and the Jermalaine... and some not very good at all (like the Loxo and the Raggamoffyn). Some of the new monsters are likewise very interesting and well done (the Automatons spring to mind) But, some of the new monsters are also junk (take the moon rat for example... a parody of Pinky and the Brain perhaps) Still, there is enough good stuff here to make the book worth having. My other problem is that the artwork is really hit and miss... more miss than hit. The picture of the Jermalaine is particularly bad as is several others. There are a dozen or so templates that are mostly good too but nothing someone couldn't do on their own with time. I'm still glad I bought this book but I can't help thinking it could have been so much more.
 |
Title: Player's Handbook: Core Rulebook I (Dungeons & Dragons, Edition 3.5) ISBN: 0786928867 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 18 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
 |
Title: Dungeon Master's Guide: Core Rulebook II (Dungeon & Dragons, Edition 3.5) ISBN: 0786928891 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 18 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
 |
Title: Monster Manual: Core Rulebook III (Dungeons & Dragons, Edition 3.5) ISBN: 078692893X Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 18 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
 |
Title: Fiend Folio (Dungeons & Dragons Accessory) by James Wyatt, Eric Cagle, Jesse Decker, James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Matthew Sernett, Chris Thomassen ISBN: 0786927801 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 03 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
 |
Title: Arms and Equipment Guide (Dungeons & Dragons Accessory) by Eric Cagle, Jesse Decker, Jeff Quick, Rich Redman, James Wyatt ISBN: 078692649X Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 05 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
