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| Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition | 
 enlarge | Author: Wizards Rpg Team
Brand: Dungeons & Dragons
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
Buy New: $18.52
You Save: $16.43 (47%)
New (39) Used (13) from $17.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  51 reviews
Sales Rank: 11315
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 4th
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 0786948523
Dewey Decimal Number: 793
EAN: 9780786948529
ASIN: 0786948523
Publication Date: June 6, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Core Rulebook: The Monster Manual is the third of three core rulebooks required to play the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game. | | • | Quick and easy play: The improved page layout and presentation enables novice and established players to learn and understand the new D&D rules quickly. | | • | D&D Insider: The Monster Manual will receive enhanced online support at www.dndinsider.com. |
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Product Description
The Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game has defined the medieval fantasy genre and the tabletop RPG industry for more than 30 years. In the D&D game, players create characters that band together to explore dungeons, slay monsters, and find treasure. The 4th Edition D&D rules offer the best possible play experience by presenting exciting character options, an elegant and robust rules system, and handy storytelling tools for the Dungeon Master.The Monster Manual presents more than 300 official Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game monsters for all levels of play, from aboleth to zombie. Each monster is illustrated and comes with complete game statistics and tips for the Dungeon Master on how best to use the monster in D&D encounters.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 46 more reviews...
 A re-imagined cast of characters June 9, 2008
47 out of 55 found this review helpful
Like all previous editions of the Monster Manual - this book contains the list of creatures and their statistics that DMs need to create opponents for their players.
Before 3rd edition, this was all this book tried to do. While a 2nd edition DM could choose to buy the Fiend Folio instead of the Monster Manual, the 3rd edition (and 3.5) DM did not have this option. 3.0/3.5 added monster-specific rules that truly turned the Monster Manual into a core rulebook.
Monster feats, exotic attacks, Templates, and rules for PC monsters - all were natural extensions of the monster concept: You have monsters - and now you want to alter them for your specific needs. In my opinion, this was a good thing.
The 4th edition Manual follows this model - although there are some differences worth mentioning.
First - the easy stuff:
The laundry list of monsters includes the bulk of classic D&D bad guys: Orcs, Unicorns, & Worgs (Oh my!). A straight book-to-book comparison will reveal many differences in this edition's inventory (e.g. 4th ed. has only chromatic Dragons).
Many will be surprised by which creatures got included - but it's worth remembering that every edition of D&D has had multiple versions of the Monster Manual (3.5 was up to volume 5). If your favorite bad guy didn't make the cut - they're not gone - they'll just be in a future product.
The creature entries seem abbreviated at first. Much as in 3.0/3.5 you will not see wordy paragraphs about a creature's back-story or preferred environment. As a DM, when I need a creature I need their stats, not their life story. Wordy write-ups take up space that could be filled by more monsters. Besides, adding thematic information like back stories is *my* job.
Big changes in creature powers will come as a jolt. Negative levels are gone. 3rd edition negative levels seemed like a good idea - but were more hassle than they were worth. They had a high maintenance tail (keep track of your minuses AND then track a save the following day - for each negative level), and they threatened the primary goal of all players: level advancement. Good riddance.
Undead now drain healing reserves - something that that is depleting (in keeping with the "drain life energy" motif of undead) and does not have a long term maintenance issue. When you are hit, you lose a reserve. Zero maintenance. This is good.
Vampires - actually Vampire Lords - still create spawns but now ignore garlic, running water, and wooden stakes and have detailed rules for how they must rest. Jettisoning garlic may bother some players - but traits like that work better in novels than they do in RPGs (Bram Stoker never had to deal with PCs wearing plate mail festooned with garlic cloves).
Werewolves don't spawn lycanthropy - they infect you a disease that makes you berserk. This change is likely due to the same calculation of maintenance hassle vs. gaming value. The first time you face werewolves - lycanthropy is a fun risk. When you face an army of lycanthropes, the disease adds more logistics than drama.
There are a lot of monster abilities that will translate into the new rules in ways that surprise and confound. With 4th edition changing the DNA of spells and powers - this was unavoidable and does not pose any barrier to DMs adjusting the power of their chosen monster up or down.
The rules for customizing monsters is where I would be most critical of this volume.
The back of the book contains a subset of monsters that can be used for NPCs or PCs. This is essential, since 3.0/3.5 opened the doors for PCs to be whatever they want. The rules provided for playing a PC orc (for example) seem very light. There are a host of issues that playing monsters brought up in 3.5 - and I don't expect 4th edition to be any different. This section looked a lot like an add on (and that's fine if it is), but if DMs should expect an expanded set of rules covering this - it'd be nice if the book came out and said it.
3.5's Monster Manual had "[this monster] as a PC" entries within the monster's description which I feel is a superior model. I want to be an orc, I pick up my Monster Manual and find the listing for - Orc. Putting them in the appendix helps the player who wants to see the full menu of choices - but you could do that with an index and still put all of a monster's data in one place. I'm a big believer in one stop shopping - and having the rules for a specific task stored in multiple places just slows things down.
Scaling monsters/Adding templates.
Adding class levels and templates to 3.5 monsters ensured that no monster had to be boring (three words: Vampire Kobold Sorcerer) and from all appearances this will carry forward in 4th edition. These rules in 4th edition are in the DMG and I would question this.
If the Monster Manual is truly a core book (the core set of monsters + monster rules) why not have all the template/advancement/ monster specific abilities rules in that volume?
I can see that having these rules in a central book like the DMG is appealing - but when the rules for monsters evolve, we are more likely to get another Monster Manual than we are an updated DMG. The rules in the DMG are may be adequate, but they look rather thin. I would expect more rules and clarifications to be a virtual certainty. Plus, there's the appeal of having all my monster rules in one book.
The changes in the 4th edition Monster Manual are extensions of the changes to the core rules - so it's hard to have stand-alone praise or criticism of it. For the most part, it remains what it always was: a menu of monsters that is essential for DMs.
 So sad June 14, 2008
34 out of 48 found this review helpful
OK....... I really REALLY REALLY wanted to love this game. To be honest I've been a sucker for every incarnation of DnD that's come out. I liked all of em in their own way. I prebought this one and every 'pre-book' they've put out... We were all so eager for this new incarnation. It read so well. I can't believe this, but this game has actually managed to depress me!! I HAVE played it. Just spent three hours playing, in fact.
When we finished the party reported that they had the distinct feeling that we had just played a board game version of WOW. Now we all LOVE WOW in our gaming group.. but that's NOT what we sat down to play around a table. We saw nothing 'quick' or 'streamlined' about the gaming experience. We moved pieces around a board adhereing to movement rules and 'squares' for this and that in a fashion that reminded me way too much of the old 'Heroes Quest', albeit a complicated version! Were the game mechanics good? Yes. Why did I give it a 'one star'? Because whilst the game is a good miniature warfare game it seemed to rob the flavor of DnD. The character creation was extrememly confined and the selections were limited. Gone was the ability to customize your character to the point that you actually felt like you had something unique. You will feel as if WOC is controlling the direction your character takes. The game DEMANDED a board and game pieces.. I've always felt that DnD's flavor relied on the 'minds eye', which is so much more colorful in my head than staring at plastic pieces on a piece of cardboard. I do realize that the 'original' DnD was just that, a wargame with a fantasy element. But I feel it evolved into so much more... I guess we've 'returned to our roots'... so why do I feel like we climbed back into the primordial ooze?!
A great deal of the time the magic users felt like they were 'hitting the hot button key'. They had one or two actions that they relied on every round to cause the maximum amount of damage. No inovation or imagination. Everything was geared towards 'how does this directly effect combat'.
The DM's guide isn't that bad. Reminds me a LOT of the first edition book. Information on how to be an effective dm, traps, dungeons, and artifacts. Not what 'thirders' would expect, but not bad.
The Monster Manual is awful. A third of the pictures are just rehashed from all the previous Monster Manuals. The book is concerned with stats so you can play your miniature game effectively. Again.... great if your into miniature gaming. The ecology and culture information is virtually non-existant. Make all the arguments you want about this now being in the pervue of the DM.. the honest answer is that WOC is being lazy. You have a vast variety of stats to place against your carefully created stats, but very little flavor to guide you in roleplaying the encounters.
I have read that the streamlined combat will enhance the rolplaying as you'll have more time available.... that was really exciting.. too bad this wasn't the case. Going to miniatures and a combat board, whilst carefully figuring out where your party and the encounter is, everytime combat arose was time consuming. You'll also notice that you'll have to change the map everytime, of course, which is also time consuming.
If you LOVE miniature wargaming. If Warhammer is something you daydream about.... this is the game for you! As a miniature game experience it ranks a three or four...
If you love games that take place in your head fired by limitless imagination then your probably going to be disappointed.
I really feel like power gamers are going to LOVE this game and probably flame me for my remarks. The game is geared towards being 'godlike'. I'm not knocking this. If you love powergaming and twinking then this is DEFFINITLEY the game for you. To each his or her own. You should buy it immediately... and keep DnD fiscally sound enough to perhaps manage an inevitable rewrite that might restore my faith.
Ironically I'll be keeping my set... I think it'll make a great board game for those rare nights when I just wanna run through dungeons killings things and working off frustrations. According to the DMG I don't even need a DM to do this..... Sound like any RPG you ever heard of???? No story teller... no RPG. Just another board wargame.. albeit a pretty good one.
Good day!
Loses the Flavor of D&D June 15, 2008
30 out of 42 found this review helpful
Ok, so I'm reviewing the Monster Manual book more than the way the creatures work. They're just a bunch of worthless stat blocks, so they work just fine, but that's what they are: working stat blocks.
First, let me say that I don't like the artwork. In old monster manuals, there were a lot of monsters that you might fight just because you were at odds with them, or you might not even fight them at all. They could be allies. Take giants for example, the art was of some giant people that looked pretty cool, and some pre-made 3.5 campaigns included them as allies. But in this book, they look ridiculously evil. In fact, everything looks evil. It just looks like they filled the book with things to fight, not think about, which I think it less imaginative and therefore more boring. Even the treant is evil.
MORE IMPORTANTLY...There is no flavor.
Take the Shambling Mound.
In version three, it has Four Paragraphs of description. In version four it has 1 sentence. A single sentence. And then listen to the description of its ability.
This is a direct quote of version 4:
"The shambling mound makes two basic attacks. If both attacks hit the same Medium or smaller target, the shambling mound makes a secondary attack against the target. Secondary Attack: +12 vs. Fortitude; the target is pulled into the shambling mound's space and restrained (save ends). While the target is restrained, no creature has line of sight or line of effect to it. At the start of the shambling mound's turn each round, the enveloped target takes 10 damage and the shambling mound regains 10 hit points. The shambling mound can envelop up to 2 creatures at a time. When the target makes its save, it reappears in a square of its choice adjacent to the shambling mound."
It's so dull. It just gives you all the tactical information to play out the game. It's just rules without anything interesting or imaginative. Monsters have lost tons of cool abilities like swallow whole that require some really imaginative thinking. And Lycanthropes just give you a disease. I feel like 4th edition reduces everything to statistics. The game takes place on a board in stead of in your imagination.
I just can't believe that the Monster Manual took all the fun out of monsters. They all seem evil, and there's pretty much no description of them anymore. I just used to have so much fun learning about monsters and their abilities. It's just sort of sad to see them reduced to mere enemies as opposed to interested creatures with backstories and cool characteristics.
I suppose the book doesn't deserve a 1, but I miss the way things used to be. It's a perfectly acceptable book that does everything it needs to, but it doesn't delve further into things like before, and that's what I thought D&D was about.
 A Step Backwards June 6, 2008
26 out of 81 found this review helpful
not exactly the next step in the evolution of the game. touted as a "steamlined" and "improved" re-imagining of the classic game that has been around in several incarnations over the past 30-some-odd-years; what it truly amounts to is an advanced tactical board game.
much of what made the game great is stripped away in an effort to emulate mmo (massive multiplayer online) games like world of warcraft; intentionally dumbing down the game in an effort to market it to a wider demographic. elements of game play that focused on actual role-play and story telling are minimized in favor of combat.
instead of taking what was good in both types of games and creating a higher, more elegant game that becomes greater than the sum of its parts, it instead is a souped up throwback to the chainmal days of d&d with mmo hidebound adhearance to mmo sensabilities.
while i can appreciate that hasbro may have had the best of intentions in crafting this version of the game, it fails in the eyes of this and many other fans who have played for so many years. it plays more like other sword & sorcery genre board games (descent, runebound, world of warcraft), and may in fact be the best and finest board game in the genre. but, sadly, it is no true rpg and those who seek that out in this game will be sorely disatisfied.
A huge leap backwards for true role playing June 6, 2008
24 out of 62 found this review helpful
I have been playing DND since good ole first edition and every one since up to nad including 3.5...so there was some excitement about the new system. In terms of pure roleplaying this new edition was going to either rock or blow chunks as it was quite different. I am reviewing the system in the terms of the roleplaying aspect(What DND is supposed to be) and not as any other game type. The end result....yup you guessed it...a huge step backwards.
Gone is the incredible detail of characters that is the trademark of DND and in place is now AT WILL POWERS...or more simply...DND for Dummies. The true flavor of being a character is gone and now there are powers that remind you of playing a video game or an even better comparison...a Miniatures game! The Monster Manual shows the creature(The artwork is the one huge plus in this edition, but I dont buy games just for art) and the stats...which have symbols....very much like the minis game. The feel is hack and slash and the idea that you add half your level to attack...crazy no matter the class. I do like that there are 30 levels now, but to breadk them up into 3 tiers...no need.
All in all our gaming group is staying with 3.5 and we will be fine with that...sad really....this is the first DND system we will not switch to. Different can be good, not just this edition. Too bad WOC listened to the online gamers instead of the true source of money (The Pure PRGers).
As a side note, If I were going to rate this system as part of a minis game with the touch of roleplaying thrown on top of it....I think it is quite good. Similar to Battletech minis and adding the Mechwarrior RPG on top of it. It is simple and has clear and limited choices for advancement...all good for minis games....not RPGs.
Any hope of a real RPG...say 4.5?
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