Monster Manual (D&D Core Rulebook)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



The Monster Manual is one of the Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition core rule books. It brings in one of the essential elements of D&D, monsters. You can't help but flip through the pages of this book. The inspiring art and pleasant layout is wonderful. Before the main monster entries start, there are 8 pages devoted to a brief introduction, a description of monster statistics including challenge rating, finishing off with some legendary creature rules. Then the juicy part of the book starts, just over 300 pages of alphabetically organised monsters. Each monster entry is usually accompanied by some awesome art depicting that monster. One aspect that really stands out are the new legendary rules. These rules help legendary monsters, such as dragons, stand out and be more of a challenge, especially in their lair. They are a wonderful addition and will surely create some memorable adventures.

A 25 page miscellaneous creatures appendix contains just under 100 entries. Ape, awakened tree, blink dog, eagle, frog, giant rat, mule, phase spider, swarm of bats, winter wolf and worg are a few examples. The entries follow the same format as used in the appendix at the end of the Player's Handbook, except that for non-mundane animals they also have a short paragraph describing them. This is followed by a 9 page nonplayer character appendix. After a short section on customizing NPCs it contains entries such as acolyte, archmage, commoner, noble and thug. Each entry has a short paragraph describing how that NPC's role fits into the world. A very nice and handy addition.

This book is full of gorgeous content. When not using it to play the game I can see myself lazing on the couch and flipping through its pages. It continues the high standard that this new edition of D&D brings. Highly recommended.