Monster Manual 2 – In Depth #1
Monster Manual 2 – In Depth #1
Monster Manual 2 – In Depth #2
Monster Manual 2 – In Depth #3
Monster Manual 2 – In Depth #4
Monster Manual 2 – In Depth #5 (coming soon)
Many of you DM’s out there will be going out to get the Monster Manual 2 as soon as you can on Tuesday, but if you’re not convinced yet from my review that it’s a great resource I figured some people might like a much more in depth preview of exactly what’s in this book. If you’re the kind of person who really likes to have a few surprises waiting for you when you crack open a new book, then I recommend not reading every part of these posts. If you’re just a player, then bugger off! These posts aren’t here for you to read and learn all of the DM’s new toys (or are they?).
There are several new design mechanics that you see recurring in a few places within the MM2. Perhaps the most interesting one is that a lot of monsters now focus on moving PC’s around the battlefield, typically in a “kidnap”/jump & pull fashion that promises to be very exciting.
Angels – These divine servants get four new monsters added to the mix at the epic tier, unfortunately without much new variation in the basic faceless guardian concept, but more epic level angels are definitely a welcome addition. Angel of Retrieval uses the ‘kidnap’ mechanic mentioned above, teleporting targets 5 squares and then moving adjacent to them. Angels of Light are minions that explode in radiant bursts when they die. A very welcome new addition is the Archangel template that can be added to any angel to make them a badass elite.
Ankheg – Yes, they’re back! The basic Ankheg is a level 3 elite lurker that burrows, but perhaps its biggest threat is the ‘Gnaw and Scuttle’ attack that burns its grabbed victims with acid as it scurries away with them! We also get an Ankheg broodling level 1 minion brute that get bonuses to attack targets grabbed by other ankhegs, vicious! [Read the rest of this article]
One Page Dungeon contest extended one week
Dear One-Page Dungeon contest participants.
Due to a large number of misunderstandings and confusion over the deadline of the One Page dungeon contest, Chgowiz and I have decided to extend the contest deadline by one week.
It was brought to our attention that at least my original annoucements had an ambiguous deadline, making it hard to know if the contest ended at Midnight of May 13th to 14th or at the one of May 14th to 15th.
I’m terribly sorry about that. In fact both Chgowiz and I have been feeling like crap for the last 24 hours or so. It shows you how human we are 
To that effect, we are re-instating all entries that we’ve rejected in the last 30 hours and will accept new entries until May 21st at 8h00 AM (Eastern US Time Zone).
We hope that all participants will be understanding.
Thanks for participating! Have a great weekend.
Do You Throw Rocks in Your PC's Puddle?
I was having lunch with a DM friend of mine. He was telling me how he was trying to steer his group in is Homebrewed campaign so that they would “spontaneously” decide to go see an Oracle and thus start the Forgotten Realms’ Sceptertower of Spellguard” Adventure.
He told me how one of his players kept refusing to follow the group toward the planned objective and how his other players seemed confused about what needed to be done. He concluded his story by telling me that he had to stage an investigation-like scene so that all clues would be tied up together to push the group to decide to go see said oracle.
He told me that most of his players weren’t paying attention to that scene and that he ended up doing NPC on NPC dialogues to conclude the scene before everyone fell asleep.
Ugh, NPC on NPC action…That’s worse than bad porn.
And to top it all, my DM friend was feeling bad because he believed that he had railroaded his players in finally deciding to go see the oracle.
While discussing with him, I asked him this question:
Chatty DM: “Are you the type of DM that throws rocks in the puddles at your PCs’ feet, hoping they’ll investigate the ‘plops’?”
Friend (Sheepishly) “Actually I throw little strands of reed, in puddles way ahead of the PCs, and hope they’ll notice.”
I understand where he comes from. My friend wants to create a storyline where players will end up making key choices to move the adventure forward. However, since he wants at least a minimum of control on where the game will go, he multiplies subtle hints and works his various plotlines to some pre-planned solutions that he hopes the players will eventually notice.
Yet, he doesn’t want to force his players toward campaign goals and hopes that they’ll organically converge toward them.
I’m more of the school of having things happen to PCs in an adventure. When stuff happens to characters, players will react and follow leads to understand why they were targeted or involved in a situation.
I’ve seen many adventures start with the PCs walking in a City and a poor NPC gets mugged by mooks. In such cases, the adventure’s author assumes that the players will intervene and follow the story from there.
I find this to be a potential weakness in adventure design. What if one or many characters don’t care about what’s happening? The GM will be stuck and may have to resort to trickery, or downright pleading for players to grab that essential plot hook to move the story forward.
That’s actually an argument that Pro-sandbox GMs use to sell their games. By not making plot hooks, players are forced to explore to find adventure. But many players aren’t actually all that comfortable seeking adventure by themselves and expect the GM to make something happen.
Chatty DM “Instead of throwing rocks in the water, why don’t you drop a meteor on the party? Make the trouble hit them directly!”
Friend: “It does seem evident when you say it like that”.
For instance, have the mook mistake the PCs for someone else and have them try to mug the party. Then, when the party frisk the bodies, they’ll find a piece of paper that hints at some sort of conspiracy and leading to some obscure meeting place…
I’m very, very much of the ‘Drop a meteor’ type of DM. In my games, I try to focus the action on the PCs. Maybe NPCs have great adventures off screen, but when trouble hits, the PCs are very near it and are usually the only ones who can deal with it.
In tomorrow’s game, where I’m staging an election in a hotly contested burg of my campaign’s “City Within the Dungeon”, I’m giving all PCs free houses/abodes in that burg and I’m hiring all of them to be in charge of Security for the election. Now things are going to happen that put the security of the candidates and the voters at risk, and the PCs are going to be on the front line, trying to do the job they were hired to do.
Of course. I have a backup plan. If they refuse, they get to be selected as obligatory voters. Yes, I’m railroading the adventure’s setup, but that’s because our game is not a sandbox and we’re cool with that.
So if you recognize yourself as a rock throwing DM and find that your players are having a hard time moving the the adventure forward, why not consider throwing a little meteor on the party instead:
- Have a piece of a strange artifact fall in their hands and have all of your world’s baddies go after it
- Have the PCs fall in a sinkhole that leads them to that lost dungeon everyone is looking for
- Make that one PC the rightful heir of the Lost Kingdom, the only one who can contain that sphere of Annihilation that’s eating her sweetheart’s city
What about you? Do you throw rocks in your PC’s puddles?
The One Page Dungeon Contest is Closed
Just a short note to tell you all that the One page Dungeon is closed. We’re sorry for those who were caught in the confusion of deadlines. The contest ended on the stroke of Midnight last night.
I’ll come back with a post soon to give you a heads up of the next phases (judging, prize categories and so forth).
I wish to thank all participants who sent us approx. 70 entries to this contest. It has far exceeded our expectations!I also want to extend my thanks to Chgowiz who graciously accepted to co-host this crazy-assed contest!
Also, do note that given the number of entries we received, we’ll likely spend a few weeks reviewing and judging them. So please don’t expect results before the first half of June. We’re still a bunch of guys who do this in their free time.
Best of luck to all participants and we’ll keep you all posted.
Fascinating, Captain
As I sat watching Star Trek on Sunday, I was struck with a strong (but familiar) thought: “damn, I really want to run a campaign set in this. “
About 4 years back now, I tried starting up a Star Trek campaign using d20 Modern/d20 Future and a few house rules (mainly for playable races). I even made up a spiffy, spiral-bound handout (one of the benefits of working for Kinko’s at the time) that included the background on the ship the players would be serving on, the extra rules, the time period, and so on. There were at least two players that were very excited about the prospect, but then I heard from the other potential players that they felt a bit intimidated… they weren’t as fanatical, and afraid that their lack of Trek knowledge would show through, especially to the players who were more into it. That didn’t end up being the reason I didn’t run the campaign (real life issues would see to that), but it stuck in my mind as being a problem with a Star Trek campaign, and one that could now be fixed by setting it in the “new” ST universe. [Read the rest of this article]
Review: Monster Manual 2
Wizards of the Coast is really steam rolling out the content for 4th Edition! You might consider that a good or a bad statement; either you feel like there is a tsunami of new material out before you’ve even read last month’s new release, or you’re loving it and can’t get enough. If there’s one thing most DMs can agree on, it’s that having more monsters to pick and choose from is better than more options for players, so the Monster Manual 2 comes as a welcome addition to 4E. The MM2 expands on many of the monsters we’re already using as well as introduces a whole slew of new beasties to the mix. From front to back, this book really excites me as both a DM and a player, and it delivers a lot of excellent new content for the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons.
Some of the first monsters presented in the MM2 were noticeably lacking from the original Monster Manual. We now have Earth, Storm, and Water Archons; the first MM only gave us Fire and Ice Archons and I wondered where the rest of them were. Other welcome faces include the Behir (with kickass devouring abilities), the aptly named Beholder Ultimate Tyrant, the Cockatrice, Colossus, Djinns, and for the love of all that is holy, finally we have Metallic Dragons again! Many familiar monsters are reappearing in 4th Edition in exciting ways elaborate please, such as the Kenku, Myconid, Xorn, and finally the much feared and revered Rust Monster.
Many of the existing monster types see some excellent new additions. Demons and Devils each get a decent helping of new varieties, the same goes for the Eladrin, Humans, and Gnomes. Dwarves get nothing new but Duergars are present. The Elemental group is greatly expanded with 13 (yes, thirteen!) new types, still shying away from the classic ”earth elemental” concept and instead going for the more stylized “Stormfury” and “Tempest” approach. There are some very interesting additions to the Giants, such as the Eldritch giant/titan along with the Frost and Stone giants, which I think rounds out their variety quite nicely. There are also some new types of Warforged, Genasi, and Oozes.
There is one monster entry in this book that clearly stands out to me as being out of place: the Slaughterstone Constructs. These dwarven creations look and read more like mecha; along with the Warforged titan, these just stand out to me as decidedly sci-fi additions to an otherwise very fantasy setting. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but no special attention is given towards making them read or appear as clockwork or even rennaissance creations.
I am a bit disappointed that WotC did not take a more thematic approach to the MM2 and present mostly monsters that relate in some way to the primary “boss” featured – Demogorgon. Considering the abyssal lair of Demogorgon includes a large aquatic landscape I was hoping that a Kraken would show up along with a selection of other new aquatic creatures – perhaps even an Ixitxachitl or two, but alas that is not to be! The demon’s lair is also described as having various islands of jungle terrain inhabited by apes, birds, and dinosaurs, none of which are expanded upon in this manual. I view this as a missed opportunity by Wizards to not only create some coherency amongst the book but also to add some more solid justification to releasing a series of numbered Monster Manuals. I’m not saying I want the whole book to be these types of monsters, but at least a handful of them is all that would be needed. Really I’m just sad there weren’t any new dinosaurs (okay, “Behemoths”…) in the book, but I guess I’ll just have to do something to fix that omission. Also the reuse of artwork from up to ten years ago is surprising to me, while some of them are great pieces of artwork that I’m happy to see remain in print, others like the Dark Mantle just feel like they could really use a fresh perspective.
At the very end of the book there are only three new playable monster races: the Bullywug, Duergar, and Kenku. I’m happy to see the latter two, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone wanting to play a Bullywug! That said, the Bullywug race is actually interesting, as it introduces a more unique idea and I’m definitely considering using some Bullywug NPCs after seeing them in the book.
Despite a few flaws, the Monster Manual 2 is really an excellent source of new material for 4th edition D&D. This is especially true when looked at in conjunction with the first Monster Manual, where the two really serve to present a plethora of monsters and monster types for players to face off against and outsmart. In particular the Dragons now feels like a more complete entry in the manual, as do the Demons, Giants, Archons, and Golems. As with the MM and DMG there really isn’t much of a reason to get it if you’re only a player, but it is a must have for any DM!
LAST DAY TO ENTER ONE-PAGE DUNGEON CONTES
I don’t need to be Chatty on this one.
This is it, you have until midnight tonight to send in your entry. We’ve passed 60 entries today and maybe yours will push it passed 70?
Thanks to everyone for participating and helping us spread the word on the Blogsphere and forums!
YouTube Tuesday: To Boldly Go Where No Edition Has Gone Before
Above, the Death Star blowing up the Enterprise, to consider our SW vs. ST theme this week. Below, links to a number of other Star Trek videos (from the various series) that I’ve collected. Enjoy!
A Dungeon Master's Toy: How to Host a Dungeon
Caspule Review
How to Host a Dungeon is a very clever, dungeon building solo game where you follow the progression of a dungeon and its denizen through a series of ages. Its more of a Sim than a game, but it is a very entertaining concept that leaves you with a side-view dungeon map and a full history ready for your next fantasy RPG campaign.
Well worth the 5$ it costs.
Full Review
Shortly after posting my last article and reading through the comments (thank you all!), I remembered reading about a Dungeon creation game somewhere on the net. I remembered it had the strange name of ‘How to Host a Dungeon’ so I looked it up, and found that it’s was indeed named ‘thus‘ and was authored by Tony Dowler. [Read the rest of this article]
Inq. of the Week: The Stars Are Trekkin'
When the Fourth was with you (dang, the joke doesn’t work well in the past tense), we asked about your favorite lightsaber Yoda Wookie scruffy nerf-herder Star Wars movie. 53% of you were overtaken when the Empire Struck Back, reeling from the revelation that Vader was Luke’s father (OMG spoiler). 19% voted for the original, A New Hope for science fiction. Rounding out the original trilogy was Jedi with 12%. Clone Wars, the one that didn’t quite fit with the others anyway, got only 1% of the vote.
Over the weekend, I caught the newest entry in the battle between Star Wars and Star Trek, as the Federation Strikes Back with the new update, featuring a rebooted franchise and cast (with one exception). I was not alone in this, as many showings were sold out as everyone and their mother (literally) sought out the new adventures of Kirk and Spock.
I enjoyed the film, and felt that the new actors slipped into their roles very well. The two main stand-outs were Simon Pegg playing, well, Simon Pegg, but who doesn’t want more of that? (And thus it was a bit disappointing that he doesn’t appear until most of the way through the movie). Chris Pine as Kirk played up a rebellious nature that was more restrained in Shatner, and it worked in the context of the story. I felt that the movie did a good job as an origin story movie with a fast-paced action-adventure plot that was definitively Star Trek in its scope and technobabble. There were plenty of winks and nods to fans (there was really only one classic line that was missed out on), and it showed a lot of respect to everything that came before while saying “we’re going to tell some new stories, now.” With all the money it made this weekend, combined with all the positive reviews, you know there’s going to be a sequel (or five).
Thus, for all you new and old Trek fans alike, to balance the scales of last week, I present to you the following query…
Loading ...I’ve chosen to make it 2 to balance out the newness factor of the just-released film and get a sense of what other Trek films are popular as well. Let us know what you like (and if you saw it, what you thought of the new one), and live long and prosper.
P.S. (slight spoiler): Romulans are my favorite race in Star Trek, and I love when they get to be a decent bad guy.
