“Monsters of Faerun” is WOTC’s first Monster Compendium supplement to their very popular “Monster Manual”. People who weren’t too keen on the layout of the Monster Manual will be sad to hear that the same layout was used for this book as well - no separate pages for each monster and the pictures are as large and placed about as they were in MM. You would think that feedback of these problems would have got to the editor in time, but, alas, they obviously did not.
When I first saw the book, I was surprised by the price - $21.95 for a 96 page soft cover. The reason the price stood out in my mind was the fact that I was able to get the “Monster Manual”, a 224 page hard cover, for $19.95. Yes, you read right – two U.S. dollars less. While I’ve been told that WOTC have come up with a solution to this predicament (raising the price of the Monster Manual by five U.S. dollars – ack), I think you will also end up making the comparison as well.
What is most surprising, however, is the name of the book itself. While the book gives a strong impression, by the title “Monsters of Faerun” and by saying they are “monsters of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, I would have to say that only half the monsters in the book were specifically made for the FR setting. For instance, one monster, the Leucrotta, was in the first edition Monster Manual. The fact is that some of these monsters have been around longer than the FR setting has, which makes me wonder why the book was marketed as being only for the Forgotten Realms. Surely, WOTC would have a better chance selling the book if they called it what it is, a supplement for the Monster Manual, which has monsters that can be used for any D&D game world. With both the huge “marketing blunders” of the price and the name, one has to wonder if WOTC even wanted this product to do well in an ever increasingly competitive RPG market.
However, what “Monsters of Faerun” lacks in style and marketing sense, it almost makes up for in substance. The monsters given are in the format of the “Monster Manual” with the added “bonus” of an “In the Realms” section for each monster entry – a short paragraph giving further explanation as to how and where the monster fits in a FR campaign. I do believe, though, that these monsters would be excellent additions to any D&D (aka d20) game world.
Here are some monsters that I’ll touch upon:
Those who are fans of Tiamat, the ruler of evil dragons, will no doubt know of the Abishai, devils which serve Tiamat on her home plane. All five are included and updated to 3E statistics. These evil creatures can be used in campaigns based in Greyhawk as well as the unnamed World of Necromancer Games.
While waiting for “The Tomb of Abysthor” (an upcoming module from Necromancer Games) to come out, one can use the Bullywugs as servants to the Frog God until DMs have statistics on the Tsathar.
I could see Orcus giving evil sorcerers the power to create Crawling Claws, contructs made out of severed hands. The movie “Idle Hands” springs to mind when thinking about the zany stuff this monster could do.
Those who wouldn’t mind having more Dragons in their campaign can boost it up with Brown Dragons (dragons of the desert), Deep Dragons (dragons of the deep), Fang Dragons (masters of physical combat), Shadow Dragons (dragons with ties to the Plane of Shadow, a plane of existence found in many D&D game worlds), and Song Dragons (dragons which like to appear as human females – I found these most fitting as followers of Freya in my World of Necromancer Games campaign). Also included are Dragonkin, a competitor for Draconians (of Dragonlance fame).
Those who are fans of the Scarred Lands setting might like the Golems included in this book if new constructs for the dark elf followers of Nalthalos are desired. Inlcuded in the book is the Ruby Golem, the Emerald Golem, the Diamond Golem, and the Thayan Golem (for non-FR worlds, could be called the Darkoak Golem, since that is what they are made of).
The Helmed Horror, another construct, can also help out in this regard. The varied powers of their weapons are nifty.
The Ibrandlin is a monster that I don’t recommend using in another world. First of all, since it doesn’t have stats for the different age groups, I wouldn’t even want to use him in the FR setting except for the fact that it is a guardian created by priests of Ibrandul, a deity of caverns and dungeons. Those types of monsters are always cool to me.
The Leucrotta is also in this book. This monster should have been in the Monster Manual if any of the “Monsters of Faerun” were, considering that it was in the first edition Monster Manual. Those who would say that the monster isn’t that popular are most likely unaware that the award winning adventure, “The Wizard’s Amulet” from Necromancer Games, has a leucrotta encounter within. To state it simply, this monster rocks the house.
The Malaugrym, shapechangers from the Plane of Shadow, could most likely be used by both Drendari and Belsameth, goddesses of the Scarred Lands setting, especially if you are well versed enough in that setting to know why.
The Peryton is, like the Leucrotta, also a monster from the first edition Monster Manual. I suppose the phrase “Better late than never” applies here. Very nice art job – in fact, it’s my personal favorite of the whole book.
The Siv, “frog headed humanoid monks”, are, like the bullywugs, perfect substitutes for the Tsathar until “The Tomb of Abysthor” comes out.
The Tomb Tapper is perfect for the dark elves of the Scarred Lands. This construct with a mouth in its midsection fits the mood of Nalthalos to a T. (I know, it’s a bad pun, but not as bad as the one under the Quaggoth entry – “underdogs of the Underdark”.)
Tyrantfog Zombies are a perfect fit for Necromancer Games as an undead monster, which was a cleric of an evil deity that was struck down by the raw power of another evil deity. I imagine that sort of thing happens a lot in the Necromancer Games world.
The book finishes with a bang, providing templates for Beast of Xvim (manifestations of the deity of tyranny and hatred), Curst (humanoids cursed not to die), Ghost (added upon what was in the Monster Manual), Lich (same as Ghost), Good Lich (an interesting template which can add all sorts of ideas for those who use the “Hollowfaust” book for the Scarred Lands setting), Lycanthropes (Werebat, Werecrocodile and Wereshark), Revenant (undead on a mission of revenge), and Yuan-ti (snake people).
Anyway, while the book delivers monsters that I really wanted, I suggest you look it over before purchasing it. If this is something you can get some use out of, get it, but, with Scott Greene’s excellent Creature Catalogue, which is absolutely free, one has to ask what WOTC was thinking with this product. Hopefully, their next Monster Compendium will be better than this.
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