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The latest addition to the glut of monsters out there is an excellent one.

Let's face it. There are a *lot* of monster books out there, attempting to fill niches MMI failed to fill. MMI left out a lot of fan favorites. Some of those fan favorites lay within the pages of the MMII, but the majority of the monsters here are new.

But how does it look? The outside cover of the book is..well..creepy. The more I look at it, the creepier it gets. The dominating feature looks like a red, bulbous eye inside of the maw of some planer aberration. I like it better than the first MM's cover.

Inside, it's pretty standard WotC fare. Full color, the artwork ranges from truly cool (fiendwurm, felldrakes) to "I'd rather rip out my eyeballs" (breath stealer). Overall, though, it's of pretty good quality.

Content? Monsters. Lots of monsters. Some old favorites (phoenix, catoblepas, ghaleb duhr, grell, gem dragons) make a comeback, alongside some beasties I've never seen before.

The book is full of high-level nastiness (around the CR 10 to 28 (!) range), but there are a few lower-CR monsters.

The monsters themselves tend to be pretty darned nifty for the most part, and EcL info is included where appropriate, as is info on training certain monsters, using certain monsters as familiars and constructing certain monsters.

I have to talk for a second about the Corpse Gatherer. This is a good example of some of the niftiness of the beasties in this tome. Imagine what would happen if an entire graveyard became undead, joining into one mass conciousness that seeks to add more corpses to its' bulk. The worst part comes after you "kill" the creature..

But monsters are not all that's in this book! Oh, no, we get more templates (easily one of the greatest ideas 3e had). Need a chimeric ankheg? Slap on the chimeric template. Deathknights? Yep, they're in there. Half-golems (think fantasy cybernetics)? Oh yeah. How about a dragon guarding a fortress for a god? Well, my friend, you need the Monster of Legend template! Howsabout an insanely huge frog? Titanic creature is your deal!

The template I find the most amusing is the spellstiched. See, a necromancer takes an undead and "stiches" spell-like abilities into the undead's body. Lot's of flesh munching fun there, boyo! And, I know what you're wondering..yes, a lich can technically spellstitch himself.

One question I know you have: But, dear reviewer, I hated the MMI format. Has it improved for MMII?

Well, dear reader, if you hated the MMI format, you probably aren't going to like the MMII format, either. It *seems* better to me (but then, I had little problem with the original), but I can't tell if it actually *is* better.

Overall, this book is a super helluva cool addition to your monster library. Now, once I have Tome of Horrors, I'm going to be set for a while. :-)

Monster Manual II
Monster Manual II Capsule Review by Prince Nightchilde on 14/09/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) Wow, what an excellent addition, full of nifty beasties, mostly geared for higher level play. Product: Monster Manual II Author: Ed Bonny, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Skip Williams, Steve Winter Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Line: Dungeons and Dragons 3e Cost: 29.95 Page count: 224 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 0-7869-2873-5 SKU: 88268000 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Prince Nightchilde on 14/09/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	The latest addition to the glut of monsters out there is an excellent one. Let's face it. There are a lot of monster books out there, attempting to fill niches MMI failed to fill. MMI left out a lot of fan favorites. Some of those fan favorites lay within the pages of the MMII, but the majority of the monsters here are new. But how does it look? The outside cover of the book is..well..creepy. The more I look at it, the creepier it gets. The dominating feature looks like a red, bulbous eye inside of the maw of some planer aberration. I like it better than the first MM's cover. Inside, it's pretty standard WotC fare. Full color, the artwork ranges from truly cool (fiendwurm, felldrakes) to "I'd rather rip out my eyeballs" (breath stealer). Overall, though, it's of pretty good quality. Content? Monsters. Lots of monsters. Some old favorites (phoenix, catoblepas, ghaleb duhr, grell, gem dragons) make a comeback, alongside some beasties I've never seen before. The book is full of high-level nastiness (around the CR 10 to 28 (!) range), but there are a few lower-CR monsters. The monsters themselves tend to be pretty darned nifty for the most part, and EcL info is included where appropriate, as is info on training certain monsters, using certain monsters as familiars and constructing certain monsters. I have to talk for a second about the Corpse Gatherer. This is a good example of some of the niftiness of the beasties in this tome. Imagine what would happen if an entire graveyard became undead, joining into one mass conciousness that seeks to add more corpses to its' bulk. The worst part comes after you "kill" the creature.. But monsters are not all that's in this book! Oh, no, we get more templates (easily one of the greatest ideas 3e had). Need a chimeric ankheg? Slap on the chimeric template. Deathknights? Yep, they're in there. Half-golems (think fantasy cybernetics)? Oh yeah. How about a dragon guarding a fortress for a god? Well, my friend, you need the Monster of Legend template! Howsabout an insanely huge frog? Titanic creature is your deal! The template I find the most amusing is the spellstiched. See, a necromancer takes an undead and "stiches" spell-like abilities into the undead's body. Lot's of flesh munching fun there, boyo! And, I know what you're wondering..yes, a lich can technically spellstitch himself. One question I know you have: But, dear reviewer, I hated the MMI format. Has it improved for MMII? Well, dear reader, if you hated the MMI format, you probably aren't going to like the MMII format, either. It seems better to me (but then, I had little problem with the original), but I can't tell if it actually is better. Overall, this book is a super helluva cool addition to your monster library. Now, once I have Tome of Horrors, I'm going to be set for a while. :-)

Monster Manual II