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It also provides a few notes that allow the book to be used with both the 3rd edition rules and the 3.5E revision. There seem to be no major compatibility issues because of this.
With a monster book, there is a balance that must be struck between providing the statistics for a large number of monsters, but giving only the bare bones of descriptions for each, and providing only a few monsters, but providing a greater amount of description. The latter helps the Dungeon Master come up with ideas for using them in his or her campaign, and can be quite inspirational. The Fiend Folio is somewhere in the middle, more towards the latter approach than many other D&D monster books (with the notable exception of Monsters of Faerun), and I found the result most pleasing. Not all of the monsters have this expanded treatment, but enough do to make it noticeable.
The Fiend Folio is a 224 page hardback book, full colour for the most part, and very attractive. The cover seems to depict a pit to hell; I did not find this as striking or as effective as the cover for Monster Manual II, but it is serviceable. The book retails for US$29.95, which is standard for a D&D book of this size. It contains descriptions for over 150 monsters according to the back cover blurb - my count of the monsters listed by challenge ratings gave me the total of 167 monsters. Many of the monsters are extraplanar in nature - that is, they come from one of the heavens, hell, layers of the abyss, or some other strange place not of this earth. Demons, Devils, Devas, Elementals and other strange beings fill the book, although there are plenty of 'normal' monsters as well.
As is standard for a Monster Manual, the first nine pages detail the common abilities and terminology used in the book. Some of this is devoted to explaining the changes between 3.0E and 3.5E, which are minor for the most part. The section of terminology is incomplete, though, and you would require the Monster Manual for the abilities not explained in the Fiend Folio.
From pages 14 to 199 are listed the bulk of the monsters in the book, from the Abrian - a flightless bird native to the Abyss - to the Zodar - a enigmatic construct of unknown origin. For the most part, I found them thought provoking.
A few examples that stand out for me are as follows:
The Kelpie is an adaptation of the fey being of Celtic folklore, occasionally known as the waterhorse, which lures travellers to their deaths in deep pools and lakes. This one is particularly interesting to compare with the original version in the AD&D game. There, it was sentient seaweed that could turn into the form of a woman and lure travellers to their death. Some of that survives, as the kelpie retains its charm ability, but the change of type to fey does make a difference. Personally, I prefer the revised Fiend Folio version.
The Sarkrith are a race of subterranean, reptilian humanoids that, being creatures of logic, cannot understand the unpredictable force of magic and seek its destruction. This is an example of one of the races that you could easily build a campaign around.
The Blackstone Gigant is a gargantuan construct created by a powerful cleric to be either a bodyguard or guardian of some sort. It possesses a petrifying attack and the ability to animate the statues of those it has petrified. It is one of the most dangerous monsters in the book and one of the most terrifying from a conceptual point of view - the poor surviving characters who find their friends' petrified bodies attacking them will probably not appreciate this monster as much as the DM who uses them in a module. As you might imagine, I rather enjoy this monster.
The Shadar-Kai are a race of fey that have been corrupted by the plane of Shadow, and are doomed thereby, unless they sacrifice other beings to it. This is another example of a campaign-seed type of race. This race inspires me greatly, and I hope to use them sometime.
The Paeliryon Devil is a diabolic manipulator from behind the scenes, which would make a brilliant arch-villain for an adventure or campaign. This one is also worthy of note because a sidebar gives suggestions for using it in an Oriental Adventures campaign and gives notes on how to convert it to an OA format.
Indeed, there are several sidebars scattered throughout the text. Many deal with the monsters and their relationships to the planes (per Manual of the Planes), but others referencing other books produced by Wizards of the Coast - the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, and the Epic Level Handbook are three that are named, though you would not need those books to use the monsters.
The abilities of each monster are described clearly, and the formatting of the monster descriptions is extremely good - it has come a long way since the confusion of the first Monster Manual for 3E. Monsters take between half a page to two pages to detail, and I quite appreciate the effort and space expended here.
Another item worthy of note is this: monster templates have been moved from the appendix (as they were in the original Monster Manual) into the actual main monster list. Thus, you will first be given the statistics for a Half-Troll Barbazu and then the half-troll template that was used to create it. This is all in the main text of the book and makes finding such creatures much easier. I hope they continue this practice in the revised Monster Manual.
The book ends with three appendices. The first gives three monstrous Prestige Classes: the Fiend of Blasphemy, the Fiend of Corruption and the Fiend of Possession, all designed for evil outsiders. I find these quite compelling, as they can add a further layer of interest to a fiend, thus providing many adventure hooks and idea.
The second appendix details the rules for Grafts and Symbionts - both of which seem quite evil in their usage, seemingly being "rewards" given to servants of the evil races. Grafts may come from the Aboleths, Beholders, Fiends, Illithids, Maugs, Undead or Yuan-Ti. A graft is somewhat like a permanent magic item attached to you, an example being the wings of an Erinyes that grant the ability to fly and some diplomatic skills, but at the risk of corrupting the possessor.
Symbionts are living creatures that attach themselves to a monster or character and grant them some abilities, but always at a cost. For example, the Soul Tick grants a protection from good or chaos aura to its bearer as well as enhancing their evil or death magic, but makes chaotic, good or healing spells extremely difficult for the bearer to cast. Oh yes, and it drains 1 point of Constitution per day - normally replaced by normal healing, but it might overfeed... I am put in mind of the Drakh Symbiont used to control Londo Mollari in the TV series "Babylon 5". This is good material.
Finally, a list of monsters by challenge rating is given in the third appendix. They range from as low as 1/8 (for various symbionts), to 25 (for the Klurichir demon). There is a fair spread of monsters for each challenge rating, which makes the book useful for all levels of play.
Unfortunately, the book lacks a list of monsters listed by Climate and Terrain - a big flaw in all of the Monster books put out so far by Wizards of the Coast; this list would be greatly appreciated for those of us who try to create our own encounter lists.
A few other things could be done better. The Steel Predator, a monster that first appeared in the Adventure Path module, "Lord of the Iron Fortress" has a scant paragraph of description, putting it at odds with the rest of the monsters in the book that are better detailed. The Iron Cobra has a +1 to its AC because of size - yet it is medium; this incongruous given that the rest of the book seems quite accurate as to the rules applied.
As normal for a monster book, there are also some monsters that seem useless - I am aware that this is somewhat subjective though, and though I cannot think of a use for the Ophidians – a servant race of the Yuan Ti - I am sure that someone out there will think they are just perfect for their needs.
The book does not provide many "common" monsters, such as orcs and goblins, as these are primarily found in the Monster Manual. Instead, it provides a large number of monsters that can provide entertainment for you and your players, and give you many ideas for new adventures.
I strongly recommend this book for Dungeon Masters who are looking to take their campaign out of mundanity. It would work best, I feel, in combination with the Manual of the Planes, but even without that tome should provide a worthy supplement.
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