 Goto [ Index ] |
Back in the dark ages of my life known as junior high and high school, the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game was a good portion of my entertainment on any given night or weekend. Countless beasts were slain, gold collected, and Oatmeal Creme Pies swallowed in the process of rolling dice and it was, at times, beasts from the Monster Manual II that were devastated by my lucky dice rolls.
Once again, after so many years, beasts from a book titled Monster Manual II may fall as dice hit the table and cold drinks hit the back of the throat. But, unlike the earlier version, this Monster Manual II isn't known as the joke of the D&D book collection.
The new Monster Manual II is, at first glance on the shelf, a frightening tome. Henry Higginbotham's latest cover is more grotesque and disturbed than the first Monster Manual cover he did and it's an excellent indication of what is waiting inside. The interior artwork ranges from good to phenomenal, as with any Wizard's product, and the graphic design is already very familiar to every D&D 3E fan.
A Sampling of Beasts
With over 250 monsters in the Monster Manual II it would be a task far beyond my abilities to properly cover each one. Instead, I've decided to select the beasts I feel are the coolest in the book, giving each one a brief overview here.
Drolems – The dragonflesh golem is a new golem built from the remains of dragons. The book mentions that true dragons hate drolems and destroy them when they encounter them (and then track down and destroy the creator of the monstrosity) and that while drolems, being constructed from the rotting flesh of dragons, appear undead they are constructs. They have no breath weapon but they do have magic immunity, frightful presence, and blindfighting. Their CR of 13 shows just how nasty they are.
SIDE NOTE:It was pointed out that the drolem originally appeared in an earlier D&D product. I guess that with the number of supplements released over the years it shouldn't be surprising that I don't know every monster ever released.
Automatons – The art is what grabbed me on these babies. Little mechanical constructs that have been built for war, automatons are presented in two varieties, the Pulverizer and the Hammerer.
The Pulverizer description states that it was originally constructed to be a mining machine and that its sonic shriek was designed to weaken stone. The sonic shriek is a cool attack, a cone of sonic energy 30 feet long that causes 1d8 points of sonic damage and every creature in the cone that fails a Fort save is stunned for 1 round. Not bad at all for a CR 3 monster.
The Hammerer is an automaton that was adapted from another construction automaton. It has two arms, one ending in a massive claw (or pincer) and the other in a giant hammer. While it can only attack with one arm at a time, it is a brutal opponent. A swarm of these could be serious trouble for a party of adventurers.
Fomorian – While not a new monster, it was cool to see the fomorian in the book (especially with Raven Mimura's excellent illustration). A deformed giant, the fomorian is a (usually) neutral evil opponent of CR 11. It's not as flashy or exciting as the previously mentioned monsters but its still neat.
Juggernaut – This is a large war machine that rolls over opponents. The illustration by David Day shows the adventurers exactly what to expect and with a "squash" damage of 10d10+20 it leaves a very messy smear after rolling over most opponents. The ability to cast magic missile, web, and other spells is just icing.
Nimblewright – Wow. Now this is what a monster should be. The first sentence of the description reads: "Nimblewrights are rapier-wielding constructs that disguise themselves as living humanoids." That alone brings adventure seeds to mind. They are, unlike most constructs, created with intelligence and personality. I, for one, would love to see a PC Nimblewright.
Runic Guardian – Similar to shield guardians, but more powerful, the runic guardian is a humanoid construct built from stone, steel, and lead. Like a shield guardian, the runic guardian is keyed to an amulet or other unique piece of jewelry. As it sounds, they are little more than an advanced form of shield guardian (not that I'm upset by that at all).
New Templates
There are nine new templates in the book, my favorite one being the Half-Golem. The example flesh half-golem (with limbs from stitched to the body that have been taken from the dead) is a horrific monstrosity worthy of truly dark, disturbed campaigns. The flesh half-golem would be an excellent addition to any campaign using Eden Studios' Liber Bestarius or Privateer Press' Monsternomicon.
The spellstitched is an undead with magical runes carved into its bones (or tattooed on its flesh if it has any) that is capable of casting spells and can resist being turned. Undead spellcasters may spellstitch themselves (which really makes the Iron Lich from the Monsternomicon a brutal beast). It's by combining elements from various publishers that the OGL really starts to prove its worth.
Of the other seven templates the Monster of Legend is probably the most interesting. That isn't to say that any of the templates are a waste of space, just that the two mentioned previously stand head and shoulders above the other offerings in the book.
Open Game Content
Now this was a shock. Pages 220 and 221 of the book feature two monsters from Necromancer Games' Creature Collection. These were included in the book along with a box of text talking about the OGL and encouraging people to purchase Creature Collection. This is a stunning move on the part of WotC and one I feel really shows how dedicated they are to the OGL and D20 license. Bravo!
Note: Yes, I know that Sword & Sorcery Studio published Creature Collection. The boxed text on page 220 mentions, specifically, Necromancer Games and I wanted to be true to the text in the book.
Conclusion
The Monster Manual II surprised me. Upon first opening the book I expected to be disappointed by the selection of monsters. I'm happy to report that I was very wrong. The book is an amazing accomplishment and a necessary addition to any D&D campaign. Everyone involved in its creation has every right to feel proud of this attractive, entertaining, and very useful manual of monstrosities.
