Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 793.93
EAN num: 9780786915521
ISBN number: 0786915528
Label: Wizards of the Coast
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 224
Printing Date: November 04, 2000
Publishing house: Wizards of the Coast
Release Date: October 01, 2000
Sale Popularity Level: 36109
Studio: Wizards of the Coast
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Brief Book Summary:
Over 200 creeps, critters, and creatures to keep players on their toes. From Aboleths to Zombies, the Third Edition Monster Manual holds a diverse cast of enemies and allies essential for any Dungeons & Dragons campaign. There are hundreds of monsters ready for action, including many new creatures never seen before. Plus, all monster entries include character stats so for the very first time players can play as the monsters. Dungeon Masters and players alike will find the new Monster Manual an indispensable aid in populating their Third Edition campaigns.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
A: Include all monsters from the previous edition's manual
B: Introduce a few new and interesting monsters (10-40 would suffice)
C: Make the layout flip-friendly for rushing GMs
D: Make sure the monsters go beyond combat statistics (as in their habitats are listed, form of society, mating and etc. Like a National Geographic Mag.)
I think if at least one of these is followed, it's worth the same as the original. If all are followed, it's a goldmine. I have the great annoyance to tell you that none of these were followed.
There are 1/3 the number monsters in the new manual as the old one (I hear that if you add this manual, 2, and the Monsters of Faerun books together you get almost as many as the old 2nd edition MM.) I believe that the creators argued "The original MM only had 40 monsters in it!" My answer to this is simple: the very first edition didn't have 25+ years of books and two editions in front of it to help.
The new monsters (which ended up drowning out old favorites) are way too underpowered or overpowered, lack depth, and generally seem a little too sci-fi (remember, this is a fantasy game)
The layout definately sucks, it took me an hour to find anything. One monster a page is definately a better road to travel.
Last but not least, the monsters BARELY go beyond the numbers. I suggest you either buy all three of the above mentioned "Monster Manuals" (have fun shuffling books!) or just play 2nd edition AD&D.
Rated by buyers -
The Third Edition (3E) Monster Manual is a great purchase for any DM. It has a good amount of monsters, pretty descriptive stats, yet...it seems one caliber less than the 2E Monster Manual.
On one hand, the 3E Monster Manual delivers over 200 monsters to terrorize your campaign setting. They have some awesome new monsters. My personal favorite, is a devil, and is known as a Kyton. He is demonic humanoid with hundreds of chains drooping from his body, and his mode of attack is flailing those chains. Pretty hardcore.
On the other hand, the 3E Monster Manual doesn't seem to give enough. Some of the monsters just plain [are bad], and they aren't unique in any way. Also, the amount of creatures do not come near the amount that were in the 2E monster manual, which is frustrating.
On the FINAL hand, It is a must for any DM playing 3E. It isn't a bad book at all...it just seems lacking. The monster stats are good...the amount of monsters are good...but don't expect much more. (If they had 3.5 stars I would give this book 3.5)
Rated by buyers 
-
Being someone new to the Dungeons and Dragons scene, I had great hope and joy when I opened my amazon.com package containing the Player's Handbook (PHB) and the Monster Manual (MM).
First note: all the D&D books are quite hard to understand without playing first. That would be why you buy the "Adventure Game" using the same ruleset. The MM is the shortest of the D&D books, which makes sense, as it mostly talks only about monsters. The content is hard to understand very first hand, however it is quite detailed.
Now, we go onto the quality of the book. Both the DM Guide and the PHB have a hard cover binding and high-quality full-colored pages. The MM has this too, but in my recent experiences, the binding at the spine (the binding that is holding the pages together) is quite loose. So loose that in fact, one player of mine has all the pages completely out of the binding. True, out of 12 NEW MM's that I have seen, all of them had an extremely loose binding, especially with the pages in the back. You can see the rope that is holding the pages together there. Just note: a lot of the pages in this book will fall out with heavy use. something not too normal with hardcover books.
My suggestion, since you are looking at this, is to wait until July 2003, where a new, revised MM will be avaliable. That MM will have 108 more pages, and hopefully a better binding with that many pages. All the D&D core rulebooks are being revised and released in July 2003 (at the end of the month). If you want the D&D books right now, then I suggest the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual II. The MM II will not be revised, and was released recently, so it will be easier to understand. If there is one rulebook that you should not buy, it would be this one. Wait for July 2003 and reap the rewards.
Rated by buyers 
-
The Monster Manual is labelled a core rulebook, and it truly is. Without the description and rules within, a DM would be hard-pressed to create the creatures necessary to challenge her players at various levels. The book is beautiful and well-laid-out, as you would expect from the other core books. The rules section in the front is short and concise, as most of the rules have been explained in the previous two books.
Therein, actually, is my biggest complaint about the book. I feel that, unlike the DMG, far too little explanation is given in the MM about how to create new monsters and balance them against each other. Even sketchy guidelines like the magic item creation rules in the DMG would have been a wonderful addition to the book. As it is, you can only create a monster, then compare it to all the other monsters of a comparable skill level, and guess whether yours is about right. It's a good metric, but it's cumbersome.
The third core book, I feel, has too much in the way of tables and not enough in terms of flavor text and rules explanation. While still a great resource for what it is, I think it is lacking the flare that made the very first two core books a pleasure to own.
Rated by buyers 
-
i dont accutully want to rite a revew, just to rate it
Find other books like this one:
