The Escapist Presents: Dungeons & Dragons: Opening the Monster Vault

[Something Amyss]

Minis, cut-outs, this flashy shit is not necessary. Pen, paper, dice and portable white board and texters.

Yeah, D&D should always be played as originally intended, as an outcropping of "Chainmail." miniatures have no place in RPGS!

 

[Missing SHODAN]

So I didn't hear Greg cover this in the video, but what exactly IS in the monster vault in terms of monsters? Is it largely a reprint of 4E MM1 with corrected stats so we don't have to manually adjust the math? Is there anything new in the book?

 

[tendo82]

That was probably one of the slicker video reviews I've seen on here. Would love to see more Tito unboxings like that.

 

[Slycne]

A rust monster?!?!?! Didn't futurama think of it first?

I'm not sure what the first appearance of it was, but the Rust Monster is in the 1981 Basic D&D Red Box. It's has been a classic monster, and bane of fighters, for quite some time before Fururama.

So I didn't hear Greg cover this in the video, but what exactly IS in the monster vault in terms of monsters? Is it largely a reprint of 4E MM1 with corrected stats so we don't have to manually adjust the math? Is there anything new in the book?

It's a collection of the most iconic monsters. So there might be a few new ones, but most of them would have been covered in other Monster Manuals. What's new though is all the story information provided for each monster now, with the hope that it will make them easier to incorporate into your campaigns more seamlessly and in more interesting manners.

 

[elvor0]

Take your fourth ed and begone!

Minis, cut-outs, this flashy shit is not necessary. Pen, paper, dice and portable white board and texters. All this superficial glitzy detail won't make a good campaign, and fourth has taken the rules in some terrible directions. Too simplified and limited for my tastes.

Why looking at this new box and its creatures, and I don't even see a new monster either. Recycled dnd of yester-year sold back in gaudiness.

I have to heartily agree with almost everything you said, although 4E wasn't the beginning of the "flashy shit", as you describe it - the 3.0/3.5 versions of D&D really amped up the visual flair, virtually forcing you to buy the new full-color dungeon maps/tile sets and hundreds of minis to keep up with the "new cinematic feel" of the game.

I've played 4E on several occasions, and it just doesn't feel like D&D to me - it's strayed too far from the idea that player characters are indeed specialists and profoundly different from class to class. Now every character can do almost the exact same things as all the others - it's more like playing World of Warcraft or Everquest. I still prefer to play 3.5E, especially since Pathfinder came out and made the system it even better.

They hardly forced you to buy that stuff, it was your choice. I've always played with floor plans and minatures, but mainly because I collect minatures anyway, and I started playing with ye old Runequest and AD&D, they just give what your playing on a little more solidness, then you can let your imagination run from there, not having any material aid aside from a whiteboard just seemed to lesson the experience for me, as it is literally just sitting there rolling dice, but if you prefer to play that way then you can, Wizards of the Coast aint forcing you to buy anything.

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

Great unboxing video, Greg. I'll have to pick this up on the 16th for the campaign I'm running.

 

[DanHibiki]

Damn rust monster, cheapest damn monster out there.
It and the coc-make-a-new-character-tris.

 

[Owlslayer]

Damn...all this 4E stuff looks pretty cool. Damn, i miss D&D, haven't played it in half a year or so...my group kinda went off to collage/uni/jobs.

 

[bdcjacko]

A rust monster?!?!?! Didn't futurama think of it first?

I'm not sure what the first appearance of it was, but the Rust Monster is in the 1981 Basic D&D Red Box. It's has been a classic monster, and bane of fighters, for quite some time before Fururama.

I know, I was making a joke.

 

[solbadguy37]

I still enjoy 3.5 more than 4... they simplified it soooo much... plus the books were a hell of a lot cooler

 

[General Vengeance]

Looks pretty cool, wish I could play Real life DnD.

Maybe you could LARP.

Dear god, no! I wouldn't ever be caught doing that. No offense to people who do it, I just find it kind of wierd.

Hey these guys [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mp7Ikko8SI] play D&D and LARP and their the coolest duo on the internet.

 

[Bloodastral]

1st and 2nd edition AD&D ftw!

 

[Fetzenfisch]

well i like a nice beast compendium. But i am not a fan of maps markers and miniatures when it comes to Pen and Paper. I prefer in-head-only action.

 

[Naheal]

Any new monsters?

 

[rednightmare]

From what I saw on the Wizards website alot of monsters aren't simple repeats of existing monsters, but remakes of them that have a slightly different flavor and also are more in line with recent books of the series.
And some monsters, like the Neo-Otyugh are new to 4E, to my knowledge.

 

[standokan]

It looks awesome but just increases the pain of not being able to play dnd.

 

[RoBi3.0]

What the deuce! Its a soft cover. Is anyone else put off by that.

It looks awesome but just increases the pain of not being able to play dnd.

www.dndonlinegames.com

Your Welcome

 

[Dirty Apple]

My computer monitor is presently sitting atop my 3.5 Monstrous Manuals. Good I love those books. I haven't played AD&D since I was a kid, but I'm a sucker for the fluff and art work.

You sir! You are a winner! *Pins 3.5 Badge on you, then shows you mine*

3.5. Separates men from boys. B]

[internetfistpound]Thank you for the beautiful pin. It smells faintly of cheezies. The crunchy ones. Always happy to find like-minded individuals.[/internetfistpound]

 

[Ftaghn To You Too]

I WOULD play 3.5 if I could find the books, and poor me can't order them. So 4e for me until I rustle up the monies.

This stuff looks good. The monies issue though...

 

[BrashHulk]

Take your fourth ed and begone!

Minis, cut-outs, this flashy shit is not necessary. Pen, paper, dice and portable white board and texters. All this superficial glitzy detail won't make a good campaign, and fourth has taken the rules in some terrible directions. Too simplified and limited for my tastes.

Why looking at this new box and its creatures, and I don't even see a new monster either. Recycled dnd of yester-year sold back in gaudiness.

I have to heartily agree with almost everything you said, although 4E wasn't the beginning of the "flashy shit", as you describe it - the 3.0/3.5 versions of D&D really amped up the visual flair, virtually forcing you to buy the new full-color dungeon maps/tile sets and hundreds of minis to keep up with the "new cinematic feel" of the game.

I've played 4E on several occasions, and it just doesn't feel like D&D to me - it's strayed too far from the idea that player characters are indeed specialists and profoundly different from class to class. Now every character can do almost the exact same things as all the others - it's more like playing World of Warcraft or Everquest. I still prefer to play 3.5E, especially since Pathfinder came out and made the system it even better.

They hardly forced you to buy that stuff, it was your choice. I've always played with floor plans and minatures, but mainly because I collect minatures anyway, and I started playing with ye old Runequest and AD&D, they just give what your playing on a little more solidness, then you can let your imagination run from there, not having any material aid aside from a whiteboard just seemed to lesson the experience for me, as it is literally just sitting there rolling dice, but if you prefer to play that way then you can, Wizards of the Coast aint forcing you to buy anything.

Apparently, either you're unaware of the definition of the word "virtually" or you just decided to ignore it's inclusion in that sentence. TMYK...