By James Wyatt and Rob Heinsoo
-This book is one of the earliest 3e sourcebooks out there, and that’s something to keep partially in mind. Overall, though, minding that fact, Monsters of Faerûn doesn’t really have too much going for it.
-One thing that I’m going to take points away for is that it’s a soft cover book (I’m mean, right?). I don’t like soft cover sourcebooks. I like my novels soft cover, but my sourcebook hard cover. I’m one of those people that doesn’t break the spines of my books, and I keep everything in meticulous shape, in terms of the general condition of the book. Although my copy is still is good condition (it does have a slight rip on the cover, on the lettering between ‘Monsters’ and ‘Faerûn’, though. See what I mean!) it can get ripped or bent way too easily for my tastes.
-Anyway, the content in the book is…less than thrilling. First off, it is 96 pages, and cost $21.95. I don’t think I actually bought this book, as opposed to someone else buying it, and either me taking it, or someone else buying it for me, but regardless. That’s something like .22 cents per page. Not a very good ratio. But, asides that fact, I’ll judge the book on two things: It’s content and it’s coverage.
-Content wise, the book is so-so. What I notice about this (and so many other books) book is that, while it had Forgotten Realms monsters, it didn’t have enough Forgotten Realms monsters. What do I mean by that? Well, it has Sharn and Phaerimm. Both are definitely Forgotten Realms monsters. That is, they come from the setting, and have a set place in the setting. Things like…Gemstone Golems and certain Lycanthropes, they’re not really Forgotten Realms monsters. Can they be found in the Forgotten Realms? Sure. Are they ever important? In some places, maybe. Do they need to take up space in this book? No. They’re generic enough that they can just as easily be put in any other generic book (more or less) and they’d fit just fine.
-Coverage wise…Yeah, Monsters of Faerûn doesn’t do so good here, either. The book is a Forgotten Realms book, and it talks about specific monsters in Faerûn, so it’ll have all kinds of good information about monsters in Faerûn, right? Guess again. Now, this is one of those times when you need to take into account this is an early 3e product, with numbers being more on the designers’ minds than information, but, come on…I’ll just pick a random monster: the Banelar. Interesting creature. It gets mostly an entire page. Splitting all of that into rough guesstimates, information about the Banelar was about 1/6 of its total entry. We know what they can do, but we don’t know why they do things, why they are aligned with Bane and Cyric, how they came about doing what they do, where they came from, and so on.
-Overall, I’d give this sourcebook, out of a possible Five Beholders, Two Beholders.
well mostly everything.....
Back in 2001 when the amount of Third Edition FR products were slim and none, this book was a gold mine. I recall as well that when it was released we didn't even have the MMII yet (it wouldn't see print until September 2002), which also made MoF a very useful monster sourcebook for Realms and non-Realms DMs alike.
A few points with regard to the OP's review:
-This book, along with other early Third Edition FR soft cover sourcebooks and adventures like City of the Spider Queen, Silver Marches, Magic of Faerûn and Lords of Darkness were all well made. None of them suffered from the lessening in production values (in terms of paper, print quality and binding) that later WotC products exhibited.
I own two copies of this book. My road copy has traveled with me to my Monday game for a good nine years and it's still in surprisingly good shape compared to several of my hardcover sourcebooks. My home copy stays on the shelf for reference.
That said, my reference copy doesn't "sit well" on a bookshelf next to other, different colored Third Edition FR sourcebooks. Its maroon spine matches the color of the original Third Edition Monster Manual which is where I ended up shelving it, but it still breaks the "hardcover pattern" on the shelf.
-I found this book to be far, far more than a generic monster tome with almost no lore and a sprinkling of FR monsters. This book covered many classic Realms monsters. Alhoon, Archlich, Baelnorn, Bandedead, Banegaurd, Banelar Beast of Malar, Beast of Xvim, Beholder Mage, Beholderkin (eyeball, gouger and death kiss)....and that's only A and part of B out of the alphabet.
Just as with the original Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting hardcover, the authors of MoF had to deal with a limited page count at just 96 pages (recall the FRCS had about 100 pages cut from it before it was released to the printer). Because of this the authors were forced to choose which creatures to tell us more about. Fortunately they gave better coverage of more recognizable/classic monsters of the Realms.
Consider the Deepspawn entry: It tells you where they were first discovered, who discovered them, who they've battled over the centuries, who's actually managed to capture and control them, who breeds and sells them, reminds the DM of the monster's genius intellect and gives the example of a particular Deepspawn named Clustefang who deals with the likes of the Twisted Rune and has some influence in the lands of Calimshan, Tethyr, Amn and the Vihlon Reach.*
True, several monsters only get one paragraph of "In the Realms" information as part of their entries in the book. But at least we got those monsters. I'd much rather have another couple monster entries with complete game stats and some lore then miss out on them entirely.
The information ratio for the monster entries (game stats vs. description of appearance and abilities) were no different than the regular Monster Manual I. At that time the "in the Realms" section of each monster entry in MoF was something new. Unlike in future Monster Manuals, every monster in this tome had an "In the Realms" description.
-The OP has it wrong in terms of "numbers being more on the designers minds than information." It's a convenient stereotype but doesn't match the facts. Hasbro's purchase of WotC did take place prior to this book being published (by about a year and a half to two years) but the influence of Hasbro (in terms of mechanics over lore information) on Dungeons and Dragons and the Realms didn't really become noticeable until mid-2002.
Back in 2000/2001 Third Edition D&D and the 3E Realms were just getting underway, WotC was still focused on the core concepts of Third Edition D&D. It was those concepts -and not mechanics for the sake of mechanics- that influenced the content of MoF.
One concept the new edition embraced was playing monsters as characters. MoF was one of the first tomes to jumpstart this idea by laying the groundwork for the presence of dragonkin, lycanthropes, genasi (planetouched), Fey'Ri (planetouched tiefliengs) and gold dwarves as playable character races.
The Templates Appendix at the end of the book (something only peripherally mentioned in the OP's review) was an excellent example of another of Third Edition's core concepts: the synthesis of lore with mechanics. It was also hugely useful section for me as a DM.
I recall reading through the Ghost entry on page 88 and discovering all the extended rules and mechanics for the variety of ghosts of the Realms. Watchghosts, Ghost Dragons, Spectral Harpists, Zhentarim Spirits and Doomspheres are all distinctive forms of undead and naturally required different and unique game mechanics, and MoF gave them to us. Using a Doomsphere in my game with its Boneshatter and Flesh Sear eye rays was a blast (for me; my players not so much
).The same was true for the Lich entry. It included an extended list of lich powers and abilities, as well as descriptions for unique types of liches found in the Realms such as the Alhoon (Illithilich) and Banelich. Good liches like the Archlich and Baelnorn were described in detail as well. For new Realms DMs especially, I can't imagine them skipping past the entry for a good lich.
More to the point: MoF reminded Realms DMs that not all ghosts and liches were the same. Realms DMs could create their own versions of ghosts and liches and mix in the various powers to suit their adventure and encounter needs.
The appendix to MoF included templates for Beasts of Xvim, Curst, Revenant, Yaun Ti and Lycanthropes. These Realms-flavored templates allowed a Dungeon Master to take common monsters from the regular Monster Manuals and recast them as something unique to the Realms. The Curst especially encouraged the DM to include a backstory because of the unfortunate process by which they are made.
Ultimately for me the true test of this book was that it helped me considerably in converting to Third Edition two of the most memorable and classic Realms adventures of all time. Those adventures being Lashan's Fall and The Halls of the Beast Tamers.
I rate by cookies (not beholders). I give Monsters of Faerûn four
out of five. *Sharp-eyed readers may note the "In the Realms" description for the Deepspawn is a word for word reprint of the monster entry for the Deepswan found in the monster appendix on page 84 of the Third Edition Forgotten Realms adventure Pool of Radiance: Attack on Myth Drannor that was released back in 2000, but the lore holds up nonetheless.
The OP has it wrong in terms of "numbers being more on the designers minds than information." It's a convenient stereotype but doesn't match the facts. Hasbro's purchase of WotC did take place prior to this book being published (by about a year and a half to two years) but the influence of Hasbro (in terms of mechanics over lore information) on Dungeons and Dragons and the Realms didn't really become noticeable until mid-2002.
-Of course, Sean Reynolds has confirmed that this was the case, that numbers were more on the producers' minds than information, so there goes that notion...
-Of course, Sean Reynolds has confirmed that this was the case, that numbers were more on the producers' minds than information, so there goes that notion...
No, Sean Reynolds did not confirm "this was the case."
Please double check your facts and your timeline. A re-read of The Story of Donut Cores and Forgotten Rums would help in this regard.
As I stated in my earlier post, Hasbro's negative influence didn't find its way into Realms products and D&D products until after Monsters of Faerûn was released.
The art was good, and the lore was okay. I find myself referring it to it every once-in-awhile, and thats more then I can say about some books.
It should have been longer - Ed's responsible for as many D&D beasties as Gary Gygax himself, so I thought the book was a bit 'thin'.
But seriously, not a total waste like I few I could mention. It was alright.
@LK - some of us approach FR from a DM's perspective, and not a 'lore-hound' perspective, so we all have different criteria (which is probably why I'm one of the few that liked MoM). It isn't always about fluff.
Back in 2001 when the amount of Third Edition FR products were slim and none, this book was a gold mine. I recall as well that when it was released we didn't even have the MMII yet (it wouldn't see print until September 2002), which also made MoF a very useful monster sourcebook for Realms and non-Realms DMs alike.
That would be the big caveat and perhaps saving grace of MoF. At the time, WotC hadn't published the monster books I liked more. So in terms of getting much needed material out there, it remains an important offering, in terms of the Core material, in terms of Realms material, and getting some sort of cross pollination sales and usage between the two.
I really would have been interested in a 3.5e hardcover redux of MoF (Monsters of the Realms?), with the increased page count, maybe some historical/cultural context and monstrous organizations (i.e. "Monster Kingdoms"). Not unlike Dragons of Faerun (or Champions of Ruin), but in a broader critter oriented way. Though come to think of it, that probably treads a bit close to Lords of Darkness, CoR and DoF.
Shoot, they (WotC) darn near did half the work for such a book already when they compiled 3.5 updates for all the monsters of the Realms that had been put into print in the various Third Edition Forgotten Realms sourcebooks prior to the 3.5 revision of the core rules.
But instead of publishing it, they released all that information as a free online pdf file.
I really do appreciate that WotC gave us that for free, but I'm a sucker for more books and would have bought that info if they put it up for sale.
Shoot, they (WotC) darn near did half the work for such a book already when they compiled 3.5 updates for all the monsters of the Realms that had been put into print in the various Third Edition Forgotten Realms sourcebooks prior to the 3.5 revision of the core rules.
But instead of publishing it, they released all that information as a free online pdf file.
I really do appreciate that WotC gave us that for free, but I'm a sucker for more books and would have bought that info if they put it up for sale.
True, WotC did a nice thing to offer them for free. I would only purchase a 3.5e version of MoF if it had a greatly expanded page count and content, including new monsters (the key draw), and more Realms related information on those and already published ones. Basically make it a definitive go-to Monsters of Faerun book.
I wish they did the same for the FRCS rather than put out the Player's Guide. I understand they wanted to save existing players money with a smaller update book. I would rather have it all in one book, a true 3.5e FRCS
The FR Players Guide should have been more along the Eberron take on a Players Guide or the 4e FR Players Guide.
And I do appreciate all the free material that WotC used to provide - it was fantastic.
And I would have gladly purchased a big, fat hardcover MM of Faerûn - with monstrus organizatins and kingdoms - that would have been awesome.
No, Sean Reynolds did not confirm "this was the case."
Please double check your facts and your timeline. A re-read of The Story of Donut Cores and Forgotten Rums would help in this regard.
As I stated in my earlier post, Hasbro's negative influence didn't find its way into Realms products and D&D products until after Monsters of Faerûn was released.
-Hasbro (which has nothing to do with anything, mind you; Hasbro has no inherent "negative influence") purchased WotC in 1999. Monsters of Faerûn was released in 2001. So, yeah, double check your facts and timeline, there.
As I told you earlier, that influence --in the form of a concerted effort by money-minded middle managers to rack up as many sales dollars as possible in order to show the highest possible profit to Hasbro and at the expense of rules and lore balance in Realms products-- (which was alluded to in the above linked allegorical story written by Sean Reynolds; himself someone with firsthand experience in the matter) didn't have an effect on WotC's FR line until after MoF was released.
Your review stated that, "this is an early 3e product, with numbers being more on the designers’ minds than information." You based it off of comments by Sean Reynolds.
I showed how that assessment was incorrect because it stereotyped the design focus of WotC during and before the time MoF was released. As well I showed how you took Reynold's comments out of context, by providing release date information and facts that showed the "bean counters" at WotC hadn't quite started causing problems yet.
I showed how WotC's design focus was in fact the same with MoF as it was before and during the release of the Third Edition core rules, and how MoF reflected these design qualities that were wholly inspired by something other than mechanics for the sake of mechanics and sales dollars.
Instead of taking the time to clarify your position, you opted to respond in ways that could best be described as petulant.
LK I realize I've been far less than kind to you for quite some time now and I can perceive how you might view my earlier comments in this thread as some sort of "attack,"
I would like to remind you that In this thread I've disagreed with you civilly. I'd appreciate it if you deigned to return the same courtesy.