MM was disappointing to me. What happened to Cloud Giants casting spells as a 10th level caster. Where are the spells for dragons? Where are the spells for powerful demons and devils. Very few monsters cast spells anymore. I don't like it. Good thing I can pull out my 2nd edition Monstrous Manual and tweak away. By the way the Beholders disintegrate sucks compared to the spell, a Beholders disintegration should be as deadly as the darn spell.
I personally would of given Pit Fiends and Balors legendary actions.
arnwolf666 wrote:
Honestly, I'm fairly thrilled that they got rid of spellcasting as the default sign of an enemy being amazing. It really makes the enemies stand out for their special abilities, instead of just turning a dragon or demon into a funny-shaped wizard.
Saelorn wrote:
MonsterEnvy wrote:
Saelorn wrote:
arnwolf666 wrote:
My experience with spellcasting monsters in older editions that were not only spellcasters (like a lich is) has been that the spells are never worth spending actions casting compared to other available actions, except a rare few - and those rare few are included in 5e.
zardnaar, do you have some play experience to support your impressions, or are they based strictly on readin the MM?
Saelorn wrote:
danyc wrote:
Rastapopoulos wrote:
I think that such a creature would simply puke that character back out.
btw, yhe tarrasque is also missing its limb severing (sword of sharpness) attacks. 
Rastapopoulos wrote:
Rastapopoulos wrote:
Elfcrusher wrote:
I'm nearly done reading the MM cover to cover. It's really good bordering on great. There are parts I could quibble with, sure. But it's just dripping with adventure hooks and flavorful writing.
THEMNGMNT wrote:
dmgorgon wrote:
Like many have said, the mm is great reading material. When I read it, I feel like I did reading the 1e monster manuel for the first time. It exudes excitement, imagination and provides a lot of fodder for adventure ideas and encounter building.
I also like the unique abilities that are interesting and I'm a little disappointed that there aren't more interesting abilities, but I can live with it. I don't like how every dragon has the same Legendary Actions.
Overall, I think that the book itself gives DMs enough information to inform their own decisions when they want to add abilities or spells to any monster, but I'm still looking forward to the DMG and what advice it will have to modify or create monsters.
I'd love a huge list of abilities that create a menu of optional additions to monsters. That way, if I want to make a creature unique, I can look through the list and add what I'd like. If possible, each item in the menu should have a power rating that gives a rough estimate of how much more challenging it would make a creature. I don't know if that's possible, but I might work on it myself if it isn't in the DMG.
Azzy1974 wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
Zardnaar wrote:
Personally, I'm fine with Monster Templates as long as they remain templates for monsters...
Timborama wrote:
We often talk about how 5e is missing X or Y, but I'm sure that once WotC gets around to adding those things to the game all hell will break loose. I suspect that by the time they introduce PrCs the game will be just as abusable as 3.5e
And here I thought that subclasses (archetypes) WERE Prestige Classes...
(and Paragon Paths, for those 4E folk!)
Or did I miss an announcement...? I recall hearing something about PrC's, but I dunno how official I remember it being...
I actually just bought the MM last night, and I noticed that the MM does mention Asmodeus and the other eight rulers of the different layers of Baator. Aren't those other eight rulers the Dark Eight? It doesn't use the term "The Dark Eight," but is that explicitly necessary?
MechaPilot wrote:
Timborama wrote:
Timborama wrote:
Yet assassin is a rogue subclass.
bawylie wrote:
dmgorgon wrote:
Chakravant wrote:
bawylie wrote:
Zardnaar wrote:
Honestly, I expect Prestige/Paragon advancement in an Epic campaign supplement. Once WotC has a publisher making the Epic campaign arc, they will be added in to the additional rules for that arc. Kind of like how I'm expecting to see Genasi printed in a campaign supplement for the Elemental campaign arc. I could of course be wrong, but it seems like the direction WotC is taking for 5E, and it does allow gaming tables to pick and choose groups of rules additions that best fit their campaign.
Saelorn wrote:
dmgorgon wrote:
Rastapopoulos wrote:
Timborama wrote:
Rastapopoulos wrote:
dmgorgon wrote:
DaveDash wrote:
Synjin wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
I'm with Aaron. The one thing I really didn't like about 2e was the random "5% you die, each hit" style powers. I MUCH prefer the 5th MM's way of handling such things.
Cyber-Dave wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
Synjin wrote:
dmgorgon wrote:
If they have prestige classes in the future I hope they limit them to players only being allowed to have one prestige class. What's so prestigious about a class when a person is in 5 of them?