Volo's Guide To Monsters: Defining a New Era of Big Screen Comedy

Good.

Well thought out and imaginative addition to the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. In keeping with the general trend in the latest iteration of the game, the stress is on storytelling rather than rules. Many of the new races available for characters are not too different in many respects to other core races (Goliaths have virtually identical stat adds to Half Orcs already described in the PHB for example) but their background and history gives roleplaying tips to make them different to play.This volume is full of valuable resources, more powerful versions of standard Monster Manual critters ; Monster lairs (the Mind Flayer tunnel complex is extremely challenging), New races for PCs ; example NPCs; Detailed ecologies for some creature. All are useful and usable. It is a bit unwieldy in that some of the book is designed for DMS and some for players but , I suppose, that is close to the AD&D version of many moons ago, the Unearthed Arcana.Great production values and top notch artwork feature throughout...the Fire Giant Dreadnought and Slithering Tracker pics are highlights for me. The cover artwork is slightly underwhelming, in contrast.It's a shame no space could be found to credit the original creators of these creatures, I remember many of the best here (Kenku, Tabaxi, Nilbog etc) appearing in White Dwarf Magazine way back in the day , sent in by fan contributors. Still, in a way, their longevity and continued popularity, renewed in these up to date versions, are a testament to the writers who invented them,

Imagine my utter embarrassment when my nephew opened this only to find the pages stuck together and damaged. I have no idea why anyone would think it is ok to send out DAMAGED goods to customers. Unfortunately, my nephew wanted to keep the book regardless or the damage, and as it was a gift I respected his wishes, so I could not return it.

The book itself is useful for a DM as an addition to the core rule books. The information in the monster lore section helps spice up the role play element of encounters with common monsters such as Orcs and Kobolds; this is particularly important for players who are looking for more than a "kick the doors in" style of play. I would have given 4 stars, however my copy arrived with the lower part of a page missing, I suspect something happened during manufacture and was missed by poor quality control. The damage is not really acceptable considering the cost of these books.

While the in depth lore entries are only applicable to the forgotten realms, they're perfect as food for thought and inspiration for your own lore, and are detailed enough to fill in for anything you might have forgotten while writing your own lore.The playable races are reserved to a very small area of the book, but since this is more for DMs than players that's understandable.Plently of new and interesting monsters even if you are not interested in the races the rest of the book focuses on, though not enough to justify buying the book for new monsters alone.Despite what other reviews have said, no quality issues with my copy. Hopefully I'm not the anomaly here.Verdict: a worthwhile purchase for any DM seeking to make the most of classic dnd monsters, plus some playable races and extra monsters to boot.

An excellent addition to my gaming group's universe. The new player races are very welcome - this supplement provides detailed rules for 5 new origins and stats for a handful of traditional monster races people may like to roleplay. The in-depth exploration of key D&D monsters, their habits, society and homes, really adds the worlds you can build - It has been ideal for designing campaigns pitting the players against arch enemies, where they can be immersed in the lore of the orc warlord's clan, or delve into the devious web of puppets controlled by a hag, rather than slog through a series of randomly populated dungeons.