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Gamers can pick up their own copy of the 5e Monster Manual today at premier gaming stores. For everyone else the Monster Manual hits shelves on September 30. This is a tricky book to review because it’s just a monster cyclopedia. If you want official 5e monsters stats then you’re going to buy this book no matter what the reviews say.

To help you decide if you should purchase the new 5e Monster Manual I’ve listed 15 things I like about the Monster Manual and 5 things I don’t like. I’ve tried to be fair with my praise and criticisms so that you can make an informed decision about this quality and value of this book before you buy it.

The fact that my pros outweigh my cons by 3:1 should give you a pretty good idea of where I stand. I think this book is fantastic and you’re about to find out why.

UPDATE: Be sure to listen to a special episode of Recounting Encounters in which Marc, Criag and I talk about what each of us like and dislike about the 5e Monster Manual. Podcast also available through iTunes.

15 Reasons to buy the D&D 5e Monster Manual

1. Strong first impression

The very first page of the book simply says Monster Manual at the top, has the D&D ampersand at the bottom and in the centre is a beautiful full colour illustration of a Dragon, the iconic monster the game is named after. Simple. Elegant. A great first impression.

2. Great art

The art in the new 5e Monster Manual is fantastic; it’s really top notch. As much as I loved that the older editions of D&D had a handful of artists who illustrated the whole book and set a certain tone and standard for monsters, using many artists in the 5e book was an excellent call. It allowed different artists to showcase their own styles while still feeling like they all the monsters live in the same fantasy world. I’d also like to note that all of the art used in the Monster Manual seems to be original. They didn’t just mine the old bestiaries and find images they liked, each monster got new treatment.

3. Talk about variety

There are a lot of monsters in this book. The Monster Manual is 352 pages and there is approximately one monster on every page so 350 different monsters (or more) is a fair estimate. This is more than enough to keep any DM happy for a long time, or at least until they release the inevitable Monster Manual 2. The vast majority of monsters present in the Monster Manual are lower challenge ratings. Personally I’d rather throw a bunch of weaker monsters at the party than just one or two really powerful ones so I’m ok with more lower end monsters. Of course there are some really tough monsters in here too, but not nearly as many.

The folks at The Escapist Magazine have created an interesting graph that maps the number of monsters in the Monster Manual against the Challenge Rating. See below.

4. Legendary creatures

We got a hint of what legendary creatures are like with the D&D Next play test, especially if you ran the D&D Encounters adventure Dead in Thay. Now we get the official descriptions of where legendary actions landed. If a monster has one or more legendary action it will allow them to do something extraordinary, usually when it’s not their turn in the initiative. Legendary creatures might also have Lair Actions that let them do even cooler things if the PCs encounter them where they live. When the initiate count hits 20 the creature can use its legendary lair action. There are also Regional Effects that a legendary creature can cause in the area surrounding their lair, possibly even for miles around.

5. All the iconic creatures are present

In the 4e Monster Manual we only got half of the Dragons, if you wanted the rest you had to wait for the Monster Manual 2. This was a deliberate choice by the 4e designers and one that I’m glad they didn’t repeat in 5e. The idea is that this is THE Monster Manual. Every creature you might want or need is in here, the first time. None of this holding back some creatures for future books to force you to buy the next book. This is the definitive book and in theory the only Monster Manual you should ever need. All the Dragons are here, all the Giants, the Beholder, the Mind Flayer, and the Rust Monster. Every monster you think of when you think of D&D is in this book.

6. Good page layout

I think back to the 1e Monster Manual and the 2e Monstrous Compendium and the pictures for all the monsters were confined to small boxes in the corner of the stat block. Whether the artist was drawing a tiny monsters or a huge monster they usually had the same amount of space in which to do it. The pictures for most monsters in the 5e Monster Manual take up more space on the page than the stat block. The book is visual first and textual second. This makes it more inviting to gamers, especially new gamers. People who pick up the book will be fascinated by the plethora of brightly coloured monsters they see on every single page.

7. Simplicity of the stat blocks

One thing that plagued 4e was that the monsters had powers upon powers. It was a chore to read through everything a powerful monster could do. Many DMs felt that if they didn’t use all of the monster’s powers during combat they were doing something wrong. With 5e everything was simplified, including the monsters. Monsters work like the PCs for the most party. They have weapons (natural or artificial) and they can use them to fight. Some creatures have spells or other magic, but when they do the effects are simple and easy to use. DMs can randomly turn to any page of the 5e Monster Manual and within a minute or less be ready to run that creature. Good luck trying that with a 4e Monster Manual.

8. Iconic character sidebars

In some of the monster descriptions there is a separate side bar that describes an iconic D&D character of that monster type. For example Death Knight (Lord Soth), Demi Lich (Acererak), and Vampire (Strahd Von Zarovich). This adds a bit more flavour if you want to play the monster as these iconic villains. It also encourages new DMs to look up who these characters are and hopefully read some of the source material that made these monsters icons in the first place.

9. Great sketches

In addition to the great coloured pictures there are sketches throughout the Monster Manual. Many are in the margins of the monster stat block, but you find a few gems in the index. These show monsters in unusual or humourous situations. It reminds you that anything can happen when you play D&D, including a Troll’s body groping the ground for its own head or an Otyugh assaulting a privy. These sketches look like they’re by the same artist who did the sketches in the Conditions section of the PHB.

10. Post-it notes

Many monster entries have what looks like a little post-it note pinned in the corner. These notes share quotes from adventurers who have faced the monster or are from the monsters them
selves to unsuspecting adventurers. It’s a little touch, but it adds personality and often whimsy to a creature’s page.

11. Eberron

Although we haven’t see any officially 5e D&D Eberron material yet, evidence that it’s coming is hidden in the Monster Manual. Remember those little post-its we talked about, one of them is from a Dragonmarked Scion of House Orien. Check out the Pegasus entry on pg. #250.

12. Lycanthropy templates

In the Lycanthrope section of the Monster Manua

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