The biggest thing this book has given me is SO MUCH more confidence in homebrewing/altering stat blocks, while making those monsters super cool n interesting. There are so many examples to pull from, reflavour. i'll look at other monsters with the same roll type and alter the abilities to be cr appropriate, etc etc
For anyone who hasn’t looked into MCDM and their products, please do. I have purchased Strongholds, Kingdoms & Warfare, Flee Mortals & backed their new RPG. I highly recommend everything they produce and it is well worth the price. Its value cannot be compared to the regurgitating money machine of WOTC. Their artwork is INCREDIBLE, the book is solid and well constructed, and most importantly the ideas will revolutionize the game. I’ve played for over ten years and all of the monsters feel the same in the game to such an extent I started creating my own game and spent dozens of hours reworking monsters to make them unique. Bottom line, official 5e monsters are all the same, they just have different names & narrated appearances but any uniqueness in them comes from the GMs creativity & experience and not from the game itself. Flee Mortals changes this to make monsters truly unique from each other on the mechanics level, has been rigorously playtested, and will save you precious free time to actually enjoy the game instead of laboring to make it fun.
I'm not an accessibility expert but does putting captions on such that they overlay on images of other text useful? Also, jumpjng them from the bottom of the screen to the top arbitrarily can only make them harder to read.
But is it worth $40 USD for a PDF? Personally, I say, no. While I do respect Matt Colville for his contributions as well as his videos for beginning DMs, this Kickstarter was a gigantic pass for me. I am not huge on the monster side of things, but I have enough monster books to satiate the palates of my players (currently have 12 including all 3 Tome of Beasts). Despite that, the review is eye-opening. Great way to showcase cool mechanics and neat information.
Yeah that's understandable. I just really like some of the things they've done with this one and the boss fights (especially like level) have been pretty fun and given me more ideas for encounters.
Respectfully, I couldn’t disagree more. The PDF not only comes with more than just monsters (new mechanics, minions, retainers, companion rules, etc.) but for those of us who DM on VTT, it also comes with a complete token set for all monsters and maps, saving hours of prep work. I haven’t bothered to buy any of the tome of beasts books because having more monsters just for the sake of more isn’t really worth it, but this just brings so much more to the table.
Its perfectly reasonable if you consider it not being worth, but the price is due to them being one of the best paying ttrpgs companies out there. And I think that justifies paying a little extra
It is worth every dollar. MCDM aren't overcharging you, they're using that extra money to pay artists and designers for their time and work, they're actually covering their workers costs of living in full and on time. That alone is worth the extra cost. This isn't just another bestiary full of monsters that fall into all the same problems that are inherent to 5e, these actually work an you're paying for that redesign, if you prefer the lack luster stuff produced in the typical 5e format be my guest but remember that better is out there and whilst it might cost more up front byt you'll never need another bestiary or monster manual after this.
@@Gibbons3457 And how much did you pay for your core rule books (PHB, MM, and DMG)? Did you buy them through your local game store or through Amazon? Reminder: ALL official content from WotC (through LGS) is $50 USD; granted, no PDFs but you get the physical book. Also reminder: WotC is increasing the cost of books to $60 and still no PDFs.
This book is amazing. Like, the next evolution of what a Monster Manual should be going forward. I wish PF 2Ed would be done like this.
The biggest thing this book has given me is SO MUCH more confidence in homebrewing/altering stat blocks, while making those monsters super cool n interesting. There are so many examples to pull from, reflavour. i'll look at other monsters with the same roll type and alter the abilities to be cr appropriate, etc etc
You can see the love of 4e in this. All the best from that edition!
For anyone who hasn’t looked into MCDM and their products, please do. I have purchased Strongholds, Kingdoms & Warfare, Flee Mortals & backed their new RPG. I highly recommend everything they produce and it is well worth the price. Its value cannot be compared to the regurgitating money machine of WOTC. Their artwork is INCREDIBLE, the book is solid and well constructed, and most importantly the ideas will revolutionize the game. I’ve played for over ten years and all of the monsters feel the same in the game to such an extent I started creating my own game and spent dozens of hours reworking monsters to make them unique.
Bottom line, official 5e monsters are all the same, they just have different names & narrated appearances but any uniqueness in them comes from the GMs creativity & experience and not from the game itself. Flee Mortals changes this to make monsters truly unique from each other on the mechanics level, has been rigorously playtested, and will save you precious free time to actually enjoy the game instead of laboring to make it fun.
Its a nice book if you like shiny. It's no competition for The Monster Overhaul though.
This book has changed a lot of how i run the game, from encounter building to monster design.
That's awesome! I'm currently editing my review of their follow up "Where Evil Lives".
I'm not an accessibility expert but does putting captions on such that they overlay on images of other text useful? Also, jumpjng them from the bottom of the screen to the top arbitrarily can only make them harder to read.
Yeah man can’t wait to get this book lol
Fantastic book. Run out and buy. This is what the Monster Manual should be.
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it
I NEED a sassy flying cat as my companion, owlbears be damned. I don't care if it does nothing but scratch my.
Haha, familiar?
It's the new standard in my eyes. Best 5e product
Yeah, this book is great I've been using it a lot. I'm currently working on a review for their latest, Where Evil Lives
5 minions = 1/4 CR? They don't trust us to know math and can't just say that a minion is 1/20 CR?
👍🏻
But is it worth $40 USD for a PDF? Personally, I say, no.
While I do respect Matt Colville for his contributions as well as his videos for beginning DMs, this Kickstarter was a gigantic pass for me.
I am not huge on the monster side of things, but I have enough monster books to satiate the palates of my players (currently have 12 including all 3 Tome of Beasts).
Despite that, the review is eye-opening. Great way to showcase cool mechanics and neat information.
Yeah that's understandable. I just really like some of the things they've done with this one and the boss fights (especially like level) have been pretty fun and given me more ideas for encounters.
Respectfully, I couldn’t disagree more. The PDF not only comes with more than just monsters (new mechanics, minions, retainers, companion rules, etc.) but for those of us who DM on VTT, it also comes with a complete token set for all monsters and maps, saving hours of prep work. I haven’t bothered to buy any of the tome of beasts books because having more monsters just for the sake of more isn’t really worth it, but this just brings so much more to the table.
Its perfectly reasonable if you consider it not being worth, but the price is due to them being one of the best paying ttrpgs companies out there. And I think that justifies paying a little extra
It is worth every dollar. MCDM aren't overcharging you, they're using that extra money to pay artists and designers for their time and work, they're actually covering their workers costs of living in full and on time. That alone is worth the extra cost. This isn't just another bestiary full of monsters that fall into all the same problems that are inherent to 5e, these actually work an you're paying for that redesign, if you prefer the lack luster stuff produced in the typical 5e format be my guest but remember that better is out there and whilst it might cost more up front byt you'll never need another bestiary or monster manual after this.
@@Gibbons3457 And how much did you pay for your core rule books (PHB, MM, and DMG)? Did you buy them through your local game store or through Amazon?
Reminder: ALL official content from WotC (through LGS) is $50 USD; granted, no PDFs but you get the physical book.
Also reminder: WotC is increasing the cost of books to $60 and still no PDFs.
👍🏻