Review: Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition – Monster Manual 2

My fellow D&D friends, have I got the book for you! As Trask is out on some much needed R&R, I thought I would pop in and take the opportunity to tell you about the new Monster Manual 2. This book is a definitely a required purchase for any 4E DMs out there.

Honestly, for this book, I wasn’t waiting in anxious anticipation for new kinds of creatures to throw at my players. However, I was very interested in some old favorites being delivered down into 4E format. And this book excels at both.

• Djinn, how we have missed rubbing your magic lamp, let me count the ways. (Trask interlude: a very wrong  image came in to my mind when I read this)
• Ankheg, how we have missed you carrying off our allies for some nighttime snacking.
• Centuars, how we have missed you giving us rides in the moonlight on your horse side and beating us down for jumping on your back with your man side.
• Barghest, how we missed you growing stronger by feeding off of us.
• Stone Giant and Frost Giant, can I get a “Wup-Wup”
• Kenku, even though they reused your old art, you are still our favorite avian humanoid.

And much, much more…

Many creature types form the MM1 make an appearance in MM2. Some differ in subtype, like the fire and ice archons of MM1 get joined by their earth, storm, and water brothers. Where some just have more to choose from. For example, in MM1 there were several Eladrin. A Level 7 Soldier, Level 8 Controller, Level 19 Controller, an Level 21 Artillery to be exact. Well, WOTC did a great job with giving us a more rounded type, with new options available for different levels. The Eladrin in MM2 are a Level 5 Artillery, Level 11 Skirmisher, and a Level 17 Lurker.

Pretty much everyone has known about the Rust Monster since it debuted on DDI.  However, the cool thing in MM2, is almost a 1/2 page write-up about using Rust Monsters responsibly. And no, telling PC’s that they should carry back-up armor is not listed there.

Also, there are rules for playing three new races as PC races. The Bullywug, Duergar, and Kenku.

Overall, my favorite creature in the MM2 came down to a three-way tie.

• The Beholder Eye of Frost because I love Beholders and I love Frosty things.
• The Human Pirate Captain to kick some ninja butt.
• The Skeletal Steed because I have been wanting to use my Skeletal Courser minis, and here is the reason.

This book comes in at 224 pages for the standard $34.95 price-tag and is available Tuesday at your FLGS.