What S&S Needs Part II: A Monster Manual

[shadowwarrior]

I'm as much of a fan of the old school method of presenting monsters as the next person, and the complete list of monsters stats followed by the blurb free of stats certainly harkens back to the old days. But there is a reason no one does it like that any more - I think you know what I'm saying

While it's a nice piece of nostalgia, it makes use during play just a little bit less easy than it should be for a light 'n' frothy game. The ideal world for me would be both, a tabular summary as per current (at the back or front, not bothered), plus the monster blurb with stats also present as part of each monster's block. I'd happily pay good money for a "Monster Manual" reformatted like that, even more so given that the Deluxe edition doesn't include the monster from MM.

Sounds like not a lot of work for a potential good return. How about it, Jason?

[kersus]

I can see how having stats in both places is an aid. The one criticism I have is that the top should be from the spine, not the page edge IMO. I keep feeling like it's backward when I flip through it currently - like I'm reading Manga (though not quite as different as that) Between MM and the original rulebook, I have pretty much the monsters I need. One really can't have too many monsters though. For me it's important to see regular creatures available for reference.

[Jason Vey]

It's something I've considered. The reason I went with the reference table is that I thought (and still think) it's actually easier...it gives you a stat block for your monster all in one neat row. That being said, a monster manual book isn't entirely out of the question at some point int he future.

[shadowwarrior]

There's nothing wrong with the reference tables as such, in fact it's an admirable summary and acts as a superb contents/index, but without the stats in with the blurb, you are playing the game with two fingers in the book, one in the list page and one in the blurb page.

Trust me on this! It may be different for you, Jason, because you are 100% au fait with the critters anyway, but for those of us fresh to the game that isn't so.

I'm telling you, this'd be a sure fire seller and the best of all worlds for everyone! Combine the two monster sections, add stats in the blurb blocks, add in a few new beasts (nothing weird, there are still some omissions - spiders for instance) and job done!