Monster Manual I, II, III and FRCS

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I would like to have some informations about the monster manual for The 3rd edition. Why 3 books? Are they all necessary or only the first one is enough.

And if someone could give me a brief summary of what contain the forgotten realm campaign setting for the 3rd edition, it would be very appreciated.

I don't want to waste my money on books but if they're all worth their price than, Tal gonna have another contribution soon

[ January 23, 2003, 12:02: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

As far as I know, there are only two Monster Manual books. This first one contains all the bread 'n' butter monsters in your average D&D campaign: Orcs, Goblins, Dragons, Trolls, Giants, Demons, etc. More exotic creatures such as Krakens, Lamia, and the Yuan-ti are also described here. I suggest it's pretty much worth it; How to advance and even create a monster are listed here. There are some useful templates as well.

The Monster Manual II contains some new ones, and most are relatively exotic and unheard of (assuming you've never seen the 2nd Edition Monstrous Manuals, as some are probaby conversions). Most of the monsters there describe things that your average person (or even LoTR fan) has never heard or dreamed of. There are also some new Dragons,Golems, Celestials, and Fiends. However, some of the monsters seem like a really unoriginal (or sometimes downright bad) ideas, some being big blobs of flesh or gigantic centipedes.

The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (FRCS) is a description of Faerun's nations and cities, and its surrounding lands. Life, trade, and various organizations of FR are described here. It's fairly extensive, but there are other books focusing more specifically on certain places and institutions of the Forgotten Realms. The only problem I have with it (mind you, though, I've only skimmed over it a few times), is that it could have done more on trade, daily life, and culture, instead of making room for new magic items and listing the stats of Elminster, Drizzt, and other FR figures.

I would say that the Monster Manual is a good thing to have (it's considered one of the Core Books, after all). I would say that the first is the only one you really need; the second is just a bunch of new ideas and monsters.

( This is the art gallery for a few of the monsters in the Monster Manual.)

( This is the art gallery for all of the monsters in the Monster Manual II.)

(Statistics (and only statistics) of the monsters and templates in the Monster Manual can be found at opengamingfoundation.org)

[ January 22, 2003, 22:01: Message edited by: C'Jakob ]

 

Well I did miss one of my favourit Monsters in the first Manuel but they put it in the second one, I was really glad when that one came out.
It is that large toadstool creature, always forget his name.

But indeed the first one deals with the most familiar monsters. Although I also loved the monsters and templates in the Book of vile darkness!