 | |
| Genre | Role-playing game |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast |
Publication date | June 2011 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 128 |
| ISBN | 978-0-7869-5838-2 |
Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale is a supplement to the 4th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Bart Carroll, Producer at Wizards of the Coast, wrote: "In this book, you'll find a codex of monsters and villains to throw at the heroes as they explore every nook and cranny of the Nentir Vale or, by extension, your home campaign setting". [1]
This 128-page book contains statistics, tactics, and lore for new monsters of the Nentir Vale. The softcover book also came with eight "die-cut sheets of card stock monster and villain tokens and a double-sided battle map featuring four different encounter locations". [2]
Shannon Appelcline, author of Designers & Dragons, wrote: "there are about 200 monsters in Threats to Nentir Vale, and the vast majority of them are for the Heroic Tier. Less than 20% are Paragon Tier monsters, and there are no epic monsters at all. The toughest monster in the book is Shadowmire, at level 19, which is probably why he's on the cover. [...] Though most of the monsters are unique builds that are part of organizations, there are also a few classic monsters making their reappearance in 4e". [3]
Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale was published by Wizards of the Coast in June 2011 and it was the third post-Essentials book for the 4th edition. The book was re-released as a PDF on October 06, 2015. [3] It was written by Sterling Hershey, Brian R. James, Matt James, and Steve Townshend and illustrated by Dave Allsop, Peter Bergting, Zoltan Boros, Eric Deschamps, Matt Dixon, Wayne England, Adam Gillespie, Ralph Horsley, Twozdai Hulse, Mari Kolkowsky, Howard Lyon, Jim Nelson, Steve Prescott, Vincent Proce, Wayne Reynolds, Jon Schindehette, Anne Stokes, Gábor Szikszai, Matias Tapia, Ben Wootten, and Kieran Yanner.
Appelcline highlighted that Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale was released after a "grim" Q1 2011 where multiple books had been canceled. It followed the release of Heroes of Shadow (April 2011) and The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond (May 2011) when there was confusion on what the line looked like post-Essentials. [3]
There were several key differences in format and style between this book and the previous Essentials line:
Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale won the 2012 Silver ENnie Award for "Best Monster/Adversary". [4]
The Monster Manual is the primary bestiary sourcebook for monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR. The Monster Manual was the first hardcover D&D book and includes monsters derived from mythology and folklore, as well as creatures created specifically for D&D. Creature descriptions include game-specific statistics, a brief description of its habits and habitats, and typically an image of the creature. Along with the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide, the Monster Manual is one of the three "core rulebooks" in most editions of the D&D game. As such, new editions of the Monster Manual have been released for each edition of D&D. Due to the level of detail and illustration included in the 1977 release, the book was cited as a pivotal example of a new style of wargame books. Future editions would draw on various sources and act as a compendium of published monsters.
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Matt James is an American game designer and a decorated veteran of the United States Army. As a game designer, James is best known for his online and print works for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game published by Wizards of the Coast, Pathfinder role-playing game by Paizo, and Privateer Press. He has also designed game content for Wolfgang Baur's Kobold Press. In 2012 James won an ENnie Award for Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale and has been nominated for several Origins Awards. In 2014, James won an ENnie Award for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 4.
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Monster Vault is a supplement to the 4th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.
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Wizards of the Coast Product Page and book excerpts (via the Internet Archive):