 Cover | |
| Genre | Role-playing games |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast |
Publication date | 15 November 2016 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 224 |
| ISBN | 978-0-7869-6607-3 (Limited Edition Cover), 978-0-7869-6601-1 (Standard Edition) |
Volo's Guide to Monsters is a sourcebook for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 2016. It is, in part, a supplement to the 5th edition Monster Manual and the Players Handbook . [1] [2]
This book adds a variety of new playable races and expands on existing creatures in the Monster Manual in addition to adding new ones. [3] The book also contains marginalia by both Volothamp Geddarm and Elminster of Shadowdale. [4]
This book was released on November 15, 2016. An exclusive edition with an alternate art cover by Hydro74 was pre-released to select game shops early in November 2016. [5] [6] The book was also released as a digital product through the following Wizards of the Coast licensees: D&D Beyond, Fantasy Grounds, and Roll20. [2]
In October 2020, an errata for the book was released. This errata included changes such as removing stat penalties for playable monster races and makes the changes to playable monster races seen in campaign specific settings ( Eberron: Rising From The Last War and Explorer's Guide to Wildemount ) canon for all of Dungeons & Dragons. [7] [8]
The digital edition on D&D Beyond was delisted on May 17, 2022, which corresponds with the digital release of Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse (2022). Monsters of the Multiverse contains revised versions of the player races and monsters originally published in Volo's Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018). [9] [10] In May 2022, D&D Beyond stated that users will retain access to previously purchased copies of Volo's Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. [11] Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com in May 2022, commented that "one major concern about the delisting is access to the chapters of lores contained in Volo's Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Both books contained dozens of pages of lore about the D&D multiverse that don't appear in Monsters of the Multiverse. [...] D&D Beyond has not said whether the various expanded lore chapters will be available to D&D Beyond players moving forward, or if they'll be delisted and essentially removed from access by new players moving forward. Of course, D&D players can still read the lore in Volo's Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes by purchasing physical copies of the books, which will still be available even after Monsters of the Multiverse is released next week". [9]
Volo's Guide to Monsters won Best Supplement and Best Artwork & Presentation at the 2016 Golden Geek Awards (determined by users of BoardGameGeek, RPGGeek and VideoGameGeek). [12] In Publishers Weekly's "Best-selling Books Week Ending November 20, 2016", Volo's Guide to Monsters was #13 in "Hardcover Nonfiction". [13]
For The A.V. Club , Nick Wanserski wrote that "what I’ve enjoyed about Volo’s is that it understands how role-playing game source books, at their best, serve two distinct purposes. As a direct campaign aid, it provides more mechanical ingredients like monsters, player characters, and treasure. Secondly it serves as an idle reading companion—something to flip through and explore and pick out the appealing ideas. Even without actively playing a 5th Edition campaign, there’s a lot in here that I will happily slice out and reassemble in my Frankenstein’s monster of a campaign". [14]
Zack Furniss, for Destructoid , wrote that "in the second chapter, there are new character race options. I was expecting only a few, but there are seven new (well five, if you're counting downloadable supplements) races and six monster races. The angelic Aasimar are more fleshed out here than in the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the huge, mountain-dwelling Goliaths are no longer relegated solely to the downloadable Elemental Evil Player's Campaign. [...] Monster races aren't quite as in-depth, lacking history and storytelling hooks, but still include enough information to be playable. Bugbears, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, orcs, and yuan-ti purebloods are all ready to be played now. An all-monster campaign could be a fun, if I ever have the time to run it. [...] I'll be plucking out nasties and their stories to creep out my friends for a long time. I love the marriage of narrative and mechanical information. It's easy to ignore if you just want to have new stat blocks, but it's hard not to get sucked in and read all of it". [3]
For Polygon , Charlie Hall wrote that "most of the information is great fodder for dungeon masters. How do you roleplay a beholder? How do you speak like a giant? What does their four-tier caste system contribute to goblin society? What does a gnoll chant to keep his spirits up while on the hunt? What is the lifecycle of a mind flayer? [...] Ever wondered what a hag is most likely to drive off the used car lot, or fancied a careful examination of the kobold pantheon? It’s all in there, and something is going to light a fire in your mind and bring a richer, more memorable experience to the table. The second third of the book might be my favorite. I’m not able to share much, but suffice it to say that with Volo’s Guide both dungeon masters and players will be able to bring new races to the table, both as player and non-player characters. [...] The final third contains rules for 96 monsters that are new to fifth edition, including the Gauth and the Mindwitness". [1]
On using Volo's point of view as the framing device for this book, Cameron Kunzelman for Paste wrote "imagine that Ken Jennings was a drunk, really cared about being able to name all the animals of the zoo, and was the sole grantor of Michelin stars across the world. That's Volo. [...] As a character, Volo is brilliant because he is a device through which the designers of the Forgotten Realms can give Dungeon Masters a set of bounds.[...] That 'thinks he knows' is crucial, because having Volo write the guide means that he can be wrong. From a design perspective, Volo is a way of giving DMs a toolbox that they don’t have to be completely adherent to. Whatever Volo thinks or writes can be slightly off the mark. Maybe he only saw a tavern during the daytime. Maybe he cut some corners. Nesting world design within the subjective opinions of an expansive, world-trotting character with a penchant for embellishment solves a lot of problems and generally makes the job of being a DM a little more fun". [4] In a later review, Kunzelman wrote that "my one serious critique of Volo’s Guide to Monsters is that it doesn’t do enough with its supposed writer. The character Volo has done a number of things: he wrote guides to specific cities, appeared in games, and even wrote the manual for a Baldur’s Gate game. [...] Volo’s Guide to Monsters has snippets of info from Volo, but it mostly tells the DM facts about a world, rather than opinions, rumors and suspicions that might be completely unfounded. [...] In any case, the book is interesting and genuinely helpful for any given Dungeon Master who might be using these monsters in her campaign". [15]
In a review of Volo's Guide to Monsters in Black Gate , Howard Andrew Jones said "In sum, this is a great addition to any DM's library. Whether you're using 5e or some compatible system, you'll find yourself inspired by the countless clever ideas inside." [16]
The drow or dark elves are a dark-skinned and white-haired subrace of elves connected to the subterranean Underdark in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. The drow have traditionally been portrayed as generally evil and connected to the evil spider goddess Lolth. However, later editions of Dungeons & Dragons have moved away from this portrayal and preassigned alignment. More recent publications have explored drow societies unconnected to Lolth.
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, illithids are monstrous humanoid aberrations with psionic powers. In a typical Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, they live in the moist caverns and cities of the enormous Underdark. Illithids believe themselves to be the dominant species of the multiverse and use other intelligent creatures as thralls, slaves, and chattel. Illithids are well known for making thralls out of other intelligent creatures, as well as feasting on their brains.
The tiefling is a fictional humanoid race in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game. Originally introduced in the Planescape campaign setting in the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as a player character race for the setting, they became one of the primary races available for player characters in the fourth edition of the game.
In the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game, alignment is a categorization of the ethical and moral perspective of player characters, non-player characters, and creatures.
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Kenku(pronounced keng-KOO or KENK-oo) are a fictional race of bird-like humanoid creatures in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. They have appeared in multiple editions in the game's history and became an official playable race in Volo's Guide to Monsters. They are loosely based on tengu, spiritual beings in Japanese mythology, and are most recognizable for their lack of a voice; instead of speaking themselves, they use their gift of mimicry to communicate. Jeremy Crawford, lead rules designer of the Dungeons & Dragons game, says "[they] can cleverly piece together voices and sounds they've heard to communicate".
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, orcs are a primitive race of savage, bestial, barbaric humanoid.
Kobolds are a fictional race of humanoid creatures featured in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game and other fantasy media. They are often depicted as small reptilian humanoids with long tails, distantly related to dragons.
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, goblins are a common and fairly weak race of evil humanoid monsters. Goblins are non-human monsters that low-level player characters often face in combat.
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the centaur is a large monstrous humanoid. Based upon the centaurs of Greek myth, a centaur in the game resembles a human with the lower body of a horse.
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Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes is a sourcebook for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 2018. It is, in part, a supplement to the 5th edition Monster Manual and the Players Handbook.
D&D Beyond (DDB) is the official digital toolset and game companion for Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition. DDB hosts online versions of the official Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition books, including rulebooks, adventures, and other supplements; it also provides digital tools like a character builder and digital character sheet, monster and spell listings that can be sorted and filtered, an encounter builder, and an interactive overlay Twitch Extension. In addition to the official D&D content available to purchase, it also provides the ability to create and add custom homebrew content.
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Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse is a sourcebook for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, originally published as part of a box set in January 2022. It was published as a standalone edition in May 2022. The book is a supplement to the 5th edition Monster Manual (2014) and Player's Handbook (2014). It is also a replacement book for two older supplements – Volo's Guide to Monsters (2016) and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018).