Tower of Iron Will

This is the fifth edition of the Monster Manual, the compendium of monsters used in Dungeons & Dragons, the granddaddy of all pen and paper role-playing games. All the old favorites are here: Beholders, Owlbears, Gelatinous Cubes, Mindflayers, Bulettes and Displacer Beasts. The subspecies of Giants and Dragons are exactly the same as they appeared in the first edition back in 1977, but Trolls continue their never ending mutation. Trolls in D&D and Trolls in World of Warcraft are very different creatures, but the dreadlocks on the new Troll illustration suggest a nod to the oddly rasta Trolls of WoW. The design of Orcs also bears a stronger resemblance to WoW Orcs than to the pig faced creatures of older D&D reference works.

The art of the new edition may be the best so far. All the illustrations are detailed and richly colored. The Myconids look almost psychadelic and the Slaadi have never looked more repulsive. One surprising omission is the player character races. Past editions have included Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, and Halfings which are not technically monsters, but their articles did add additional details not covered in the Player's Handbook. The most surprising inclusion is a four page section on Yugoloths, which I believe were introduced in the second edition, the oddly named Monstrous Manual, and never mentioned since.