Monster Manual IV

Monster Manual IV is an accessory for the 3.5-edition of ruleset, presenting a variety of new and expanded races and monsters. "Scores of monsters that are fun to play and easy to run.

This supplement for the D&D game offers a fully illustrated horde of new monsters such as the clockwork steed, the tomb spider, and the evil creatures known as the spawn of Tiamat. It also includes monsters that have previously appeared as D&D Miniatures, including the bloodhulk, the justice archon, and the wizened elder. Finally, the book provides varieties of existing monsters such as the drow arcane guard, the orc battle priest, and the yuan-ti pureblood slayer.

In addition to an easy-to-use statistics format, this supplement features maps of monster lairs, sample encounters, and tactics sections to help DMs run more complex creatures. Additionally, many entries contain information about where monsters are likely to appear in the Forgotten Realms and Eberron campaign settings."

- Back-cover text

Contents

 * Introduction
 * The Monsters
 * Sample Lair: The Deephollows
 * Monster Feats
 * Glossary
 * Monsters by Type (and Subtype)
 * Monsters Ranked by Challenge Rating
 * List of Monsters by ECL
 * Full-Page Maps
 * Templates
 * For Player Characters
 * Mounts/Companion Creatures
 * Power Components
 * Summonable Creatures
 * Weapons

Description
Monster Manual IV contains a variety of new creatures as well as expanded variants on staple monsters. What separates it from past volumes is the level of detail given to each creature subtype, including probable behavior in combat and even a complete pre-prepared encounter complete with a map.

Each entry also contains a table listing DC ratings for skill checks made using the Knowledge ability. In general, a low DC check results in revealing all the monster's subtype traits to the player, while higher ratings reveal their origins or various special offensive and defensive abilities.

Monster Manual IV uses the new stat block format that was introduced in the Dungeon Master's Guide II. Monster Manual IV contained fewer actual monsters than Monster Manual II and Monster Manual III, but had sample lairs and encounters for them, gave stats for classes and templates applied to old creatures, and full page maps.