Hands down, Volo's Guide to Monsters is the best D&D 5e guidebook Wizards has released. Indeed, other than The Book of Vile Deeds, I'm hard-pressed to think of a better D&D companion. An absolute essential for DMs.

Volo’s Guide to Monsters follows the same format as the DM expansion books, with half the book being in-depth lore of some part of the D&D worlds, including new character options, and the second half of the book being a bestiary of new creatures, most of which relate to the lore from the first half of the book. This book adds lots of lore about some iconic D&D monsters like beholders, giants, goblinoids, etc. It covers their behaviors, abilities, how to role play them, and even provides fully-re...

This book was already a 5+ star book, its just fantastic, and then I hit Appendix B - a listing of a bunch of typical NPCs and their stats! Need a random archer, or illusionist, or swashbuckler? If I could give this book a 6 I would.

I loved reading this expansion upon the basic Player's Handbook and Monster Manuel. Learning more extensively about the cultures of various creatures, from Orcs to Mindflayers, was extremely interesting. The addition of a few playable races was also great, though I think Orcs should have been in the Player's Manual just like Half-Orcs are since both Elves and Half-Elves are included in that book. I would, however, have liked to have learned more extensively about Drow culture as well. Perhaps su...

I don't think I have ever given a game book a 5 star rating but this is IT! Many of the longer race entries read like short stories. Tons of good information and ideas on every entry. A very enjoyable read overall even though it is meant to be a game reference book. Highly recommended

I went into this book with high expectations, as it was the first new book of monsters for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Shockingly, it might have managed to exceed them. Volo's Guide to Monsters is one of my favorite D&D monster books ever, and I speak as someone who's read a lot of D&D monster books. The book starts with the conceit of being a guide written by Volothamp Geddarm (aka "Marco Volo") about the monsters of the Forgotten Realms, with some commentary from the wizard Elminster. Unfo...

I've been duly impressed by the job Wizards of the Coast has done on 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. By this time in the evolution of every previous edition of D&D—and certainly 3rd/3.5 and 4th edition, which were the first editions for which I experienced their original release—Wizards of the Coast had released any number of additional sourcebooks (and even more-or-less essential core manuals) with additional rules and inclusions for gameplay that, while not exactly vital to effective roleplayi...

As an adopter of 5th edition in our gaming crew, I'm really enjoying all the new takes on old things. They're reimagining how things can be, without ruining how they were.To be honest, I wasn't impressed with this initially; the heavy-handed cultural approach to the monsters was meh for me. Lots of deity and god talk, etc etc. Neat if you're going all-in on an Orc campaign and want tons of motivation though.I was very impressed with the PC races and the rules for adapting monstrous races into PC...

This is a great book for both players and DMs. There are three sections. The first section provides in depth information on the most iconic monster types in D&D. This includes information about the culture and lairs, and it also provides information on role playing those monsters for DMs. The second section provides new races for player characters, including some monstrous player races. The final section provides new monsters to supplement the ones found in the Monster Manual. In general, I enjo...

Amazing. This book adds so much more for DMs to work with. Really amazing monsters, some maps, and some really cool new races that players can mess with. My only issue is that a cow has a higher HP and AC than my druid has... yeah... i'm jelly...

It's just wonderful. Everything about it.It has 3 parts:1. In-depth sections on various iconic monsters - Beholders, Kobolds, etc. - each enough for an adventure or a campaign around it. If you like reading about fantastic creatures, and if you're considering Volo's, you are, you'll have fun just reading it. For me, just this part was worth the entire book.2. Character races. Feel like you had enough of the standard ones? You'll find something to spark your interest here.3. Monsters - including

I love all the in-depth monster lore on several archetypal monster types in the first chapter. I got several ideas for new campaigns just from reading that. (Of course, I will never have the time to run all the campaigns I have ideas for...)The chapter on new PC races was pretty cool, and I'm sure I'll see some of those options in future games. A few I wish were in there weren't, but that's not a huge deal.The final chapter -- stat blocks for a bunch of new monsters -- had some fun new things, a...

The Lore section was easily my favorite part of the book. Even a “small” encounter with a hag can have new depth and life just by adding a few small details found here. I love it. I’m doing (very) advance prep for running the Storm King’s Thunder adventure, which is about giants, so that extra info on giants and their world will only help me flesh my world out. I have almost no use for the new player races at this point in my DM life, but down the road, they might be of more use. Still, somethin...

Excellent resource and full of good ideas for players and DMs.

A superhero is only as interesting as the villain they are opposed to. Batman on his own isn't really all that interesting- just beating up nameless villains. Batman vs the Joker, on the other hand, really makes Batman a compelling character. And what makes a good villain? A good villain isn't just a caricature, but has deep, understandable motivations. This book explains the lore and motivations of monsters so well that I will never fight a lowly Kobold again without a tinge of sympathy.I picke...

A really nice supplement to the 5th Edition Monster Manual. It provides a deeper look at some selected cultures (goblinoid, Mindflayers, etc) that offer a lot of good ideas for DMs (Dungeon Masters) to work with. I know I got a much better understanding of the humble, lowly Kobold and a greater appreciation for how Orcs organize their societies (much more complex than you would think). The nice thing about D&D is that nothing is set, so a DM can pick and choose what aspects of a culture they wan...

I wasn't enamored with Sword Coast or any of the modules 5E is peddling, but Volo's guide makes me look forward to upcoming 5E splat. The in-depth fluff for monster mythology is great and it clarifies or corrects mythology from previous editions.

I love the additions. The new monsters and ideas, the new player races, etc.

Re-read: This is a phenomenal addition to any Dungeon Master's collection. Fantastic organization compared to other 5E books, too. New player character classes, a boost to the available NPC rosters, more than 100 new monsters, and--the best part-- an amazing deep dive into a handful of select monsters to understand how they think, how they strategize, where they live and their lore.

A really excellent supplement. So many things in here gave me awesome ideas for campaigns and encounters. I hope the new dungeon themed supplement is as good as this is.