Monster Manual

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The Monster Manual (or Monstrous Compendium) is the primary sourcebook for monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It includes monsters derived from mythology, and folklore, as well as creatures created for D&D specifically. It describes each with game-specific statistics (such as number of hit dice), and a brief description of its habits and habitats. Most of the entries also have an image of the creature. Along with the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide, it is one of the three "core rulebooks" in all editions of the Dungeons & Dragons game.

Current Monster Manual (3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons)

The current version of the Monster Manual (July 2003), subtitled Core Rulebook v3.5, is a revision of the Monster Manual (2000) for Third Edition Dungeons & Dragons.

The v3.5 revision has a slightly different entry on each monster, particularly the division of the attack into Attack and Full Attack entries. Also, most of the monsters now have an enhanced version of them near the original one as an example of advancement (usually either with a template or with class levels). Many monsters now have instructions on how to use them as player characters.

These volumes are not major variations from the earlier concepts of the Monster Manual; they update older monsters to Third Edition rules. In 2001, Monster Manual won the Origins Award for Best Graphic Design of a Roleplaying Game, Adventure, or Supplement 2000.

Monster Manual II (2002) and Fiend Folio (2003) are new monster-specific rulebooks, though some of the specific monsters featured therein have almost no overlap with those of their first edition namesakes. There have been no new versions of Monster Manual II and Fiend Folio for v3.5, however update errata are available for both volumes and the original third edition Monster Manual are available for download from the publishers website [].

Monster Manual III (2004) contains more monsters and was originally published in the v3.5 format. Monster Manual IV is scheduled for release early this July. It will be published in the v3.5 format, and will use the new stat block format that was introduced in the Dungeon Master's Guide II. The book supposedly will tie into the "Year of the Dragons" theme that Wizards of the Coast planned out for 2006. This has been seen so far in previews of dragonspawn of Tiamat, dragon-like monsters that will populate the book.

Earlier Monster Manuals

Early Dungeons & Dragons

The earliest Dungeons and Dragons box games did not have separate Monster Manuals but contained the monsters in the manuals in the boxed set. The original boxed set included a Book 2: Monsters and Treasure.

After the publication of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, the game was still published in level-based boxes. Monsters of the appropriate levels were included in the rulebooks in Basic/Expert/Companion/Master/Immortals Sets and D&D Rules Cyclopedia book.

AC9 Creature Catalogue (1986) and its expanded revised namesake DMR2 Creature Catalogue (1993) were the only major new monster specific accessory for Dungeons & Dragons (pre-third edition).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st Edition)

The original Monster Manual (1977) was written by Gary Gygax. It was the first hardcover book for any Dungeons & Dragons game, and the first of the Core Manuals for the new Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Except for a cover art change in 1983 to match a new logo and house style, and some minor corrections introduced in the 1978 printings, it went through very little change in its fifteen printings up to 1989.

The pen and ink illustrations within the first volume of the Monster Manual are uneven—some artwork is amateurish (as in many early D&D publications), while some shows skillful use of lines and media. Many illustrations even evoke a feeling of medieval woodcuts. The cover for the first Monster Manual is one of the most notable uses of non-orthodox fantasy artwork (c.f. Boris Vallejo) by TSR, and is often jokingly disparaged by fans, although this two-dimensional "Bic pen and school notebook" style vividly captures and expresses the quaint, adolescent nature of 1970s fantasy roleplay. Despite their uneven quality, the illustrations within the tome are some of the best in the series. The credited artists of the first manual, in order, are David C. Sutherland III (DCS), David A. Trampier (DAT), Tom Wham (TW), and Jean Wells. It is a common misperception that Erol Otus contributed to the first Monster Manual; he did not.

The first edition Monster Manual is also famous for the topless portrayals of its female monsters, such as the succubus and Type V demons, the lamia, the sylph, among others. The casual depiction of female nudity is a hallmark of first edition Dungeons and Dragons art.

Fiend Folio (1981) was produced by TSR UK and originally scheduled for 1979. Many of the Fiend Folio's contents were taken from the Fiend Factory feature of White Dwarf, others were taken from modules, and some were original creations for this volume. It introduced several popular monsters to the D&D game including drow, githyanki, githzerai, slaad, and death knights. It also featured monsters that were infamously ridiculous such as the sheet phantom (a bad caricature of a ghost) and the flumph (one of the few non-evil creatures presented). Fiend Folio featured more consistent artwork than the original Monster Manual, though of the same general style but darker, making more use of light and shadow.

Monster Manual II (1983) was also credited to Gygax, though some of its contents was taken from modules. It introduced the new logo and art style on the cover that was used on latter reprintings of the other manuals. While the Monster Manual II added many popular monsters to the D&D mythos, there were also some ridiculed monsters such as the modron.

2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

Monstrous Compendium (1989) replaced the Monster Manual when Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition was released. The Compendium was a binder of looseleaf sheets rather than a hardback book. The first two volumes contained the "core" monsters of the game. These were followed by a large number of appendix volumes that contained extra monsters for particular campaign settings.

The format was intended to help Dungeon Masters keep all of their monster statistics in one place and in alphabetical order. It would also mean they would only need to purchase core volumes and appendix volumes for the campaigns they wanted, rather than getting a mix of monsters in books. However, the binder format ultimately proved impractical for two main reasons:

• The looseleaf pages had a tendency to tear along the holes for the binder; it was simply not as durable as the hardcover book format for a frequently used reference manual;
• Also almost every looseleaf page in the series featured a different monster on each side, making it impossible for DM's to keep monsters in strict alphabetical order.

The artwork in the looseleaf volume of the manual is generally considered the absolute worst of the game, especially when one considers that the art budget available for the Monstrous Compendium series was much higher than that for the original Monster Manuals. In particular, the art in the first two volumes of the Compendium were almost entirely illustrated by a single artist in a style that seemed to many to be rushed and careless. However, later Monstrous Compendiums made a return to form with full-color art on quality paper that was up to professional standards.

In 1993 the Monstrous Manual was released, compiling all monsters from the first two volumes of the Monstrous Compendium plus a large number of monsters from other sources into a large 384 page hardcover book. More Monstrous Compedium Appendices were released as a supplement to the Monstrous Manual in the form of paperback books, mostly 128 pages. They included updated reprints of loose leaf Monstrous Compendium Appendices and new volumes.

Monstrous Compendium volumes issued

The MC series was the loose leaf version. These included:

• MC1 Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989) - 144 pages, 12 dividers and 3-ring D-binder
• MC2 Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989)
• MC3 Monstrous Compendium Volume Three Forgotten Realms Appendix
• MC4 Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix (1989) - 96 pages, 4 dividers and 3-ring D-binder
• MC5 Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Adventures Appendix (1990) - 32 pages, 4 dividers
• MC6 Monstrous Compendium Kara-Tur Appendix
• MC7 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix (1990) - 64 pages, 4 dividers
• MC8 Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix (1991) - 48 pages, 4 dividers
• MC9 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix (1991)
• MC10 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix (1991) - 32 pages, 4 dividers
• MC11 Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix (1991) - 32 pages, 4 dividers
• MC12 Monstrous Compendium Dark Sun Appendix: Terrors of the Desert (1992) - 96 pages
• MC13 Monstrous Compendium Al-Qadim Appendix (1992) - 32 pages, 4 dividers
• MC14 Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix (1992) - 32 pages, 4 dividers
• MC15 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix II: Children of the Night (1993) - 32 pages, 4 dividers

After the loose leaf version was abandoned, Monstrous Compedium Appendices were published in book form. Except where noted, are 128 page paperbacks with mostly new material. They included:

• Monstrous Manual (1993) - 384 page hardcover reprinting MC1 & MC2 plus others
• Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium Appendix II: Terrors Beyond Tyr (1995)
• Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I & II (1996) - reprinting MC10 & MC15
• Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix III: Creatures of Darkness (1994)
• Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994)
• Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix II (1995)
• Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix III (1998)
• Mystara Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994)
• Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume One (1994) - reprints from modules and magazines of 1993
• Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Two (1995) - reprints from modules and magazines of 1994
• Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three (1996)- reprints from modules and magazines of 1995
• Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Four (1998) - 96 pages - reprints from modules and magazines of 1996/7

See also

• List of species in fantasy fiction

External links

• [Current Monster Manual] at Wizards of the Coast website.
• [Detailed information on the 1st Monster Manual and differences between printings]

 

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