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Monster Manual

2021-04-20T02:48:39Z

2601:203:400:CE90:CD19:FAF1:C471:B25: /* Monster Manual (AD&D) */

[[File:MM 1e cover.jpg|thumb|D&D's first Monster Manual]]
A '''Monster Manual''' (sometimes called a Monstrous Manual or a Bestiary) is a book (or set of pages you can put in a binder if you are a particularly crusty [[neckbeard]]) used in [[RPG]]s to describe the various kinds of [[monster]]s the PCs can encounter and fight. The Manual is intended for [[DM]]s to make encounters for the players. Though they are more often described in the DMG, these books can also contain descriptions for the more exotic kind of [[trap]] (no not like that). Some books may also include templates to apply to existing monsters to change them (read: make them deadlier) or ways to make your very own monster from the ground up.

If they are not bundled into the main manual, a new release of a game can see a new Monster Manual as well. This first Monster Manual is seen as a "core book" in the trinity of the Manual, the [[Player's Handbook|Handbook]] and the holy [[Dungeon Master's Guide|Guide]]. There have been times when the first monster manual ''preceded'' the rest of the core: this notably happened in 1977, so its Manual was compatible with the ancient rules that became BXCMI, up to which the AD&D ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' had to catch. This also happened in 3e/d20 with [[White_Wolf|Sword and Sorcery Studios]]' rushed-to-print ''[[Creature Collection]]'', and with Violet Dawn's ''Denizens of Avadnu''. If ever comes that published setting at all, as Eden's ''Liber Bestarius''.

After the first Monster Manual of an edition the follow-up books are divided into two different camps. One is the list of Monster Manuals who will be named Monster Manual II, Monster Manual III and so on. The other are the more "themed" books that describe settings for adventures and monsters that fit in those settings, like books describing the [[Underdark]] having many [[Drow]], spider and Aberration type enemies, or [[The Manual of the Planes]] describing Fiends like [[Tanar'ri]] and [[Baatezu]], alongside creatures of Chaos like the [[Githzerai]] and creatures of Law like [[Modron]]s. Books in the latter category are not considered Monster Manuals despite their number of described creatures.

Then there are the "B Side Collections"... In the early 1980s TSR found itself with dozens of post-Manual monsters from early adventure-modules and especially from ''another country'' - Great Britain, in ''[[White Dwarf]]'' magazine. Gygax bundled the former with the best he could scrounge from the latter, birthing - or, perhaps, pinching off - the ''[[Fiend Folio]]''. After this one's [[skub|mixed]] reception, "fiend folio" is now a term for a holding-pen of niche monsters which you don't want defiling the mainline of Manual sequelae.

The problem with making a lot of Monster Manuals is that the monsters in the later books are split up into four groups: 30% will be reprints of monsters from older books of varying obscurity, 30% will be either upscaled animals or creatures made by slapping a number of templates together ending with creatures that lack the focus and originality of their progenitors, 30% will be 'Folio-bait (Three-headed hermaphrodites! Killer paper! Murderous hats!), and the final 10% being actually interesting creatures (either original or mythological) that could make an interesting addition to a game.

Theoretically the game can be played without the Monster Manual and just the PHB+DMG by making human(oid)s and traps the only enemies. In practice this is never done for long and the Monster Manual is an important part of any game, as a game with nothing interesting to fight is just as bad as uninteresting mechanics or [[class]]es.

The only two editions after AD&D to not have a Monster Manual are 2nd Edition, which instead had the Monstrous Compendium series which were released in loose-leaf form instead of as books, and 4th Edition Essentials, which instead had the short-lived Monster Vault series.

=List of Monster Manuals and the Monsters within=
(Under Construction)
==Monster Manual (AD&D)==
* [[Arial Servant]]
* [[Ankheg|Anhkheg]]
* Giant Ant
* Ape
** Gorilla
** Carnivorous Ape
* [[Axe Beak]]
* Baboon
* Badger
* [[Baluchitherium]]
* Barracuda
* [[Basilisk]]
* Bear
* Giant Beaver
* Giant Beetle
* [[Beholder]]
* [[Slime|Black Pudding]]
* [[Blink Dog]]
* Boar
* [[Brain Mole]]
* [[Brownie]]
* Buffalo
* [[Bugbear]]
* [[Bulette]]
* Bull
* Wild Camel

==Monster Manual II (AD&D)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 3E)==
==Monster Manual II (D&D 3E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual III (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual IV (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual I (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual 2 (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual 3 (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 5E)==

[[Category:Game Books]][[Category:Monsters]]

Monster Manual

2021-04-20T02:46:51Z

2601:203:400:CE90:CD19:FAF1:C471:B25: /* Monster Manual (AD&D) */

[[File:MM 1e cover.jpg|thumb|D&D's first Monster Manual]]
A '''Monster Manual''' (sometimes called a Monstrous Manual or a Bestiary) is a book (or set of pages you can put in a binder if you are a particularly crusty [[neckbeard]]) used in [[RPG]]s to describe the various kinds of [[monster]]s the PCs can encounter and fight. The Manual is intended for [[DM]]s to make encounters for the players. Though they are more often described in the DMG, these books can also contain descriptions for the more exotic kind of [[trap]] (no not like that). Some books may also include templates to apply to existing monsters to change them (read: make them deadlier) or ways to make your very own monster from the ground up.

If they are not bundled into the main manual, a new release of a game can see a new Monster Manual as well. This first Monster Manual is seen as a "core book" in the trinity of the Manual, the [[Player's Handbook|Handbook]] and the holy [[Dungeon Master's Guide|Guide]]. There have been times when the first monster manual ''preceded'' the rest of the core: this notably happened in 1977, so its Manual was compatible with the ancient rules that became BXCMI, up to which the AD&D ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' had to catch. This also happened in 3e/d20 with [[White_Wolf|Sword and Sorcery Studios]]' rushed-to-print ''[[Creature Collection]]'', and with Violet Dawn's ''Denizens of Avadnu''. If ever comes that published setting at all, as Eden's ''Liber Bestarius''.

After the first Monster Manual of an edition the follow-up books are divided into two different camps. One is the list of Monster Manuals who will be named Monster Manual II, Monster Manual III and so on. The other are the more "themed" books that describe settings for adventures and monsters that fit in those settings, like books describing the [[Underdark]] having many [[Drow]], spider and Aberration type enemies, or [[The Manual of the Planes]] describing Fiends like [[Tanar'ri]] and [[Baatezu]], alongside creatures of Chaos like the [[Githzerai]] and creatures of Law like [[Modron]]s. Books in the latter category are not considered Monster Manuals despite their number of described creatures.

Then there are the "B Side Collections"... In the early 1980s TSR found itself with dozens of post-Manual monsters from early adventure-modules and especially from ''another country'' - Great Britain, in ''[[White Dwarf]]'' magazine. Gygax bundled the former with the best he could scrounge from the latter, birthing - or, perhaps, pinching off - the ''[[Fiend Folio]]''. After this one's [[skub|mixed]] reception, "fiend folio" is now a term for a holding-pen of niche monsters which you don't want defiling the mainline of Manual sequelae.

The problem with making a lot of Monster Manuals is that the monsters in the later books are split up into four groups: 30% will be reprints of monsters from older books of varying obscurity, 30% will be either upscaled animals or creatures made by slapping a number of templates together ending with creatures that lack the focus and originality of their progenitors, 30% will be 'Folio-bait (Three-headed hermaphrodites! Killer paper! Murderous hats!), and the final 10% being actually interesting creatures (either original or mythological) that could make an interesting addition to a game.

Theoretically the game can be played without the Monster Manual and just the PHB+DMG by making human(oid)s and traps the only enemies. In practice this is never done for long and the Monster Manual is an important part of any game, as a game with nothing interesting to fight is just as bad as uninteresting mechanics or [[class]]es.

The only two editions after AD&D to not have a Monster Manual are 2nd Edition, which instead had the Monstrous Compendium series which were released in loose-leaf form instead of as books, and 4th Edition Essentials, which instead had the short-lived Monster Vault series.

=List of Monster Manuals and the Monsters within=
(Under Construction)
==Monster Manual (AD&D)==
* [[Arial Servant]]
* [[Ankheg|Anhkheg]]
* Giant Ant
* Ape
** Gorilla
** Carnivorous Ape
* [[Axe Beak]]
* Baboon
* Badger
* [[Baluchitherium]]
* Barracuda
* [[Basilisk]]
* Bear
* Giant Beaver
* Giant Beetle
* [[Beholder]]
* [[Slime|Black Pudding]]
* [[Blink Dog]]
* Boar
* [[Brain Mole]]
* [[Brownie]]
* Buffalo
* [[Bugbear]]
* [[Bulette]]
* Wild Bullcamel

==Monster Manual II (AD&D)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 3E)==
==Monster Manual II (D&D 3E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual III (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual IV (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual I (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual 2 (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual 3 (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 5E)==

[[Category:Game Books]][[Category:Monsters]]

Monster Manual

2021-04-20T02:45:36Z

2601:203:400:CE90:CD19:FAF1:C471:B25: /* Monster Manual (AD&D) */

[[File:MM 1e cover.jpg|thumb|D&D's first Monster Manual]]
A '''Monster Manual''' (sometimes called a Monstrous Manual or a Bestiary) is a book (or set of pages you can put in a binder if you are a particularly crusty [[neckbeard]]) used in [[RPG]]s to describe the various kinds of [[monster]]s the PCs can encounter and fight. The Manual is intended for [[DM]]s to make encounters for the players. Though they are more often described in the DMG, these books can also contain descriptions for the more exotic kind of [[trap]] (no not like that). Some books may also include templates to apply to existing monsters to change them (read: make them deadlier) or ways to make your very own monster from the ground up.

If they are not bundled into the main manual, a new release of a game can see a new Monster Manual as well. This first Monster Manual is seen as a "core book" in the trinity of the Manual, the [[Player's Handbook|Handbook]] and the holy [[Dungeon Master's Guide|Guide]]. There have been times when the first monster manual ''preceded'' the rest of the core: this notably happened in 1977, so its Manual was compatible with the ancient rules that became BXCMI, up to which the AD&D ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' had to catch. This also happened in 3e/d20 with [[White_Wolf|Sword and Sorcery Studios]]' rushed-to-print ''[[Creature Collection]]'', and with Violet Dawn's ''Denizens of Avadnu''. If ever comes that published setting at all, as Eden's ''Liber Bestarius''.

After the first Monster Manual of an edition the follow-up books are divided into two different camps. One is the list of Monster Manuals who will be named Monster Manual II, Monster Manual III and so on. The other are the more "themed" books that describe settings for adventures and monsters that fit in those settings, like books describing the [[Underdark]] having many [[Drow]], spider and Aberration type enemies, or [[The Manual of the Planes]] describing Fiends like [[Tanar'ri]] and [[Baatezu]], alongside creatures of Chaos like the [[Githzerai]] and creatures of Law like [[Modron]]s. Books in the latter category are not considered Monster Manuals despite their number of described creatures.

Then there are the "B Side Collections"... In the early 1980s TSR found itself with dozens of post-Manual monsters from early adventure-modules and especially from ''another country'' - Great Britain, in ''[[White Dwarf]]'' magazine. Gygax bundled the former with the best he could scrounge from the latter, birthing - or, perhaps, pinching off - the ''[[Fiend Folio]]''. After this one's [[skub|mixed]] reception, "fiend folio" is now a term for a holding-pen of niche monsters which you don't want defiling the mainline of Manual sequelae.

The problem with making a lot of Monster Manuals is that the monsters in the later books are split up into four groups: 30% will be reprints of monsters from older books of varying obscurity, 30% will be either upscaled animals or creatures made by slapping a number of templates together ending with creatures that lack the focus and originality of their progenitors, 30% will be 'Folio-bait (Three-headed hermaphrodites! Killer paper! Murderous hats!), and the final 10% being actually interesting creatures (either original or mythological) that could make an interesting addition to a game.

Theoretically the game can be played without the Monster Manual and just the PHB+DMG by making human(oid)s and traps the only enemies. In practice this is never done for long and the Monster Manual is an important part of any game, as a game with nothing interesting to fight is just as bad as uninteresting mechanics or [[class]]es.

The only two editions after AD&D to not have a Monster Manual are 2nd Edition, which instead had the Monstrous Compendium series which were released in loose-leaf form instead of as books, and 4th Edition Essentials, which instead had the short-lived Monster Vault series.

=List of Monster Manuals and the Monsters within=
(Under Construction)
==Monster Manual (AD&D)==
* [[Arial Servant]]
* [[Ankheg|Anhkheg]]
* Giant Ant
* Ape
* [[Axe Beak]]
* Baboon
* Badger
* [[Baluchitherium]]
* Barracuda
* [[Basilisk]]
* Bear
* Giant Beaver
* Giant Beetle
* [[Beholder]]
* [[Slime|Black Pudding]]
* [[Blink Dog]]
* Boar
* [[Brain Mole]]
* [[Brownie]]
* Buffalo
* [[Bugbear]]
* [[Bulette]]
* Wild Bullcamel

==Monster Manual II (AD&D)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 3E)==
==Monster Manual II (D&D 3E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual III (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual IV (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual I (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual 2 (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual 3 (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 5E)==

[[Category:Game Books]][[Category:Monsters]]

Monster Manual

2021-04-20T02:44:13Z

2601:203:400:CE90:CD19:FAF1:C471:B25: /* Monster Manual (AD&D) */ Will continue working on this later.

[[File:MM 1e cover.jpg|thumb|D&D's first Monster Manual]]
A '''Monster Manual''' (sometimes called a Monstrous Manual or a Bestiary) is a book (or set of pages you can put in a binder if you are a particularly crusty [[neckbeard]]) used in [[RPG]]s to describe the various kinds of [[monster]]s the PCs can encounter and fight. The Manual is intended for [[DM]]s to make encounters for the players. Though they are more often described in the DMG, these books can also contain descriptions for the more exotic kind of [[trap]] (no not like that). Some books may also include templates to apply to existing monsters to change them (read: make them deadlier) or ways to make your very own monster from the ground up.

If they are not bundled into the main manual, a new release of a game can see a new Monster Manual as well. This first Monster Manual is seen as a "core book" in the trinity of the Manual, the [[Player's Handbook|Handbook]] and the holy [[Dungeon Master's Guide|Guide]]. There have been times when the first monster manual ''preceded'' the rest of the core: this notably happened in 1977, so its Manual was compatible with the ancient rules that became BXCMI, up to which the AD&D ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' had to catch. This also happened in 3e/d20 with [[White_Wolf|Sword and Sorcery Studios]]' rushed-to-print ''[[Creature Collection]]'', and with Violet Dawn's ''Denizens of Avadnu''. If ever comes that published setting at all, as Eden's ''Liber Bestarius''.

After the first Monster Manual of an edition the follow-up books are divided into two different camps. One is the list of Monster Manuals who will be named Monster Manual II, Monster Manual III and so on. The other are the more "themed" books that describe settings for adventures and monsters that fit in those settings, like books describing the [[Underdark]] having many [[Drow]], spider and Aberration type enemies, or [[The Manual of the Planes]] describing Fiends like [[Tanar'ri]] and [[Baatezu]], alongside creatures of Chaos like the [[Githzerai]] and creatures of Law like [[Modron]]s. Books in the latter category are not considered Monster Manuals despite their number of described creatures.

Then there are the "B Side Collections"... In the early 1980s TSR found itself with dozens of post-Manual monsters from early adventure-modules and especially from ''another country'' - Great Britain, in ''[[White Dwarf]]'' magazine. Gygax bundled the former with the best he could scrounge from the latter, birthing - or, perhaps, pinching off - the ''[[Fiend Folio]]''. After this one's [[skub|mixed]] reception, "fiend folio" is now a term for a holding-pen of niche monsters which you don't want defiling the mainline of Manual sequelae.

The problem with making a lot of Monster Manuals is that the monsters in the later books are split up into four groups: 30% will be reprints of monsters from older books of varying obscurity, 30% will be either upscaled animals or creatures made by slapping a number of templates together ending with creatures that lack the focus and originality of their progenitors, 30% will be 'Folio-bait (Three-headed hermaphrodites! Killer paper! Murderous hats!), and the final 10% being actually interesting creatures (either original or mythological) that could make an interesting addition to a game.

Theoretically the game can be played without the Monster Manual and just the PHB+DMG by making human(oid)s and traps the only enemies. In practice this is never done for long and the Monster Manual is an important part of any game, as a game with nothing interesting to fight is just as bad as uninteresting mechanics or [[class]]es.

The only two editions after AD&D to not have a Monster Manual are 2nd Edition, which instead had the Monstrous Compendium series which were released in loose-leaf form instead of as books, and 4th Edition Essentials, which instead had the short-lived Monster Vault series.

=List of Monster Manuals and the Monsters within=
(Under Construction)
==Monster Manual (AD&D)==
* [[Arial Servant]]
* [[Ankheg|Anhkheg]]
* Giant Ant
* Ape
* [[Axe Beak]]
* Baboon
* Badger
* Baluchitherium
* Barracuda
* [[Basilisk]]
* Bear
* Giant Beaver
* Giant Beetle
* [[Beholder]]
* [[Slime|Black Pudding]]
* [[Blink Dog]]
* Boar
* [[Brain Mole]]
* [[Brownie]]
* Buffalo
* [[Bugbear]]
* [[Bulette]]
* Wild Bullcamel

==Monster Manual II (AD&D)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 3E)==
==Monster Manual II (D&D 3E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual III (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual IV (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual I (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual 2 (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual 3 (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 5E)==

[[Category:Game Books]][[Category:Monsters]]

Monster Manual

2021-04-20T02:18:18Z

2601:203:400:CE90:CD19:FAF1:C471:B25:

[[File:MM 1e cover.jpg|thumb|D&D's first Monster Manual]]
A '''Monster Manual''' (sometimes called a Monstrous Manual or a Bestiary) is a book (or set of pages you can put in a binder if you are a particularly crusty [[neckbeard]]) used in [[RPG]]s to describe the various kinds of [[monster]]s the PCs can encounter and fight. The Manual is intended for [[DM]]s to make encounters for the players. Though they are more often described in the DMG, these books can also contain descriptions for the more exotic kind of [[trap]] (no not like that). Some books may also include templates to apply to existing monsters to change them (read: make them deadlier) or ways to make your very own monster from the ground up.

If they are not bundled into the main manual, a new release of a game can see a new Monster Manual as well. This first Monster Manual is seen as a "core book" in the trinity of the Manual, the [[Player's Handbook|Handbook]] and the holy [[Dungeon Master's Guide|Guide]]. There have been times when the first monster manual ''preceded'' the rest of the core: this notably happened in 1977, so its Manual was compatible with the ancient rules that became BXCMI, up to which the AD&D ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' had to catch. This also happened in 3e/d20 with [[White_Wolf|Sword and Sorcery Studios]]' rushed-to-print ''[[Creature Collection]]'', and with Violet Dawn's ''Denizens of Avadnu''. If ever comes that published setting at all, as Eden's ''Liber Bestarius''.

After the first Monster Manual of an edition the follow-up books are divided into two different camps. One is the list of Monster Manuals who will be named Monster Manual II, Monster Manual III and so on. The other are the more "themed" books that describe settings for adventures and monsters that fit in those settings, like books describing the [[Underdark]] having many [[Drow]], spider and Aberration type enemies, or [[The Manual of the Planes]] describing Fiends like [[Tanar'ri]] and [[Baatezu]], alongside creatures of Chaos like the [[Githzerai]] and creatures of Law like [[Modron]]s. Books in the latter category are not considered Monster Manuals despite their number of described creatures.

Then there are the "B Side Collections"... In the early 1980s TSR found itself with dozens of post-Manual monsters from early adventure-modules and especially from ''another country'' - Great Britain, in ''[[White Dwarf]]'' magazine. Gygax bundled the former with the best he could scrounge from the latter, birthing - or, perhaps, pinching off - the ''[[Fiend Folio]]''. After this one's [[skub|mixed]] reception, "fiend folio" is now a term for a holding-pen of niche monsters which you don't want defiling the mainline of Manual sequelae.

The problem with making a lot of Monster Manuals is that the monsters in the later books are split up into four groups: 30% will be reprints of monsters from older books of varying obscurity, 30% will be either upscaled animals or creatures made by slapping a number of templates together ending with creatures that lack the focus and originality of their progenitors, 30% will be 'Folio-bait (Three-headed hermaphrodites! Killer paper! Murderous hats!), and the final 10% being actually interesting creatures (either original or mythological) that could make an interesting addition to a game.

Theoretically the game can be played without the Monster Manual and just the PHB+DMG by making human(oid)s and traps the only enemies. In practice this is never done for long and the Monster Manual is an important part of any game, as a game with nothing interesting to fight is just as bad as uninteresting mechanics or [[class]]es.

The only two editions after AD&D to not have a Monster Manual are 2nd Edition, which instead had the Monstrous Compendium series which were released in loose-leaf form instead of as books, and 4th Edition Essentials, which instead had the short-lived Monster Vault series.

=List of Monster Manuals and the Monsters within=
(Under Construction)
==Monster Manual (AD&D)==
==Monster Manual II (AD&D)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 3E)==
==Monster Manual II (D&D 3E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual III (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual IV (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual I (D&D 3.5E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual 2 (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual 3 (D&D 4E)==
==Monster Manual (D&D 5E)==

[[Category:Game Books]][[Category:Monsters]]