Monster Manual
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Monster Manual
Monster Manual for the D&D 4th Edition Rules
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Publisher	Wizards of the Coast
Media type	Print (Hardback)

The Monster Manual (Monstrous 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 the monster's level or 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 most editions of the Dungeons & Dragons game.

History of the Monster Manuals

Early Dungeons & Dragons

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

First edition Monster Manual (Sutherland artwork)

After the separation into "Basic" and "Advanced" games, the "Basic" game continued to be published in level-based boxes. Monsters of the appropriate level were included in the rulebooks for the various "Basic Game" sets (Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, and Immortal) and later collected in a single D&D Rules Cyclopedia book.

1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

The original book actually bearing the title Monster Manual was written by Gary Gygax and published in 1977. It was the first hardcover book for any Dungeons & Dragons game¹, and the first of the Core Manuals published for the new Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) version of the game². 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 credited artists of the first manual, in order, are David C. Sutherland III (DCS), David A. Trampier (DAT), Tom Wham (TW), and Jean Wells. The editor of the original edition was Mike Carr.

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.

First edition Fiend Folio

Fiend Folio (1981) was published by TSR UK. Much of the Fiend Folio 's contents were taken from the Fiend Factory feature of White Dwarf, others were taken from various D&D 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 widely ridiculed, such as the flumph, one of the few non-evil creatures presented in that volume. Fiend Folio featured more consistent artwork than the original Monster Manual. The illustrations in this volume were of same general style as the Monster Manual, but were typically darker and made more use of light and shadow.

First edition Monster Manual II

Monster Manual II (1983) was also credited to Gygax, though some of its contents was taken from various AD&D adventure modules, in particular quite a number from S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth and a dozen new devils that had been first published in the pages of Dragon magazine. It was rated fairly well at the time, receiving 7 out of 10 in a review in Issue 49 of White Dwarf magazine.³ Like the Fiend Folio before it, the monsters in Monster Manual II listed the experience point value for each monster in the entry itself. The Monster Manual II along with the 1st Edition Unearthed Arcana book featured quite a number of monsters, races and place names from Gary Gygax’s Greyhawk Campaign world.

2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

Monstrous Compendium (1989) replaced the Monster Manual with the release of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition. 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 appendices that contained extra monsters for particular campaign settings.

The format was intended to help Dungeon Masters keep handy only the monster statistics needed for a particular game session, as well as to greatly expand the information about each monster, as each was given at least one full page. 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:

• Looseleaf pages were not as durable as the hardcover format, especially for a frequently used game aid;
• Although some pages featured only one monster per sheet, TSR routinely printed different monsters on both sides, making it practically impossible to keep monsters in strict alphabetical order.

Second edition Monstrous Manual'

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

After the loose leaf format was abandoned, Monstrous Compendium 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

Additionally one appendix was released as a download only version (RTF/TXT file, 83 JPEG illustration files)

• Savage Coast Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1996)

3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons

The Monster Manual for Third Edition Dungeons & Dragons was released in 2000 as one of three core books of the system. It was revised and released again as Monster Manual subtitled Core Rulebook III v3.5, in July 2003.

3.5 Edition Monster Manual'

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 2000.⁴ One reviewer called it "...an essential reference book, and it is a bargain...."⁵

The v3.5 revision has a slightly different entry on each monster, particularly the division of the attack into Attack and Full Attack entries.⁶ 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.

Monster Manual II (2002) and Fiend Folio (2003) are new monster-specific rulebooks, and contain mostly updated monsters from the sourcebooks of earlier editions, though some others of the specific monsters featured therein have almost no overlap with those of their first edition namesakes. Monster Manual II includes a discussion of monster design.⁷ There have been no new versions of Monster Manual II and Fiend Folio for 3.5 edition, however update errata for both volumes and for the original third edition Monster Manual are available for download from the publishers website [1].

Monster Manual III (2004) contains more monsters and was originally published in the v3.5 format. This Monster Manual is notable for having descriptions within on where the monsters might be found in the Eberron and Forgotten Realms campaign settings.⁸

Monster Manual IV (July 2006) is also published in the v3.5 format, and uses the new stat block format that was introduced in the Dungeon Master's Guide II. Monster Manual IV contains fewer actual monsters than Monster Manual II and III, but has sample lairs and encounters for them, gives stats for classes and templates applied to old creatures (for example Drow Ninja) and full page maps. Also, like the third, it has information on where the monsters might appear in Eberron or the Forgotten Realms. The book also ties into the "Year of the Dragons" theme that Wizards of the Coast planned out for 2006 with the Spawn of Tiamat, yet contains no new monsters that are considered 'true dragons.'

In October 2006 the Special Edition Monster Manual was released, completing the set of special edition core rulebooks started in 2004 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons. Like the others, this book was leather-bound with silver-gilt edges and a cloth bookmark. The book was expanded with some new information, 31 new illustrations, and a new index. All collected errata up to its release date was included in this revision, making this edition the most up-to-date Monster Manual so far[2].

Monster Manual V was released in July 2007, published in the same format as the Monster Manual IV, featuring lairs and tactics and like III and IV detailing how these new monsters fit into Eberron and Forgotten Realms. According to previews of the Night Below Dungeons & Dragons miniatures set, some of the new monsters that will feature in it include the Greenspawn Zealot, the Arcadian Avenger, the Verdant Reaver, and the Carnage Demon.

4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons

The 4th edition Monster Manual was released with the other core books on June 6, 2008. The 4th edition Monster Manual 2 will be released in May 2009.

See also

• List of species in fantasy fiction
• Category:Dungeons & Dragons creatures

References

External links

• 4th Edition Monster Manual at Wizards of the Coast website.
• 3rd Edition Monster Manual at Wizards of the Coast website.
• Detailed information on the 1st Monster Manual and differences between printings
• Full list of contents for the AD&D Monster Manual
• Full list of contents for the AD&D Monster Manual II
• Full list of contents for the AD&D Fiend Folio