{"product_id":"dungeon-master-guide-ad-d-2nd-edition-dungeons-dragons-copy","title":"Dungeon Master Guide - AD\u0026D 2nd Edition Dungeons \u0026 Dragons - Reprint Softcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eNeed a monster? Look inside, where more than 300 new peices of full color art show what the monsters really look like!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis book contains more than 600 monsters including all the creatures from the MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM Volumes 1 and 2! In addition, there are monsters from the other MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM Volumes, and some creatures never seen in the second edition AD\u0026amp;D Game before.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProduct History\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Manual\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1993), by Tim Beach, based on work by David \"Zeb\" Cook, Steve Winter, Jon Pickens, and others, is sort of the third core rulebook for the AD\u0026amp;D 2e game. It was published in June 1993.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAbout the Title.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eSecond edition was the only version of the mainline D\u0026amp;D game that didn't have a \"Monster Manual\". When it first appeared, monsters instead were published in a long series of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Compendiums\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1989-1993). Afterward, when those\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eCompendiums\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewere replaced by a core monster book, it sort of made sense to call it the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Manual\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e— especially since more\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Compendiums\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003efollowed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut why not just call them all\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonster Manuals\u003c\/i\u003e? Some folks suggest it might have had to do with Dave Arneson's lawsuits, which granted him royalties for certain AD\u0026amp;D books, including the original\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonster Manual\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1977). However, this supposition seems pretty unlikely, as Arneson also received royalties for any \"revised edition\" of the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonster Manual\u003c\/i\u003e, and a 1985 court case determined that even the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonster Manual II\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1983) fit that criteria. It seems probable that the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Manual\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewould also meet the definition of \"revised edition\" from the contract, which was: \"a printed work having a title the same as or similar to the related earlier work, revised to include changes or additions to the text, but continuing to include substantially the same rules and subject matter as contained in the earlier work.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo why the name change? The folks in charge probably thought that it sounded better!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAbout the Monstrous Compendiums.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eTSR talked quite a bit about producing some of the AD\u0026amp;D 2e rules as looseleaf sheets that could be put in three-hole binders. The small press\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eHidden Kingdom\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1983) RPG and Columbia Games'\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eEncyclopedia Hârnicas\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1984-1985) were rare examples of previous roleplaying books that had used the format. However, D\u0026amp;D's B\/X Basic rules (1981) had also been three-hole punched — though they were still produced as saddle-stitched books. In end, TSR didn't use the hole-punched format for the AD\u0026amp;D 2e rules, but they did go that route for AD\u0026amp;D 2e's monster books.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMC1: \"Monstrous Compendium Volume One\" (1989) and MC2: \"Monstrous Compendium Volume Two\" (1989) together formed the core monster books for the new edition. The first book included a big monster binder, and each of the releases contained 144 perforated pages that could be inserted into that binder. Afterward, TSR produced another 13 looseleaf\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Compendiums\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1989-1993), most of them 64 pages long and most of them focused on a specific campaign world. There was also one more binder among those releases — available with MC4: \"Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough the looseleaf Compendiums would continue through the November 1993 release of MC15: \"Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix II: Children of the Night\" (1993), the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Manual\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003enonetheless marked the beginning of the end. It was the first squarebound monster book since the era of AD\u0026amp;D 1e (1977-1988), and it marked a reformatting of the line that would continue with the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMystara Monstrous Compendium Appendix\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1994) and the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003ePlanescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1994).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo why the format change? This one we have a better answer for!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnfortunately, the idea of an forever-expandable monster book never quite matched up with the physical realities of the line. The major problem was that the monsters were all printed on double-sided pages. Though some covered both sides of the page, most of them were instead detailed in a single page. This meant that it was impossible to properly alphabetize the monsters as the line grew.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe actual physical binders and looseleaf pages were subpar too. The binders were big and bulky, while the pages were overly flimsy. The perforations sometimes tore wrong, and over the time the holes ripped out too. (If you see a surviving\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Compendium\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ebinder, it probably has ring protectors on its pages.) Overall, the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Compendiums\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003edidn't hold up to the ever-improving quality of the AD\u0026amp;D 2e books, so four years after the line began, the looseleaf experiment ended, and the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Compendiums\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003emoved over to a more traditional format.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMany Printings.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eThe\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Manual\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1993) was originally printed with a stark white cover, but just two years later it was reprinted with a black cover (1995) that marked it as part of the 2.5 edition of AD\u0026amp;D. Unlike the other 2.5e core books, the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Manual\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas not reset, probably due to its recent pedigree.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore recently, the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Manual\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas reprinted by Wizards of the Coast as part of their AD\u0026amp;D 2e premium edition (2013), with the cover now inset as part of a faux leather cover.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonsters of Note.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eAt 384 pages, the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Manual\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas the most impressive book of monsters that D\u0026amp;D had ever seen, far eclipsing the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonster Manual II\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1983), which was previously D\u0026amp;D's largest Monster book at a mere 160 pages. With that expansive size, the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Manual\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecollected the vast majority of the monsters in the original two\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Compendiums\u003c\/i\u003e, plus a spattering of monsters from later\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eAppendices\u003c\/i\u003e, especially those produced for Dragonlance, the Forgotten Realms, and the World of Greyhawk.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf all the monsters in the book, it's the dragons that are the most impressive. There are over twenty types. You start off with five evil chromatic dragons and five good metallic dragons, but the book also includes the five neutral gem dragons — an idea proposed way back in\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Dragon #37\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(May 1980), but which only became official for AD\u0026amp;D with the publication of MC14: \"Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix\" (1992). These dragons are filled out with pseudo-chromatics, pseudo-metallics, and a few others that had appeared over the years: the brown dragon, the cloud dragon, the deep dragon, the mercury dragon, the mist dragon, the shadow dragon, the steel dragon, and the yellow dragon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOther large monster categories show off D\u0026amp;D's other favorites of the period. For example the beholder spread now features a variety of beholder-kin, an idea largely derived from the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eSpelljammer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecampaign (1989). The giant category now includes 17 entries while ten different creatures have been squished into the \"ooze\/slime\/jelly\" category. Curiously it's separated from the deadly puddings, which include another four oozes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe monsters that are the most neglected by the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMonstrous Manual\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eare unsurprisingly the demons and devils. Just four devils and two demons appear, all under their bowdlerized names — baatezu and tanar'ri. Even this was a major victory, because they'd been entirely absent until the publication of MC8: \"Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix\" (1991). They'd gain a lot more prominence in just a year in the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003ePlanescape Campaign Setting\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1994).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAbout the Creators.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eThe new format of the AD\u0026amp;D \"Monstrous Compendiums\" was set by the original AD\u0026amp;D 2e team of Zeb Cook and Steve Winter, with Jon Pickens. Tim Beach was the coordinator who put together this new (mammoth) collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"TSR","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50619207287077,"sku":null,"price":60.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/0454\/7478\/files\/17552.webp?v=1750383316","url":"https:\/\/roningames.com.au\/products\/dungeon-master-guide-ad-d-2nd-edition-dungeons-dragons-copy","provider":"Ronin Games","version":"1.0","type":"link"}