
So why the format change? This one we have a better answer for! It was the first squarebound monster book since the era of AD&D 1e (1977-1988), and it marked a reformatting of the line that would continue with the Mystara Monstrous Compendium Appendix(1994) and the Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix(1994). Though the looseleaf Compendiums would continue through the November 1993 release of MC15: "Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix II: Children of the Night" (1993), the Monstrous Manualnonetheless marked the beginning of the end. There was also one more binder among those releases - available with MC4: "Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix". Afterward, TSR produced another 13 looseleaf Monstrous Compendiums(1989-1993), most of them 64 pages long and most of them focused on a specific campaign world. The first book included a big monster binder, and each of the releases contained 144 perforated pages that could be inserted into that binder. MC1: "Monstrous Compendium Volume One" (1989) and MC2: "Monstrous Compendium Volume Two" (1989) together formed the core monster books for the new edition. In end, TSR didn't use the hole-punched format for the AD&D 2e rules, but they did go that route for AD&D 2e's monster books. However, D&D's B/X Basic rules (1981) had also been three-hole punched - though they were still produced as saddle-stitched books. The small press Hidden Kingdom(1983) RPG and Columbia Games' Encyclopedia H?rnicas(1984-1985) were rare examples of previous roleplaying books that had used the format. TSR talked quite a bit about producing some of the AD&D 2e rules as looseleaf sheets that could be put in three-hole binders. So why the name change? The folks in charge probably thought that it sounded better!Ībout the Monstrous Compendiums. It seems probable that the Monstrous Manualwould 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."
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However, this supposition seems pretty unlikely, as Arneson also received royalties for any "revised edition" of the Monster Manual, and a 1985 court case determined that even the Monster Manual II(1983) fit that criteria. Afterward, when those Compendiumswere replaced by a core monster book, it sort of made sense to call it the Monstrous Manual- especially since more Monstrous Compendiumsfollowed.īut why not just call them all Monster Manuals? Some folks suggest it might have had to do with Dave Arneson's lawsuits, which granted him royalties for certain AD&D books, including the original Monster Manual(1977).
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When it first appeared, monsters instead were published in a long series of Monstrous Compendiums(1989-1993). Second edition was the only version of the mainline D&D game that didn't have a "Monster Manual". It was published in June 1993.Ībout the Title.


Monstrous Manual(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&D 2e game. This 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 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Game before.
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D&D Classics: Monstrous Manual (2E)Need a monster? Look inside, where more than 300 new peices of full color art show what the monsters really look like!
