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Monsters in the 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

The second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game features both a higher number of books of monsters—"many tied to their growing stable of campaign worlds"—and more extensive monster descriptions than both earlier and later editions, with usually one page in length. Next to a description, monster entries in this edition contained standardized sections covering combat, their habit and society, and their role in the eco-system. While later editions gave the various creatures all the attributes which player characters had, 2nd edition only listed intelligence, a characteristic important for creating challenging encounters in the game.

The 2nd edition also uses a unique format in the form of Monstrous Compendiums of loose sheets that could be collected in a folder, allowing for a combination of monster books together with individual monster pages from boxed sets. This "unruly" format was abandoned again in 1993 in favor of bound books. In parallel with this change, the 2nd edition introduced colored images for each monster, which became standard in later editions of the game. Referencing Wizards of the Coast art director Dawn Murin, GameSpy author Allan Rausch found that until the 2nd edition the artwork depicting monsters was influenced by the popular culture of the late 1970s. As a result, creatures that were fearsome by description were not taken seriously due to ill-suited visuals. Likewise, humanoid monsters too closely resembled humans to be compelling. In the view of Rausch as well as Backstab reviewer Michaël Croitoriu, the Planescape setting marked a turning point for these shortcomings, which also had a significant impact on the presentation of the 3rd edition.

The second edition's monsters were based on original inventions, fantasy literature, and mythologies from various cultures. Many monsters were updated from earlier editions, but the 2nd edition also introduced a great number of new creatures.

Some types, such as devils and demons, were initially removed by TSR in response to a moral panic promoted by Patricia Pulling's advocacy group Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons (BADD). These were later reintroduced, sometimes with different names to avoid complaints.

TSR 2102 – MC1 – Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989)

This was the initial volume in the Monstrous Compendium series, for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, published in 1989. Most of the monsters for Volume One were taken from previous first edition AD&D books; the monster entries were greatly expanded and in most cases each monster now filled an entire page and had an all-new illustration. The Monstrous Compendium series consisted of a pack of 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages rather than an actual book, designed to be arranged to the player's preference. Volume One of the Monstrous Compendium was packaged in a box, which contained the pack of monster sheets as well as a binder intended to store the sheets for Volumes One, Two, and Three. The pack consisted of 144 pages, unnumbered, and included a "How To Use This Book" page, with an alphabetical index to Volume One on the back, four pages of monster summoning and random encounter charts, and a blank monster sheet to be photocopied, with the remainder consisting of the monster descriptions. Also included were eight full-page illustrations on heavier card stock.

Note: All monsters from MC1 appeared in the Monstrous Manual (1993), though some had slightly altered headings.

TSR 2103 – MC2 – Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989)

This was the second volume in the Monstrous Compendium series, for the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, published in 1989. As with Volume One, most of the monsters for Volume Two were taken from previous first edition AD&D books, with greatly expanded entries that now filled an entire page and had an all-new illustration. Volume Two was packaged in a wraparound cover, and the pages were designed to fit in the binder that came with Volume One of the Monstrous Compendium. The pack consisted of 144 pages, unnumbered, and included a 2-page alphabetical index to Volume One and Volume Two, 10 pages of monster summoning and random encounter charts, and a blank monster sheet to be photocopied with a sheet of instructions for the blank monster form, with the remainder consisting of the monster descriptions. Also included were 8 full-page illustrations on heavier card stock.

Note: All monsters from MC2 appeared in the Monstrous Manual (1993), though some had slightly altered headings.

TSR 2104 – MC3 – Monstrous Compendium – Forgotten Realms Appendix (1989)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The pack consisted of 64 5-hole-punched unnumbered loose-leaf pages.

TSR 2105 – MC4 – Monstrous Compendium – Dragonlance Appendix (1990)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Dragonlance campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The pack consisted of 96 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages, unnumbered, and included a "How To Use This Book" page, a page with alphabetical index, 4 pages of random encounter charts, and 2 pages with the compiled game statistics, with the remainder consisting of the descriptions of the fictional monsters. Also included were 4 full-page illustrations on heavier card stock.

TSR 2107 – MC5 – Monstrous Compendium – Greyhawk Appendix (1990)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Greyhawk campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The pack consisted of 64 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages, unnumbered, and included a "How To Use This Book" page with an alphabetical index, 4 pages of random encounter charts, with the remainder consisting of the descriptions of the fictional monsters. Also included were 4 full-page illustrations on heavier card stock.

TSR 2116 – MC6 – Monstrous Compendium – Kara-Tur Appendix (1990)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Oriental Adventures campaign setting called Kara-Tur for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The pack consisted of 64 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages, unnumbered, and included a "How To Use This Book" page with an alphabetical index and 4 pages of random encounter charts, with the remainder consisting of the descriptions of the fictional monsters. Also included were 4 full-page illustrations on heavier card stock.

TSR 2109 – MC7 – Monstrous Compendium – Spelljammer Appendix (1990)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Spelljammer campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The pack consisted of 64 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages, unnumbered, providing the descriptions of the fictional monsters. Also included were 4 full-page illustrations on heavier card stock.

TSR 2118 – MC8 – Monstrous Compendium – Outer Planes Appendix (1991)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game added additional creatures from the Outer Planes. The pack consisted of 96 double-sided, 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages, unnumbered, providing the descriptions of the fictional monsters, as well as a 2-page "How to use this book" section, and a 4-page section providing background information on the Outer Planes.

TSR 2119 – MC9 – Monstrous Compendium – Spelljammer Appendix (1991)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Spelljammer campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The pack consisted of 64 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages, unnumbered, providing the descriptions of the fictional monsters, and a single-page index of the creatures in the Spelljammer campaign setting (including sources).

TSR 2122 – MC10 – Monstrous Compendium – Ravenloft Appendix (1991)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Ravenloft campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The pack consisted of 32 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages, unnumbered, and included a 1-page "How To Use This Book" section, a 1-page set of tables for Ravenloft random encounters, and a 2-page section on developing and describing encounters to fit the Ravenloft genre, with the remainder of the set consisting of the descriptions of the fictional monsters. Also included were 4 full-page illustrations on heavier card stock. The contents were republished in 1996 in paperback format within the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I & II.

Luis Javier Flores Arvizu named the continuous presence of supernatural beings as one of the factors that made Ravenloft a very well received role-playing game setting during the 33 years of its existence.

TSR 2125 – MC11 – Monstrous Compendium – Forgotten Realms Appendix II (1991)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The pack consisted of 32 5-hole-punched unnumbered loose-leaf pages, and 4 full-page illustrations on heavier card stock. It included a single-page table of contents but did not incorporate the usual "How to Use this Book" section or random encounter charts.

TSR 2405 – MC12 – Monstrous Compendium – Dark Sun Appendix: Terrors of the Desert (1992)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Dark Sun campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The pack consisted of 96 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages, unnumbered, and included a 4-page "How To Use This Book" section with random encounter charts, with the remainder consisting of the descriptions of the fictional monsters. Also included were 4 full-page illustrations on heavier card stock.

TSR 2129 – MC13 – Monstrous Compendium – Al-Qadim Appendix (1992)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Arabian Nights-themed Al-Qadim campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The pack consisted of 64 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages, unnumbered, and included a "How To Use This Book" page with an alphabetical index, a one-page index of appropriate monsters for the Al-Qadim setting from other books of the Monstrous Compendium-series, 2 pages of random encounter charts, and a sheet with the compiled game statistics, with the remainder consisting of the descriptions of the fictional monsters. Also included were 4 full-page illustrations on heavier card stock.

Referring to their adaptation in the video game Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse, White Wolf reviewer James V. Trunzo called the setting's monsters "delightfully horrible creatures" which "aren't just old concepts given new names".

TSR 2132 – MC14 – Monstrous Compendium – Fiend Folio Appendix (1992)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series updated and reprinted creatures from the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Fiend Folio published in 1981. It contained 64 unnumbered loose leaf pages and 4 pages of illustrations on heavier card stock.

TSR 2139 – MC15 – Monstrous Compendium – Ravenloft Appendix II: Children of the Night (1993)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Ravenloft campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The pack consisted of 32 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages, unnumbered, and included a 2-page "How To Use This Book" section, a 1-page description of the purpose of the "Children of the Night" supplement, a 1-page set of tables for Ravenloft random encounters, and a 1-page section updating the tables for calculation of experience points awarded for defeating any given creature. The remainder of the set consisted of the descriptions of specific fictional monsters and personalities in the Ravenloft campaign setting. Also included were 4 full-page illustrations on heavier card stock. The contents were republished in 1996 in paperback format within the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I & II.

Luis Javier Flores Arvizu named the continuous presence of supernatural beings as one of the factors that made Ravenloft a very well received role-playing game setting during the 33 years of its existence.

TSR 2140 – Monstrous Manual (1993)

The Monstrous Manual was printed after the completion of the loose-leaf Monstrous Compendium series, in 1993. This book was "created in response to the many requests to gather monsters into a single, durable volume which would be convenient to carry." The Monstrous Manual compiled all of the monsters from Monstrous Compendium Volumes One and Two, as well as many creatures from subsequent volumes and other sources, and revised, updated, and in some cases condensed the entries; these are not duplicated here. The book is 384 pages.

TSR 2602 – Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Planescape campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The 128-page soft-bound book contains a two pages of explanation about the various entries and a page with a list of monsters from this and other sources by plane, with the remainder consisting of the descriptions of the fictional monsters. Many of them were republished from Monstrous Compendium – Outer Planes Appendix and other sources and are not repeated here.

TSR 2501 – Monstrous Compendium – Mystara Appendix (1994)

This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with the Mystara campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The 128-page soft-bound book contains a two-pages content list, a 4-pages "How To Use This Book" section and 5 pages of random encounter charts, with the remainder consisting of the descriptions of the fictional monsters.

TSR 2153 – Monstrous Compendium – Ravenloft Appendix III: Creatures of Darkness (1994)

This 126-page soft-bound book contains additional creatures for the Ravenloft campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The book also contains an introduction page, a 2-page "How to Use This Book" section, an updated table for the calculation of experience points awarded for new or modified creatures, and a single page listing of creatures from other sources appropriate to the Ravenloft setting.

Luis Javier Flores Arvizu named the continuous presence of supernatural beings as one of the factors that made Ravenloft a very well received role-playing game setting during the 33 years of its existence.

Monstrous Compendium Annuals

Monstrous Compendium Annuals collected and updated monsters published in a variety of sources. Creatures listed under the heading of earlier publications are not repeated here.

Volume One

This 128-page unnumbered soft-bound book primarily contains monster descriptions published in TSR's products for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition game in 1993, fictional monsters of the same year from magazines affiliated with the game, as well as creatures from earlier sources. The book also contains a two-page How to Use This Book section, a revised table for calculating experience points, and two pages of tips on how to use monsters in the game in the section Beyond Random Encounters.

Volume Two

This 128-page soft-bound book contains creatures appearing in various TSR publications (magazines, game accessories, etc.) in the year 1994. It contains a 2-page "How to Use This Book" section, and a 1-page section updating the calculation of experience points awarded for defeating various creatures (including tables updating those in the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide). The final 10 pages of the book provide tables for generating random encounters, summoned creatures and NPC parties.

Volume Three

This 128-page soft-bound book contains creatures appearing in various TSR publications (magazines, game accessories, etc.) in the year 1995. It contains a 3-page "How to Use This Book" section, which includes an updated table for the calculation of experience points awarded for defeating various creatures. The final 8 pages of the book contain an index of the creatures presented in the Monstrous Manual and the first three Monstrous Compendium Annuals.

Volume Four

This 96-page soft-bound book contains creatures appearing in various TSR publications (magazines, game accessories, etc.). Unlike the previous annuals, the included monsters are not primarily drawn from the previous year's publications, but span a wide variety of years, possibly because TSR's financial woes resulted in very few products being produced in 1997. Also in a departure from the first three annuals, Volume Four includes a reference to the original appearance of the creature on each page. The Annual also contains a 3-page "How to Use This Book" section, which includes updated tables for the calculation of experience points awarded for defeating various creatures, and a 2-page index.

TSR 2433 – Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium Appendix II: Terrors Beyond Tyr (1995)

This 128-page soft-bound book is the second appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series designed for use with the Dark Sun campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. It contains a page with a table of content, a 2-pages "How To Use This Book" section and 3 pages of random encounter charts, with the remainder consisting of the descriptions of the fictional monsters. Some entries also contain the descriptions of individual members of these monster types.

TSR 2613 – Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix II (1995)

This was the second appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series designed for use with the Planescape campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The 128-page soft-bound book contains a two-page "How to use this book" section, two pages of encounter tables for the different planes of the game and a one-page alphabetical for all monsters entries published for the setting, with the remainder consisting of the descriptions of the fictional monsters.

TSR 2162 – Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I and II (1996)

This 128-page soft-bound book is a reprint of the loose-leaf Monstrous Compendium appendices MC10 and MC15 (Children of the Night), both designed for use with the Ravenloft campaign setting for the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game with a new foreword. It also includes a two-page "How to use this book" section, revised rules for calculating experience points and two pages about encounters in Ravenloft. Appendix I consists of the descriptions of the fictional monsters. Appendix II varies the Monstrous Compendium format to describe individuals of already published monster races and includes a two-page introduction with a list of monsters from other sources suitable for the Ravenloft setting.

TSR 2524 – Savage Coast Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1996)

This monstrous compendium was released as a fully online product as part of the revised Savage Coast campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. It was made freely available by Wizards of the Coast on the Web in two variants, as an RTF file and as a text file, with images presented as separate files. Several characters are misrepresented in these files, they are presented here as given. The monstrous compendium contains a table of contents, an introduction with explanations of the monster statistics and special rules and considerations for the Savage Coast setting.

TSR 2635 – Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix III (1998)

The third appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series designed for use with the Planescape campaign setting for the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons focuses mainly on inhabitants of the inner planes in the game. The 128-page soft-bound book contains a two-page "How to use this book" section, ten pages about the fictional principles governing those planes and their ecology, a 3-page appendix about animal-like creatures there, a 3-page index with all second edition monsters suitable for the Planescape setting, with the remainder consisting of the descriptions of the fictional monsters.

TSR 3140 – Birthright – Blood Spawn: Creatures of Light and Shadow (2000)

This bestiary was planned for use with the Birthright campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. The Birthright product line was suspended in 1998 before its completion, so Blood Spawn was later published as an 83-page PDF-file and made freely available on the web. The supplement focused mainly on monsters of the Shadow World, the fictional dark twin dimension of the setting's world. It contained a table of contents, a 10-page introduction with an explanation of the monster statistics and special rules for the Shadow World, descriptions of the fictional monsters which included tips for their use in a roleplaying campaign, two roleplaying adventures and a 4-page appendix listing monsters from other sources fitting into the Shadow World.

Other sources

This section lists fictional creatures for AD&D 2nd Edition from various sources not explicitly dedicated to presenting monsters. Primarily, these are the separate sourcebooks and expansions for the Forgotten Realms, Al-Qadim and other campaign settings produced by TSR.

Spelljammer

The Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space Spelljammer campaign setting boxed set contained 11 new creatures in the standard Monstrous Compendium format, on pages 67–86 of the Lorebook of the Void.

ISBN 0-88038-762-9

The Spelljammer game accessory Lost Ships, by Ed Greenwood, contained several new creatures on pages 84–96.

ISBN 0-88038-831-5

The Legend of Spelljammer boxed set added four new creatures on pages 60–64 of The Grand Tour sourcebook.

ISBN 1-56076-083-4

The Spelljammer game accessory Krynnspace, by Jean Rabe, contained two new creatures.

ISBN 1-56076-560-7

Forgotten Realms

The Forgotten Realms Ruins of Undermountain boxed set included 8 unnumbered 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages of creature descriptions in Monstrous Compendium format.

ISBN 1-56076-061-3

The Maztica Campaign Set boxed set contained 4 new creatures in the standard Monstrous Compendium format, on pages 59–62 of the Maztica Alive booklet.

ISBN 1-56076-084-2

This 128-page softbound book provided additional details on the history, culture and society of the dark elves, and included 9 additional creature descriptions in Monstrous Compendium format on pages 113–127.

ISBN 1-56076-132-6

The Forgotten Realms adventure Fires of Zatal for the Maztica setting by Jeff Grubb and Tim Beach contained three new fictional creatures.

ISBN 1-56076-139-3

The Forgotten Realms Menzoberranzan boxed set included 7 pages of creature descriptions in Monstrous Compendium format, bound into the first book of the set (The City) on pages 88–94.

ISBN 1-56076-460-0

The Forgotten Realms The Ruins of Myth Drannor boxed set included 8 unnumbered 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages of creature descriptions in Monstrous Compendium format.

ISBN 1-56076-569-0

The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2nd edition) boxed set included 8 unnumbered 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages of creature descriptions in Monstrous Compendium format.

ISBN 1-56076-617-4

Dragonlance

The Dragonlance adventure Dragon's Rest by Rick Swan contained three new fictional creatures.

ISBN 0-88038-869-2

The Dragonlance adventure Wild Elves by Scott Bennie contained six new fictional creatures.

ISBN 1-56076-140-7

The Dragonlance game accessory Taladas: The Minotaurs by Colin McComb contained several new creatures.

ISBN 1-56076-150-4

The Dragonlance adventure Flint's Axe by Tim Beach contained a new creature.

ISBN 1-56076-422-8

Al-Qadim

The Al-Qadim Land of Fate boxed set contained 8 unnumbered 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages in Monstrous Compendium format.

ISBN 1-56076-329-9

The Al-Qadim Golden Voyages boxed set, by David "Zeb" Cook, contained 4 unnumbered 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages in Monstrous Compendium format, each with a full-page image of the creature described on the back.

ISBN 1-56076-331-0

The Al-Qadim City of Delights boxed set contained 8 unnumbered 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages in Monstrous Compendium format.

ISBN 1-56076-589-5

The Al-Qadim Assassin Mountain boxed set contained 4 unnumbered 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages in Monstrous Compendium format.

ISBN 1-56076-564-X

The Al-Qadim Secrets of the Lamp boxed set contained 4 unnumbered 5-hole-punched loose-leaf pages in Monstrous Compendium format.

ISBN 1-56076-647-6

The Al-Qadim Ruined Kingdoms boxed set, by Steven Kurtz, contained an 8-page booklet with non-player characters and monsters.

ISBN 1-56076-815-0

The Al-Qadim Corsairs of the Great Sea boxed set, by Nicky Rea, contained an 8-page booklet with monsters.

ISBN 1-56076-867-3

Planescape

The Planescape Campaign Setting boxed set contained a 32-page Monstrous Supplement booklet.

ISBN 1-56076-834-7

The Planescape Planes of Chaos boxed set contained a 32-page Monstrous Supplement booklet.

ISBN 1-56076-874-6

The Planescape Planes of Law boxed set contained a 32-page Monstrous Supplement booklet.

ISBN 0-7869-0093-8

The Planescape Planes of Conflict boxed set contained a 32-page Monstrous Supplement booklet.

ISBN 0-7869-0309-0

Dark Sun

The original Dark Sun Boxed Set for the Dark Sun campaign setting contains several pages of monster description in The Wanderer's Journal book, as well as in the A Little Knowledge adventure booklet.

ISBN 0-7869-0162-4

The City by the Silt Sea campaign expansion box for the Dark Sun campaign setting by Shane Lacy Hensley contains a 32-page Monstrous Supplement.

ISBN 1-56076-882-7

The Dark Sun campaign setting accessory Thri-Kreen of Athas by Tim Beach and Dori Hein contained three monster descriptions.

ISBN 0-7869-0125-X

The expanded and revised campaign setting boxed set for Dark Sun contained several pages of monster description in The Wanderer's Chronicle booklet.

ISBN 0-7869-0162-4

The Wanderer's Chronicle:nd Lords of the Last Sea by Matt Forbeck contained ten pages of descriptions of NPCs and monsters.

ISBN 0-7869-0367-8

Birthright

Within the Birthright Campaign Setting box were a set of cardsheets, separate from the books. Beyond rules summaries and handy charts, several unique monsters were presented.

Greyhawk

The Greyhawk campaign setting accessory The Scarlet Brotherhood, by Sean Reynolds, contained the descriptions of seven monsters.

Core AD&D sources

The Chronomancer game accessory, by Loren Coleman, contained 7 pages of monsters living on Temporal Prime, a fictitious dimension that allows time travel.

ISBN 0-7869-0325-2

The Sea Devils game accessory by Skip Williams, detailing the sahuagin in the Monstrous Arcana series, contained two pages detailing new aquatic monsters.

ISBN 0-7869-0643-X

The Illithiad game accessory by Bruce R. Cordell, in the Monstrous Arcana series, contained 7 pages of monsters linked to the illithids.

ISBN 0-7869-1206-5

Dragon

Dragon magazine introduced many new monsters to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. It functioned as "a creative safe haven for a diverse stable of talents—creators, amateur and professional alike—to" among other things "envision exotic monsters".