Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/03/review-castles-crusades-codex-nordica.html

The Castles & Crusades Codecies series are great books to add some flavor and history to your game. While overtly for the Castles & Crusades game they can be used by nearly any game. The Codex Nordica is another I was looking forward to getting and it did not disappoint. Norse myths are among my favorites, right behind the Greek and Celtic myths.

Castles & Crusades Codex Nordica

For this book, I am reviewing the PDF and hardcover edition of this book.

The book is 146 pages with color covers and black & white interiors. The art is up to the high standards you should expect from Troll Lords with plenty of evocative art from Peter Bradley. Like the other books in this series, this one was written by Brian Young, who has the educational background to tackle these books.

Norse myths are some of my favorites and rarely have they been more in vogue. Young makes it clear that this book is a game guide to myths, legends, and history of the Swedish, Danes, Norse, and the other peoples of Scandinavia and not a full recounting of history, myths, and/or legends.

Chapter 1: History & Cosmology

This chapter gives us both the real-world historical background of the lands and the people of the area. This also covers the basic myths. It will not replace a history text or a book on Norse Mythology, but it is a great overview for a gamebook. This book is likely better researched than most game accessories you will find.

Chapter 2: The Nine Worlds

This takes the material from the previous chapter and some more to build on a game world of the Nine Worlds of Norse myths and how they could work in Castles & Crusades. Each world is covered, in as much detail as can be provided, which also includes what random creatures can be found. My favorite bits are the two maps that include the Viking colonies and migrations across Europe.

Chapter 3: Magical Beings & Monsters

I would be tempted to say that this chapter is worth the price of the book alone, but while this is true there is a lot of great stuff in this book. But seriously this chapter is a lot of fun. There are nearly 40 creatures of varying degrees of familiarity to D&D/C&C players. Some are new enough to be quite fun. Since the format is for Castles & Crusades they can be easily converted to AD&D, D&D5, or any OSR game of your choice.

Chapter 4: Wizardry & Enchantments

This chapter is the most "Norse" of all of the ones in the book if I may be so forward. It covers magic in its Nordic version or Seiðr. Since war is the realm of men, magic belongs to women. There are two new character classes, the Seiðkona, an Intelligence-based sorceress or more accurately, a "Magic-user" and the Völva or Vǫlva, a Charisma-based prophetess who is quite similar to the notions of a "Witch."

The Seiðkona uses Intelligence as her primary ability and casts the same spells and magic as the Wizard does. If she had used Charisma, I would naturally compare her to the Sorcerer of D&D3/5. Though given her role, Intelligence (or maybe even Wisdom) is the proper choice here. This is a class that is very much part of the mythology of the world she is in. She has access to the Wizard's spell list in C&C.

There is also the Völva, which is the clerical counterpart to the Seiðkona. This class also serves the role of a priestess and uses a distaff. Her gift is divination and prophecy. So by means of a rough comparison, she is more similar to the Oracle class in Pathfinder. She uses the Cleric's spell list until 5th level and then can split between Divine and Arcane magic.

Also, this chapter covers the runic magic system from this world. The runes are used along with the traditional magic powers (aka Spells).

Chapter 5: The Gods and Giants

This chapter covers the gods of the Nordic lands as well their primary adversaries the Giants. Here are names that will be familiar to nearly everyone who has ever played D&D or even watched a "Thor" movie or A&E's/AAmazon's "Vikings." There are similarities with the names found in the Deities & Demigods, but enough differences that readers should be sure to attend to the details.

Here the tale is more on the side of myth and legend rather than history. We learn of the Æsir and the Vanir; the gods and goddesses of the Nordic people. Also covered here in more detail than other gamebooks are the Giants and "other evil beings" spelling out the role Giants have in this mythology. They are more akin to the Titans of Greek or even the demons of other myths. You will not find stat blocks here though. Gods are not "epic-level monsters" to be fought; least of all by the likes of player characters.

Chapter 6: Warriors & Battlecraft

Magic and gods are great, but the world is made of warriors. This chapter covers the various warrior types and additions to the basic fighter of Castles & Crusades. The "upgraded" fighter includes basic warriors, elite warriors, and shield maidens. New classes include the Berserker, who is a Charisma-based fighter, and the Giant Killers (more traditionally Strength-based).

There are some details on fighting styles and weapons unique to this area as well.

Chapter 7: Castle Keeper Info

This chapter details running a Castles & Crusades game in the Nordic lands during the time of these myths and stories; aka the Viking Age. Here you can learn about society, laws, and the people that make it work. Of course, sea voyages are covered and various types of boats were used.

There is a section on poets and Kennings. It makes me wish they had included more for Bards here other than a brief mention that Skalds are Bards. But I guess this works. Names and their importance is covered with examples.

Most importantly there is a section on the Eddas (Prose and Poetic) and how they can be adapted to a game.

Chapter 8: The Precious Works

"The dwarves of lore made mighty spells" Tolkien told us in The Hobbit, but the dwarves he was thinking about likely were the Sons of ĺvaldi rather than the Children of Durin. Here we learn of the great magical artifacts of the Nordic myths including Gundnir, Skidbladnir, Draupnir, and Mjölnir.

Save for monsters and classes, the vast majority of this book is fairly neutral in terms of game rules. What does that mean? It means that you could easily use this book with AD&D, D&D 3 or 5, or an OSR game of choice. Of course, it works the best with Castles & Crusades, but the book is such a good resource I would hate to see it missed by people that do not play C&C.

Brian Young has a unique combination of Ph.D. level research and game design and writing credit to bring a series like this to life and make you want to play exclusively in the world he describes. Many have tried over the years, but I feel he has achieved the rare success of balancing the needs of mythological research and game design.

I highly recommend this book for anyone that wants to add a little bit of Norse myth to their games. And really who wouldn't?

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/03/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous.html

I have mentioned this many times before but for me AD&D 2nd Ed was synonymous with Ravenloft for me. For most of AD&D's heydays, I was at university, either as an undergrad, in grad school, or working on my first Ph.D. So both money and free reading times were limited. I focused my efforts on the campaign world that I enjoyed the most, though I did dabble a bit into Planescape.

While I bought the Monstrous Compendiums as I could, I made an effort to get the Ravenloft ones.

MC10 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix

PDF 64 pages, Color cover art, black & white interior art, $4.99

I don't remember when exactly I bought this product the first time, but I do remember I was living in my first apartment after the dorms. I thought it was amazing and I could not wait to use some of these monsters. This product also expands on many of the monsters that had been briefly mentioned in other products, namely the Ravenloft boxed set and some early adventures.

This compendium appendix covers 55 monsters "Bastellus" to "Zombie Lord" and includes the "demi-human" vampires. Up to this point, I had argued that only humans could become vampires, but I guess the Demiplane of Dread is such that any race can become a vampire.

In addition to all the monsters, this book includes an "Encounters in Ravenloft" that is helpful for the different rules that monsters can follow here.

I also find quite a lot in these I can still use in my 5e games and in my OSR/Old-School games.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/03/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous.html

I have mentioned this many times before but for me AD&D 2nd Ed was synonymous with Ravenloft for me. For most of AD&D's heydays, I was at university, either as an undergrad, in grad school, or working on my first Ph.D. So both money and free reading times were limited. I focused my efforts on the campaign world that I enjoyed the most, though I did dabble a bit into Planescape.

While I bought the Monstrous Compendiums as I could, I made an effort to get the Ravenloft ones.

MC15 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix II: Children of the Night (2e)

PDF 64 pages, Color cover art, black & white interior art, $4.99. Covers just 20 monsters from "Brain, Living" to "Vampyre."

This second compendium draws from many of the adventures and books published for Ravenloft at this point. It has similar monster types to the first one, but all of these monsters are unique NPCs. For example, the MC10 had the Ermordenung creature, this one has the specific entry for Nostalla Romaine. Some, like Desmond LaRouche, the Half-golem and Jacquelline Montarri, even get 4 pages of treatment each. This is part and parcel of the nature of monsters in Ravenloft, each and everyone has the potential to become a unique encounter and a specifically planned one. This is one of the reasons I really don't do "random monsters" anymore. In Ravenloft, there never should be a random encounter. Even "non-Ravenloft" creatures get a unique Ravenloft treatment like Althea (medusa) and Salizarr (a meazel).

This might make the utility of this book a little less than the others, it is a book of NPCs really, not just monsters. The advantages though are a way to show how nearly any monster can get the "Ravenlot" treatment and expand to something more than a collection of HP to be traded for XP.

I also find quite a lot in these I can still use in my 5e games and in my OSR/Old-School games.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/03/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous.html

I have mentioned this many times before but for me AD&D 2nd Ed was synonymous with Ravenloft for me. For most of AD&D's heydays, I was at university, either as an undergrad, in grad school, or working on my first Ph.D. So both money and free reading times were limited. I focused my efforts on the campaign world that I enjoyed the most, though I did dabble a bit into Planescape.

While I bought the Monstrous Compendiums as I could, I made an effort to get the Ravenloft ones.

Monstrous Compendium - Ravenloft Appendix III (2e)

PDF 128 pages, Color cover art, black & white interior art, $9.99

This is one of the first "bound" Monstrous Compendiums I ever bought. By this time TSR had learned that the three-ring binder experiment was over. So no attempt here is mad to keep up that pretense.

This book is larger, 128 pages, and takes on the trade dress of later (middle era) Ravenloft products. This one does feature a guide of what monsters from other Monstrous Compendiums are suitable for Ravenloft. Additionally, the "Climate/Terrain" section lists which Domain they are found in or even when they are found on other worlds.

This book covers 120 monsters from "Akikage" to "Zombie, Wolf." Some are repeats, but all are updated. We get newer versions of Flesh Golems and Strahd Zombies, and yet another version of the Baobhan Sith. Some more vampires (Drow and Drider) and a bunch of Liches.

I also find quite a lot in these I can still use in my 5e games and in my OSR/Old-School games.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/03/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous.html

I have mentioned this many times before but for me AD&D 2nd Ed was synonymous with Ravenloft for me. For most of AD&D's heydays, I was at university, either as an undergrad, in grad school, or working on my first Ph.D. So both money and free reading times were limited. I focused my efforts on the campaign world that I enjoyed the most, though I did dabble a bit into Planescape.

While I bought the Monstrous Compendiums as I could, I made an effort to get the Ravenloft ones.

Monstrous Compendium - Ravenloft Appendices I & II (2e)

PDF 128 pages, Color cover art, black & white interior art, $9.99

This product features the final Ravenloft trade dress and is one of the last Ravenloft products to be wholly TSR and not TST/Wizard of the Coast. Again, like the Ravenloft Appendix III, this is a 128 page book that first appeared as a softcover. The monsters are the same as Appendices I & II; even dividing them up into two sections of Part I Creatures of Dread and Part II: Children of the Night.

If your goal is to print out pages for your own Monstrous Compendiums, then the original MC10 and MC15 might be the better choice. If you are collecting the PDFs to have all the monsters then this product is the better bet.

I am a Ravenloft fan. So I have them all.

I also find quite a lot in these I can still use in my 5e games and in my OSR/Old-School games.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/02/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous_28.html

There is no doubt that the biggest game world for AD&D 2nd Edition was the Forgotten Realms. I was fairly anti-Realms back then. I felt it was a cheap imitation of Greyhawk and I was a little irritated that Greyhawk got pushed to the side. The 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms setting book did a lot to change that for me and now, especially with my investigations around my This Old Dragon posts, I have come to better appreciate the Realms for what they really are, not for what I thought they were.

That all being said I still bought Realms-related products like these because, well, I love monsters.

MC11 Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix II (1991)

My series This Old Dragon has served me well for this one since many of the creatures here have appeared in the pages of Dragon Magazine, most authored or edited by Ed Greenwood himself.

This PDF is listed at 64 pages + the dividers. The interior art is all black & white with blue accents. The list price is $4.99. There are a total of 76 monsters (with sub-types) here Alaghi to Tren (a troglodyte/lizard man crossbreed). The Peryton, one of my favorites from the original Monster Manual finally makes its 2nd Ed debut here. Likely due to the "Ecology of" article. I went back to look over some old favorites, namely the Saurial. I always kind of liked the Saurial since there had been some articles in pop-science magazines about what would a humanoid race evolved from dinosaurs look like. I was a big fan of the Silurians and Sea Devils from Doctor Who and this was the "Paranoid 90s" when X-Files was about to reign. So reptiloids, dinosauroids, and more were on my mind. The entry here says that "Saurials are not native to the Realms, but originate from an alternate Prime Material Plane." This reminds me of what authors would later do with the Dragonborn in the Realms; have them come from Toril's twin planet of Abeir. I see in more recent Realms lore they are still from an unknown realm but I like this idea.

While these monsters are "generic" enough to be used anywhere, most (like the Saurials above) are tied a little more to the lore of the Realms, so extracting them can be done, but they will need some edits.

We are at a point with the Monstrous Compendiums where we get a bit of overlap. For example, the Ashira (MC13) has a lot in common with the Hamadryad (MC11). And the Black Cloud of Vengeance (MC13) is very much a larger, more evil version of the Tempest (MC11). This is not a surprise, there are over 2100 monsters created for AD&D 2nd Edition, there are bound to be places where they overlap.

The scans for all are pretty crisp and clear. I certainly can see printed out a couple of pages and using them in a smaller binder for a specific AD&D 2nd Ed campaign. Like I have said before, these PDF are fulfilling the promises made by the Monstrous Compendiums in the 1990s.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/02/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous_28.html

There is no doubt that the biggest game world for AD&D 2nd Edition was the Forgotten Realms. I was fairly anti-Realms back then. I felt it was a cheap imitation of Greyhawk and I was a little irritated that Greyhawk got pushed to the side. The 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms setting book did a lot to change that for me and now, especially with my investigations around my This Old Dragon posts, I have come to better appreciate the Realms for what they really are, not for what I thought they were.

That all being said I still bought Realms-related products like these because, well, I love monsters.

MC13 Monstrous Compendium Al-Qadim Appendix (1992)

The Al-Qadim Monstrous Compendium had been the only product I ever purchased for the Al-Qadim setting back when it was new. Again the reasoning was I loved monsters. But while reading it over I discovered there was a very interesting setting here.

Like the Kara-Tur setting, Al-Qadim was pulled into the Realms. It was added to the Realms quickly after its release but the campaign setting box was designed a bit more for a general placement anywhere.

This PDF is listed at 74 pages and has a $4.95 price tag. The art is typical for the time color covers and color dividers with black & white pages. Interestingly the accent color here is gold and not blue. Ravenloft used red so I wonder how it would have been if all the settings had a different accent color to help separate them. A dark-gray for Greyhawk, burnt orange for Dark Sun, and so on.

There are 58 monsters from Ammut to Zin. This includes a large number of various Genie/Gin types.

Divorced from their setting the monsters certainly lose some of their best flavor, but I do plan on using these in a desert-based campaign I have coming up and I think they will work fine.

We are at a point with the Monstrous Compendiums where we get a bit of overlap. For example, the Ashira (MC13) has a lot in common with the Hamadryad (MC11). And the Black Cloud of Vengeance (MC13) is very much a larger, more evil version of the Tempest (MC11). This is not a surprise, there are over 2100 monsters created for AD&D 2nd Edition, there are bound to be places where they overlap.

The scans for all are pretty crisp and clear. I certainly can see printed out a couple of pages and using them in a smaller binder for a specific AD&D 2nd Ed campaign. Like I have said before, these PDF are fulfilling the promises made by the Monstrous Compendiums in the 1990s.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/02/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous_28.html

There is no doubt that the biggest game world for AD&D 2nd Edition was the Forgotten Realms. I was fairly anti-Realms back then. I felt it was a cheap imitation of Greyhawk and I was a little irritated that Greyhawk got pushed to the side. The 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms setting book did a lot to change that for me and now, especially with my investigations around my This Old Dragon posts, I have come to better appreciate the Realms for what they really are, not for what I thought they were.

That all being said I still bought Realms-related products like these because, well, I love monsters.

MC6 Monstrous Compendium, Kara-Tur Appendix

Kara-Tur did not begin as a Forgotten Realms land. Quite the contrary it was designed to be used as part of Oerth in the 1st Edition Oriental Adventures. This Monstrous Compendium brings the creatures listed in the 1st ed book, and more, into the 2nd Edition game.

This PDF is listed at 64 pages (more with binder dividers) and a price tag of $4.99. The cover and dividers are full color (including Easley's Oriental Adventure cover) and the interior art is Black & White. There are 76 monsters from Bajang to the Yuki-on-na.

Interestingly enough the Eastern Dragons from the Original Fiend Folio are not here. They appeared in the MC3 Forgotten Realms one, but I thought they should appear here instead. Likely to solidify the claim of Kara-Tur in the Forgotten Realms or maybe to give the 3rd MC some popular dragons.

There are some very unique monsters here. This is one of the few that I keep separate and do not integrate into my larger monster sets.

The scans for all are pretty crisp and clear. I certainly can see printed out a couple of pages and using them in a smaller binder for a specific AD&D 2nd Ed campaign. Like I have said before, these PDF are fulfilling the promises made by the Monstrous Compendiums in the 1990s.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/02/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous_21.html

I am continuing my dive into the AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendiums. Today I want to talk about the next three that were important to me in terms of what I call the "core" of the AD&D 2nd Ed monsters.

It is a commonly held belief that during the AD&D 2nd Ed era that settings were at their height. The remaining Monstrous Compendiums focused on these settings. For me it was a perfect systems really. I could keep monsters in with my core rules, like I did with Greyhawk, Dragonlance and Mystara. Or keep them with my boxed sets of campaigns, like I did with all my Ravenloft stuff. So let's go with the ones I integrated (to the best I could) into my core set.

MC5 Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Adventures Appendix

Personally I always felt that Greyhawk should have had a Monstrous Compendium long before the others, but I can see why it came out when it did, given all that history. The Greyhawk Adventures book for 1st Edition had a "preview" of monsters in 2nd Edition format. I remember being quite excited about this and really liking the new stat block even though it was much larger than before.

More so than the other MC Appendices, I tried to integrate these monsters as much as I could into my "core" Monstrous Compendium. To me Greyhawk was the "home world" of D&D.

The PDF from DriveThruRPG is 64 pages, runs $4.99, and includes 63 monsters; Beastman to Zygom.

Many of these monsters have their origins in the AD&D 1st ed modules and Fiend Folio, but there are few others here from the Monster Manaual II. The only creatures here that really saw "Greyhawk" to me are the Grell, Greyhawk Dragon, the Sword Wraiths and the Drowned Zombies.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/02/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous_21.html

I am continuing my dive into the AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendiums. Today I want to talk about the next three that were important to me in terms of what I call the "core" of the AD&D 2nd Ed monsters.

It is a commonly held belief that during the AD&D 2nd Ed era that settings were at their height. The remaining Monstrous Compendiums focused on these settings. For me it was a perfect systems really. I could keep monsters in with my core rules, like I did with Greyhawk, Dragonlance and Mystara. Or keep them with my boxed sets of campaigns, like I did with all my Ravenloft stuff. So let's go with the ones I integrated (to the best I could) into my core set.

MC4 Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix

Ok, this one bugged me at first. I bought it and it said Draonlance Appendix on the front even though it was the second two-ring binder. I didn't play Dragonlance, I was doing Greyhawk and would soon be eyeballs deep in Ravenloft. My irritations were put to rest when I opened and the cover, while having the same art, just said Monstrous Compendium Vol. 2. For a while I used both alphabetically, vol 1 with A through M and vol 2 holding N to Z and the tables and blank forms. Today I use vol 1 for my core monsters and vol 2 for everything else.

Dragonlance falls into "everything else" for me. The monsters are good, and many that have made their way back into my core monsters.

The PDF from DriveThruRPG is 96 pages, 82 monsters and at a price of $4.99. The monsters range from "Anemone, Giant" to "Yeti-kin, Saqualaminoi." It covers all the various races of Krynn including the various types of dwarves, all the different kinds of elves, the kender and Dragonlance's lizard men and minotaurs. It was the first to include the Death Knight and Skeleton Warriors, though I always felt they belonged in Greyhawk. Certainly worth it for the Draconians and tips on Dragonlance's dragons which help redefine dragons in D&D in the first place.

The cover of the PDF is a little dark, but the pages inside are sharp and clear.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/02/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous_21.html

I am continuing my dive into the AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendiums. Today I want to talk about the next three that were important to me in terms of what I call the "core" of the AD&D 2nd Ed monsters.

It is a commonly held belief that during the AD&D 2nd Ed era that settings were at their height. The remaining Monstrous Compendiums focused on these settings. For me it was a perfect systems really. I could keep monsters in with my core rules, like I did with Greyhawk, Dragonlance and Mystara. Or keep them with my boxed sets of campaigns, like I did with all my Ravenloft stuff. So let's go with the ones I integrated (to the best I could) into my core set.

Monstrous Compendium - Mystara Appendix

First Edition was all about Greyhawk. Second edition was synomous with Ravenloft for me. But Mystara, or before that name, the Known World was where my gaming began. So the Mystara Appendix for the Monstrous Compendium was one of my "core" core sets.

The Mystara appendix take a few diversions from the other core world sets. For starters this one is 128 pages and $9.99 on DriveThruRPG now. It is also full color, a indication of the change of publishing style at TSR. This book was also published as a standalone softcover, perfect bound, book. It seems that by 1994 the loose-leaf era was indeed over.

The PDF though does allow you to go back to that era and print the monsters out as you like.

This set has 174 monsters from Actaeon to Zombie, Lightning. Many of the old favorites from the B/X and BECMI days are here too. Living Statues, Kopru, Decapus and the Thoul are all here in their 2nd Edition glory as well as many of the Gem Stone Dragons.

If you were/are a fan of the D&D Creature Catalogs then this really is a must buy. I find it interesting that this Compendium came out just a year after the DMR2 Creature Catalog. I'd have to go through them page by page to see if there are any differences in the monsters presented, but they feel very much alike.

The DriveThruRPG scanned PDF is very bright and clear. I would love to see this as a print-on-demand some day.

The full review, with pictures, can be read here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/02/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous.html

In the waning years of the 80s, AD&D took a new turn. Much of the original guard was gone from TSR and a new edition of its flagship game was on the way. I was at University at the time, so for me, it was easy enough to move over to AD&D 2nd Ed. I was not playing with my normal group anymore (they were 200+ miles away) and it seemed like a good place to move on.

It was June 1989 and I was on what was to be my last family vacation to Harrisburg, PA. We were doing a big Civil War tour and my dad was meeting up with a bunch of guys he served with during the Korean War. I remember being on my own for a bit and I found a game and comic store not far from Gettysburg. I went in looking for anything new and anything to entertain myself. Much to my shock they had copies, released that week, of the new AD&D 2nd Monstrous Manual. I remember talking to them asking how business was for AD&D 2nd ed and they had said terrible that no one was buying yet. I am quite certain that changed later on. But that was also my first hint at anything like an "Edition War."

I got it back to my hotel room and I read that book cover to cover. I loved the idea of the 3-Ring binder and I loved how the monsters were all expanded to include the Habitats and Ecology. My first RPG love was the AD&D Monster Manual. This did not fill me with as much excitement (you never forget your first time) but it was close.

As time went on and I bought more of the Monstrous Compendiums the weakness of the format began to show itself. For starters you could never properly alphabetize the pages. One monster per page is great, unless the monster on the back of the page is more letters down the line. Also in normal use, the pages became tattered and torn; and that is if you removed the perforations right the first time.

Still, I loved the idea and still do it today.

MC1 Monstrous Compendium Volume One

This was the first Monstrous Compendium to hit the market but not the first time seeing the new monster format. That was published in the (then) new Greyhawk Adventures hardcover. Originally this came with the monsters on printed, perforated sheets, cardstock color dividers, and the three-ring binder to put them all in.

This product covered some 130 monsters from Aerial Servant to Zombie. It had most of the "usual suspects" including orcs, all the PC races, goblins, and the greatly expanded dragons. The Dragons were the big star of this particular package. They were bigger, meaner, and a whole lot scarier.

The PDF from DriveThru helps this book live up to its promised potential. You can print the entries you want and organize them how you want. The scans are of the original books/pages so you don't have to worry about a lot of color (you will burn through the cyan/blue though).

A note, like the original Monstrous Compendium this one still has the error on the Vampire page, with side 1 printed on both sides. The correction can be found in the October 1989 issue of Dragon magazine or the full Monstrous Manual.

Final Thoughts

The PDFs from DriveThru are a fraction of the cost of the original and I can also buy a very sturdy binder to put them all in. The big issue is of course my own printer ink. But if I ever plan on running an AD&D game again I'll be using these and finally have them live up to the full potential that was promised to me back in Gettysburg, PA in 1989.

The full review, with pictures, can be read here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/02/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous.html

In the waning years of the 80s, AD&D took a new turn. Much of the original guard was gone from TSR and a new edition of its flagship game was on the way. I was at University at the time, so for me, it was easy enough to move over to AD&D 2nd Ed. I was not playing with my normal group anymore (they were 200+ miles away) and it seemed like a good place to move on.

It was June 1989 and I was on what was to be my last family vacation to Harrisburg, PA. We were doing a big Civil War tour and my dad was meeting up with a bunch of guys he served with during the Korean War. I remember being on my own for a bit and I found a game and comic store not far from Gettysburg. I went in looking for anything new and anything to entertain myself. Much to my shock they had copies, released that week, of the new AD&D 2nd Monstrous Manual. I remember talking to them asking how business was for AD&D 2nd ed and they had said terrible that no one was buying yet. I am quite certain that changed later on. But that was also my first hint at anything like an "Edition War."

I got it back to my hotel room and I read that book cover to cover. I loved the idea of the 3-Ring binder and I loved how the monsters were all expanded to include the Habitats and Ecology. My first RPG love was the AD&D Monster Manual. This did not fill me with as much excitement (you never forget your first time) but it was close.

As time went on and I bought more of the Monstrous Compendiums the weakness of the format began to show itself. For starters you could never properly alphabetize the pages. One monster per page is great, unless the monster on the back of the page is more letters down the line. Also in normal use, the pages became tattered and torn; and that is if you removed the perforations right the first time.

Still, I loved the idea and still do it today.

MC2 Monstrous Compendium Volume Two

The second Monstrous Compendium package was released that to the horror of OCD Dungeon Master's everywhere, you could not properly alphabetize all the entries. This one covers more monsters, the second tier ones, Aarakocra to Yellow Musk Creeper and Zombie. It had a solid Fiend Folio vibe to it.

Any hopes the rumors were false were soon dashed as this set also did not include the Demons and Devils of old. We would get them, eventually, but not for a bit.

The weakness of the printed copy of 1989 is no longer an issue with the PDF of today. Now you can reprint the monsters you want AND keep them to one page for fully proper alphabetizing. You just a need a new binder that will hold 500 some odd pages.

Like the MC1 this PDF includes the dividers you can print. For my use? I print them out, put them in a page protector and then put some card stock in with them.

Final Thoughts

The PDFs from DriveThru are a fraction of the cost of the original and I can also buy a very sturdy binder to put them all in. The big issue is of course my own printer ink. But if I ever plan on running an AD&D game again I'll be using these and finally have them live up to the full potential that was promised to me back in Gettysburg, PA in 1989.

The full review, with pictures, can be read here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/02/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous.html

In the waning years of the 80s, AD&D took a new turn. Much of the original guard was gone from TSR and a new edition of its flagship game was on the way. I was at University at the time, so for me, it was easy enough to move over to AD&D 2nd Ed. I was not playing with my normal group anymore (they were 200+ miles away) and it seemed like a good place to move on.

It was June 1989 and I was on what was to be my last family vacation to Harrisburg, PA. We were doing a big Civil War tour and my dad was meeting up with a bunch of guys he served with during the Korean War. I remember being on my own for a bit and I found a game and comic store not far from Gettysburg. I went in looking for anything new and anything to entertain myself. Much to my shock they had copies, released that week, of the new AD&D 2nd Monstrous Manual. I remember talking to them asking how business was for AD&D 2nd ed and they had said terrible that no one was buying yet. I am quite certain that changed later on. But that was also my first hint at anything like an "Edition War."

I got it back to my hotel room and I read that book cover to cover. I loved the idea of the 3-Ring binder and I loved how the monsters were all expanded to include the Habitats and Ecology. My first RPG love was the AD&D Monster Manual. This did not fill me with as much excitement (you never forget your first time) but it was close.

As time went on and I bought more of the Monstrous Compendiums the weakness of the format began to show itself. For starters you could never properly alphabetize the pages. One monster per page is great, unless the monster on the back of the page is more letters down the line. Also in normal use, the pages became tattered and torn; and that is if you removed the perforations right the first time.

Still, I loved the idea and still do it today.

MC3 Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix

For me, and many others I feel, AD&D 2nd Ed was synonymous with the Forgotten Realms. It was Ed Greenwood's "Ecology of..." articles in Dragon that gave us these expanded monster listings so the Realms and 2nd Ed are a perfect fit in my mind. Even if 90% of my own 2nd ed gaming was in Ravenloft.

This gives us monsters from Ascallion to Wemic. Some old favorites like the Eastern Dragons are here and lots of monsters appeared in the pages of Dragon and Forgotten Realms books, many as 1st Edition versions first.

The PDF makes good on the promises to allow you to organize things as your wish. This is particularly nice for me since I took some of these monsters and placed them in with the ones above in one binder as all the "common" monsters and then mixed the remaining with the other Forgotten Realms MC (MC 11) for "Realms unique" monsters.

The scan on this one is a little light, so printing might make some of the pages look washed out. BUT you can turn up your printer's settings a notch to make it darker. Not too much or the scanned paper will also show up as "background noise." But you can also print them out and touch up what you like with a pencil and not worry about marking up a 30-year-old book from your collection.

Final Thoughts

The PDFs from DriveThru are a fraction of the cost of the original and I can also buy a very sturdy binder to put them all in. The big issue is of course my own printer ink. But if I ever plan on running an AD&D game again I'll be using these and finally have them live up to the full potential that was promised to me back in Gettysburg, PA in 1989.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/02/review-old-school-essentials-advanced.html

Arguably one of the biggest success stories of the late OSR movement has been the publication of Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy (2019) and Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy (2021). Indeed I feel that OSE has supplanted Swords & Wizardry, the darling of the middle OSR movement as the old-school game of choice. It is the old-school game of choice here in my home game, alternating between it and D&D 5e, and seems to be the most talked-about game in the old-school discussion areas.

This is all with good reason. OSE is well designed, superbly organized, and has wonderful art. There is a minimalist approach to the rules and presentation that does not detract from the experience, instead, it rather enhances it. You can see my enthusiasm in my review of the Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy Boxed set back in 2020. So imagine my surprise when I learned I had not given OSE Advanced a proper review yet.

I have detailed my introduction to D&D many times here. But briefly, my "first" D&D was a poorly copied version of Holmes Basic with an AD&D Monster Manual. My first "true" D&D, the one I could properly call my own was Moldvay Basic/Cook & MArsh Expert (commonly referred to as "B/X"). I would over the course of a year or so add in elements of AD&D. Most importantly the Deities & Demigods, the Fiend Folio, and a copy of Eldritch Wizardry. My D&D was always a mish-mash of Basic D&D and AD&D. I later discovered that my playstyle was not at all unique.

Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy Edition really strikes at the heart of what this sort of play was like. The familiar and easy Basic/Expert rules with AD&D layered on top. Layered is the right word, AD&D had a lot of situational rules and rules used in tournaments and rules designed to cover what looked like medieval realism. As real that is in a world where half-elves fought dragons with magic. OSE-AF strips this down back to the B/X style rules found in OSE-CF and then adds in what people used the most from AD&D. No weapon speed factors, no tournament scoring, just D&D-style play.

OSE-AF is divided into two books, the Player's Tome and the Referee's Tome.

For this review, I am considering the hardcover books I got via the Kickstarter, the PDFs from DriveThruRPG, and extra copies of the Player's Tome I picked up at my FLGS. All books were purchased by me and none were submitted for review purposes.

OSE-AF Player's Tome

Hardcover. Black and White and color interior art and covers. 248 pages. Bookmarked PDF with hyperlinked table of contents and index. $40.00 for the hardcover print (retail). $15.00 for the PDF.

The Player's Tome covers everything an OSE-AF player needs to know. The book details a lot of the same rules that are found in the OSE-Classic Fantasy (or read: Basic) rules. This new book though integrates the "Basic" and "Advanced" material together with some notes on the "Advanced Fantasy" sections. One might be tempted to say that this book is not needed if you have the OSE-CF book, but that is not really the case. While there are certainly more classes, and more monsters in the case of the Referee Tome, there is still quite a lot of new material here. Enough to make AF twice as large content-wise as CF.

The main feature of this book, and indeed all of the OSE line, is the layout. All material is laid out so that everything you need to read is on facing pages. So a character class always takes up two pages (even and odd) so that when laid flat everything can be read at once and easily. There are very few exceptions to this rule and it gives OSE it's unique look and feel. Add in the art, sparingly but effectively used, the feel is elegant, if minimalist, efficiency. This is the same design that made D&D 4e a joy to read. The same feeling is here.

Advanced Fantasy follows its Advanced namesake and splits character race and character class into two separate things. Basic combined race and class so you got Clerics (always human) and Dwarves (always fighters). Here is the option that most folks want in the "Advanced" game. In addition to the four classes and the four races of Basic, this book introduces six more races and nine more classes.

In the OSE-AF book, we get: Acrobat, Assassin, Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Illusionist, Knight, Magic-user, Paladin, Ranger, and Thief.

There are also the "race as class" variants of: Drow, Duergar, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-elf, Halfling, Half-orc, Human, and Svirfneblin. The level maximum is 14 for humans and variable for others. All race/class combinations are detailed. This covers our first 80 some odd pages.

What follows next are guides for character advancement, equipment, animals of burden, transportation, and crews.

The next biggest section is Magic and this covers all the spells for the magic-using classes. Since the max level for any human is 14, spells are limited. Divine spellcasters are limited to the 5th level of casting and Arcane to the 6th level. The advantage here is the clerics and druids are on more equal footing with each other and so are magic-users and illusionists. Unlike their Advanced namesake, this book does not require spell components nor are their other details given. The spells are firmly in the Basic format.

The book wraps up with Adventuring, Hirelings, and building strongholds.

The feel is solid B/X Basic with enough "Advanced" added in to make it feel just a little different. Or in other words, exactly how we used to play it from 1980 to 1983.

Throughout all these books and the entire OSE line, the art is both evocative of the old-school style and still modern enough to please new audiences.

This is the game of choice for me to introduce old-school style play to players of modern games. My regular 5e group took to it like ducks to water. They love it. They still love their 5e games, but they also like to do this one. None of them had ever played B/X prior to this and it was a huge success.

I know that Gavin Norman and Necrotic Gnome have more material to give us for this, I hope it all lives up this new gold standard I set my OSR book to.