DriveThruRPG.com
Browse Categories
$ to $















Back
pixel_trans.gif
Monstrous Compendium Annual - Volume 1 (2e)
 
$12.99
Average Rating:5.0 / 5
Ratings Reviews Total
7 2
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
Monstrous Compendium Annual - Volume 1 (2e)
Click to view
You must be logged in to rate this
pixel_trans.gif
Monstrous Compendium Annual - Volume 1 (2e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Jordan J. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/05/2023 08:59:18

Tt's a fun reading! I enjoy reading about the monsters of the worlds of D&D. An it's giving me a few ideas for campaigns.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Monstrous Compendium Annual - Volume 1 (2e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 03/28/2022 10:47:50

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/03/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous_28.html

The Monstrous Compendiums would eventually move over to an annual format of perfect-bound soft-cover books. These followed on the footsteps of the combined, hardcover Monstrous Manual, which people liked much better. The idea was to publish a collection of all the published monsters from other products in a Monstrous Compendium style format. But the days of perforated and loose-leaf pages was over and the Annuals and the other books that followed were all bound collections.

To my knowledge, there were four of these in total. I never owned the print copies, at this time I was getting married and moving into a new house, though I have been able to get the PDFs from DriveThruRPG. Curiously, Annual Vol. 2 has not made it to PDF yet.

Monstrous Compendium Annual - Volume 1

PDF 128 pages, Color cover art, color interior art, $9.99. 129 monsters, Aballin to Xaver.

This first book took on the trade-dress and style of the early AD&D 2nd Ed line and was a companion piece to the hardcover Monstrous Manual.

There are a lot of monsters here I have seen in later editions of the game and some are completely new to me. There are a surprising amount of dragons for example. There are few I recognize from 1st Ed that I guess had not made it over to 2nd ed yet (Gibbering Mouther as one example). There are a also a few I recognize from Ravenloft, given a more "generic" or general approach.

It is a good collection of monsters, to be honest. While the page are formatted to fit a book and not really a Monsterous Compendium (the left or right justification of the text on titles) you can still take this PDF and print your own page to fit into your Monstrous Compendiums. I am going to do this with the dragons for example.

These annuals certainly represent the widest variety in monsters I have sen in any of the other compendiums. If I were to play AD&D 2nd Ed again, I think I would start with these as my sources for new and different sorts of creatures. I am sure that people that were still playing at this time (I had gone on an AD&D sabbatical from 1996/7 to 2000) might be more familiar with these books and these monsters, but it is a joy to open a book, even one 20-25 years old, and see something new.

I am now at the point if I print these out I am going to need a third 3-Ring binder.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Displaying 1 to 2 (of 2 reviews) Result Pages:  1 
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif Back pixel_trans.gif
0 items
 Gift Certificates