Customer Reviews

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Monster Manual II (Vol 2) #2016

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This book has a lot of creatures that can be found no where else as well as a good look at demons and devils. While all the creatures in the first monster manual can be found in the newer versions this book is truely unique. If you ever get a chance to buy one, do so even if you already have the new monster manual.

Here's the most valuable compendium of advanced and extra-planar monsters in existence for AD&D. Gary Gygax's last major contribution to the menagerie includes many old favorites, most of which were expurgated or "toned down" in the later, politically correct version of the game. You get dozens upon dozens of demons, devils, undead, demodands, daemons, dragons, giants, and more; if it's evil, and fun to kill, it's here! Lots of classic illustrations, too, far superior to the later Monstrous Manual (bleah!). Find out why it's an eternal DM favorite!

It's been many years since I had played Dungeons and Dragons, so when I started playing again with my son using the 3.5v set of rules our discussions turned to how it used to be. I just had to get this when I found it on Amazon.com. Not only nostalgic for me, but it's still a great resource for our games. We love it!

for DMs in the game world, great book on monsters and their stats and purpose in life.

This book harkens back to the "good old days" when playing the paper and pencil D&D used to be new and fun. It is also the last of the original manuals we purchased to play the game. There have been several reincarnations of this manual and I've thumbed through them but they just don't hold a candle to the original, despite the fancier artwork and rule changes. There are lots of new monsters to supplement the original manual and they were all done in the same style as Monster Manual 1 with black and white line drawings. I am not at all happy with the direction TSR took after Mr. Gygax was booted out (or left, can't remember which) and one big loss was the original manuals. They are now up to version 3 something of the rules but I do not even know what they are because I just play computer games now. All I know about the new rules is that multi-class characters are easier to work with. It was an exciting time, a different era. I still have this manual and will always treasure it. If you can find one, pick it up just to see how things used to be done. Highly recommended.

This is the final piece of the 1st Edition AD&D monster puzzle. Despite its age, the book still offers up several monsters that never found their way into the 3rd Edition of the game. My favorites are the Modrons from the plane of Nirvana. They are some the silliest monsters ever created, but lend a lighthearted feel that 3rd edition lacks.

Back on the serious side, the Random Encounter Tables are terrific. The tables not only list the monsters in this book, but also those in the original MM and Fiend Folio. They even have note next to each monster that indicates which book it can be found in. Very nice.

I have been playing AD&D for well nigh 12 years now, being in possesion of MMII since it was first published. MonsterManualII has many very interesting and usefull monsters that I coulden't imagine not using in my campaigns. Contact me at Kiaz@bellatlantic.net if you want to further discuss MonsterManualII!