Monstrous Compendium Appendix (AD&D/Forgotten Realms MC11) [Paperback]

TSR Inc (Author), Jeff Easley (Photographer)

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (January 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560761113
• ISBN-13: 978-1560761112
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,537,771 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Writer and game designer based in Austin, Texas. I've published eight books, three boardgames, two dozen tabletop roleplaying game supplements, 300 articles and columns, the 2004 edition of the PARANOIA RPG, and over 75 articles for the online gaming magazine The Escapist. I co-wrote the original design doc and co-created the plot for the Nintendo Wii videogame "Disney's Epic Mickey."

My new venture, Ultraviolet Books, offers all-new official ebook novels based on PARANOIA. The first three novels and an introductory anthology are available now for the Kindle family:
- my novel "Stay Alert" (Book T1 of the trilogy "The Troubleshooter Rules")
- Gareth Hanrahan's novel S1 "Reality Optional"
- WJ MacGuffin's novel Y1 "Traitor Hangout"
- A1 "The Computer is Your Friend," with stories by all three writers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it; my players shiver when I pull it out, March 22, 2001

By 

MISTER SJEM "sonofhotpie" (CALIF BAY AREA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Monstrous Compendium Appendix (Planescape) (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition, Accessory/2602) (Paperback)

I have been DMing with the same group for almost five years now and while some of the PCs are new, they seem to have all the basic monsters and rules memorized. They're also high level, ranging from 9th to 12th.

Problem is: I have to change the appearances of most monsters and appearances to fool the group.

What I love about this item is: it's got a ton of powerful creatures in it with new pictures that the PCs can't distinguish from . . . and, moreover, they don't know the special powers of these creatures and it works very well against high level PCs.

About half of this book encompasses the Yugoloth, devils and demons. All worthy foes.

The pictures are fantastic, for the most part, and you can cover up the other page and show the picture to the PCs to give them a visual.

You do not need to be running a PLANESCAPE campaign to use these creatures. Besides, most of these creatures were from the AD&D first edition.

Would recommend but only if you are running or planning to run for players with a median average of at least 7th or 8th level.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent monster supplement, May 30, 2000

By 

"derro" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monstrous Compendium Appendix (Planescape) (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition, Accessory/2602) (Paperback)

The first monstrous compendium to come out of the planescape setting is a success. The terrific illustrations by DiTerlizzi and the well organised & detailled notes on the different monsters listed inside breath new life into some old favorite from the planes. demons & devils have never looked so good, and I can finally make sense of the hierarchy of the Aasimon (archon) & Yugoloth (daevil).There is a great continuity in this work and you get the feeling that every monster included in this book belongs here. A short table at the end of the book helps you by sorting out the monster by planes, making it easier to create your own encounter tables. The only importants omissions of this book are the modron (included in the Planescape boxed set) and the demon & devil lord (sadly, they seems to have been forgotten in the planescape campaign...). In short this book is the most usefull of the 3 monster compendiums made for the planescape setting, and the only one most people will ever need. Easily adaptable to any other campaign setting, smartly written and with great illustrations to look at, this supplement is an excellent purchase.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most essential monstrous compendium accessory out there., March 10, 2000

By 

Jake Araujo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monstrous Compendium Appendix (Planescape) (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition, Accessory/2602) (Paperback)

If a person is running a low-powered, prime material campaign, then they canusually get by on nothing more than the monstrous manual and their own made-up monsters. As the PC's inevitably progress higher and higher in level while their characters are still young and unwilling to retire... books like this one are very handy. The artwork is very nice (though I must agree that some of the baatezu/tanar'ri don't look so terrible; and the pit fiend looks downright silly) and the text is useful in describing thier combat abilities. Any DM who can't make up just enough ecology for the players to buy it should buy the appropriate supplement (for Baatezu, the Guide to hell, etc.) For example, when the PC's stumble across a baatezu or tanar'ri it should be one of the weaker types. If, on the other hand, you decide that their home plane just became the newest battleground in the Blood War, and they're spending all their time going after Pit Fiends and Balor, then this book is not only useful but essential. The toned-down XP values are much closer to reasonable than the exaggerated numbers given in the MM. A warning, however- some of these beasties really are insanely powerful. The Solar, for example, is worth about 10,000 XP too little, the Marut is a roaming machine of death, and the average Maralith is a minor goddess of war with seven solid attacks per round and lots of HP. Use these sparingly until your PC's are all around level 12+.