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138-495: This is a list of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd-edition monsters , an important element of that role-playing game . This list only includes monsters from official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition supplements published by TSR, Inc. or Wizards of the Coast , not licensed or unlicensed third-party products such as video games or unlicensed Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition manuals. The second edition of

276-488: A basic knowledge of mythology, religion and fantasy is required to keep pace with the game, although the "creatures were unbound by time or place" of their original sources and co-creator Gary Gygax "made them coexist in a single aggregate world". With regard to pre-modern sources, scholar Laurent Di Filippo remarked that game creators often do not rely directly on original texts. Rather the material undergoes "cultural processes of transmission which go from medieval sources to

414-444: A blue cover with artwork by David C. Sutherland III . The "blue booklet" explains the game's concepts and method of play in terms that made it accessible to new players not familiar with tabletop miniatures wargaming. Unusual features of this version include an alignment system of five alignments as opposed to the three or nine alignments of the other versions. This Basic Set was very popular and allowed many to discover and experience

552-465: A bonus to all skill rolls based on level. A system of "healing surges" and short and long rests are introduced to act as resource management. In 2012, MJ Harnish of Wired commented that it was unclear what the "lasting legacy" of 4th Edition would be – "on the positive side, it introduced a new way to play the game, adding streamlined play, improved ease of dungeon master preparation, and character classes that were complementary and balanced. [...] On

690-428: A broadly recognizable commercial license. The third edition introduced iconic characters , a group of recurring characters used in illustrations and text explanations. They appear in a variety of Dungeons & Dragons game manuals and tie-in novels. In July 2003, a revised version of the 3rd edition D&D rules (termed v. 3.5 ) was released that incorporated numerous small rule changes, as well as expanding

828-451: A central tool for immersion in the game from the point of its creation. The monsters of Dungeons & Dragons have significantly influenced modern fantasy fiction, ranging from licensed fiction to how monsters are portrayed in fantasy fiction generally. The scope of this influence has been compared to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien . In a 2005 interview, author China Miéville stated, "I use AD&D-type fascination with teratology in

966-415: A d20 die roll plus appropriate modifiers. Modifiers based on ability scores follow a standardized formula. Saving throws are reduced from five categories based on forms of attack to three based on type of defense. Skills and the new system of feats are introduced replacing non-weapon proficiencies, to allow players to further customize their characters. The combat system is greatly expanded, adopting into

1104-469: A distraction by Asmodeus to hide his true goal of usurping divine power and reshaping the multiverse. Later official materials claim Asmodeus possesses a piece of the pure elemental chaos Tharizdun used to create the Abyss. The demons are drawn to this and seek to reclaim it. ComicBook.com contributor Christian Hoffer considered "Blood War between demons and devils" one "of the great conflicts that make up

1242-460: A heavily revised treatment of psionics. The d20 System is presented under the Open Game License , which makes it an open source system for which authors can write new games and game supplements without the need to develop a unique rules system and, more importantly, without the need for direct approval from Wizards of the Coast. This makes it easier to market D&D-compatible content under

1380-604: A large amount of its contents was entirely new at publication. The monsters in this book are presented in the same format as the Monster Manual and Fiend Folio . Fiend is a term used in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game to refer to any malicious otherworldly creatures within the Dungeons & Dragons universe. These include various races of demons and devils that are of an evil alignment and hail from

1518-762: A list of "The 9 Scariest, Most Unforgettable Monsters From Dungeons & Dragons", and in the same year Screen Rant published a list of the game's "10 Most Powerful (And 10 Weakest) Monsters, Ranked". Other writers have highlighted the game's more odd or eccentric creations, such as Geek.com 's list of "The most underrated monsters of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons", The Escapist 's list of "The Dumbest Dungeons & Dragons Monsters Ever (And How To Use Them)", and Cracked.com 's "15 Idiotic Dungeons and Dragons Monsters". D&D' s monsters have also been licensed as toys, like in LJN 's action figures, and even candy. The number and variety of different monsters contributes to keeping

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1656-455: A list of the game's "10 Most Powerful (And 10 Weakest) Monsters, Ranked" in 2018, calling this one of the strongest, saying "There are a lot of giant monsters that roam the various Dungeons & Dragons worlds, but none is more feared than the Tarrasque. This creature is an engine of destruction and it can crush entire cities in a single rampage." Backstab reviewer Michaël Croitoriu highlights

1794-660: A lot of my books, and I have the original Monster Manual, and the Monster Manual 2, and the Fiend Folio. I still collect role-playing game bestiaries, because I find that kind of fascination with the creation of the monstrous tremendously inspiring." References and homages to Dungeons & Dragons monsters can be found in works such as Adventure Time , and the game's monsters have inspired tributes that both celebrate and mock various creatures. A 2013 io9 retrospective detailed memorable monsters, and in 2018 SyFy Wire published

1932-436: A more relaxed attitude towards the hobby, Wizards of the Coast reinserted many of these excised references in the third edition of the game. They kept intact the terms they had been replaced with, using both when applicable to appeal both to older players and those who played in subsequent editions of the game. While the 1st edition of AD&D used the term "Daemon", all subsequent editions beginning with 2nd edition have used

2070-609: A more tactical combat system including attacks of opportunity. A major revision of the AD&;D rules was released in 2000, the first edition published by Wizards of the Coast , which had acquired TSR in 1997. As the Basic game had been discontinued some years earlier, and the more straightforward title was more marketable, the word "advanced" was dropped and the new edition was named just Dungeons & Dragons , but still officially referred to as 3rd edition (or 3E for short). It also served as

2208-512: A movement known as the Old School Renaissance . Castles & Crusades , published in 2004 by Troll Lord Games , is an early example of the OGL and SRD being used to recreate the experience of older editions. Prominent retro-clones include Labyrinth Lord , OSRIC , and Swords & Wizardry . The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game was first published in 2009 by Paizo Publishing . It

2346-527: A new core of rule books that were simplified, updated, and errataed , so that they'd be easier to use". The Essentials line contains revisions to the rule set compiled over the prior two years, in the form of the Rules Compendium , which condenses rules and errata into one volume, while also updating the rules with newly introduced changes. The player books Heroes of the Fallen Lands and Heroes of

2484-643: A new creature. ISBN   1-56076-422-8 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 Monsters in Dungeons %26 Dragons While many "bizarre and grotesque creatures" are original creations of Dungeons & Dragons , the inspiration for others includes mythology , medieval bestiaries , science-fiction , fantasy literature , and film . Mauricio Rangel Jiménez goes so far to say that

2622-660: A new set of rules that supported Immortal levels 1 through 36, and would operate on an interplanar level. This version was compiled and slightly revised by Aaron Allston in 1991 as the Rules Cyclopedia , a hardback book which includes all the sets except Immortals Rules (which was discontinued and replaced with the Wrath of the Immortals boxed set accessory). While the Rules Cyclopedia includes all information required to begin

2760-428: A primordial race for use as a weapon against the gods. The tarrasque has been called "a creature that embodies wanton destruction" and "singularly deadly" and been compared to a kaiju . It was ranked No. 2 on the list of the ten best high-level monsters in Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition For Dummies . Rob Bricken from io9 named the tarrasque as the 10th most memorable D&D monster. Screen Rant compiled

2898-454: A production budget of only $ 2000 to print a thousand copies, the result has been described as amateurish. Only $ 100 was budgeted for artwork, and TSR co-founder Gary Gygax pressed into service anyone who was willing to help, including local artist Cookie Corey; Greg Bell, a member of Jeff Perren 's gaming group; D&D co-creator Dave Arneson ; Gygax's wife's half-sister Keenan Powell; and fellow TSR co-founder Don Kaye . Each artist

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3036-633: 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

3174-452: A second edition for the game, which would also have been an update of the rules, incorporating the material from Unearthed Arcana , Oriental Adventures , and numerous new innovations from Dragon magazine in the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide and would have consolidated the Monster Manual , Monster Manual II and Fiend Folio into one volume. Initially, the 2nd edition

3312-529: A single proficiency bonus that increases as character level increases. Multiple defense values have been removed, returning to a single defense value of armor class and using more traditional saving throws. Saving throws are reworked to be situational checks based on the six core abilities instead of generic d20 rolls. Feats are now optional features that can be taken instead of ability score increases and are reworked to be occasional major upgrades instead of frequent minor upgrades. The "advantage/disadvantage" mechanic

3450-458: A situation that may be profitable or a potential for the advancement of their own schemes. The yugoloths are portrayed as manipulative, secretive, and mercenary by nature, often acting as soldiers for deities in their own private wars, or even at times aiding both sides of the Blood War. In 4th Edition, the yugoloths are considered to be demons, and their previously standard naming convention of "loth"

3588-432: A slightly modified version of the spell preparation system of previous editions. Healing Surges are replaced by Hit Dice, requiring a character to roll a hit die during a short rest instead of healing a flat rate of hit points. In September 2021, it was announced that a backward compatible "evolution" of 5th edition would be released in 2024 to mark the 50th anniversary of the game. In August 2022, Wizards announced that

3726-500: A smoldering cold war that was formerly an all-out war. The Blood War has been given various causes across different game books. Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss attributes it to an offshoot of the primordial battles between law and chaos, continued out of violent and sadistic stubbornness. Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells depicts Asmodeus as a formerly angelic being tasked with fighting an eternal war against

3864-427: A subtype of the wizard class, along with new classes specializing in the other schools of magic. Proficiencies are officially supported in the Player's Handbook and many supplements, rather than being an optional add-on. Psionics are no longer included in the Player's Handbook , though they later appeared in their own supplement. Sales of Second Edition's core books were somewhat weaker than First Edition. Combined,

4002-496: A variety of sources" such as Volo's Guide to Monsters (2016) and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018). Jackson Haime, for Screen Rant in 2020, compared the large number of rulebooks released for the 3rd/3.5 editions (12 different core rulebooks and over 50 supplements published in seven years) to the number for 5th edition and wrote, " Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition has been released for almost as long as 3 and 3.5 now, and only has 3 core rulebooks and 4 supplemental books in

4140-507: A very well received role-playing game setting during the 33 years of its existence. 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. Luis Javier Flores Arvizu named the continuous presence of supernatural beings as one of

4278-447: Is a thick, glossy caramel-colored shell or carapace. It has spikes coming from its chin, the sides of the mouth, the underside of its neck, the elbows of its front arms, and its shell. The creature also has two horns projecting forwards from the top of its head. The tarrasque's skin is very hard and thick, and provides excellent armor. It is immune or resistant to most offensive magic, and regenerates damage quickly. The second edition of

List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters - Misplaced Pages Continue

4416-551: Is described in 3.5 edition of the Monster Manual II and is the hybrid of a devil and an unsuspecting duergar . The fiendish creatures are simply fiendish versions of other species in Dungeons & Dragons. They typically look like fearsome travesties of beings from the Material Plane . Most fiendish species are divided into a number of variants, usually in a hierarchy of increasing power and cunning. The hecatoncheires in

4554-423: Is intended to be backward-compatible with D&D v. 3.5 while adjusting some rules balance, and has been nicknamed "v. 3.75" by some fans. Pathfinder has been one of the best-selling role playing games in the industry. A second edition, which moves away from the v. 3.5 mechanics, was published in 2019. 13th Age is a game designed by Jonathan Tweet , a lead designer of the 3rd Edition, and Rob Heinsoo ,

4692-489: Is modified in many ways. Demi-human races are given higher level maximums to increase their long-term playability, though they are still restricted in terms of character class flexibility. Character classes are organized into four groups: warrior (fighter, paladin, ranger), wizard (mage, specialist wizard), priest (cleric, druid), and rogue (thief, bard). Assassins and monks were removed from the game as character classes, "magic-users" are renamed "mages", illusionists are made into

4830-522: Is replaced by "demon" (Ex. the Mezzoloth is the 4e Mezzodemon). In fifth edition, yugoloths are listed as neutral evil fiends under their original names. The demodands are race of evil fiends that live on the plane of Carceri (Tarterus in 1st edition D&D ). Demodands were introduced in the 1st edition supplement Monster Manual II , renamed as gehreleths in the 2nd edition Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix , and reintroduced as demodands in

4968-595: Is some flexibility within these groupings. For example, many kinds of creatures can become undead or can be used to form magical constructs. The 3rd edition of the game also used a broader type named "outsiders", encompassing any creature from the Outer Planes or Inner Planes . The Monster Manual (1977) was the initial monster book for the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, published by TSR, Inc. in 1977. Gary Gygax wrote much of

5106-419: Is the tanar'ri ( / t ə ˈ n ɑːr i / ). "True" tanar'ri such as the balors (originally called Balrogs ) and the six-armed serpentine mariliths push other weaker tanar'ri around and organise them into makeshift armies for battle. Demon lords and demon princes such as Orcus , Demogorgon , Juiblex, Zuggtmoy, Graz'zt, and countless others are said to rule over the demons of their individual layers of

5244-488: Is very loosely based upon the French legend of the tarasque . It is very large, 50 feet (15 meters) tall and 70 feet (21 meters) long, and has a Tyrannosaurus rex –like form, although it is much more broad and muscular, with a differently shaped head, and with larger and more developed front arms. It has brown skin, with scabs and warts and bits of encrusted dung all over it which are grey in color. Protecting its back and tail

5382-470: The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game featured 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

5520-613: The Dungeon Master's Guide (1979). Major additions include classes from supplements like assassin , druid , monk , paladin , and thief, while bard , illusionist, and ranger , which had previously only appeared in magazine articles, were added to the core rulebooks. An alignment system with nine alignments is used, rather than the previous three-alignment system in the original D&D rules. Later supplements for AD&D include Deities & Demigods (1980), Fiend Folio (another book of monsters produced semi-autonomously in

5658-570: The Chainmail rules, and made it much easier for new, non-wargaming players to grasp the concepts of play. It also inadvertently aided the growth of competing game publishers, since just about anyone who grasped the concepts behind the game could write smoother and easier-to-use rules systems and sell them to the growing D&D fanbase ( Tunnels & Trolls being the first such). Supplements such as Greyhawk , Blackmoor , Eldritch Wizardry and Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes , published over

List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters - Misplaced Pages Continue

5796-512: The D&;D game for the first time. Although the Basic Set is not fully compatible with AD&D , as some rules were simplified to make the game easier for new players to learn, players were expected to continue play beyond third level by moving on to the AD&D version. Once AD&D had been released, the Basic Set saw a major revision in 1981 by Tom Moldvay . It was immediately followed by

5934-530: The Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual . This revision was intentionally a small one focusing on addressing common complaints about certain aspects of gameplay, hence the "half edition" version number. The basic rules are fundamentally the same, only differing in balancing. Many monsters and items are compatible (or even unchanged) between those editions. New spells are added, and numerous changes are made to existing spells, while some spells are removed from

6072-545: The Expansion Gift Set was released which includes reissued versions of Xanathar's Guide to Everything (2017) and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (2020), "the two most significant expansions for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition " along with a new sourcebook, Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse (2022). This sourcebook updates "over 250 monster stat blocks alongside 30 playable races pulled from

6210-618: The Feywild and are exiled to the Gray Wastes of Hades . Rakshasas are fiends (often tiger-headed) that may have originated on Acheron according to 3rd edition sources. In 5th edition they originated in the Nine Hells . In the 4th edition game, Slaadi are chaotic evil and originate out of the Elemental Chaos. This is markedly different from the portrayal of Slaadi in all prior editions of

6348-501: The Lower Planes . All fiends are extraplanar outsiders . Fiends have been considered among "D&D's most classic monsters". Demons are a chaotic evil race native to the Abyss ; they are rapacious, cruel and arbitrary. They are also portrayed as more widespread than other races of fiends, as the Abyss and its population are both theoretically infinite in size. The dominant race of demons

6486-1127: 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   1560766174 The Forgotten Realms City of Splendors boxed set included unnumbered 5-hole punched loose-leaf pages of creature descriptions in Monstrous Compendium format. ISBN   1-56076-868-1 The Forgotten Realms campaign expansion Powers & Pantheons by Eric L. Boyd contained next to

6624-640: The One D&;D branding. Revised editions of the Player's Handbook , Monster Manual , and Dungeon Master's Guide are scheduled to have a staggered release between September 2024 and February 2025. Jody Macgregor of PC Gamer reported that "the Revised Player's Handbook will have 48 subclasses, with four for each of the 12 classes" and that each subclass and character background will receive an illustration. In an August 2023 interview with ComicBook.com , lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford "pushed back on

6762-635: The Open Game License . This document was later revised and rereleased as System Reference Document 5.1 (SRD 5.1) in May 2016; in January 2023, SRD 5.1 was released under an irrevocable Creative Commons license ( CC-BY-4.0 ). The edition returns to having only three core rule books, with the Player's Handbook containing most major races and classes. Since 2014, there have been over twenty 5th edition Dungeon & Dragons books published including new rulebooks, campaign guides and adventure modules . In January 2022,

6900-425: The Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide sold over 400,000 copies in the first year of release, a solid hit, but their lifetime sales were not close to matching the huge success of First Edition. The reasons why are contested. Michael Witwer, a biographer of Gary Gygax, cited the lack of involvement of Gygax and the changes that attempted to avoid controversy. Ben Riggs writes that TSR insiders worried that

7038-535: 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. Luis Javier Flores Arvizu named the continuous presence of supernatural beings as one of the factors that made Ravenloft

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7176-559: The nymph and succubus , were seen by Philip J. Clements as an instance of the sexist tropes the game draws on which presented female sexuality as inherently dangerous. Many kinds of monsters can be classified into typologies based on their common characteristics, and various books and game guides have been produced focusing on specific kinds of monsters. Such groupings include humanoids , monstrosities, dragons, giants , undead , aberrations, fiends, celestials, fey , elementals , constructs , oozes and plants ; and beasts. There

7314-422: 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. This appendix to the Monstrous Compendium series was designed for use with

7452-452: The 3rd edition sourcebook Fiend Folio . In 1st edition D&D , the three types of demodands from weakest to strongest were tarry, slime, and shaggy. In 2nd and 3rd editions, the three types are farastu, kelubar, and shator. The hordlings are fiends that form the hordes of the Gray Waste of Hades . They first appeared in the 1st edition supplement Monster Manual II . Hordlings wander

7590-451: The Abyss, as much as the chaotic demons can be ruled over. The devils , of which the ruling type are called baatezu ( / b eɪ ˈ ɑː t ɛ z uː / ), are lawful evil natives of the Nine Hells of Baator ; they are said to subjugate the weak and rule tyrannically over their domains. Pit fiends are the most powerful baatezu, though even the strongest pit fiends are surpassed by the Lords of

7728-514: The Blood War], you'll be more inclined to treat them as unique creatures, with their own goals and motivations." The tarrasque is a gigantic lizard-like creature which exists only to eat, kill, and destroy, "the most dreaded monster native to the Prime Material plane ". The tarrasque was introduced in 1983 in the Monster Manual II , in the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons . It

7866-418: The Coast has been trying to avoid at all costs" an edition war by attempting to maintain the game as 5th Edition with marketing that focuses on how the changes will be a backwards compatible update and not a new edition of Dungeons & Dragons . Codega commented that there's still the question on if "this is a new edition or it is errata. The books say it's the former; the digital tools [on D&D Beyond] say

8004-468: The Coast president Cynthia Williams announced "that One D&D 's playtest had seen more sign-ups since it launched on August 18 than D&D 5E's playtest saw during its entire two-year pre-release phase ahead of the game's release in 2014". During the April 2023 D&D Creator Summit, the lead rules designer clarified that " One D&D is not supposed to be a new edition or a new 'half edition' similar to

8142-490: The D&;D multiverse". Black Gate reviewer Andrew Zimmerman Jones described it as the "eternal" conflict "for who gets claim on being more evil" and praised the Blood War as a background for adventures putting the player characters between the fronts. The inclusion of demons and devils proved controversial among critics of Dungeons & Dragons . TSR eliminated most references to occult symbols, demons, and devils from

8280-532: The Forgotten Kingdoms contain rules for creating characters, as well as new builds for each class described in the books. Other Essentials releases include a Dungeon Master's Kit and Monster Vault , each also containing accessories. Shannon Appelcline, author of Designers & Dragons , highlighted that the Essentials line was "primarily the brain child of Mike Mearls ". Appelcline wrote, "though

8418-575: The Galchutt, who did not appear until later on in Chaositech . Cook originally planned on perhaps renaming them so their name was not quite so similar to kytons, or chain devils, as well as other episodes of Cook's Ptolus campaign to see how they were originally used. Night hags are fiends from the Gray Wastes of Hades that traffic in the souls of mortals in 3rd edition sources. In 5th edition they come from

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8556-587: The Gray Waste preying upon everything they come across, even other hordlings. Hordlings vary greatly in appearance. It is said that hordlings evolved from larvae whose hatred was so unique, their souls became individual. The hordlings can be summoned using an artifact known as the Bringer of Doom , which was created around the time of the Invoked Devastation of Greyhawk . Hordlings are the most common inhabitants of

8694-532: The Gray Waste. They also occasionally roam the other Lower Planes as well. The kythons (not to be confused with kytons, which are chain devils Baatezu ) are distinct from the other fiends in that they did not originate on any of the lower planes. When a group of fiends (the Galchutt, from Monte Cook's Chaositech and Ptolus ) were trapped on the Material Plane , they tried creating more of their own kind through magical means. The results were eyeless reptilian creatures with insectoid traits and neutral evil traits. As

8832-453: The Nine , or Archdevils, whose ranks include Baalzebul , Mephistopheles , and Asmodeus . Unlike the demons, the devils are described as arranged in a strict hierarchy. Like the demons, the devils are scheming backstabbers; while a demon only keeps its words when it is convenient for it, a devil keeps its word all too well—they are said to be used to exploiting repressive bureaucratic machinations to

8970-520: The UK - 1981), Monster Manual II (1983), Oriental Adventures , Unearthed Arcana (1985), which mostly compiles material previously published in Dragon magazine, and others. While AD&D was still in the works, TSR was approached by an outside writer and D&D enthusiast, John Eric Holmes , who offered to re-edit and rewrite the original rules into an introductory version of D&D . Although TSR

9108-440: The aim of the designers was to "simplify and declutter the whole system" – " D&D 3e and 3.5e bear the influence of Eurogame -style elegant design: that the terminology and choices in the game should be immediately intelligible to all who might play it. Players understanding the game itself got more agency over their PCs' fate". The d20 System uses a more unified mechanic than earlier editions, resolving nearly all actions with

9246-406: The barrier of entry into the game. Essentials uses the D&D 4th edition rule set and provides simple player character options intended for first-time players. Many of the new player character options emulate features from previous editions, such as schools of magic for the wizard class, to appeal to older players who had not adopted the 4th edition rules. "The goal of Essentials was to provide

9384-430: The basis of a broader role-playing system designed around 20-sided dice, called the d20 System . Monte Cook , Jonathan Tweet , and Skip Williams all contributed to the 3rd edition Player's Handbook , Dungeon Master's Guide , and Monster Manual , and then each designer wrote one of the books based on those contributions. In a retrospective on the legacy of Dungeons & Dragons , academic Evan Torner commented that

9522-524: The battlefield. This meant a standardization of various components of character building. [...] Fourth edition improved D&D as a tactical combat game by providing PCs clear options in every fight, and a range of options beyond standard sword swinging for" multiple combat rounds. However, Torner viewed the edition as unsuccessful "despite its emphasis on game balance". This product line debuted in September 2010 and consists of ten products intended to lower

9660-515: 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 collected and updated monsters published in a variety of sources. Creatures listed under the heading of earlier publications are not repeated here. This section lists fictional creatures for AD&D 2nd Edition from various sources not explicitly dedicated to presenting monsters. Primarily, these are

9798-468: The core rulebooks for 2nd Edition with new covers, art, and page layouts. These releases were followed shortly by a series of volumes labelled Player's Option , allowing for alternate rules systems and character options, as well as a Dungeon Master Option for high-level campaigns. They consist of: Some of the optional rules include the introduction of a point-based system to allow players to pick and choose parts of classes to make their own class, and

9936-439: The core rules. Mechanically, 4th edition saw a major overhaul of the game's systems. Changes in spells and other per-encounter resourcing, giving all classes a similar number of at-will, per-encounter and per-day powers . Powers have a wide range of effects including inflicting status effects, creating zones, and forced movement, making combat very tactical for all classes but essentially requiring use of miniatures, reinforced by

10074-477: The core system most of the optional movement and combat system of the 2nd edition Players Option: Combat and Tactics book. Third edition combat allows for a grid system, encouraging highly tactical gameplay and facilitating the use of miniatures. 3rd edition removes previous editions' restrictions on class and race combinations that were intended to track the preferences of the race, and on the level advancement of non-human characters. New character options include

10212-410: The culture it was taken from. Nicholas Montegriffo from The Gamer called them "worthy foes for epic heroes" and found the down-scaling of offensively usable arms sad. The Blood War concept was introduced as part of the new background for the outer planes in 1991's Monstrous Compendium Volume Outer Planes Appendix . The conflict is depicted as a bitter war of annihilation between the baatezu race and

10350-412: The deadliest monsters of D&D by several reviewers. Marley King from Screen Rant recommended the hecatoncheires for Dungeons Masters to pit against high-level parties as a monster that is not "too cliché". He commented that - aside from the monster's many attacks, and high perception - it was given "incredible martial prowess" in the game, hearkening back to the importance of skill in battle in

10488-409: The demons. When he and his followers take on demonic traits to better combat their foes, these angels, now deemed devils, are either exiled to or granted (depending on perspective) their own plane, where they fight the Blood War without disturbing the primordial lords of order. This is depicted as possibly being self-serving historical revisionism. The Guide to Hell instead portrays the Blood War as

10626-612: The description of many deities also new creatures. ISBN   0-7869-0657-X 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

10764-491: The eco-system. While later editions gave the various creatures all the attributes which player characters had, 2nd edition only listed intelligence as a characteristic important for creating challenging encounters in the game. The 2nd edition also used a unique format in the form of Monstrous Compendiums of loose sheets that could be collected in a folder, and allowed the combination of monster books together with individual monster pages from boxed sets. This "unruly" format

10902-404: The factors that made Ravenloft a very well received role-playing game setting during the 33 years of its existence. The Mystara campaign setting began as the "Known World" in the D&D Basic and Expert rules, and as a result many of the entries below originated in the D&D Basic, Expert, Companion or Masters rulebooks, and the modules associated with them. Luis Javier Flores Arvizu named

11040-483: The financial investment in v3.5 and the relatively brief period of time that it had been in publication. Although many players chose to continue playing older editions, or other games such as Pathfinder by Paizo Publishing (itself based on D&D v3.5 via the Open Game License), the initial print run of the 4th edition sold out during preorders, and Wizards of the Coast announced a second print run prior to

11178-467: The first four were included in Player's Handbook 2 , while the monk class appears in Player's Handbook 3 . The system of prestige classes is replaced by a system in which characters at 11th level choose a "paragon path", a specialty based on their class, which defines some of their new powers through 20th level; at level 21, an "epic destiny" is chosen in a similar manner. Core rules extend to level 30 rather than level 20, bringing "epic level" play back into

11316-412: The first goal with the release of D&D 4e had been to draw in established players, Wizards now wanted to bring in new players as well. [...] Essentials was more than just a chance to approach a new audience. It was also a revamp of the 4e game. Mearls was insistent that Essentials would not be a new edition, and so should remain entirely compatible with 4e to date. However, 4e had been heavily errataed in

11454-554: The fullest and thus always know all ways around the letter of a contract to begin with. The tanar'ri and the baatezu hold an eternal enmity for one another and wage the Blood War against one another. The yugoloths (called daemons in 1st edition D&D ) are neutral evil natives of the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna and the Gray Wastes of Hades ; they are neutral to the affairs of the other fiendish races, interfering only when they see

11592-541: The game included rules for extracting treasure from the creature's carcass. In the Spelljammer series, the accessory Practical Planetology suggests the tarrasques originate from the planet Falx. Several hundred tarrasques live there, where they feed upon the native Imbul, a lizard-like creature. In the 4th edition of the game, the tarrasque is listed as an "abomination" and classed as a "Gargantuan elemental magical beast"—a living engine of death and destruction created by

11730-445: The game interesting and forces players to think about employing diverse strategies. The monsters of Dungeons & Dragons have received criticism from multiple sources . In addition to other game elements, the presence of magical or demonic monsters has provoked moral panics among religious conservatives. The game's emphasis on slaying monsters has also elicited negative commentary. As monsters have traditionally been defined by

11868-532: The game is based on the creature with the same name from Greek mythology . Like their counterparts, D&D's hecatoncheires were presented as giants with one-hundred arms and fifty heads in early editions. They also had the ability to throw a whole "barrage of boulders" at their enemies. In later editions their description was changed to "abominations that are formed from the fusion of one-hundred beings." In another version they were reduced in power, appearing as "a mere four-armed giant". They were considered among

12006-537: The game". On August 15, 2007, Wizards of the Coast announced the development of D&D 4th edition. In December 2007, the book Wizards Presents: Races and Classes , the first preview of 4th Edition, was released. This was followed by a second book in January 2008 named Wizards Presents: Worlds and Monsters . The Player's Handbook , Monster Manual , and Dungeon Master's Guide were released in June 2008. Slashdot reported anger from some players and retailers due to

12144-401: The game's '3.5 edition'. Instead, One D&D are revisions to the existing 5th Edition rules while keeping the bulks of those rules intact". Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com , wrote that the "backwards compatible" ruleset will include updated core rulebooks with "guidance on how rules from previous books line up with the new rules" and that older adventure modules will be compatible with

12282-450: The game's official release. Unlike previous editions with just three core rulebooks, 4th edition core rules include multiple volumes of the Player's Handbook , Dungeon Master's Guide , and Monster Manual that were released yearly, with each new book becoming a part of the core. In the first Player's Handbook , the warlock and warlord are included, while the barbarian, bard, druid, sorcerer and monk are not present. Of those classes,

12420-420: The game, a revised introductory boxed set, named The New Easy-to-Master Dungeons & Dragons Game (and nicknamed "the black box") was released at the same time. A final repackaging of the introductory set, titled The Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game was released in 1994. By the end of 1995, TSR ended its support for the line. In 1987, a small team of designers at TSR led by David "Zeb" Cook began work on

12558-869: The game, when they were chaotic neutral natives of Limbo and thus not fiends. The cambions (whose name comes from a different kind of mythological, demonic creature) are simply half-fiends; hybrids of fiends and non-fiendish creatures, often humans or other humanoids. Cambions are typically created through fiends raping mortals or seducing them after shape-shifting , although some of the most depraved beings actually participate willingly. Those cambions that actually survive birth typically look like grotesque, hellish variants of their mortal progenitors, having wings, claws, fangs and often many other features that reveal their fiendish origins. Cambions are usually outcast, being feared and hated in mortal societies for their fiendish origins and being derided by pure-blooded fiends for their impure heritage. A variant of cambion called durzagon

12696-456: The game. In addition, the rules presume ownership of Outdoor Survival , a board game by then-unaffiliated company Avalon Hill for outdoor exploration and adventure. D&D was a radically new gaming concept at the time, and it was difficult for players without prior tabletop wargaming experience to grasp the vague rules. The release of the Greyhawk supplement removed the game's dependency on

12834-681: The humorously numbered HackMaster 4th edition from 2001 until they lost their license. The game was well received and won the Origins Award for Game of the Year 2001 . A new edition of HackMaster was released in 2011 that no longer uses AD&D mechanics as Kenzer & Company's license expired. The publication of the System Reference Document (SRD) for 3rd edition under the Open Game License (OGL) allowed other companies to use

12972-460: The idea that the 2024 Rules Revisions were just glorified errata , because of the amount of new content that will be appearing in the 2024 rules revisions". Crawford stated that, "I think what people are going to experience when they get the new Core Rulebooks...it's definitely the game we've all been playing, but enhancements everywhere". In August 2024, Lin Codega of Rascal explained that "Wizards of

13110-460: The kythons matured, they took on varied forms. None of them were loyal to the fiends that created them. Because kythons originated on the Material Plane instead of the Abyss (or another lower plane), they are also called earth-bound demons. Kythons are only interested in eating and breeding. They have spread rapidly across the Material Plane . The current hierarchy of kythons, from the weakest to

13248-433: The latter" and opined "that even if the 2024 updates are minor, they are still updates. [...] Either they functionally matter (which would support the production and need for a new edition) or they functionally don’t (which means that there is no need for them to change at all)". Kenzer & Company received permission from Wizards of the Coast to produce a parody version of 1st and 2nd edition AD&D . They published

13386-481: The length of most monster descriptions, and featuring illustrations for most of the monsters. The book contains a treasure chart and an index of major listings. The Fiend Folio: Tome of Creatures Malevolent and Benign was the second monster book for the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, published in 1981. The Fiend Folio consisted mostly of monsters submitted to White Dwarf ' s "Fiend Factory" column. The monsters in this book are presented in

13524-463: The loose leaf formatting was abandoned and the Compendium as a core book was replaced by single-volume hardcover Monstrous Manual in 1993, collecting popular monsters from the Compendium . The edition also greatly increases the power of dragons, in order to counter the impression of relative weakness of the game's titular monster. Numerous mechanical changes were made to the game. The combat system

13662-512: The moral ambiguity of the 1st edition AD&D , the TSR staff eliminated character classes and races like the assassin and the half-orc, and stressed heroic roleplaying and player teamwork. The target age of the game was also lowered, with most 2nd edition products being aimed primarily at teenagers. The game was again published as three core rulebooks which incorporated the expansions and revisions which had been published in various supplements over

13800-482: The most current edition of the game. However, many D&D fans continue to play older versions of the game and some third-party companies continue to publish materials compatible with these older editions. After the original edition of D&D was introduced in 1974, the game was split into two branches in 1977: the rules-light system of Dungeons & Dragons and the more complex, rules-heavy system of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ( AD&D ). The standard game

13938-462: The new sorcerer class, the thief is renamed rogue (a term that 2nd edition uses to classify both the thief and bard classes), and the prestige classes are introduced, which characters can only enter at higher character levels and if they meet certain character-design prerequisites or fulfill certain in-game goals. Later products include additional and supplementary rules subsystems such as "epic-level" options for characters above 20th level, as well as

14076-403: The new edition debuted at the 2012 Dungeons & Dragons Experience event to about 500 fans. Public playtesting began on May 24, 2012, with the final playtest packet released on September 20, 2013. The 5th edition's Basic Rules , a free PDF containing complete rules for play and a subset of the player and DM content from the core rulebooks, was released on July 3, 2014. The Starter Set

14214-442: The next phase of major changes for Dungeons & Dragons would occur under the One D&D initiative which included a public playtest of the next version of Dungeons & Dragons . The first public playtest was released on D&D Beyond on August 18, 2022. Samantha Nelson, for Polygon , commented that public playtest material should not be "considered final". In October 2022, Dicebreaker reported that Wizards of

14352-398: The next two years, greatly expanded the rules, character classes, monsters and spells. For example, the original Greyhawk supplement introduced the thief class, and weapon damage varying by weapon (as opposed to character class). In addition, many additions and options were published in the magazines The Strategic Review and its successor, The Dragon . An updated version of D&D

14490-519: The number of " experience points " they award when killed, the game has been said to promote a "sociopathic" violence where the dungeon master "merely referees one imagined slaughter after another." Nicholas J. Mizer, in contrast, suggested that experience through combat was an in-game variation on Thorstein Veblen 's theory that application of the "predatory spirit" of humans to warfare could lead to high standing in society. Some female monsters, such as

14628-456: The other hand, the introduction of 4E caused a major schism in the D&D player base and publishing world alike, one that ultimately lead to the rise of the Pathfinder RPG and a fragmentation of D&D's player base". In 2024, Torner highlighted that this edition focused on mechanical balance and "was a purely combat-based miniatures game that afforded each character comparable advantages on

14766-658: The previous decade. However, the Monster Manual was replaced by the Monstrous Compendium , a loose-leaf binder in which every monster is given a full page of information. It was the intention that packs of new monsters (often setting-specific) could be purchased and added to the binder without the expense or inconvenience of a separate book, allowing the book to be updated and customized as needed. This format proved highly susceptible to wear and tear, however, and presented difficulties in keeping alphabetic order when pages had been printed with monsters on each side. Subsequently,

14904-541: The productions of contemporary cultural industries [...]. These transformations may be the result of translations or adaptations. This process of continuous evolution which involves both permanence and change is called "work on myth [Arbeit am Mythos]" by the German philosopher Hans Blumenberg ." Because of their broad, inclusive background, D&D monsters have been called a pastiche of sources. In some cases, this has resulted in legal battles, such as when names taken from

15042-497: The release of an Expert Set written by David Cook , to accompany the Basic Set , extending it to levels 4 through 14, for players who preferred the simplified introductory ruleset. With this revision, the Basic rules became their own game, distinct both from original D&D and AD&D . The revised Basic booklet features new artwork with a red cover, and the Expert booklet has a blue cover. Between 1983 and 1985 this system

15180-436: The revised character creation rules. A compiled sourcebook pulling together rules and other information from Xanathar's Guide to Everything and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is also in development; this sourcebook will be in a similar style to Monsters of the Multiverse . In May 2023, Wizards stated that One D&D was not the name used by the design team for the 2024 revision of 5th Edition, and began to move away from

15318-417: The rules to create their own variants of Dungeons & Dragons , providing that they did not use anything Wizards of the Coast considered trade dress or signature content, known as "product identity" under the terms of the OGL. In January 2016, Wizards of the Coast published an updated SRD for 5th edition D&D. " Retro-clones " are variants created to even more closely simulate previous editions, part of

15456-469: The same format as those in the previous Monster Manual work, and most featured illustrations of the monsters Monster Manual II was the third and final monster book for the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons , published in 1983, and has the largest page count of the three. As with the Monster Manual , this book was written primarily by Gary Gygax . This book contains a number of monsters that previously appeared in limited circulation and

15594-494: The second edition of the AD&D game, which would be completed almost two years later. In 1989, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition was published, featuring new rules and character classes. By the end of its first decade, AD&D had expanded to several rulebooks, including three collections of monsters ( Monster Manual , Monster Manual II , Fiend Folio ), and two books governing character skills in wilderness and underground settings. Gygax had already planned

15732-402: The second edition of the game. When the creatures were reintroduced after a few year in the Monstrous Compendium supplement MC8: The Outer Planes , the terms "baatezu", "tanar'ri", "yugoloth", and "gehreleth" were introduced and were used exclusively in place of the terms "devil", "demon", "daemon", and "demodand", respectively, but without changing the creatures fundamentally. Following

15870-1282: The separate sourcebooks and expansions for the Forgotten Realms, Al-Qadim and other campaign settings produced by TSR. 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 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

16008-484: 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

16146-445: The strongest is: broodlings, juveniles, adults, impalers, slaymasters, and slaughterkings. Eventually, with more time, kythons will grow into newer and more powerful forms. Kythons closely resemble xenomorphs . They were originally created for Monte Cook 's Ptolus campaign, based on some gaming miniatures he had bought, and were added by him to the Book of Vile Darkness absent the context of

16284-439: The style of 3.5". This edition also has "setting guides that add some setting-specific rules as opposed to complete supplements that are intended for inclusion with any Dungeons and Dragons game". Mechanically, 5th edition draws heavily on prior editions, while introducing some new mechanics intended to simplify and streamline play. Skills, weapons, items, saving throws, and other things that characters are trained in now all use

16422-510: The tanar'ri; an absolute, all encompassing, and virtually eternal struggle. Trenton Webb of Arcane magazine wrote, "the fate of all the planes hangs on its outcome". The Blood War was thoroughly detailed in various books throughout the Planescape setting, particularly the 1996 boxed set Hellbound: The Blood War . The 4th edition of D&D's Manual of the Planes updated the Blood War into

16560-403: The tarrasque among the monsters rated upwards from 2nd to 3rd edition, and wishes good luck to the adventurers having the temerity to attack it. AD%26D 2nd Edition Several different editions of the Dungeons & Dragons ( D&D ) fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of D&D , Wizards of the Coast , produces new materials only for

16698-494: The term "yugoloth" for the same creatures. Fiends were considered among the "standard repertoire of 'Monsters'" in the game by Fabian Perlini-Pfister. Black Gate reviewer Andrew Zimmerman Jones positively contrasted the extended description provided in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018) as compared to earlier material: "It's easy to treat demons and devils as villains just there to be killed, but after reading this chapter [on

16836-439: The two years since its release [...]. Essentials provided an opportunity to incorporate those changes and errata back into a set of core rulebooks". In January 2012, Wizards of the Coast announced that a new edition of the game, at the time referred to as D&D Next , was under development. In direct contrast to the previous editions of the game, D&D Next was developed partly via a public open playtest. An early build of

16974-428: The updated Player's Handbook . New feats are added and numerous changes are made to existing feats, while several skills are renamed or merged with other skills. Jackson Haime, for Screen Rant , highlighted that "Wizards of the Coast printed 12 different core D&D rulebooks between 2000 and 2007. At the same time, they published over 50 supplements that added additional rules, features, races, and magic items to

17112-417: The use of squares to express distances. Attack rolls, skill checks and defense values all get a bonus equal to one-half level, rounded down, rather than increasing at different rates depending on class or skill point investment. Each skill is either trained (providing a fixed bonus on skill checks, and sometimes allowing more exotic uses for the skills) or untrained, but in either case all characters also receive

17250-451: The word "Advanced" in the title was scaring off interested newcomers into thinking the product was not for them, and more generally that players of First Edition could simply continue using their old books. Both Witwer and Riggs cite increasing competition from other role-playing games; First Edition was a trailblazer that had carved out an entirely new space, but many more tabletop role-playing games existed by 1989. In 1995, TSR re-released

17388-505: The work himself, having included and expanded most of the monsters from the previous D&D supplements. Also included are monsters originally printed in The Strategic Review , as well as some originally found in early issues of The Dragon and other early game materials. This book expanded on the original monster format by including the stat lines on the same page as the monsters' descriptions and introducing more stats, expanding

17526-431: The works of J. R. R. Tolkien had to be changed due to copyright disputes. In game books, monsters are typically presented with illustrations, game statistics , and a detailed description. Monsters may be adapted to fit the needs of the game's writers and publishers, such as by describing combat abilities that may have been absent or only implied by an original source. Artistic renderings of various creatures have been

17664-407: 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

17802-424: Was eventually expanded into a series of five box sets by the mid-1980s before being compiled and slightly revised in 1991 as the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia . Meanwhile, the 2nd edition of AD&D was published in 1989. In 2000 the two-branch split was ended when a new version was designated the 3rd edition, but dropped the "Advanced" prefix to be called simply Dungeons & Dragons . The 4th edition

17940-558: Was focused on AD&D at the time, the project was seen as a profitable enterprise and a way to direct new players to anticipate the release of the AD&D game. It was published in July 1977 as the Basic Set , which included a single booklet covering character levels 1 through 3, and also includes dice and a beginner's module. The booklet collects and organizes the rules from the original D&D boxed set and Greyhawk supplement and features

18078-456: Was introduced, streamlining conditional and situational modifiers to a simpler mechanic: rolling two d20s for a situation and taking the higher of the two for "advantage" and the lower of the two for "disadvantage" and canceling each other out when more than one apply. The power system of 4th edition was replaced with more traditional class features that are gained as characters level. Clerics, druids, paladins, and wizards prepare known spells using

18216-478: Was modified. The minimum number required to hit a target uses a mathematical formula in which the defender's armor class (AC) is subtracted from the attacker's THAC0 ("To Hit Armor Class '0 ' ") number, a simplification of 1st edition's attack matrix tables that had appeared as an optional rule in the 1st edition DMG . Distances are based on in-game units (feet) rather than miniatures-board ones (inches). Critical hits are offered as optional rules. Character creation

18354-402: Was paid $ 2 for a small piece or $ 3 for a larger piece, with an identical amount paid as a royalty every time another thousand copies were printed. The rules assume that players own and play the miniatures wargame Chainmail and use its measurement and combat systems. An optional combat system is included within the rules that later developed into the sole combat system of later versions of

18492-492: Was planned to consolidate the game, but more changes were made during development, while still aiming at backwards compatibility with 1st edition. The release of AD&D 2nd Edition corresponded with important policy changes at TSR. An effort was made to remove aspects of the game which had attracted negative publicity, most notably the removal of all mention of demons and devils , although these fiendish monsters were renamed tanar'ri and baatezu, respectively. Moving away from

18630-417: Was published in 2008. The 5th edition was released in 2014. The original D&D was published as a box set in 1974 and features only a handful of the elements for which the game is known today: just three character classes ( fighting-man , magic-user , and cleric ); four races ( human , dwarf , elf , and hobbit ); only a few monsters; only three alignments (lawful, neutral, and chaotic). With

18768-509: Was released between 1977 and 1979 as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ( AD&D ). The game rules were reorganized and re-codified across three hardcover rulebooks, compiled by Gary Gygax , incorporating the original D&D rules and many additions and revisions from supplements and magazine articles. The three core rulebooks are the Monster Manual (1977), the Player's Handbook (1978), and

18906-440: Was released on July 15, featuring a set of pre-generated characters, a set of instructions for basic play, and the adventure module Lost Mine of Phandelver . The Player's Handbook was released on August 19, 2014. The fifth edition Monster Manual was released on September 30, 2014. The Dungeon Master's Guide was released on December 9, 2014. In January 2016, Wizards released a system reference document for 5th Edition under

19044-668: Was revised and expanded by Frank Mentzer as a series of five boxed sets (nicknamed the BECMI system, after the first letters of the five sets). This included the Basic Rules (red cover, supporting levels 1 through 3), Expert Rules (blue cover, supporting levels 4 through 14), Companion Rules (green cover, supporting levels 15 through 25), and Master Rules (black cover, supporting levels 26 through 36). The Immortals Rules (gold cover) supported characters who had transcended to becoming Immortals. The player's characters would be converted to

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