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75-461: The adventure concerns the lich Vecna and his disembodied hand and eye —both powerful magical artifacts. The arch-lich Vecna and his cult are plotting to change Oerth forever. The adventure starts with a scene in which the players play the City of Greyhawk 's great Circle of Eight wizards. Vecna has ascended to demigod status, and serves as the ultimate foe for the adventurers in the module. Assuming

150-559: A "jar", although the word phylactery was not used. Another form of lich, the demilich , was introduced in Tomb of Horrors (1978) and later appeared in The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (1982) and then Monster Manual II (1983). Endless Quest gamebook Lair of the Lich (1985) combines this phylactery and soul jar concept. Detailed description of a Potion of Lichdom used to create liches

225-498: A clarity which is unfortunately all too rare in other sources." Turnbull noted some minor printing errors and felt that some of the drawings were not as good as others, but felt that the book's quality "is as high as one can reasonably expect in such a complex matter". Turnbull concluded by saying "I can do no more than heap high praise on the Monster Manual . If every DM and every player didn't buy it, I would be very surprised. It

300-632: A demilich, but remains in its form for eternity. The fourth edition book Arcane Power includes the epic destiny archlich, which is intended for good, lawful good, or unaligned heroes. In the Forgotten Realms , arch-liches are liches from mortals who were divine casters of good alignment. Baelnorns are ancient elven liches who head noble families and aid communities through sage advice. While there are some records of these, they are extremely rare, and evil liches are far more prevalent. The abilities of good liches are somewhat diminished as well. A demilich

375-519: A dracolich. Dracoliches are greatly feared, for they are far more powerful than ordinary liches. A dracolich that became a demilich would be an extremely powerful monster, even by dragon standards. Lichfiends are evil outsiders that achieve lichdom. Other variant liches exist. Baneliches, extremely powerful priests of the Forgotten Realms deity Bane , grow in power every 100 years of their continued existence. Dry liches are desert-dwelling liches,

450-574: A few new monsters as well as several related to the setting of Nentir Vale . All volumes of the Monster Vault are parts of the Dungeons & Dragons Essentials line of 4th edition D&D products. On September 30, 2014, the D&;D 5th edition Monster Manual was the second core book released for the new edition. On the staggered release schedule, Jeremy Crawford wrote "our small team couldn’t finish

525-516: A floating skull would be easy to smash to pieces, but you would be wrong, as demiliches are some of the most resilient creatures in the game." Other races also have their own special versions of the lich, which are not necessarily evil; for example, an Elf from the Forgotten Realms setting can become a baelnorn (often elves who take upon themselves the duty of overseeing and/or protecting their house), or an Illithid can become an illithilich , also known as an alhoon . A dragon can also become

600-597: A frequently used game aid this was a serious concern. Second, TSR routinely printed different monsters on each side of a sheet, making it impossible to keep monsters in strict alphabetical order. In 1993, the Monstrous Manual was released, compiling all monsters from the first two volumes of the Monstrous Compendium plus many monsters from other sources into a 384-page hardcover book edited by Doug Stewart . More Monstrous Compendium appendices were released as

675-529: A game supplement but by elevating the D&;D rule book to fetish object. [...] The book became a beloved companion to a generation of gamers, something they came back to again and again." Scott Taylor of Black Gate listed the Monster Manual as #8 on the list of "Top 10 'Orange Spine' AD&D Hardcovers By Jeff Easley, saying "Classic! Red Dragon fighting Pegasi in an air duel? What isn't to love about this one?" In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in

750-399: A lich's most valuable resources are its vast intellect, its supreme mastery of sorcery and limitless time to research, plot and scheme. Since a lich's soul is mystically tied to its phylactery , destroying its body will not kill it. Rather, its soul will return to the phylactery, and its body will be recreated by the power keeping it immortal. Thus the only way to permanently destroy a lich

825-509: A magical receptacle called a phylactery to store the lich's soul. A lich is emaciated in appearance. In some sources the method of becoming a lich is referred to as the Ritual of Becoming or Ceremony of Endless Night. The process is often described as requiring the creation and consumption of a deadly potion, the Elixir of Defilation, which is to be drunk on a full moon; although the exact details of

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900-403: A paralyzed state of hibernation with their minds, making them seem dead to others, and can, through its typically powerful magical spells, summon other lesser undead to protect it. A Lich's bones do not decay. The Lich is capable of sustaining tremendous physical damage, and is immune to disease, poison, fatigue and other effects that affect only the living. However, despite all its undead "gifts",

975-468: A phylactery." The nature and function of this phylactery was not explained, though the word exists in the real world, where phylactery has several meanings, including a box of Jewish prayer verses or Christian relics. Len Lakofka 's article "Blueprint for a Lich," in Dragon #26 (1979), describes a formula for transforming a spellcaster into a lich. This introduced the idea that the Lich stored its soul in

1050-462: A player to opt to become an arch-lich via an epic destiny found in Arcane Power . In D&D 5th edition , the lich appears in the Monster Manual (2014). This version of the lich is said to store its soul in a phylactery (every one of which is unique) which it feeds captured souls to sustain itself. The demilich and dracolich also appear. A mage becomes a lich by means of necromancy , using

1125-415: A result of life-prolonging magic. Unlike most other forms of undead creatures, the Lich retains all of the memories, personality, and abilities that it possessed in life — but it has a virtual eternity to hone its skills and inevitably becomes very powerful. Like other powerful forms of undead (such as a vampire or mummy ), a Lich has unnatural powers owing to its state. For example, it can put mortals in

1200-508: A supplementary rule book for the D&D 3rd edition rules. Good liches differ in that they have sought undeath for a noble cause, to protect a place, a loved one, or to pursue an important quest. In a typical D&D campaign, liches are evil, power-hungry spell casters who have cheated death. The AD&D Spelljammer accessory Lost Ships also introduced the good archlich, who are able to memorize spells through intuitive nature and do not need spellbooks. The archlich also does not become

1275-424: A supplements to the Monstrous Manual in the form of paperback books. They included updated reprints of loose leaf Monstrous Compendium Appendices and new volumes. The Monster Manual for the third edition of D&D was released on October 1, 2000 as the third of three core books of the system. Monte Cook , Jonathan Tweet , and Skip Williams all contributed to the third edition Monster Manual . Williams

1350-849: A version of the lich created by the god Bane in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, first appear in the Ruins of Zhentil Keep boxed set (in the Monstrous Compendium booklet) in 1995, and then appears in the Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three (1996). The Suel lich for the Greyhawk campaign setting was introduced in Polyhedron #101 (November 1994), and then appeared in Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Two (1995). A description of Potion of

1425-508: Is "yet another way to scare players". He felt that after the first scene, the rest of the adventure is "more routine", but advised that the heroes "have many chances to mess this one up big-time, and that will transform your campaign in ways you may not want. For fans of high-level AD&D adventures, though, this is definitely worth a look." DieHard GameFan said that " Vecna Lives! is one of my favorite adventures from Second Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons [...] Even if you never play

1500-545: Is an undead creature found in the Dungeons & Dragons ( D&D ) fantasy role-playing game . Liches are spellcasters who seek to defy death by magical means. The term derives from lich , an archaic term for a corpse . Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax stated that he based the description of a lich included in the game on the short story "The Sword of the Sorcerer" (1969) by Gardner Fox . The lich

1575-406: Is an advanced form of lich that has sought other avenues to attain knowledge, turning away from the physical realm, using astral projection to travel across other planes of existence . Due to traveling across planes of existence, its body gradually deteriorates until only a skull or even a single skeletal hand remain, but stays a creature of enormous powers. Cracked.com author Tylor Linn included

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1650-459: Is credited with the design of the book. The updates were not intended to make major changes, only to update older monsters to third edition rules. According to Williams, "the first item on the agenda was combing through the game's twenty year collection of monsters, and deciding which ones were going into the book... The design team decided to focus on creatures that fit well into classic dungeon style adventures, with extra emphasis on creatures we felt

1725-761: Is notable for its descriptions of where the monsters might be found in the Eberron and Forgotten Realms campaign settings . Chris Perkins explained: "Almost all of the monsters in the Monster Manual III are new. We didn't want to give gamers a bunch of beasties they'd already seen, and we found several interesting monster niches to fill. Monster Manual IV , published July 2006, was designed by Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel , Jennifer Clarke Wilkes , Matthew Sernett , Eric Cagle , Andrew Finch , Christopher Lindsay , Kolja Raven Liquette , Chris Sims, Owen K.C. Stephens , Travis Stout , JD Wiker , and Skip Williams . This book

1800-411: Is the primary bestiary sourcebook for monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons ( D&D ) fantasy role-playing game , first published in 1977 by TSR . The Monster Manual was the first hardcover D&D book and includes monsters derived from mythology and folklore , as well as creatures created specifically for D&D . Creature descriptions include game-specific statistics (such as

1875-409: Is to destroy the phylactery as well. Therefore, the lich will generally be extremely protective of the priceless item. The phylactery, which can be of virtually any form (the default form is a metal box filled with rune-covered papers, but it usually appears as a valuable amulet or gemstone), will often be hidden in a secret place and protected by powerful spells, charms, monsters and/or other servants;

1950-423: Is without doubt the best thing that TSR have produced so far." Lawrence Schick, author of Heroic Worlds , commented that "As nothing is easier to design than new monsters, it has spawned a host of imitations." Games journalist David M. Ewalt commented that the "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual may have been a rush job, but its quality is undeniable.[...] The Monster Manual succeeded not just as

2025-520: The Creature Catalogue . Games scholar Jaroslav Švelch saw the Monster Manual modelled after "medieval bestiaries, only with more precise figures": "Whereas medieval bestiaries attempted to situate unknown creatures within what was the known system of nature, games like Dungeons & Dragons created simulated natures of their own and populated them with creatures that followed their artificial laws and conditions." The first publication bearing

2100-566: The Monster Manual (2014), Henry Glasheen, for SLUG Magazine , wrote that "Fifth Edition has taken some of its most imposing creatures and given them an undeniable ambience" and highlighted the lich as an example monster that would use "her whole lair in a desperate attempt to annihilate the party". SyFy Wire in 2018 called it one of "The 9 Scariest, Most Unforgettable Monsters From Dungeons & Dragons", saying that "Liches are classic monsters not just in D&D , but when you face one in

2175-847: The Monstrous Manual . The master lich appeared in Legend of Spelljammer (1991). A creature called the firelich is introduced in the 2nd Spelljammer Monstrous Compendium appendix (MC9). The psionic lich for the Ravenloft campaign setting first appeared in Dragon #174 (October 1991), and then appeared in Van Richten's Guide to the Lich (1993), Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix III: Creatures of Darkness (1994), Monstrous Compendium Annual One (1994), and Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium (1999). Several other lich variants were also introduced in

2250-445: The D&D game including drow , githyanki, githzerai , slaad , and death knights. It also featured monsters that were widely ridiculed, such as the flumph, one of the few non-evil creatures presented in the volume. Monster Manual II was a 160-page hardcover book published in 1983, also credited solely to Gygax. The book was a supplement that detailed more than 250 monsters, most of them featuring illustrations. Many monsters in

2325-787: The Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix III , including the defiler lich and demi-defiler lich, the drow lich (and the drow demilich, the drider lich, the drow priestess lich, and the drow wizard lich), and the elemental lich and demi-elemental lich. The dracolich, a dragon lich, first appeared in the Monstrous Manual (1993). The baelnorn, an elven lich of good alignment, was introduced in The Ruins of Myth Drannor (1993), and then appeared in Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume One (1994), and Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves (1998). The banelich,

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2400-514: The 3.5 edition of D&D , although update errata for both volumes and for the original third edition Monster Manual are available for download from the publisher's website. In July 2003, the Monster Manual was revised and released again for D&D v 3.5. The revision was done by Rich Baker and Skip Williams. The 3.5 revision has a slightly different entry on each monster than 3rd edition. Notably, each monster's attack has been divided into attack and full attack entries. When asked about

2475-577: The Coast planned out for 2006 with the Spawn of Tiamat , yet contains no new monsters that are considered true dragons. In October 2006, the Special Edition Monster Manual was released, completing the set of special edition core rulebooks started in 2004 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of D&D . Like the others, this book was leather-bound with silver-gilt edges and a cloth bookmark. The book

2550-863: The Dracolich used to create Dracoliches was given in the Forgotten Realms Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1991). It was reprinted alongside the Potion of Lichdom in Encyclopedia Magica Volume III (1995). The inheritor lich for the Red Steel campaign setting first appeared in Red Steel Savage Baronies (1995), and then in the Savage Coast Monstrous Compendium (1996). In D&D 3rd edition ,

2625-455: The Ground , RPG historian Stu Horvath called the amount and professionalism of the interior illustrations groundbreaking, saying " Sutherland is joined primarily by David Trampier , whose clean, precise lines often evoke the feel of medieval woodcuts. Together, they create a world where green slime drips from the ceiling and treasure chests can come to (hungry) life. RPGs take place in the theater of

2700-552: The Psionics rules and the iconic lich Vecna were described in Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry (1976). In AD&D 1st edition , the lich appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is given more detailed description; including a brief, cryptic note of having reached "a non-human, non-living existence through force of will. It retains this status by certain conjurations, enchantments, and

2775-622: The addition of an enhanced version of most monsters as an example of advancement (usually either with a template or with class levels). Many monsters also included instructions on how to use them as player characters. The Monster Manual v 3.5 was reproduced as a premium reprint on September 18, 2012. Monster Manual III was published in September 2004, and was designed by Rich Burlew , Eric Cagle , Jesse Decker , Andrew J. Finch , Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel , Rich Redman , Matthew Sernett , Chris Thomasson , and P. Nathan Toomey. This Monster Manual

2850-533: The adventure, you should go out of your way to read/download/borrow it just to see what an incredible example of storytelling and adventure writing it is." Jonathan Bolding, for The Escapist , wrote, "The first thing that happens in this game is that you kill the eight most powerful people in the world. Then the PCs have to fix it all. It's one of the finest examples of the kind of high-stakes adventures that have always best defined high level D&D play, where failure by

2925-434: The book were taken from previously published adventure modules. The book contained random encounter tables for dungeon and wilderness settings built from the monsters in the Monster Manual , Fiend Folio , and Monster Manual II . Some of its contents were taken from various AD&D adventure modules, in particular quite a number from S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth , and a dozen new devils that had been first published in

3000-591: The books at the same time and also ensure their high quality. [...] We could either stagger their releases, or we could sit on the books until all three were finished". The book is 350 pages and illustrated. Crawford and Mike Mearls co-lead design for the Fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons . The cover depicts the beholder Xanathar attacking adventurers in the Underdark . In Publishers Weekly 's "Best-selling Books Week Ending October 13, 2014", Monster Manual

3075-460: The canonical representations of these fantastic creatures for an entire generation, a modern bestiary that has served as an authoritative resource for countless subsequent fantasy games." Fiend Folio was published by TSR, Inc. Fiend Folio was primarily made up of monsters described in the "Fiend Factory" feature of White Dwarf and from various D&D modules , while some were original creations. It introduced several popular monsters to

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3150-427: The demilich in his 2009 list of "The 15 Most Idiotic Monsters In Dungeons & Dragons History". He humorously commented that it "seems to possess no tactical advantages of any kind. It just kind of floats around, waiting for a party of heroes to smack it out of the air like a pinata." To the contrary it was rated 8th among the 10 strongest D&D creatures by Scott Baird from Screen Rant , saying "You might think that

3225-563: The end result of the Walker in the Wastes prestige class. Psiliches are powerful users of psionic powers, who have used non-magical means to achieve this state of undeath. The Suel Imperium also had its own form of liches, the Suel lich —powerful wizards who learned the secrets of transferring their souls from one body to the next—at the cost of the bodies burning out in brief periods. Liches are usually among

3300-449: The first edition was released. The first edition Monster Manual was reproduced as a reprint in 2012. Monster Manual was also reviewed by Don Turnbull who felt that "this manual deserves a place on every D&D enthusiast's bookshelf", and praised the explanatory text, stating that it "amplifies, where necessary, [the game statistics] and the result is the most comprehensive listing of D&D monsters you will find, presented in

3375-421: The game back in 1975 in the supplement called Greyhawk . Gygax wasn’t the first person to conceive the idea of a lich, though. Instead, he lifted most of the idea from a short story from the late-1960s by fantasy author Gardner Fox ". Rob Bricken from io9 named the lich as the 7th most memorable D&D monster, while Backstab reviewer Philippe Tessier called it a "classic of D&D ". In his review of

3450-639: The game needed." In 2001 Monster Manual won the Origins Award for Best Graphic Design of a Roleplaying Game, Adventure, or Supplement 2000 . One reviewer for Pyramid called it "...an essential reference book, and it is a bargain..." The next volumes, Monster Manual II and Fiend Folio were new monster-specific rulebooks. They contain mostly updated monsters from the sourcebooks of earlier editions, though some monsters have almost no overlap with those of their first edition namesakes. There were no new versions of Monster Manual II or Fiend Folio for

3525-571: The game". Eric Silver, for Alma , criticized the use of the word phylactery in the game and highlighted talisman as a more neutral term. Silver wrote, "I don’t know about you, but phylactery is a word I’ve only ever seen used as the English translation of the Jewish ritual object, tefillin . The phylactery is specifically described as 'a charm or amulet, or repository used to store small parchments bearing holy scripture or arcane writings.' [...] Even stranger,

3600-516: The hardest part in revising the book, Rich Baker replied: "The hardest part of the job was probably the sheer volume of the work we needed to do. There are hundreds of monster entries, and each monster has a couple dozen data points to examine and check." Some creatures from the Psionics Handbook and the third edition Manual of the Planes were added to the revised book. Further revision included

3675-399: The information about each monster, as each was given at least one full page. It would also mean they would only need to purchase core volumes and appendix volumes for the campaigns they wanted, rather than getting a mix of monsters in books. However, the binder format ultimately proved impractical for two main reasons. First, looseleaf pages were not as durable as the hardcover format. As it was

3750-460: The level of detail and illustration included in the 1977 release, the book was cited as a pivotal example of a new style of wargame books. Future editions would draw on various sources and act as a compendium of published monsters. The first D&D boxed set did not have a separate Monster Manual but provided listings for monsters in Book 2: Monsters and Treasure , one of the included booklets. After

3825-476: The lich appears in the Monster Manual (2008). This version describes the phylactery in similar terms to the 3e version, but without describing it as being wearable. A ritual is given which allows players to become liches. It also outlines the lich vestige , a weakened, ghostly lich that cannot re-form. The lich also appears as a template in the Dungeon Masters Guide (2008). Rules in 4th edition allow

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3900-523: The lich appears in the Monster Manual as a template. This version describes the lich's phylactery as resembling a Jewish tefillin but notes it can also be a ring, amulet etc. The banelich, as well as the good liches, the archlich and the baelnorn, appeared in Monsters of Faerun (2000). The demilich appeared again in the Epic Level Handbook (2002). In D&D version 3.5 , the 3.0 entry for

3975-713: The lich is duplicated in the revised Monster Manual (2003). The good lich and the lichfiend appeared in Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead (2004). The lichfiend also appeared in Dungeon #116 (November 2004), as part of The Shackled City Adventure Path . The dry lich was introduced in Sandstorm: Mastering the Perils of Fire and Sand (2005). The Suel lich returned in the "Campaign Classics" feature in Dragon #339 (January 2006). In D&D 4th edition ,

4050-442: The lich was created by Gygax, someone fascinated with historical religious study. He made the choice that an undead wizard king would keep his soul in something that Jews use for daily prayers. Recent editions backtrack from those origins, but Wizards has stuck with 'phylactery.' They bury the Jewish coding of the lich, but much like the lich itself, allow it to live on". Monster Manual The Monster Manual ( MM )

4125-420: The mind, but the importance of finally seeing these creatures, often in tableau with unfortunate adventurers meeting their dooms, can't be overstated ... Monster Manual set the mold for other to follow [and] all embrace a standard of art and detail created here by Gygax and his collaborators." Witwer et al. commented in their overview of the artwork of the game: "Collectively, the Monster Manual images became

4200-451: The monster's level or number of hit dice), a brief description of its habits and habitats, and typically an image of the creature. Along with the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide , the Monster Manual is one of the three "core rulebooks" in most editions of the D&D game. As such, new editions of the Monster Manual have been released for each edition of D&D . Due to

4275-412: The most powerful undead creatures in almost any setting in which they appear, and are one of the most powerful non-unique undead creatures in the D&D game. Several D&D gods were liches before becoming deities; these gods include: Josh Hrala, for Geek & Sundry , reported that "liches really took off in modern gaming and fiction when D&D co-creator Gary Gygax officially added it to

4350-608: The pages of Dragon magazine. Like the Fiend Folio before it, the monsters in Monster Manual II listed the experience point value for each monster within the entry. The Monster Manual II along with the First Edition Unearthed Arcana book featured quite a number of monsters, races, and places from Gary Gygax's home Greyhawk campaign world. The Monstrous Compendium superseded the Monster Manual with

4425-573: The phylactery itself is usually of magical nature, meaning its destruction will generally be no easier than obtaining it. Depending on the method of becoming a lich, a lich can be of any alignment , retaining whatever alignment it had in life. The D&D version 3.5 Monster Manual , a core D&D rule book, emphatically states that liches are always evil, but there are references to good liches in other manuals. Good liches are presented in Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn ,

4500-583: The players are successful in defeating Vecna, he is transported to and imprisoned within the Ravenloft campaign setting. The module bears the code WGA4 and was published by TSR, Inc. in 1990 for the second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. The module was written by David "Zeb" Cook and edited by Mike Breault with cover art by Jeff Easley and interior art by Ken Frank . Allen Varney briefly reviewed Vecna Lives! for Dragon magazine #175 (November 1991). According to Varney, this adventure

4575-489: The players means the complete undoing of all that is good and just in reality. The adventure itself is fairly standard - though remarkably episodic for its time period, dealing with a romping journey through the whole of the world and planes beyond. It's very much adventure fiction, but interspersed with a desperate, survival-horror feel as the players are stalked by the returned demi-god lich and his undead minions". Lich (Dungeons %26 Dragons) The lich / l ɪ tʃ /

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4650-441: The potion are described differently in various sources, the creation of the potion almost universally entails acts of utter evil , such as using as an ingredient the blood of an infant slain by the potential lich's own hand, or other, similarly vile components. The potion invariably kills the drinker but if the process is successful it rises again some days later as an undead Lich. Occasionally, this metamorphosis occurs by accident as

4725-399: The print run included a cover art change to match a new logo and house style , and some minor corrections introduced in the 1978 printings. The first edition Monster Manual included topless portrayals of some of its female monsters, such as the succubus , Type V demons , lamia, and sylph . The first edition was also the first appearance of the mimic . In 1999, a paperback reprint of

4800-451: The release of AD&D 2nd edition. The Compendium was a binder of looseleaf sheets, rather than a hardback book. The first two volumes contained the core monsters of the game. These were followed by many appendices that contained extra monsters for particular campaign settings . The format was intended to help Dungeon Masters (DM) keep handy only the monster statistics needed for a particular game session, as well as to greatly expand

4875-510: The series was separated into basic and advanced games, the basic game continued to be published in level-based boxes. Monsters of the appropriate level were included in the rulebooks for the various basic game sets (the Basic , Expert , Companion , Master , and Immortal sets). These monsters were later collected in the Rules Cyclopedia , which replaced higher-level the boxed sets, and

4950-410: The tabletop game you better be ready for a tough fight and more." CBR in 2018 called it one of the "13 Most Powerful D&D Monsters", saying that "they are immortal spellcasters who are almost impossible to kill seeing as you need to locate their Phylactery and destroy it. That's not something the Lich will just let a party do without some trouble, which makes a Lich one of the deadliest monsters in

5025-632: The title Monster Manual was written by Gary Gygax and published in 1977 as a 108-page book. It was the first hardcover book for any D&D game and the first of the core manuals published for the new Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ( AD&D ) version of the game. The Monster Manual was a game supplement intended to detail the standard monsters used with AD&D . The book compiles over 350 monsters, some new and others revised from older sources such as Monsters and Treasure , Greyhawk , Blackmoor , Eldritch Wizardry , The Strategic Review and Dragon magazine . Each monster

5100-538: Was also published in the v3.5 format and used the new stat block format that was introduced in the Dungeon Master's Guide II . Monster Manual IV contained fewer actual monsters than Monster Manual II and Monster Manual III , but had sample lairs and encounters for them, gave stats for classes and templates applied to old creatures, and full page maps. The book also ties into the "Year of the Dragons" theme that Wizards of

5175-561: Was duplicated in the D&;D Rules Cyclopedia (1991). In AD&D 2nd edition , the lich and the demilich appear first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989), and are reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993). This version is explicitly described as storing its "life force" in a "phylactery". The Spelljammer campaign setting accessory Lost Ships (1990) introduced the archlich, which also later appeared in

5250-677: Was expanded with some new information, 31 new illustrations, and a new index. All collected errata up to its release date were included in this revision. Monster Manual V was released in July 2007, with David Noonan as lead designer, and additional design by Creighton Broadhurst , Jason Bulmahn , David Chart , B. Matthew Conklin III , Jesse Decker , James "Grim" Desborough , Rob Heinsoo , Sterling Hershey , Tim Hitchcock , Luke Johnson , Nicholas Logue , Mike McArtor , Aaron Rosenberg , Robert J. Schwalb , Rodney Thompson , and Wil Upchurch . This book

5325-462: Was given in Lords of Darkness (1988). Though similar to the description in "Blueprint For a Lich", this version is described as preparing a "magical phylactery" rather than simply a "jar". The D&D Basic Set included its own version of the lich, in the D&D Master Rules (1985), in the "Master DM's Book". This version has no mention of a phylactery or similar, but can be a cleric. This entry

5400-552: Was listed in the book alphabetically with a full description and game statistics and many featured an illustration. The cover of the original printing was illustrated by David C. Sutherland III . A softcover version of the Monster Manual was printed in the United Kingdom by Games Workshop in 1978. When the book was reprinted in 1985 it featured new cover art by Jeff Easley . The book remained relatively unchanged throughout its fifteen printings up to 1989. Minor changes during

5475-419: Was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the Dungeons & Dragons game. For the original D&D rule set , the lich was introduced in its first supplement, Greyhawk (1975). It is described simply as a skeletal monster that was formerly a magic-user or a magic-user/ cleric in life and retains those abilities, able to send lower-level characters fleeing in fear. The lich's interaction with

5550-494: Was published in the same format as the Monster Manual IV , featuring lairs and tactics and, like III and IV, detailing how these new monsters fit into Eberron and Forgotten Realms. The D&D 4th edition Monster Manual was released with the other core books on June 6, 2008. It featured the demon prince Orcus on the cover. The book was designed by Mike Mearls , Stephen Schubert , and James Wyatt . Monster Manual 2

5625-463: Was released on May 20, 2009 with Demogorgon on the cover; Monster Manual 3 was released on June 15, 2010 featuring Lolth on its cover. Monster Vault was released November 16, 2010 and featured monsters introduced in the Monster Manual revised to the new format that was introduced in Monster Manual 3 . Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale was released June 28, 2011 and re-introduced

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