Monstrous Compendium
The Monstrous Compendium is a series of accessories for the "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy role-playing game. Volumes. MC1 "Monstrous Compendium, Volume One" was published by TSR in 1989. It was written by the TSR staff, with a cover by Jeff Easley, and interior illustrations by Jim Holloway, and came boxed with 144 loose-leaf pages and eight color cardstock dividers (each with a color painting on it) in a three-ring binder. This supplement was the basic monster book containing all the adversaries needed for a typical campaign using 2nd edition "AD&D" rules. Each monster has a  description and illustration on its own page, and each page is separate, allowing for easy removal and retention of alphabetical order when monsters created by the DM or monsters from later additions are added in. MC2 "Monstrous Compendium, Volume Two" was published by TSR in 1989. It was written by the TSR staff, with a cover by Jeff Easley and interior illustrations by Jim Holloway and Daniel Horne, and was published as 144 loose-leaf pages of more monsters, with eight color cardstock dividers. MC3 "Monstrous Compendium, Volume Three, Forgotten Realms Appendix" was published by TSR in 1989. It was  written by the TSR staff, with a cover by Jeff Easley, and was published as 64 loose-leaf pages and four color cardstock dividers. This was a supplement of monsters for the 2nd edition rules, concentrating on creatures of the Forgotten Realms. MC4 "Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix" was published in 1989. It had 96 pages, 4 dividers and a 3-ring D-binder. MC5 "Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Adventures Appendix" was published in 1990. It had 64 pages and 4 dividers. MC6 "Monstrous Compendium, Kara-Tur Appendix" was written by the TSR staff, with a cover by Jeff Easley, and was  published by TSR in 1990 as 64 loose-leaf pages with four cardstock dividers. This was a supplement of Forgotten Realms Kara-Tur monsters for the 2nd edition rules. MC7 "Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix" was written by the TSR staff, with a cover by Jeff Easley, and was published by TSR in 1990 as 64 loose-leaf pages with four color cardstock dividers. This was a supplement of monsters for use with Spelljammer. Further volumes included the following: Reception. Rick Swan reviewed "Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix II: Children of the Night" for "Dragon" magazine #206 (June 1994). He commented on  the proliferation of monster books from TSR and other publishers: "Role-players seem to have an insatiable appetite for monsters. The sound you hear is that of publishers scraping the bottom of the barrel for new ones." Swan noted that "Children of the Night", by William W. Connors, adds living brains, bardic liches, and half-golems to the Ravenloft roster. Reviewing this with two other monster books from two other publishers, he quipped: "They're all interesting, but I bet if I read you the descriptions, you'd be hard-pressed to tell which monsters belonged to which system. Trenton  Webb reviewed "Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix II" for "Arcane" magazine, rating it an 8 out of 10 overall. He commented that the book "has a great cover and it's a top read too" and that the artwork "isn't exactly exactly inspired but it does sport a coherence and consistency rarely seen in roleplaying books. There are no 'well it's a man's head on a chicken's body' Crimewatch photofit embarrassments'" found in many other monster books. Webb noted that the text "goes out of its way to encourage adventurers to use this book as a foundation  rather than a work of reference" and that most of the descriptions feature quotes to add flavor, "which normally involve the quotee being horribly killed". He felt that the blend and balance of the roughly 100 creatures in the book was good, "with a lively mix of the lawful and chaotic, the mighty and meek" but noted that the book "does err slightly in favour of the more fearsome, more powerful creatures". Trenton Webb reviewed "Monstrous Compendium Annual Two" for "Arcane" magazine, rating it a 7 out of 10 overall. He comments: "Serious work goes into bringing the beasties to  life, but the crippling list format means they limp rather than leap (or crawl, or slither, or fly for that matter) from the page. A fault this work compounds by further tweaking the experience points system. A factor that's made all the more frustrating when it becomes apparent that the "Monstrous Annual 2" dangles some delightful creatures before the referee's eyes." Ramshaw appreciated one creature entry above all the others, naming the "star, without a shadow of a doubt" as the shambling umpleby: "Even without the Umpleby the "Monstrous Annual 2" would be a necessary resource for all  mainstream refs. With the shaggy-haired one, though, it rapidly approaches the essential." Trenton Webb reviewed "Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I & II" for "Arcane" magazine, rating it an 8 out of 10 overall. He noted that this product was a re-release of the first two "Monstrous Compendium" appendices for Ravenloft, in a single bound volume, and that "Appendix I" details "the variants, updates and unique monsters which lurk in the Demiplane's mists" while "Appendix II" "takes these new creatures and fleshes them out into full NPCs, expanding the descriptions in "Appendix I"". He commented that as a reference  book, ""Appendix I" does its job well enough. The true worth of the work, though, undoubtedly comes from the quality of "Appendix II"'s creations" which "offer referees a varied and rich source of legends to drop into their tavern conversations or to add colour to campaigns". Webb concluded his review by saying: "All "Appendices I & II" offer DMs who own the old loose leaf versions are a few new piccies and the tidy new bound form, which is all well and good but hardly enough to justify [the price]. But for "Ravenloft" DMs who've been struggling on without  the compendiums, this re-issue is an essential purchase which offers both core reference material and an inspirational glimpse of the Demiplane's dark heart." David Comford reviewed "Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three" for "Arcane" magazine, rating it a 4 out of 10 overall. He commented that "The strength of the annual is that the contents are drawn from a variety of "AD&D" settings. Creatures from the TSR magazines, "Forgotten Realms", "Birthright", "Ravenloft", "Dark Sun", "Al-Quadim" and "Greyhawk" can be found giving referees access to monsters with abilities that otherwise might not have been thought of." However, he questioned , "Are a few interesting ideas and cross-over scenarios worth over a tenner, though? Well, TSR has released such a stupefying amount of products to date that every referee should have a decent supply of challenging monsters available for them to use. If you don't, then have a flick through this for a few new ideas, but think twice before you buy it." Comford concluded his review by saying, "Volume three is a mixed bunch. Bar a few good entries it falls into a compilation of variations on a theme which, with a little time and imagination, most referees  could come up with." Alex Lucard, for Diehard GameFAN, highlighted the "Spelljammer Monstrous Compendium MC7" on a list of 2nd Edition products he would want rereleased on DNDClassics. He commented that "I think the best "Spelljammer" piece to first put on DNDclassics.com would be with its first "Monstrous Compendium". By taking a look at the wide range of creatures available to the setting, DMs would know if there was anything there to inspire them. [...] There are so many cool monsters in this book. [...] What veteran AD&D 2e gamer hasn’t at least heard of the most infamous race of creatures  TSR ever put out? [...] I know, as teens, we all laughed at the concept of a tyrannohamsterus rex – until we had to fight one".