Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Monster Manual II (#2016) by E. Gary Gygax

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Monster Manual II (#2016) Reviews

• 
  Jason Koivu

  Like an inevitable sequel to a blockbuster hit movie, Monster Manual II brings more of the same...WITH MORE INTENSITY!!!...and yet less integrity.
  
  All the best monsters, those tried-and-true mythical beasties everyone knows and loves, most all of them were in the Monster Manual and Fiend Folio. Sure, this one has more dragons, demons, and dinosaurs (D&D provided way more dinosaurs than necessary!), but they were the lesser known bastards and unwanted stepchildren of the real-deals. And you could see by the new stuff they came up with that they were stretching for ideas...
  
  
  Come on, that's just a naked dude with a sword!
  
  
  And now you've just stuck a fox in a dress!
  
  On the plus side, some of the artwork is pretty good and there's actually a decent cover on this one. I'm talking about this version of the cover:
  
  
  It may not be terribly exciting, but it's a painting! And a bloody masterpiece compared to the cover of the first MM:
  
  
  
  All-in-all, I did more perusing than using of the monsters in MM II. I mean, why use a tasloi in your module when a kobold will do? And what the frick was the deal with those geometrically shaped modrons?
  
  
  That's just goofy.
• 
  Timothy Boyd

  You can never have enough monsters to keep a game interesting. You can't just keep sending the same tried and true creatures against the players as they learn all the weaknesses to exploit. This book was an awesome addition to the Game Master's arsenal, oops I meant challenges, to use on players. Good entries and writes up. Recommended for gamers
• 
  Greg

  Once again a younger me is rating this. I spent way too many hours in my room and on car trips reading this book and thinking 'wow this is cool'. Funny I'd be enthralled by this book, when at this age the thought of reading a fantasy novel seemed like something I'd really hate to do.
• 
  Megan

  C'mon... who doesn't miss playing D&D all night? :) Besides the fact that I was young, had no mortgage or job worth keeping, blew my entire paycheck on weed & Taco Bell ~ this was a totally kick ass game to play! I'm just sorry I don't have more of these books lying around.
• 
  Michael

  While the
  Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Fiend Folio disappointed me at the time, this supplemental list of monsters for the AD&D universe did not. I believe that the "Folio" was regarded as a less-successful release by TSR as well, and they avoided some of the mistakes when they released this volume. More time was taken to compile monsters from a wider variety of sources, and these monsters give the sense of having been more carefully considered and play-tested than those in the Folio. I used this book as a source more frequently for my own games, although it never reached the same level as the original
  Monster Manual.
  
  A lot of the monsters in this volume were intended to populate the Outer Planes, so in addition to the usual Demons and Devils (from the Abyss and the Hells), we also get Daemons (Gehenna), Deomdands (Tarterus) Devas (the Outer Planes of Good), and Modrons (Nirvana). Other extra-planar monsters include the para-elementals of Ice, Smoke, Magma, and Ooze, a Heat-monster called a Magman, a Quasi-Elemental Lightning, as well as "Elemental Grues" from each of the four traditional elemental planes. That's all pretty good, but a lot of these beings have little reason to be in the Prime Material Plane where, presumably, most adventures are located. I found that a number of the monsters in this volume fill important gaps from the original, especially in terms of sea monsters and animals (both normal, giant, and undead), but I also found some of the additions questionable. The original MM gave a pretty exhaustive list of dinosaurs, if you wanted dinosaurs, and I didn't see much need to add almost five more pages of them here (although it's nice to get stats for the Dimetrodon). I never once used a dinosaur in a D&D adventure, but maybe some people did.
  
  Another questionable choice, which didn't really weaken the monster listings, was the choice of appendix. About 18 pages are dedicated to new random monster encounter tables, and to data for generating your own tables. First, I was never a big fan of random monster encounters - they tend to slow down the plot and introduce combat situations that wear out your party for minimal benefit. But, that aside, the value of these tables is dubious, since they all include monsters from the other two books, and so wouldn't be any good to anyone who didn't already possess the complete set. Finally, the actual tables are limited to just a handful of monsters from each, instead of the definitive tables generated in both the DMG and FF for all monsters extant at that time, making this simultaneously too comprehensive and too limited. Noticeably missing is the Treasure Type table, which takes one page and appeared in both the FF and the MM I. Without this table, it would be hard for a beginning GM to use this book, although Gygax's decision not to reprint it probably reflects his continuing conflict about its being too generous, as stated in the
  Dungeon Masters Guide and the introduction to this book. However, the treasure types are still listed with each monster in this book, so you need to have something to determine them. Finally, the "Index" to this volume includes listings for "all 900" (!) monsters from all three volumes, which is great, but, unlike the previous two, there is no simple listing of names for this volume alone, either there or in the Table of Contents.
  
  In spite of all the flaws I've listed above, I'm still giving this a high rating, for the simple fact that I've always loved the monsters. The Tarrasque quickly became a particular favorite, and I used him as a kind of Deus-Ex-Machina when campaigns got out of control. I also loved the Cat Lord, and the idea that the Hells are covered with herds of roving Stench Kows makes me laugh to this day. Other monsters, like the Drider and the Stegocentipede, are just cool to look at, and in that sense I should mention the art, which has returned to the high standard of the original MM after the somewhat disappointing monotony of style in the FF. The very first monster, the Aboleth, is a fascinating fish-octopus-alien thing, that deserves some kind of artistic award.
  
  Having fallen away from role playing, I have no idea how many of these monsters survive. The only one I recognize from Baldur's Gate (the old AD&D computer game) was the Tasloi, while there were quite a few Fiend Folio monsters there. Maybe that reflects the ultimate success (or lack thereof) of these supplements, but for me the MMII has always had a special place in rpg history.
• 
  Mindy

  It seemed like half the monsters in the book had a greater than normal chance of surprise with a lower chance of being surprised themself.
  
  I liked the variety I guess.
• 
  Ben Nealis

  A staple of my collection. I've hunted for this tome for a long time before finally getting my own copy. The main reason I initially wanted it was because it is the first book to contain the Tarasque. Even though THAC0 can be hard to grasp at first I still find myself pulling this off the shelf from time to time for the few monsters that have yet to make it to 5E. Overall a great time capsule and a handy one to have on hand.
• 
  Mike (the Paladin)

  Even more monsters and creatures to add to the ones in the first manual. These books are just flat fun. These books really can be enjoyed even if you don't play Dungeons and Dragons (though you'll obviously appreciate them more if you do) enjoy.
• 
  Taddow

  While not as good as the original Monster Manual (and I only say this because I believe the first was more appealing due to having more traditional monsters and an art style that invoked more of a sense of adventure in the fantastical), I still like the Monster Manual II. Like its predecessor, I spent hours reading and combing through this book, its entries inspiring me to created adventures or provide interesting encounters. The hefty number of random tables at the end, that covered pretty much any terrain that an adventuring party might find themselves in, were a great addition and there were many times that I put them to use (I’ve used the undead infested ghost ship several times in my old campaigns). Without the Monster Manual I, I don’t think this would be as great as a sourcebook since some of the monsters are very strange and over the top at times, but as a companion to the Monster Manual I, it’s a great addition.
• 
  Anthony

  Here's an undervalued AD&D volume that's become my first-choice antagonist encyclopedia because of its encounter tables, organized by PC levels and/or geographic locales, and a critter index that includes references not only to its own impressively copious list of villains great and small, but to the MM1 and Fiend Folio as well. An inescapable flaw, however, is found in the (often unprofessional) quality of the tome's interior art, which compares badly to the work within either of its companion volumes.
• 
  Michael

  A nice edition to the first manual, adding quite a few new monsters.
• 
  David Leemon

  I love the demodand and the undine.
• 
  John Smith

  Another all time classic monster manual. Got so many ideas for encounters.
• 
  Tetra

  MM2 had some silly monsters in it (not as silly as Fiend Folio though, which has a bunny rabbit with a unicorn horn), but it also had the Tarrasque, a slew of devils and demons, the introduction of the daemon, and most impressively, to fight all these bad guys, D&D's equivalent of angels, known as divas, planetars and solars.
  
  I particularly liked the second appearance of unique devils and demons, including my favorite, Pazuzu. As a DM he was as fun to play as any player character. While Monster Manual 1 also had unique demons/devils, I feel that MM2 brought a level of interplay between them that encouraged the DM to create their own brand of diabolic soap opera.
  
  I mention the devils/demons a lot because I feel they are the best part of the manual. Some of the creatures in here appear 'officially' but have appeared before in the back of adventure modules, most notably the drider.
  
  One should collect all three, as they sometimes reference each other. Particularly the devils/demons. Monster Manual, Fiend Folio, Monster Manual II (in that order of publication). Fiend Folio is the silliest of the three but contains some serious bombs like the drow, the slaad... and bunnycorns.
• 
  Christopher

  So glad I found an old used copy of this at a yard sale. I have no plans and no interest in ever going back into ADnD, and was lucky enough to only barely skim its surface before things got better due to my age, but you just gotta love the illustrations in this baby in the time before high budget and computer brushed up artwork.
• 
  Ron

  Excellant gaming referance. Part of the 1st edition set.
• 
  Abraham Ray

  nice dnd 1st ed. book!
• 
  Vali

  See my review for the Dungeon Master's Guide.
• 
  Ivan

  The monster manuals are great references for writing fantasy fiction and story telling.
• 
  EmmmettSaltsman

  Eh.
  The Monsters manual 1 had way more charm and character.
  It showed the stats,treasure level and a lot of other stuff.
• 
  Scott

  More old-school monster goodness from E. Gary Gygax & TSR.
• 
  Scott Wiener

  My friends and I played the hell out of this when we were younger.