''Monster Manual II'' is the title shared by two

hardback A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occas ...

rulebooks published for different versions of the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

'' (''D&D'')

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''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''

''Monster Manual II'' was a 160-page hardcover book published in 1983, credited solely to

Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...

, which featured cover art by Jeff Easley. The book was a supplement describing over 250 monsters, most with illustrations. Many of the monsters were drawn from scenario modules, in particular from '' S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth''. The book included random encounter tables for dungeon and wilderness settings built from the ''

Monster Manual The ''Monster Manual'' (''MM'' is the primary bestiary sourcebook for Monsters in Dungeons & Dragons, monsters in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'' fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR (company), TSR. The ''Monster Manual' ...

'', ''

Fiend Folio ''Fiend Folio'' is the name of three separate products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). All three are collections of monsters. The bulk of the material in the first edition ca ...

'', and ''Monster Manual II'', and a dozen new devils that had been first published in 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 ''Unearthed Arcana'' (abbreviated UA) is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Both were designed as supplements to the core rulebooks, containing materi ...

'' book featured quite a number of monsters, races, and places from Gary Gygax's

Greyhawk Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''—Dave Arneson ...

Campaign world. The book featured interior illustrations by Jim Holloway, Harry Quinn, Dave Sutherland, and

Larry Elmore Larry Elmore (born August 5, 1948) is an American fantasy artist whose work includes creating illustrations for video games, comics, magazines, and fantasy books. His list of work includes illustrations for ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Dragonlance'', ...

Reception

''Monster Manual II'' garnered positive reviews, receiving a score of 7 out of 10 in a review in ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...

'' magazine. The reviewer praised the book's standard of clear presentation, and felt that the artwork was of a higher quality than that in the previous monster books. However, the reviewer felt that there were too many high level and overly deadly monsters, and that most of the monsters in the book were inimical to adventures. The reviewer did make note of the fact that there were "many interesting ideas and several well-developed tribes and hierarchies", and felt that, overall, the book is "a good, well presented addition to the ''AD&D'' series, with some very useful creatures". The reviewer recommended the book to anyone who likes a wide range of monsters in the game. Doug Cowie reviewed ''Monster Manual II'' quite favorably for ''

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'' magazine. He noted that the cover was good, and contrasted it with the first edition ''Monster Manual'', whose cover was "universally held to be appalling" and whose "childish style" may have "seriously hampered the development of RPGs as adult games". As for ''Monster Manual II'', Cowie suggested: "If you like the AD&D game, go and buy it immediately." Although he found some monsters "to be just plain silly", they are all "well presented, properly thought out and adequately described". Lawrence Schick also commented on the ''Monster Manual II'' in ''Heroic Worlds'', stating "Some of the monsters are less than inspired, and some are quite silly; this author's favorites are the stegocentipede, a giant arthropod notable for its twin row of back plates (wow!), and the stench kow, a monstrous bison that smells ''real bad''."

''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3rd edition

''Monster Manual II'' was a new monster-specific rulebook that contained mostly updated monsters from the sourcebooks of earlier editions, though some monsters have almost no overlap with those of their first edition namesakes. ''Monster Manual II'' also included a discussion of monster design. ''Monster Manual II'' was designed by

Ed Bonny Ed, ed or ED may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ed'' (film), a 1996 film starring Matt LeBlanc * Ed (''Fullmetal Alchemist'') or Edward Elric, a character in ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' media * ''Ed'' (TV series), a TV series that ran fro ...

Jeff Grubb Jeff Grubb (born August 27, 1957) is an author who writes novels, short stories, and comics and a computer and role-playing game designer in the fantasy genre. Grubb worked on the ''Dragonlance'' campaign setting under Tracy Hickman, and the ''F ...

Rich Redman Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling **Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...

Skip Williams Ralph Williams, almost always referred to as Skip Williams, is an American game designer. He is married to Penny Williams, who is also involved with the games industry. He was the co-creator of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3rd Edition and the longtime au ...

, and

Steve Winter Steve Winter (born December 8, 1957) is an American game designer who worked on numerous products for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, which was originally published by TSR and later Wizards of the Coast. Early life Winter ...

. Cover art was by

Henry Higginbotham Henry Higginbotham is a working artist who specializes in non-primitive art, steampunk, sculpture and more. Education Higginbotham has a master's degree in fine arts from the University of Iowa. Works Henry G. Higginbotham has produced interior a ...

, with interior art by

Glen Angus Glen Michael Angus (August 18, 1970 – July 19, 2007) was a Canadian artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games and video games. Early life Angus was born August 18, 1970, in Windsor, Ontario. He played the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role ...

Daren Bader Daren is a hamlet bach in the community of Trefeurig, Ceredigion, Wales, which is 73.2 miles (117.7 km) from Cardiff and 174.5 miles (280.8 km) from London. It is represented in the Senedd by Elin Jones (Plaid Cymru) and is part of th ...

Thomas Baxa Thomas M. Baxa is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Biography Tom Baxa grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. He enrolled at Northern Illinois University, where he studied under comic and fantasy artist Mark Nelson. Works To ...

Matt Cavotta Matt Cavotta is an American artist and writer. His artwork is focused on the fantasy genre, with notable contributions to popular games such as ''Magic: The Gathering'' and ''Dungeons & Dragons''. Career Cavotta wrote a weekly column for Magic ...

Dennis Cramer Justine Mara Andersen (born Dennis Cramer) is an American artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games and comic books. Works Justine Mara Andersen, has produced interior illustrations for many ''Dungeons & Dragons'' books and '' Dragon'' ...

, David Day,

Brian Despain Brian Despain is an artist whose work has appeared in galleries, in video games, on book covers and in role-playing games. Career Despain has worked as a graphic designer, 3D modeler, photo retoucher, and illustrator. He worked for ten years in ...

Tony DiTerlizzi Tony M. DiTerlizzi (born September 6, 1969) is an American fantasy artist, children's book creator, and motion picture producer. In the gaming industry, he is best known for his work in the collectible card game ''Magic: The Gathering'' and on ...

Michael Dutton Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

Jeff Easley Jeff Easley (born 1954) is an oil painter who creates fantasy artwork for role-playing games, comics, and magazines, as well as non-fantasy commercial art. Early life Easley was born in Nicholasville, Kentucky in 1954. He spent time drawing as ...

Emily Fiegenschuh Emily Fiegenschuh is an artist and children's book illustrator whose work has also appeared in role-playing games. Early life and education Emily Fiegenschuh attended art school at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, and ...

Donato Giancola Donato Giancola is an American artist specializing in narrative realism with science fiction and fantasy content. Biography Donato Giancola was born and raised in Colchester, near Burlington, in the state of Vermont. He currently resides in Broo ...

, Lars Grant-West,

Rebecca Guay Rebecca Guay is an artist known early in her career as an illustrator, commissioned for work on role-playing games, collectible card games, comic books, as well as work on children's literature. Guay subsequently turned primarily toward gal ...

, Quinton Hoover,

Jeremy Jarvis Jeremy Jarvis is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Early life and education Jeremy Jarvis grew up in a small town in Alabama, and moved to New York City right after high school just before his eighteenth birthday. There, he ...

, Alton Lawson,

Todd Lockwood Todd Wills Lockwood, (born July 9, 1957 in Boulder, Colorado, United States) is an American artist specializing in fantasy and science fiction illustration. He is best known for his work on the role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'', and for his ...

Raven Mimura Raven Mimura is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Early life and education Raven received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design. He spent a year teaching art and building his portfolio ...

, Matthew Mitchell,

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Wayne Reynolds Wayne Reynolds is a British artist whose work has appeared in comics and role-playing games. Early life and education Wayne Reynolds was born in Leeds, UK. He attended art college in Dewsbury and Middlesbrough. Games Wayne Reynolds has continue ...

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Scott Roller Scott Roller is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Career His '' Dungeons & Dragons'' work includes interior art for '' Monster Manual II'' (2002), ''Savage Species'' (2003), '' Arms and Equipment Guide'' (2003), '' Ghostwal ...

Richard Sardinha Richard Sardinha is an American artist based in Providence, Rhode Island, whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Works Richard Sardinha has been illustrating books since the 1980s. He provided the art work for ''At Lovecraft's Grave'' (re ...

, Marc Sasso,

Brian Snoddy Brian Snoddy is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Career Brian Snoddy and his friend Matt Wilson formed Privateer Press with writer Matt Staroscik to publish their own d20 supplements. Snoddy and Wilson produced the cover ...

Anthony Waters Anthony Devonne Waters (born July 25, 1985) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Clemson. He is also the older brother of Ind ...

, and

Sam Wood Samuel Grosvenor Wood (July 10, 1883 – September 22, 1949) was an American film director and producer who is best known for having directed such Hollywood hits as ''A Night at the Opera (film), A Night at the Opera'', ''A Day at the Races (fi ...

. According to Jeff Grubb for ''Monster Manual II'', "The original plan was about 50 percent completely new, about 50 percent revisions of classic beasts that were not in the first ''Monster Manual''. Right now, it's hard to tell because a lot of "classics" have been stripped down to their core concepts and names and rebuilt from the ground up." There was no new version of ''Monster Manual II'' for the 3.5 edition of ''D&D'', although update errata was made available for download from the publisher's website.

Reception

Alan D. Kohler, a reviewer from ''

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

'', commented: "The third edition of the game moved forward the "art" of monsters, providing them with more detailed statistics and methods for advancing creatures. It is in these footsteps that the ''Monster Manual II'' must follow."

''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''

Reception

''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3rd edition

Reception

References

Further reading