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Necromancer Games to Publish the Tome of Horrors—a Compendium of New Monsters and Creatures Converted from First Edition to Third Edition!
LAS VEGAS, Nevada—April 26, 2002: Discussions with Wizards of the Coast having now been completed, Necromancer Games, Inc., formally announced today its decision to publish the Tome of Horrors, a compendium of over 400 creatures, most of which are converted from old First Edition monsters, using the d20 and Open Game Licenses under the Necromancer Games and Sword and Sorcery Imprint.
“I think we all felt a little disappointment when we opened the Third Edition Monster Manual to look for our favorite monster and couldn’t find it,” says Clark Peterson, President of Necromancer Games. “Where was the aerial servant, boalisk or the skeletal warrior? What happened to the mobat, piercer or rot grub? What about the lurker above, dracolisk or the shadow demon? And where were the Demon Lords and Arch Devils? These are all staples of my campaign—and I suspect everyone else’s as well—yet we don’t have them for Third Edition.” According to Peterson, the Tome of Horrors provides those monsters and much more, all converted from their original sources and fully formatted for the Third Edition rules.
To handle the project Necromancer Games tapped monster conversion expert Scott Greene of the Creature Catalog. “No one understands converting monsters like Scott does, so he was the perfect person for the job,” Peterson explained.
The hardcover book will be over 300 pages and will contain over 425 monsters: 292 monsters converted from First Edition sources such as the original First Edition Monster Manual, Fiend Folio and the original First Edition Monster Manual 2 as well as a number of classic modules; 106 new never-before-seen monsters; and 27 monsters collected from various Necromancer Games products. Each monster will have a single page layout format similar to Creature Collection by Sword and Sorcery Studio. “We felt that the single page format was easier for the DM to use than the more dense Third Edition Monster Manual format,” Greene explained.
There will be no overlap between the Tome of Horrors and upcoming products by Wizards of the Coast. “We worked really closely with Wizards to make sure that there will be no overlap with their upcoming Monster Manual 2 or Book of Vile Darkness. If it is in our book, you won’t be able to find it in any official product,” Peterson said, citing only two or three exceptions. “We had to do our own version of Orcus, of course!”
All the creatures in the book will be Open Game Content, available for use by future publishers. “It was really important to us that we not only bring these forgotten creatures from First Edition to the gamers, but that we also make them available to other publishers so that they can use them in their products.” To that end, the book contains step-by-step instructions on how to use monsters from the Tome of Horrors in a manner compliant with the Open Game License. “We fully support the Open Game movement and want to make this as easy on other publishers as possible,” Peterson explained.
The original authors of all converted creatures will be given recognition. “Many of the monsters in Tome were converted from First Edition sources. We all felt strongly that the creators of the original content be given credit. We realize that without their original creativity, there wouldn’t be anything for us to convert,” Greene said. “Each monster has a section that details where the monster came from and who originally wrote it. In fact, Clark came up with a way to make sure those original creators would be mentioned any time the monsters were used as Open Content in products by other publishers,” Green explained.
Look for the Tome of Horrors this Fall from Necromancer Games with a projected price of $29.95.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada—April 26, 2002: Discussions with Wizards of the Coast having now been completed, Necromancer Games, Inc., formally announced today its decision to publish the Tome of Horrors, a compendium of over 400 creatures, most of which are converted from old First Edition monsters, using the d20 and Open Game Licenses under the Necromancer Games and Sword and Sorcery Imprint.
“I think we all felt a little disappointment when we opened the Third Edition Monster Manual to look for our favorite monster and couldn’t find it,” says Clark Peterson, President of Necromancer Games. “Where was the aerial servant, boalisk or the skeletal warrior? What happened to the mobat, piercer or rot grub? What about the lurker above, dracolisk or the shadow demon? And where were the Demon Lords and Arch Devils? These are all staples of my campaign—and I suspect everyone else’s as well—yet we don’t have them for Third Edition.” According to Peterson, the Tome of Horrors provides those monsters and much more, all converted from their original sources and fully formatted for the Third Edition rules.
To handle the project Necromancer Games tapped monster conversion expert Scott Greene of the Creature Catalog. “No one understands converting monsters like Scott does, so he was the perfect person for the job,” Peterson explained.
The hardcover book will be over 300 pages and will contain over 425 monsters: 292 monsters converted from First Edition sources such as the original First Edition Monster Manual, Fiend Folio and the original First Edition Monster Manual 2 as well as a number of classic modules; 106 new never-before-seen monsters; and 27 monsters collected from various Necromancer Games products. Each monster will have a single page layout format similar to Creature Collection by Sword and Sorcery Studio. “We felt that the single page format was easier for the DM to use than the more dense Third Edition Monster Manual format,” Greene explained.
There will be no overlap between the Tome of Horrors and upcoming products by Wizards of the Coast. “We worked really closely with Wizards to make sure that there will be no overlap with their upcoming Monster Manual 2 or Book of Vile Darkness. If it is in our book, you won’t be able to find it in any official product,” Peterson said, citing only two or three exceptions. “We had to do our own version of Orcus, of course!”
All the creatures in the book will be Open Game Content, available for use by future publishers. “It was really important to us that we not only bring these forgotten creatures from First Edition to the gamers, but that we also make them available to other publishers so that they can use them in their products.” To that end, the book contains step-by-step instructions on how to use monsters from the Tome of Horrors in a manner compliant with the Open Game License. “We fully support the Open Game movement and want to make this as easy on other publishers as possible,” Peterson explained.
The original authors of all converted creatures will be given recognition. “Many of the monsters in Tome were converted from First Edition sources. We all felt strongly that the creators of the original content be given credit. We realize that without their original creativity, there wouldn’t be anything for us to convert,” Greene said. “Each monster has a section that details where the monster came from and who originally wrote it. In fact, Clark came up with a way to make sure those original creators would be mentioned any time the monsters were used as Open Content in products by other publishers,” Green explained.
Look for the Tome of Horrors this Fall from Necromancer Games with a projected price of $29.95.
