1st Edition MM Excerpts: Classic Monsters

[Wizards of the Coast]

In this preview of the 1st Edition re-release of the Monster Manual, we take a look at a few more of the game's most famous creatures!

Read 1st Edition MM Excerpts: Classic Monsters on D&D Insider here!

 

[Mattachine]

Nice! Love that picture of the beholder. That monster, more than any other, got me into D&D. I got the MM when I was 9, back in 1980, before I was actually playing.

Still, the mechanics for beholders (hit points, no hit dice--what was their THAC0), percentages of hp to each body part, rules for attacking body parts, multiple save or die attacks) leave a lot to be desired.

 

[delericho]

Still, the mechanics for beholders (hit points, no hit dice--what was their THAC0...

Isn't that actually given in the combat tables in the DMG?

... and therein lies the weakness of doing a straight reprint. The 1st Edition MM was released before the rest of the system was locked down, and it shows - even if you didn't want to change any of the mechanics, or even change any of the text, the books would still benefit from a re-organisation to put the "missing" elements from the MM into the appropriate places.

In fact, when assessed strictly from the ability to be used for gaming, it is likely that OSRIC is a better presentation of the 1st Edition rules than was 1st Edition itself!

(Of course, in addition to any possible gaming use, these are also being done as collector's items. A task better served if they are genuine reprints. And besides, any reorganisation of the material would necessitate a lot of follow-on work, repaginating and such, which might well have scuppered the entire project.)

 

[Mattachine]

No--the beholder has no hit dice, so the DMG wasn't helpful in determining attack rolls (which were based on hit dice).

That was also an issue in determining if a beholder was affected by a hit die limited effect, like death spell.

 

[Uder]

No--the beholder has no hit dice, so the DMG wasn't helpful in determining attack rolls (which were based on hit dice).

That was also an issue in determining if a beholder was affected by a hit die limited effect, like death spell.

Can't remember where in the book it exactly was without going through them (probably MM2), but for monsters with hit points instead of hit dice, you divide by 4.5 to find their equivalent hit dice.

In any case, Appendix E in the DMG provides the THAC0 for most every monster in the MM (minus things that are highly variable like demi-humans), so YES, the DMG was helpful in determining attack rolls.

EDIT: and those sample pages look so nice and clean, much better than what they used to sell through RPGNow.