Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
[COMPLETE] Looking back at the limited series: Player's Option, Monstrous Arcana, Odyssey, and more!
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 8506075" data-attributes="member: 8461"><p>Exactly <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/complete-looking-back-at-the-leatherette-series-phbr-dmgr-hr-and-more.677493/" target="_blank">one year ago today</a>, I started a thread wherein I waxed nostalgic about AD&D 2nd Edition's "leatherette" series. It was a lot of fun, generating a number of great insights, entertaining anecdotes, and excuses to crack some truly awful jokes. And of course, it gave me a convenient excuse to pull those old books off of my shelves and flip through them again.</p><p></p><p>After that thread reached its natural conclusion, I've been wondering what line of old products to give the same treatment to. Since I'm sticking to materials which I have physical copies of, and wanted to overview entire series, that cut down on a lot of my options; while my library of print RPG products is pretty vast (totaling some 1,750 or so at last count, not including individual issues of RPG magazines, RPG-specific novels, etc.), there are a lot of holes in my collection that have yet to be filled. While I could have gone for a few of the old campaign settings where I've managed to get all of the various print products (e.g. Ravenloft, Spelljammer, etc.), I wanted to stick to something a little more generic, simply for the sake of keeping a wider appeal.</p><p></p><p>Following quite a bit of thought, I decided to change my approach, and instead go over the "limited series" of AD&D 2E.</p><p></p><p>In this case, I'm defining "limited series" as being those books which were released under a secondary heading (but not that of a campaign setting). In that sense, they're "limited" not in terms of how many were produced, but because they were released under a label which simply didn't have many entries, such as the various "Tomes" or "Odyssey" products, though I'm also folding in multipart entries of a single product, such as <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/120126/Encyclopedia-Magica-Series-2e-BUNDLE?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>Encyclopedia Magica</em></a>. That covers a lot of ground, as there were several of these, and so allows for a nice variety of products. And, of course, I'm going to cheat in several places, just because there are a few other books that weren't actually published under a secondary heading, but which I personally think of as having one. As any experienced DM knows, half the fun of making up your own rules is bending them. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>As before, this isn't going to be a "let's read" or even a series of proper reviews. It's just me going on about each particular product, and inviting others to join in as they feel inclined. Amusement is the order of the day here, with actual information being a distant second.</p><p></p><p>Going through my collection, I'm going to cover the following books in the order listed:</p><p></p><p><u><strong>"The Expanded Core"</strong></u></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8506076" target="_blank">Legends & Lore</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8514033" target="_blank">Tome of Magic</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8521716" target="_blank">Book of Artifacts</a></em></li> </ol><p><u><strong>Option Series</strong></u></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8530366" target="_blank">Player's Option: Combat & Tactics</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8537991" target="_blank">Player's Option: Skills & Powers</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8544804" target="_blank">Dungeon Master's Option: High-Level Campaigns</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8552434" target="_blank">Player's Option: Spells & Magic</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8558289" target="_blank">The Gates of Firestorm Peak</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8563691" target="_blank">Campaign Option: Council of Wyrms Setting</a></em></li> </ol><p><u><strong>"Magical Directories"</strong></u></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8572187" target="_blank">The Magic Encyclopedia</a></em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8572187" target="_blank"> vols. I-II</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8578036" target="_blank">Encyclopedia Magica</a></em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8578036" target="_blank"> vols. I-IV</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8585114" target="_blank">Wizard's Spell Compendium</a></em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8585114" target="_blank"> vols. I-IV</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8592754" target="_blank">Priest's Spell Compendium</a></em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8592754" target="_blank"> vols. I-III</a></li> </ol><p><u><strong>Tomes</strong></u></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8601349" target="_blank">The Rod of Seven Parts</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8606734" target="_blank">Return to the Tomb of Horrors</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8615187" target="_blank">Axe of the Dwarvish Lords</a></em></li> </ol><p><u><strong>Odyssey</strong></u></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8621367" target="_blank">Tale of the Comet</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8627985" target="_blank">Jakandor, Island of War</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8636440" target="_blank">Jakandor, Isle of Destiny</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8641700" target="_blank">Jakandor, Land of Legend</a></em></li> </ol><p><strong><u>Monstrous Arcana</u> (sourcebooks only)</strong></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8649709" target="_blank">I, Tyrant</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8654493" target="_blank">The Sea Devils</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8662069" target="_blank">The Illithiad</a></em></li> </ol><p><u><strong>"Strongholds"</strong></u></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8670232" target="_blank">Den of Thieves</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8676205" target="_blank">College of Wizardry</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8681463" target="_blank">Bastion of Faith</a></em></li> </ol><p><strong><u>"Apocalypse Adventures"</u></strong></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8687345" target="_blank">The Apocalypse Stone</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8694054" target="_blank">The Dungeon of Death</a></em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><em><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8704743" target="_blank">Die Vecna Die!</a></em></li> </ol><p>There's no particular time-frame attached to when I'll be posting these; if history is any guide, I'll end up writing one every week or so. Each listing will be linked back here for ease of reference. And with all of that out of the way, let's kick off another trip down memory lane!</p><p></p><p><em>Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 8506075, member: 8461"] Exactly [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/complete-looking-back-at-the-leatherette-series-phbr-dmgr-hr-and-more.677493/']one year ago today[/URL], I started a thread wherein I waxed nostalgic about AD&D 2nd Edition's "leatherette" series. It was a lot of fun, generating a number of great insights, entertaining anecdotes, and excuses to crack some truly awful jokes. And of course, it gave me a convenient excuse to pull those old books off of my shelves and flip through them again. After that thread reached its natural conclusion, I've been wondering what line of old products to give the same treatment to. Since I'm sticking to materials which I have physical copies of, and wanted to overview entire series, that cut down on a lot of my options; while my library of print RPG products is pretty vast (totaling some 1,750 or so at last count, not including individual issues of RPG magazines, RPG-specific novels, etc.), there are a lot of holes in my collection that have yet to be filled. While I could have gone for a few of the old campaign settings where I've managed to get all of the various print products (e.g. Ravenloft, Spelljammer, etc.), I wanted to stick to something a little more generic, simply for the sake of keeping a wider appeal. Following quite a bit of thought, I decided to change my approach, and instead go over the "limited series" of AD&D 2E. In this case, I'm defining "limited series" as being those books which were released under a secondary heading (but not that of a campaign setting). In that sense, they're "limited" not in terms of how many were produced, but because they were released under a label which simply didn't have many entries, such as the various "Tomes" or "Odyssey" products, though I'm also folding in multipart entries of a single product, such as [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/120126/Encyclopedia-Magica-Series-2e-BUNDLE?affiliate_id=820'][I]Encyclopedia Magica[/I][/URL]. That covers a lot of ground, as there were several of these, and so allows for a nice variety of products. And, of course, I'm going to cheat in several places, just because there are a few other books that weren't actually published under a secondary heading, but which I personally think of as having one. As any experienced DM knows, half the fun of making up your own rules is bending them. :) As before, this isn't going to be a "let's read" or even a series of proper reviews. It's just me going on about each particular product, and inviting others to join in as they feel inclined. Amusement is the order of the day here, with actual information being a distant second. Going through my collection, I'm going to cover the following books in the order listed: [U][B]"The Expanded Core"[/B][/U] [LIST=1] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8506076']Legends & Lore[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8514033']Tome of Magic[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8521716']Book of Artifacts[/URL][/I] [/LIST] [U][B]Option Series[/B][/U] [LIST=1] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8530366']Player's Option: Combat & Tactics[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8537991']Player's Option: Skills & Powers[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8544804']Dungeon Master's Option: High-Level Campaigns[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8552434']Player's Option: Spells & Magic[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8558289']The Gates of Firestorm Peak[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8563691']Campaign Option: Council of Wyrms Setting[/URL][/I] [/LIST] [U][B]"Magical Directories"[/B][/U] [LIST=1] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8572187']The Magic Encyclopedia[/URL][/I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8572187'] vols. I-II[/URL] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8578036']Encyclopedia Magica[/URL][/I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8578036'] vols. I-IV[/URL] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8585114']Wizard's Spell Compendium[/URL][/I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8585114'] vols. I-IV[/URL] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8592754']Priest's Spell Compendium[/URL][/I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8592754'] vols. I-III[/URL] [/LIST] [U][B]Tomes[/B][/U] [LIST=1] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8601349']The Rod of Seven Parts[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8606734']Return to the Tomb of Horrors[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8615187']Axe of the Dwarvish Lords[/URL][/I] [/LIST] [U][B]Odyssey[/B][/U] [LIST=1] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8621367']Tale of the Comet[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8627985']Jakandor, Island of War[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8636440']Jakandor, Isle of Destiny[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8641700']Jakandor, Land of Legend[/URL][/I] [/LIST] [B][U]Monstrous Arcana[/U] (sourcebooks only)[/B] [LIST=1] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8649709']I, Tyrant[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8654493']The Sea Devils[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8662069']The Illithiad[/URL][/I] [/LIST] [U][B]"Strongholds"[/B][/U] [LIST=1] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8670232']Den of Thieves[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8676205']College of Wizardry[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8681463']Bastion of Faith[/URL][/I] [/LIST] [B][U]"Apocalypse Adventures"[/U][/B] [LIST=1] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8687345']The Apocalypse Stone[/URL][/I] [*][I][URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8694054']The Dungeon of Death[/URL][/I] [*][I][url=https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-limited-series-players-option-monstrous-arcana-odyssey-and-more.685207/post-8704743]Die Vecna Die![/url][/I] [/LIST] There's no particular time-frame attached to when I'll be posting these; if history is any guide, I'll end up writing one every week or so. Each listing will be linked back here for ease of reference. And with all of that out of the way, let's kick off another trip down memory lane! [I]Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.[/I] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
[COMPLETE] Looking back at the limited series: Player's Option, Monstrous Arcana, Odyssey, and more!
Top