Did anyone like the old Monstrous Compendium ring-binder format?

[Henry]

I disliked it immensely, because the pages just kept tearing due to their weight when standing on end and due to general use. That said, I collected a ton of the things, and gave them away not long after 3E came out, because I then had all of my favorite monsters in one place.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Great idea in theory, really crappy in execution.

I hated the fact that the most commonly used monsters would sooner or later either tear at the holes or get lost. Plus, my binder had a bent ring, so lots of pages would fall out on that hole if you held the binder incorrectly. I only bought the first two supplements then decided that was enough. I don't know where my copy is now, and could really care less.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

If they had made it one monster per page, I'd want a 3E version of it. It was fantastic for compiling just the monsters that you would need for a given adventure, thus negating the need to bring the entire compendium. And every monster had a picture - nice!

Overall, the idea was good but the execution less than perfect. Some other flaws: each and every compendium should have had its name on the top right hand corner (some of the early ones didn't, which made reordering them by compendium problematic); some of the early ones required ripping out of a spine which inevitably caused some holes to be torn apart; and, as mentioned, the alpha-order issue.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Pretty much with everyone else here. Good idea but poor execution and contiuing series that didn't allow for 'realistic' expansion and added onto that thefact that you needed several binders to hold it all and that they took up much more space than a book of similiar size.

 

[Orius]

I never actually had the MC, but the first guys I gamed with had one. I believe they had MC 1 along with the DL and FR MC pages. By the time I started getting the books myself, the MC was history and so I had the 2e MM instead. Also, the later appendices dropped the whole binder page format and were released as softcovers, and I have some of them as well.

Personally, I thought the basic idea itself was interesting. It allowed a DM to compile his own unique monster collection, and a DM only really needed to take out the pages he would use for a given adventure and not have to lug more books to the table. But as a DM who does keep campaign notes in binders, I'm well aware of the flaws. Durability is the biggest issue. Most of you guys mentioned that the pages ripped easily. TSR really messed up there, and didn't take into account that the setup would likely entail a lot of wear and tear. Also along the lines of durability is the binder itself. Binders have a tendancy to fall apart after a while, though I suppose a DM could just replace the binder with any old binder if he really needed to.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, the basic AD&D monsters were released in two seperate compendiums, MC 1 and MC 2. That seems really stupid! Why make a DM buy 2 products to get what he needs instead of making a single product. Oh that's right, I almost forgot. This was the Lorraine era at T$R.

Anyway, from what I've heard and read about people's experiences with the MC it seems to me that is was an interesting idea, but one that wasn't thought out thouroughly and thus executed badly. And like people stated above, the SRD can be easily used to make printouts of monster stats for 3e, and so the best aspect of the MC, the portability, can be used today by DMs who wish to do so.

 

[Wild Gazebo]

NO.​

 

[pensiv]

actually. I use binders even now. I print out the monsters I'm using and put them in a binder. The book is nice for reference, and I'm glad I have it too. The binder is a great runtime aid though.

 

[Voadam]

I loved the individual pages format.

I would grab the half dozen monsters I was planning on using that night, have those six pages with me and leave the rest.

It was great for the too many books to bring syndrome I was prone to.

 

[Mercule]

I was lukewarm to it when it came out. I could see the advantages, but I ran 100% seat-of-the-pants, so most were lost on me anyway.

When my first page ripped out, I was angry and cursed TSR, wishing for a bound book.

The first time they put out an expansion that broke the possibility of alphabetizing things, I CAME COMPLETELY UNGLUED, INVOKING A DIRE CURSE UPON THE OFFENDING PARTIES -- A CURSE THAT ULTIMATELY CAUSED THE FINANCIAL RUIN OF THE COMPANY, AND I STILL THINK THEY DESERVED IT. Ah, I feel better, now.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Loved the concept, hated the execution.

All too common an occurance, unfortunately.