JEB
Legend
Years ago, just out of curiosity, I put together some lists of every appearance in every edition by a monster that was in a core D&D rulebook.
One result was that I now had a list of the monsters that had been "core" in every single edition of the game. Meaning that they appeared in all of the following:
Here is that list:
So the question is, why? What makes these 15 monsters essential, and not others?
One result was that I now had a list of the monsters that had been "core" in every single edition of the game. Meaning that they appeared in all of the following:
- 0e: Monsters & Treasure in the original boxed set
- Basic: 1977 Basic, 1981 Basic, 1983 Basic, Rules Cyclopedia
- 1e: Monster Manual
- 2e: Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1 and 2, Monstrous Manual
- 3e: Monster Manual (3.0 and 3.5)
- 4e: Monster Manual, Monster Vault
- 5e: Monster Manual
Here is that list:
- Black dragon
- Red dragon
- White dragon
- Gargoyle
- Gnoll
- Goblin
- Hobgoblin
- Kobold
- Medusa
- Ochre jelly
- Ogre
- Orc
- Skeleton
- Werewolf
- Zombie
So the question is, why? What makes these 15 monsters essential, and not others?