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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2009713" data-attributes="member: 18387">I re-read some articles in Dragon #55 (on CD-Rom) last week. They had three articles about the "new" Fiend Folio for AD&D that had just been released in the summer of 1981. One article was a fairly harsh criticism by Ed Greenwood (a contributing editor at the time, now better known as the father of the "Forgotten Realms" campaign setting). Greenwood raised several complaints against the Fiend Folio, making a case for a "revised edition" of the book. In spite of his remarks, a revised version of the book addressing these issues was never released. Until now. The Tome of Horrors, by Necromancer Games, is a collection of monsters that is something of a monster itself, weighing in at over 320 pages and over 400 monsters. The bulk of the monsters are conversions of old favorites from the first edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game (including a substantial number from the old Fiend Folio tome). Many are conversions from other editions of the game, including some from modules that never had an "official" appearance. There are also a substantial number of new creations that are either completely new to D&D / D20 with this book, or that have appeared in previous Necromancer Games modules.My first concern when I heard about this project was concern that there would be overlap between this book and future "official" books from Wizards of the Coast. However, this book was produced under a special license with Wizards of the Coast to avoid this. The only duplicate monster that I've recognized is Orcus, who has also appeared in the recent Book of Vile Darkness. Apparently Necromancer received special permission to do their own conversion of their mascot.My other concern was that this book would be filled with all the "leftover" monsters from AD&D that nobody ever really liked or used. Ed Greenwood's old complaints about the Fiend Folio brought up this issue. "There are many incomplete and inadequate monster entries," Greenwood criticized. "Monsters such as the Al-mi'raj and the Hook Horror have strange appearances and little else;  there is no depth to their listings. Certainly not enough information is given to ensure that one DM will present them in a manner similar to another DM's handling. Similarly, one needs to know more of the real nature of the Dune Stalker, the Dire Corby, the Eye of Fear and Flame, and the race of Dark Creepers". He went on to complain about how many creatures seemed to be very "gamey", failing to fill any sort of ecological niche, and have a feel of existing merely to torment players.Many of these monsters make their reappearance in the Tome of Horrors, and almost every creature has been greatly expanded upon and detailed over its first edition appearance. Their typical combat tactics are detailed quite nicely as they have in the Monster Manual, and many notes have been included on non-combat details such as society, customs, habitat, and so forth. Many of the humanoid races include information for running player characters of that race, including attribute modifiers and ECL. Even some of the more notoriously gamey "DM Special" monsters (such as the Nilbog, the Gas Spore, and the Adherer) have now been expanded and detailed to make them much more of a believable monster rather than a surprise attack against players. In short, many of the old "useless" creatures from AD&D have now been presented in a fun and intriguing new light, giving them a new chance to find a home in many D&D campaigns.One further complaint Greenwood leveled against the original Fiend Folio was that it contained frequent rules errors. While I can't say I've gone through every entry in the Tome of Horrors with a calculator in hand, casual examination has revealed no significant rules blunders thus far. I might quibble over the assigned CR and ECL ratings in a few entries, but I have just as many (if not more) quibbles about such assignments that have appeared in official D&D books. A few monsters (such as the rot grub) are listed as hazards, and have no actual monster stat entry – but rather have detailed rules for handling that particular threat. After all, "fighting" a rot grub is as silly as fighting a poison needle trap – but there is nothing silly about the danger presented from either! The rules in these cases are detailed very nicely. The DM is of course free to expand or modify what is found within based on circumstances, but it provides a very solid foundation that can be used unchanged or built upon as part of an adventure. Everything appears rock-solid and well balanced. As a Dungeon Master without nearly as much time on my hands as I'd like to have for adventure preparation, trusting my source materials so that I can drop things into my campaign "as-is" without having to spend time "fixing" rules errors or balance problems is a big deal with me. So far, I'm happy to say the Tome of Horrors has earned that trust.Nearly everything in the book (except the art and "credits" information) is under the Open Gaming License. This means that they can be freely used under the OGL with other products. Since no "official" monsters outside of the Monster Manual I and the Psionics Handbook have yet appeared as part of the SRD, this means the Tome of Horrors is a huge source of new monsters for publicly released adventures. To further sweeten the deal, Necromancer Games has included a page of step-by-step instructions (and examples) on how to include the monsters from the Tome of Horrors in your product to make it fully OGL compliant (at least with respect to the usage of these monsters). Publishers, freelancers, internet-publishers, contest-entrants, take note!Is the book perfect? No, of course not; nothing ever is. Some people may prefer the color artwork of WotC's books over the "first edition" style black & white artwork of the Tome of Horrors. And while much of the artwork is excellent, the book  definitely has its share of weak illustrations. As with any work of this size, there are a handful of typos and minor formatting blunder. I find endlessly amusing the note on the Slaad Lord of Entropy: "It is believed that his true form is that of a 15-foot tall black salad." I suppose he moonlights as the Lord of Lettuce. And even with an expanded entry, I still can't figure a thing to do with the Flumph!None of these minor issues detract from the usability of this volume. This is a gigantic collection of monsters that are rules-solid, interesting, and fun. With this book, Necromancer Games has not only converted "First Edition Feel" to "Third Edition Rules", but has greatly improved upon it in the process. Players beware, and DMs rejoice - if there ever is such a thing as a "must-have" volume outside of the core D&D rulebooks, this is it!</blockquote>

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