Monstrous Compendium: Fiend Folio Appendix

by Skip Williams (Editor), Jean Rabe (Editor)

Look to your weapons! Here comes a horde of the strangest creatures ever to inhabit the worlds of the AD&D game. The denizens of the original FIEND FOLIO tome are back, updated and expanded for the AD&D 2nd edition game. Treat yourself to an in-depth look at the peculiar achaierai, vicious stilt-legged birds that roam the infernal planes - and they also hunt closer to civilization. Find out what xvarts do for fun, but don't expect them to play fair! The menagerie inside includes leaping gambados, grenzied gorbels, and other old favorites. Several brand new creatures, such as the beautiful but haughty gem dragons join them. Don't pass up your cance to get to know these astonishing creatures.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Dungeons and Dragons

64 pages, Unbound

First published May 1, 1992

Reviews

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

An AD&D 2nd Edition update of the classic 1st Edition Fiend Folio. Many of the monsters from the original are included, with updates and expansions, as well as a handful of brand-new monsters. Unfortunately, many of the best monsters from the 1E original weren't included (some, but not all, had been updated earlier in 2E) and the new monsters are largely just OK. The expanded (and occasionally excessive) detail does compensate a bit, though even that doesn't save monsters that were a stretch in the original (such as the ice lizard and symbiotic jelly). The result is a collection that's solid enough, but lacking some of the original's weird charm.

Some of the best of the updated monsters include the al-mi'raj (now with teleportation and psionics!), gambado, gibberling, and penanggalan (obviously sanitized but with interesting lore). Of the new monsters, the main event is clearly the gem dragons, though creatures such as the ruve (arrogant, hyper-intelligent psionic dogs), spanner (living bridges), and urdunnir (dwarves that can move through stone) are probably more entertaining. (B+)