 Volume 1 cover by George Barr. | |
| Designers |
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|---|---|
| Publishers | Chaosium |
| Publication |
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| Genres | Fantasy |
| Systems | Dungeons & Dragons |
All the Worlds' Monsters is a series of fantasy role-playing game supplements published by Chaosium from 1977 to 1980. They were republished in PDF format in 2016. [1] [2] [3]
Edited by Steve Perrin and Jeff Pimper, All the Worlds' Monsters is a fantasy game supplement that lists many monsters from the campaigns of Dungeon Masters across the US, none of which had been published for Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) before and most of which were original creations. [4] There are three volumes, and the first volume predates the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual by several months: [5] : 250
The PDFs contain additionally:
Clara Glowe reviewed All the Worlds' Monsters in The Space Gamer No. 14. [4] Glowe commented that "about one of every six monsters is, or should be classified as dumb" but that "I still recommend this book. It will be a valuable aid to novice and expert alike." [4]
Don Turnbull reviewed All the Worlds' Monsters for White Dwarf #5, and stated that "I would prefer the editors to have been a lot more discriminating - either they could have included fewer monsters [...] or filled the gaps with more worthwhile beasts from whatever source. In aiming for quantity I think they have sacrificed a degree of quality." [7]
Don Turnbull reviewed All the Worlds' Monsters Volume II for White Dwarf #12, giving it an overall rating of 5 out of 10, and stated that "my conclusion is very much the same as for volume I. I with the editors had been a little more discriminating, ruthlessly chopping out the uninteresting and the 'randomly-generated' monster and perhaps lowering the price of the final version. But they have included more interesting monsters than did volume I and on the whole I can give this collection a marginally better recommendation." [8]
Steve Jackson reviewed All the Worlds' Monsters, Volume III in The Space Gamer No. 29. [6] Jackson commented that "Not the best-done monster book in the world [...] and a bit high-priced. If you liked previous volumes of All the Worlds' Monsters, you'll love this; it's more of the same. Otherwise, recommended mainly for diehard D&D people, or Runequest fans who want to populate their world with some rather silly creatures." [6]
Basic Role-Playing (BRP) is a tabletop role-playing game which originated in the RuneQuest fantasy role-playing game. Chaosium released the BRP standalone booklet in 1980 in the boxed set release of the second edition of RuneQuest. Greg Stafford and Lynn Willis are credited as the authors. Chaosium used the percentile skill-based system as the basis for most of their games, including Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, and Elfquest.
RuneQuest is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Steve Perrin, Ray Turney, Steve Henderson, and Warren James, and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of Glorantha. It was first published in 1978 by The Chaosium. Beginning in 1984, publication passed between a number of companies, including Avalon Hill, Mongoose Publishing, and The Design Mechanism, before finally returning to Chaosium in 2016. RuneQuest is notable for its system, designed around percentile dice and an early implementation of skill rules, which became the basis for numerous other games. There have been several editions of the game.
The Monster Manual is the primary bestiary sourcebook for monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR. The Monster Manual was the first hardcover D&D book and includes monsters derived from mythology and folklore, as well as creatures created specifically for D&D. Creature descriptions include game-specific statistics, a brief description of its habits and habitats, and typically an image of the creature. Along with the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide, the Monster Manual is one of the three "core rulebooks" in most editions of the D&D game. As such, new editions of the Monster Manual have been released for each edition of D&D. Due to the level of detail and illustration included in the 1977 release, the book was cited as a pivotal example of a new style of wargame books. Future editions would draw on various sources and act as a compendium of published monsters.
Fiend Folio is the name of three separate products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). All three are collections of monsters.
The Dungeon Master's Guide is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. The Dungeon Master's Guide contains rules concerning the arbitration and administration of a game, and is intended for use by the game's Dungeon Master.
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is a 1980 adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game written by Gary Gygax. While Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is typically a fantasy game, the adventure includes elements of science fiction, and thus belongs to the science fantasy genre. It takes place on a downed spaceship; the ship's crew has died of an unspecified disease, but functioning robots and strange creatures still inhabit the ship. The player characters fight monsters and robots, and gather the futuristic weapons and colored access cards that are necessary for advancing the story.
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the mimic is a type of fictional monster. It is portrayed as being able to change its shape to disguise its body as an inanimate object, commonly a chest. The mimic uses a powerful adhesive that holds fast to creatures that touch it, allowing the mimic to beat its victims with its powerful pseudopods. The mimic was introduced in the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game's original Monster Manual. The mimic has appeared in subsequent editions. Several variants of the creature have been introduced, with a variety of abilities and sizes.
Descent Into the Depths of the Earth is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game coded D1–2. It was written by Gary Gygax, and combines two previously published modules from 1978, the original Descent into the Depths of the Earth and Shrine of the Kuo-Toa. A sequel to the first two modules, Vault of the Drow, was also published in 1978. All of these D-series modules were produced for use with the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules.
Against the Giants is an adventure module written by Gary Gygax and published by TSR in 1981 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It combines the G series of modules previously published in 1978: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, and Hall of the Fire Giant King. All three were produced for use with the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. In 1999, to recognize the 25th anniversary of TSR, the company released an updated version, Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff. Later in 1999, Wizards of the Coast published a novelization of Against the Giants by Ru Emerson.
Worlds of Wonder is a multi-genre set of three role-playing games (RPGs) produced by Chaosium in 1982 that all used the Basic Role-Playing set of rules.
The original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson was published by TSR, Inc. in 1974. It included the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Its product designation was TSR 2002.
High Fantasy is a fantasy role-playing game system originally published by Fantasy Productions in 1978. A second edition in 1981 and several subsequent books were published by Reston Publishing that featured solo adventures using the High Fantasy system. The game received mixed reviews in game periodicals including White Dwarf, The Space Gamer, Different Worlds, Ares, and Dragon.
Don Turnbull was a journalist, editor, games designer, and an accomplished piano and pinball player. He was particularly instrumental in introducing Dungeons & Dragons into the UK, both as the managing director of TSR UK Ltd and as the editor of the Fiend Folio.
Thieves' World is a role-playing game supplement published by Chaosium in 1981, based on the Thieves' World series of novels. It was notable for including rules and statistics allowing for its use with nine different fantasy and science-fiction RPG gaming systems.
Campaign Hexagon System is a book guide published by Judges Guild in 1977 for the Dungeons & Dragons game.
The Caverns of Thracia is an adventure for fantasy role-playing games published by Judges Guild in 1979. Written by Jennell Jaquays, it was compatible with Dungeons & Dragons. A revised edition—compatible with Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition—was published in 2004.
Cults of Prax is a tabletop role-playing game supplement for RuneQuest. Originally published by Chaosium in 1979, it was republished in 2016 in PDF format as part of Chaosium's RuneQuest: Classic Edition Kickstarter.
The Gateway Bestiary is a 1980 role-playing game supplement written by Sandy Petersen for RuneQuest, published by Chaosium.
Tegel Manor is a 1977 fantasy role-playing game adventure published by Judges Guild.