First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) originally had three core books, one of which was the Monster Manual which was first published in 1977, making it the first of the core AD&D books that was published. As the name suggests, it was an illustrated compendium of the monster, beasts, and common foes (e.g., bandits) which the player characters might encounter in their adventures.
In 1982, the UK division of TSR--the company that published AD&D--had put together an additional or supplemental collection of beasts and monsters titled Fiend Folio. It also included updated random encounter tables for different environments.
Finally, in 1983, TSR released the Monster Manual II with many more monsters and beasts including a large number that had been introduced in various published adventures and articles in the Dragon magazine since the publication of the original Monster Manual. It also included updated random encounter tables with the monsters and beasts from the prior two volumes.
The videos below present a series of AI generated, photo realistic illustrations of each of the creatures from the respective books.
VIDEO: "Monster Manual Illustrated"
Kruc (26 min.)
VIDEO: "Fiend Folio Illustrated"
Kruc (16 min.)
VIDEO: "Monster Manual II - Illustrated"
Kruc (24 min.)
I've got a mint copy of Unearthed Arcana.
ReplyDeleteSweet. I had sold most of my books after I got married and then repurchased them here and there from used book stores in the early 2000s, so mine is a bit beat up.
DeleteSo awesome. I gave my books to my Son, who made good use of them, and bought newer ones, too. Shame what the publisher has done to that franchise, but hopefully it will get bought out of bankruptcy and resurrected by a true fan.
ReplyDeleteDrive Thru RPG offers reprints of some of the AD&D 1st Edition Books.
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