| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Fizilbert |
Posted - 20 Feb 2010 : 12:37:59
I just stumbled across this book online. It's an old book but somehow I had never heard of it before now. Does anyone have it? Is it worth getting? |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Dadoo |
Posted - 06 Jun 2010 : 20:34:02
There is another book called "country sites" that I really liked and used for various side adventures. Along with the jam packed full of goodies FR Book of lairs. Yes I do remember one being done for Dragonlance to but I didnt care for it there is also a Greyhawk specific one that I used ideas from that were not bad. One of my players still uses a dagger from it that she got 15? yrs ago. |
| Jorkens |
Posted - 06 Jun 2010 : 12:48:43
Just to add a final coment to this subjekt. I got the FR Book of Lairs a couple of days ago and it is actualy pretty good, at least compared to Book of Lairs I. The Monkey Spider idea is one of the best in the whole book. Some of the encounters fits nicely with my way of DM'ing and I might use them sometime in the future, although I would say that only one or two of the enocounters have any references to the Realms at all.
Worth getting if you can find it cheaply, although I still hold the Deck of Encounter boxes to be the best collections of short scenarios and ideas published by TSR. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 07 Mar 2010 : 00:47:17
The RAVENLOFT Appendices were a real hoot! They are, aside from my SPELLJAMMER compendiums and PLANESCAPE monster books, about the only "Monstrous" entries I still refer to from 2e. |
| Jakk |
Posted - 06 Mar 2010 : 23:42:03
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
<snip> Here's a list I just grabbed from Wikipedia:
MC1 Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989) — 144 pages, 12 dividers and 3-ring D-binder
MC2 Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) — 144 pages
MC3 Monstrous Compendium Volume Three Forgotten Realms Appendix (1989) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC4 Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix (1989) — 96 pages, 4 dividers and 3-ring D-binder
MC5 Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Adventures Appendix (1990) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC6 Monstrous Compendium Kara-Tur Appendix (1990) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC7 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix (1990) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC8 Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix (1991) — 96 pages, 4 dividers
MC9 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix II (1991) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC10 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix (1991) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC11 Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix II (1991) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC12 Monstrous Compendium Dark Sun Appendix: Terrors of the Desert (1992) — 96 pages
MC13 Monstrous Compendium Al-Qadim Appendix (1992) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC14 Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix (1992) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC15 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix II: Children of the Night (1993) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
Monstrous Manual (1993) — 384 page hardcover reprinting MC1 & MC2 plus others
Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium Appendix II: Terrors Beyond Tyr (1995)
Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I & II (1996) — reprinting MC10 & MC15
Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix III: Creatures of Darkness (1994)
Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994)
Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix II (1995)
Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix III (1998)
Mystara Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994)
Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume One (1994) — reprints from modules and magazines of 1993
Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Two (1995) — reprints from modules and magazines of 1994
Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three (1996) — reprints from modules and magazines of 1995
Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Four (1998) — 96 pages; reprints from modules and magazines of 1996–7
Savage Coast Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1996) (download-only)
I have all the generic ones and the planar ones in the binder with MC1. All of the non-FR and non-Spelljammer ones are in the binder with MC4. Both Spelljammer appendices I put into a non-MC minder, along with some other stuff, and I bought a big non-MC binder for all of the appendices that were anywhere on Toril (Realms, Kara-Tur, Al-Qadim). That last binder also holds all the MC pages from FR boxed sets.
I have 'em all too, but I just took the binders apart and stuck them to the spines and front covers of two 4" binders; the binders were starting to come apart at the folds anyway just from the combination of their construction and repeated openings and closings. I have my Planescape, Spelljammer, and Ravenloft collections in with the generic monsters, and all of the world-specific bundles are together behind the MC4 cover. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 06 Mar 2010 : 23:23:52
quote:
Originally posted by Fizilbert
I was talking about the Book of Lairs. I now have Lairs I, Lairs II, and the FR Lairs.
Ah, okay. I thought we were still on the side topic.  |
| Fizilbert |
Posted - 06 Mar 2010 : 19:21:18
I was talking about the Book of Lairs. I now have Lairs I, Lairs II, and the FR Lairs. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 06 Mar 2010 : 18:06:34
quote:
Originally posted by Fizilbert
Ha! Finally won a bid for Book 1. Now I have 3 of the 5.
5 what? There were a lot more appendices to the Monstrous Compendium than just 5... Here's a list I just grabbed from Wikipedia:
MC1 Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989) — 144 pages, 12 dividers and 3-ring D-binder
MC2 Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) — 144 pages
MC3 Monstrous Compendium Volume Three Forgotten Realms Appendix (1989) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC4 Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix (1989) — 96 pages, 4 dividers and 3-ring D-binder
MC5 Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Adventures Appendix (1990) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC6 Monstrous Compendium Kara-Tur Appendix (1990) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC7 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix (1990) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC8 Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix (1991) — 96 pages, 4 dividers
MC9 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix II (1991) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC10 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix (1991) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC11 Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix II (1991) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC12 Monstrous Compendium Dark Sun Appendix: Terrors of the Desert (1992) — 96 pages
MC13 Monstrous Compendium Al-Qadim Appendix (1992) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC14 Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix (1992) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
MC15 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix II: Children of the Night (1993) — 64 pages, 4 dividers
Monstrous Manual (1993) — 384 page hardcover reprinting MC1 & MC2 plus others
Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium Appendix II: Terrors Beyond Tyr (1995)
Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I & II (1996) — reprinting MC10 & MC15
Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix III: Creatures of Darkness (1994)
Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994)
Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix II (1995)
Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix III (1998)
Mystara Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994)
Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume One (1994) — reprints from modules and magazines of 1993
Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Two (1995) — reprints from modules and magazines of 1994
Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three (1996) — reprints from modules and magazines of 1995
Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Four (1998) — 96 pages; reprints from modules and magazines of 1996–7
Savage Coast Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1996) (download-only)
I have all the generic ones and the planar ones in the binder with MC1. All of the non-FR and non-Spelljammer ones are in the binder with MC4. Both Spelljammer appendices I put into a non-MC minder, along with some other stuff, and I bought a big non-MC binder for all of the appendices that were anywhere on Toril (Realms, Kara-Tur, Al-Qadim). That last binder also holds all the MC pages from FR boxed sets. |
| Fizilbert |
Posted - 06 Mar 2010 : 17:14:12
Ha! Finally won a bid for Book 1. Now I have 3 of the 5. |
| Jorkens |
Posted - 04 Mar 2010 : 10:32:28
quote:
Originally posted by Fizilbert
Alguduirs, asperii, beguilers, monkey spiders, orpsus, ringworm, and so forth. Almost every adventure revolves around a monster I haven't heard of before. The book mentions it might be useful to have a FR Monster Compendium, but I dont have that, and dont recall ever seeing a book like that.
Thanks. Sounds like it can be worth it for the aperii and monkey spiders at least.
|
| Jorkens |
Posted - 04 Mar 2010 : 10:31:08
The 1st compendium also has great Holloway illustrations far superior to those used in the Manual. The main problem with the binders was that it was a bit cumbersome in comparison with a book.
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| Fizilbert |
Posted - 03 Mar 2010 : 01:06:10
I may have to keep an eye out for the binder version of the MC. Of course any used version bought today may or may not have all the entries, but it might be worth it if the price was right. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 02 Mar 2010 : 12:54:48
quote:
Originally posted by Fizilbert
Well I just won a bid for Book 2 on ebay, but unfortunately someone sniped me on Book 1 with a few seconds left on the auction. Sad thing was, both books were coming from the same guy and I was hoping to have him ship them together. Oh well.
My experience with eBay is that if you wait long enough, it'll pop up again -- often with a better price.  |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 02 Mar 2010 : 12:53:52
quote:
Originally posted by Fizilbert
I remember the binder version of the MC. Actually that was probably a good idea on their part. A shame they didn't stick with it.
I think they were a brilliant idea... Not only was it handy for DMs, but giving every monster an entire page meant there was room for stuff like ecology and how to use their remains -- much better than later editions with nothing but combat descriptions. |
| Fizilbert |
Posted - 02 Mar 2010 : 11:29:47
Well I just won a bid for Book 2 on ebay, but unfortunately someone sniped me on Book 1 with a few seconds left on the auction. Sad thing was, both books were coming from the same guy and I was hoping to have him ship them together. Oh well. |
| Fizilbert |
Posted - 01 Mar 2010 : 23:18:35
I remember the binder version of the MC. Actually that was probably a good idea on their part. A shame they didn't stick with it. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 01 Mar 2010 : 11:56:52
quote:
Originally posted by Fizilbert
Alguduirs, asperii, beguilers, monkey spiders, orpsus, ringworm, and so forth. Almost every adventure revolves around a monster I haven't heard of before. The book mentions it might be useful to have a FR Monster Compendium, but I dont have that, and dont recall ever seeing a book like that.
There were two of them, both appendices to the Monstrous Compendium. The first Realms one was MC3, the second was MC11. Kara-Tur and Zakhara also had appendices. And most of the boxed sets of the era also had MC pages.
Luckily, none of my Monstrous Compendiums were in storage.
The Monstrous Compendium was a big three-ring binder monster book -- like a Monster Manual notebook. The original idea was that a DM could simply remove the loose-leaf pages for monsters he needed and put them back later. The first and 4th one (number four was Dragonlance) had binders, but all the rest were just pages and dividers to be stuck in an existing binder. They did a buttload of them; it was like 13 or so before they decided to go back to regular sourcebook format. The first couple were generic, and all the loose-leaf ones after that were for specific settings. |
| Fizilbert |
Posted - 01 Mar 2010 : 11:36:06
Alguduirs, asperii, beguilers, monkey spiders, orpsus, ringworm, and so forth. Almost every adventure revolves around a monster I haven't heard of before. The book mentions it might be useful to have a FR Monster Compendium, but I dont have that, and dont recall ever seeing a book like that. |
| Jorkens |
Posted - 28 Feb 2010 : 19:55:18
quote:
Originally posted by Fizilbert
Got my copy of the FR Book of Lairs. It's not bad. My biggest gripe is that most of the monsters are ones I have never heard of before, but thankfully they give you the stats for them, and in most cases a picture too.
Now I am curious, which monsters are you referring to? I had planned some old Runequest products as my next acquisition, but I might keep this book in the back of my head. |
| Fizilbert |
Posted - 28 Feb 2010 : 14:44:31
Got my copy of the FR Book of Lairs. It's not bad. My biggest gripe is that most of the monsters are ones I have never heard of before, but thankfully they give you the stats for them, and in most cases a picture too. |
| froglegg |
Posted - 27 Feb 2010 : 19:06:31
If you can get it I think you should.It's a pretty good book. 
John |
| Fizilbert |
Posted - 21 Feb 2010 : 12:42:36
I just placed an order on amazon for the FR Book of Lairs. |
| Faraer |
Posted - 21 Feb 2010 : 03:26:22
I think REF4 The Book of Lairs II is worth picking up for the three short adventures by Ed Greenwood, which naturally feel a lot more Realmslike than anything in the 1995 Realms-branded book. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 21 Feb 2010 : 00:27:51
quote:
Originally posted by Thauramarth
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
There were at least five -- Spelljammer had Space Lairs.
You could prolly also include Country Sites, Castle Sites, and City Sites in that list.
Yeah... Spelljammer. Still one of my favorite settings (fond memories of integrating it with the Realms - the gradual build-up of the Daggerford Wildspace Squadron...). I would not put that one in the same category as the Books of Lairs, though, where the various encounters are dealt with in around one or maximum two pages. Space Lairs is more like Tales from the Outer Planes and REF5-Lords of Darkness - medium-length adventures, rather than random encounters on (light) steroids.
Space Lairs was my actual favourite of the set, followed closely by the DRAGONLANCE supplement.
FR's Book of Lairs had its moments too, but it was generic enough in parts that it made me wonder, at times, about the application of the Realms logo on the cover. |
| Thauramarth |
Posted - 20 Feb 2010 : 22:05:18
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
There were at least five -- Spelljammer had Space Lairs.
You could prolly also include Country Sites, Castle Sites, and City Sites in that list.
Yeah... Spelljammer. Still one of my favorite settings (fond memories of integrating it with the Realms - the gradual build-up of the Daggerford Wildspace Squadron...). I would not put that one in the same category as the Books of Lairs, though, where the various encounters are dealt with in around one or maximum two pages. Space Lairs is more like Tales from the Outer Planes and REF5-Lords of Darkness - medium-length adventures, rather than random encounters on (light) steroids. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 20 Feb 2010 : 20:19:26
quote:
Originally posted by Fizilbert
I knew there were 4 books with the name (Lairs I, Lairs II, FR Lairs, and Dragonlance Lairs) so my question was really in reference to any of them.
There were at least five -- Spelljammer had Space Lairs.
You could prolly also include Country Sites, Castle Sites, and City Sites in that list. |
| Fizilbert |
Posted - 20 Feb 2010 : 19:55:27
I knew there were 4 books with the name (Lairs I, Lairs II, FR Lairs, and Dragonlance Lairs) so my question was really in reference to any of them.
I was hoping to get an idea if maybe one book was better then another. You know a lot of times when these books come out, the first one was great, but when they make a second or third book, they are not as good, they suffer from sequelitis.
So far it sounds like the FR version seems to be the more popular one, though that would make sense since this is a FR forum. lol
It sounds like its the sort of book I could use. Sometimes I'm too busy to get a chance to sit down and make expanded random encounters. It's one thing to make a random encounter table for a quick random battle or something, but I know sometimes I want to have something with a little more pizzaz to it, which it sounds like these books offer.
|
| Thauramarth |
Posted - 20 Feb 2010 : 17:47:07
Well, I have the entire lot of them. I believe there was also a 2nd Ed one for Dragonlance - that's Draggin' Lance to you, Wooly .
I kind of like all three. True, there's not much meat on the bones, but all three Books of Lairs were based on the same idea - a generic short encounter, based around one main monster (with some accessories). (Even the Forgotten Realms one was pretty generic; it had the occasional reference to an FR location, but little that would need any rework if you wanted to use it in another setting). The same idea (but with some longer scenarios) was used in the 1st ed Tales from the Outer Planes and the 1st ed Lords of Darkness, although the latter was heavier on lore, with locations and NPCs that have been retained throughout the editions.
Any DM worth his salt can come up with similar things, but the Books of Lairs have the advantage of giving you the same, ready to use, and spare you a couple of hours of game preparation time. And that's how I have used them: random encounters that have a bit more substance to them than just the rolls on the random encounter tables. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 20 Feb 2010 : 16:07:58
quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens
Ah, sorry for the mistake. I actually only own the first general one and its barely recommendable. A couple of the scenarios are OK, but mostly they are mediocre. The deck of encounter sets are a hundred times better if you can find them.
And Wooly; how does the second book and the Realmsian one compare to the first? I have been a bit hesitant about buying them.
Well, again, I've only read the Realms one. And it's been more than a few years. I remember liking it, though. |
| Jorkens |
Posted - 20 Feb 2010 : 15:24:42
Ah, sorry for the mistake. I actually only own the first general one and its barely recommendable. A couple of the scenarios are OK, but mostly they are mediocre. The deck of encounter sets are a hundred times better if you can find them.
And Wooly; how does the second book and the Realmsian one compare to the first? I have been a bit hesitant about buying them. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 20 Feb 2010 : 15:16:38
Just to clarify, which Book of Lairs? There was a Book of Lairs and a Book of Lairs II, both under the AD&D imprint, and then an FR-specific Book of Lairs.
I have all three, but I've only read thru the FR one, which I liked.
Edit: and then Jorkens asked the same question, while I was confirming my info.
Edit 2: Slight mistake on Jorkens's part: the FR Book of Lairs is a 2E product. It's also got one of my favorite covers of any FR product. |
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