Further Thoughts on the Monster Manual II

Although I savaged the general state of the artwork of the Monster Manual II in my previous post, I should make it clear that I also believe that there is plenty of decent to good artwork, especially by Harry Quinn and Dave Sutherland(!), but the overwhelming amount of Jim Holloway artwork reminds me of what HR Geiger said about how babies are singly cute, but become sinister in large numbers. And frankly, and I'm sure this has come it in interviews, they appear to be a rush job.

Jim Holloway may not be my favorite of the TSR alumni, but he is a fine artist, and I think his work is great for being a combination of the Dave Sutherland and Tom Wham traditions, but I do find his artwork tiresome when a book or module uses him for almost all of the illustrations. One thing I do love about his work is that it often, albeit in a humorous light, presents adventurers getting beat the heck down! such as the Bowler illustration on page 21 of the MM II.

Another thing that strikes me about the artwork of the MM II compared to that of the Monster Manual and especially the Fiend Folio, is that it lacks the lush density of artwork in those two volumes (and this is a criticism that could be levelled at contemporary works such as the Swords & Wizardry Monster Book; Malevolent and Benign; and Monsters of Myth, completely understandable albeit due to budgetary concerns); I'm not transported to fantasy worlds while paging through this cold, stiff, barren volume. As an "imagination is king!" zealot I should be above whining about sparse artwork, but it's glaring in comaprison with it's two older siblings.

As far as the contents of the Monster Manual II go, frankly I think there a butt-load of great monsters contained in it's pages. I think a lot of them lacked "traction" due to the severity of their presentation, but check out the Transposer (pg. 121). A low-intelligence, featureless, "vaguely humanoid" creature with limbs that end in horny-ridged "sucker like members" that uses inherent illusory abilities to appear human and entice prey to melee; when it hits it sets up some sort of sympathetic field between it and it's target that causes damage inflicted upon it to instead heal the Transposer while also damaging the attacker.

It's like some sort of nightmare fuel invented by Telcanter; imagine how awesome the illustration would be for this thing if it was in the Fiend Folio. I imagine that they're some sort of synthetic or alien predators that blend in with and lurk within the fringes of human society as beggars and outcasts, that become hot babes in dark alleyways to prey upon lone drunks. Can they impersonate specific people? When trained and controlled by an villainous genius I would say yes!

Never mind that the Monster Manual II has the Froghemoth!

The Monster Manual II (1st ed.) Is As Ugly As Sin...

It brings me absolutely no pleasure to say this; this ugliness involves more than the appearance, the slick paper feels gross and synthetic in comparison to the pages in my other AD&D tomes. But the typefaces lack personality; the cover featues a Romanticism lacking in previous hardcovers as well as, in an example of Ouroborous, intentionally or not emulating the cover sensibilities of mass market fantasy trilogy dreck. Never mind that the choice of a eyeshadow-wearing drunken grimacing Firbolg Giant (neutral-chaotic good alignment) seems an odd one.

Although the artwork for the Modron section is perfect; the en masse of workmanlike Holloway artwork eventually becomes an assault on the sensibilities. I don't mean to the say that the artwork is terrible, there are several great pieces such as the Ant Lion and Giant Pterosaur, but a lot of it is bland and the homogeny becomes unpleasant.

Instead of the lush and (idiosyncratically) comprehensive encounter matrices of the DMG and the Fiend Folio we get a radically new system that presents a range of 19-odd encounters instead of every possible one. However we do get several pages of Monsters by Terrain and Frequency on That Terrain that lists ever possible encounter by climate and terrain instead of % encounter tables utilizing that information.

Take a look at the back cover. "...including new creatures like the Deadly Puddings, Devas, and Valley Elves." Stirring stuff indeed, and again more odd "marquee monster" choices now getting into vaguely Spinal Tap/Encounter Critical-ish territory. And what the hell is up with "A must for the serious AD&D(TM) game player"?! The DM should be slapping this book out of the players hands!

Looking through the Monster Manual II while working on monster lists I seriously begin to wish that someone either:

A) Do a "netbook" hack of the MM II replacing the weaker artwork with pieces possessing more character.
or
B) Publish a simulacrum of the MM II

and in both cases completely mimic the page layout and numbering of the MM II so that it's as instinctive to reference as the original and including proper % encounter tables.

Now I don't seriously expect anyone to attempt the above; it's just an example of the thoughts that come to mind inspired by the sheer banal ugliness of the AD&D Monster Manual II.

Three Crucial Root Dungeon Design Texts & Saturday Night Specials

The Underworld & Wilderness Adventure, Dungeon & Dragons vol. 3

- "The Underworld," pgs. 3-8

Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tekumel

- "Developing An Underworld," pgs. 98-102

Europa fanzine, Issue 6-8/1975

- "How to Set Up Your D&D Campaign" by G. Gygax, pgs. 18-22

also recommended:

The Best of Dragon Magazine vol. 1

- Assorted articles

Of special note is the section in Empire of the Petal Throne relating to "Saturday Night Specials," pg. 100:

"Here too, the role of the "Saturday Night Special" cannot be overemphasized. Aside from the deliberately or randomly determined "normal" contents of Underworld areas, it is interesting to develop large complexes inhabited by special beings. These should have special histories, and players should hear legends of their existence on the surface. Their abilities and treasures should be individually devised, since these add interest and spice to the game..."

Not only is this rock-solid advice for classic megadungeon construction, but I particularly an enamored by the usage of technical dungeon design term of "Saturday Night Special."

My Two Favorite DMG Quotes, Cocaine and Post-Apoc Metal

What, you think even an iconoclast like myself is immune to allure of hero worship? Besides I've been itching for a reason to post these two gems.

From the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide, page 71,"Actions During Combat and Similar Time-Important Situations":

".... in a similar vein, some players will state that they are going to do several actions, which, if allowed, would be likely to occupy their time for many rounds. For example "I'll hurl oil at the monster, ignite it, drink my potion of invisibility, sneak up behind it, and then stab it in the back!" How ambitious indeed....As DM, simply note these actions and begin them accordingly. Then, when the players starts to give instructions about additional activity, simply remind him or her that he or she is already engaged in the former course, and that you will tell him or her when that is finished and new instructions are in order."

I love the subtext of Gary writing DMG content with the intent to screw over players situations that annoyed him.

From the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide, page 71,"Recovery From Intoxication":

"Time is the only cure for intoxication, although certain stimulants will shorten the recovery time....

...Mild stimulants will have no harmful effects.

Strong stimulants have 5% chance per application of lowering the character's constitution by 1 point. This is permanent."

When I read that section as a child my reaction was along the lines of "Whoa! Strong coffee really can fuck you up in AD&D, no wonder us kids aren't allowed to drink it!" Nowadays I am inordinately amused that AD&D included "euphemistic" rules for the detrimental effects of using cocaine to recover from a hangover (it was the end of the seventies after all...). Take that you annoying babbling cokeheads, 1 less point of CON!

As well, it's been a while since i posted any music, so here's some prime headbanging action for your Gamma World/Mutant Future/Post Apoc games:

March 20th & 27th...Blair's Big Dumb Planet Algol Adventure?

So March 21st-27th is International Traditional Gaming Week and I've been very jealous of Jeff Rient's Big Dumb Tekumel Adventure at this year's Winter War. Also, Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion has just been released. So I'm considering doing two "open" Planet Algol games in "public/semi-public" locales in order to celebrate ITGW...with Blair's Big Dumb Planet Algol Adventures utilizing Advanced Labyrinth Lord.

There is a selfish motivation for this...Planet Algol need's it's own "Castle Blackmoor/Castle Greyhawk" iconic dungeon and what better motivation to create a big gonzo fun dungeon that the very public ordeal of an "open game?" Plus, DMing for a bunch of folks that aren't part of my insular bohemian gaming group should be an interesting experience that I could learn from.

Hopefully my momentum continues and this becomes a reality. If this happens, hopefully Ancientvaults, Yezmyr and some of the Red Box Vancouver crew could make it for on eof these games ....

Cue the Star Trek fighting music...