Advanced Dunseonsfwragons MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM' Annual Volume One Sample file ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, DUNGEON MASTER, AL-QADIM, FORGOTTEN REALMS, MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM, and RAVENLOFT are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. DM, MONSTROUS MANUAL, PLANESCAPE, and the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. All TSR characters, character names, and the distinc- tive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. © 1994 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. Random House and its affiliate companies have worldwide distribution rights in the book trade for English-language products of TSR, Inc. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors. Distributed to the book and hobby trade in the United Kingdom by TSR Ltd. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material contained herein is prohibited without the express written consent of TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. TSR Ltd. POB756 120 Church End Lake Geneva Cherry Hinton WI 53147 Cambridge CB1 3LB U.S.A. United Kingdom 2145 ISBN 1-56076-838-X Editon David Wise Project Coordinaton Roger Moore Cover Artist: Jeff Easley Interior Artist: Tony DiTerlizzi Art Coordinaton Peggy Cooper Electronic Pre-press Coordinaton Tim Coumbe Typography: Nancy J. Kerkstra Graphic Artist: Dawn Murin Sample file How to Use This Book This book is the first annual MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM® appen- TREASURE refers to the treasure tables that are found in the dix in a series featuring creatures that appeared in various TSR DUNGEON MASTER® Guide (DMG). The entry indicates the type role-playing games and periodicals over a single year—in this of treasure likely to be found on or with an individual mon- case, 1993. The selections come from myriad game worlds, but ster. Treasure should be adjusted downward if only a few they've been developed with the intent to make them useful in monsters are encountered. This figure may be further any campaign setting; those who own products containing increased or decreased at the DM's discretion. These tables these monsters may discover slight variations if they compare should not be used to place dungeon treasure, as numbers the respective entries. Even so, monsters that come from prod- encountered underground will be much smaller. Intelligent uct lines like the AL-QADIM® campaign setting or the monsters will usually use magical items that are present, and RAVENLOFT® setting's realm of terror often remain quite dis- try to carry off their most valuable treasures if hard-pressed. tinctive, and they should be chosen with care for use in an Major treasures are normally found in the monster's lair adventure. For example, most adventurers aren't likely to hap- and designated in parentheses. As a rule, these should not be pen upon a tasked genie or a psionic lich as they wander along determined randomly, but ought to be designed and placed by the road to glory. Therefore, there are no standard "random the DM. If he or she decides to assign such treasure randomly, encounter" tables included in this text. Instead, some advice it's best to roll for each type possible; if all rolls fail, no treasure on how to generate adventure-specific random encounters has of any type is found. been added. See page 6, "Beyond Random Encounters." Unusually large or small treasures are noted by a paren- Each monster entry includes the following information: thetical multiplier (xlO, x'A, etc.). These should not be confused with treasure type X. CLIMATE/TERRAIN defines where the creature is most often found. Normally, climates include terms such as arctic, subarc- ALIGNMENT indicates the general behavior of an average tic, temperate, and tropical. Terrain types include plain/scrub, monster of that type. Exceptions, though uncommon, may cer- forest, rough/hill, mountain, swamp, and desert. tainly be encountered. FREQUENCY is the likelihood of encountering a creature in NO. APPEARING indicates an average number of creatures any given area. Very rare indicates a 4% chance, rare is 11%, that will be encountered in the wild. The DM should alter this uncommon is 20%, and common is a 65% chance. Chances can to fit particular circumstances as the need arises. In many be adjusted for special areas. This entry can be used as a cases, additional information on this topic will be presented in guideline for adventure design. the Habitat/Society or Ecology section. ORGANIZATION is a description of the general social struc- ARMOR CLASS is a rating of the monster's resistance to ture that the monster adopts. Common types are solitary, clan, damage in combat. In many cases this is based upon the crea- pack, herd, and flock. In many cases, solitary includes small ture's natural defenses, but it can also indicate armor worn by family groups or mated pairs. humanoids or other creatures. In some cases, high speed, nat- ural agility, or magical protection may play a part in the deter- ACTIVITY CYCLE is the time of day when the monsteSampler is minatio filen of a creature's Armor Class rating. Humans and normally awake and most alert. Those who tend to be busiest humanoids of roughly man size that wear armor will have an at night may be active at any time in subterranean or similar unarmored rating in parentheses. Listed ACs do not include any settings. It is worth remembering that the activity cycle entry special bonuses rioted in the monster's description. is a general guide, and exceptions are fairly common. MOVEMENT shows the relative speed of the creature com- DIET indicates what the creature generally eats, of course. pared to an unencumbered human, who has a rating of 12. Carnivores eat meat, herbivores eat plants, omnivores eat Higher speeds may be possible for short periods. Human, either, and scavengers dine mainly on carrion. Unusual demihuman, and humanoid movement rates are often modi- entries, like life energy or emotions, may appear from time to fied by armor type (unarmored rates are given in parenthe- time, and they are fully explained in the text. ses). Movement through common media are abbreviated as follows: INTELLIGENCE is the equivalent of the attribute score of the same name. Certain unintelligent monsters are instinctively Fl Flying cunning hunters, and these are noted in the monster descrip- Sw Swimming tions. Ratings correspond roughly to the following Intelli- Br Burrowing gence ability scores: Wb Moving in a web 0 Non-intelligent or not ratable Flying creatures also have a maneuverability class of A to E, 1 Animal intelligence which is indicated in parentheses. Complete information on 2-4 Semi-intelligent maneuverability classes and their use can be found in the aer- 5-7 Low intelligence ial combat rules in the DMG. 8-10 Average (human) intelligence 11-12 Very intelligent HIT DICE indicates the number of dice rolled to generate the 13-14 Highly intelligent creature's hit points. Unless otherwise stated, Hit Dice are 8- 15-16 Exceptionally intelligent sided. The Hit Dice are rolled and the numbers shown are 17-18 Genius added to determine the monster's hit points. 19-20 Supra-genius Some monsters will have additional points added to the 21+ Godlike intelligence total rolled on the Hit Dice. Thus, a creature with a rating of How to Use This Book 4+4 has between 8 and 36 hit points. Monsters with a bonus of MORALE is a general rating of how likely the monster is to +3 or more added to their rolled hit points are considered to persevere in the face of adversity or armed opposition. This have an extra Hit Die for the purposes of attack rolls and sav- guideline may be adjusted for individual circumstances. ing throws. Thus, a creature with 4 + 4 HD attacks and saves Morale ratings correspond to the following range: as if it had 5 Hit Dice. In rare cases, a monster will have a hit point spread with- 2-4 Unreliable out a Hit Dice rating. In order to determine the number of Hit 5-7 Unsteady Dice that such creatures have for attacks and saving throws, 8-10 Average divide the listed hit points by 4. Round the Hit Die rating up 11-12 Steady with remainders of 0.5 or greater, and drop all other fractions. 13-14 Elite 15-16 Champion THACO is the base roll that the monster needs to hit an enemy 17-18 Fanatic with an Armor Class of 0. This is a function of Hit Dice, as 19-20 Fearless described in the Combat section of the DMG. Modifiers to the creature's attack roll will be presented in the Combat section XP VALUE is the number of experience points awarded for of the entry, but the listed THACO does not include any special defeating (not necessarily killing) the monster. This value is a bonuses. guideline that may be modified by the DM for the degree of challenge, encounter situation, and overall campaign balance. NO. OF ATTACKS indicates the number of times that the monster can attack in a single round. Multiple attacks can PSIONICS gives a complete breakdown of the creature's indicate several attacking arms, raking paws, multiple heads, innate psionic abilities, including sciences or devotions known etc. In some cases this does not include special attacks listed in and PSPs available. A thorough understanding of this section the Combat section, but the text will make that clear. This requires familiarity with the Complete Psionics Handbook. This number may be modified by hits that sever members, by haste entry is included only for those creatures that have psionic and slow spells, and so forth.