Dragon Compendium Vol. II: Monster Edition?


Dragon Compendium


It was mentioned before that Wizards wouldn't allow this, since they think it will cause their monster line to go into the toilet.
Since many people are openly boycotting MMIV, and plenty of people already have got the first three, why doesn't Wizards reconsider?
If anything, why couldn't it be published in the year in between Monster Manuals. There is usually about a year's gap in between each manual.

I would love to see the many popular monsters of Dragon Magazine put into one big book. I would buy it in a heartbeat, and many people that I know would too.

Contributor

Yep. I would definitely purchase it.

Liberty's Edge

Me and Steve--that's 2 sure sales.


Considering WotC didn't use any creatures from Dragon in the MMIV, I don't see why this shouldn't be a possibility now.

Scarab Sages

Heathansson wrote:
Me and Steve--that's 2 sure sales.

Count me in. I'd purchase one. That makes 3.

Thoth-Amon

Scarab Sages

I say absolutely, so that's, what four now. I'd look forward to seeing some of the Spawn of Kyuss in there, as well as some of the others.

Liberty's Edge

I just went and shaved. Can I vote again? That's five...


*waves her hand around like Elan trying to get Roy's attention*

Oooh! Ooh! :P


*enters voting booth, but with a fake moustache this time*
I'd buy it too!

*repeats process again, but with various hats, moustaches, disguises, and accents*

hmm...I believe our vote total has reached 200,354,127! :P

(I own a lot of disguises. ;) )


Of all their products, it seems the Scarred Land various Creature Catalog books were the best sellers White Wolf had in their fantasy line.

There is a proven track record for monster books of all types, so I'm sure a monster book from Paizo would seel very well.

(and I would jump on it, by the way!)

Liberty's Edge

Splosion Dogs! 3.5em up! Splody splody SPLAP!
Yah.


What number are we at now?

Yeah, that plus one!

tfad


I've got all four MMs and would buy a Paizo compendium of monsters as well (+1).


Heathansson wrote:

Splosion Dogs! 3.5em up! Splody splody SPLAP!

Yah.

Before I make an ass of myself, I'm going to note ahead of time that I'm assuming that you're reffering to Castle Bristol, Erik Mona's childhood slaughterfest dungeon.

Ever since I read that editorial, I've thougt, "why not update that for an April issue?"

I'd pay just for the explosion dog!


I vote yes too. Now we can check the Creature Catalog forums at EN World to check the vast list of Dragon monsters and which haven't been converted yet.

Dark Archive Contributor

This probably isn't a bad idea. I just want there to be a DCII, regardless of its content, and I'd also like to edit it as well. ;D


Mike McArtor wrote:
This probably isn't a bad idea. I just want there to be a DCII, regardless of its content, and I'd also like to edit it as well. ;D

You do have a point, Mike. I'd rather see a non-monster DCII, then no more Dragon Compendiums at all.

But hopefully the monster idea will work in some way.


I not only want this (badly), I hereby offer my services in updating the ol' critters, should you desire assistance. :)


Shade wrote:
I not only want this (badly), I hereby offer my services in updating the ol' critters, should you desire assistance. :)

And I'd be happy to poll message-board users here and at Wizards of the Coast to see what monsters people would want updated most. (Assuming that you do/allow that before making such a book.)


Time Life Books has a set of fold out animal books that are sold in groups of about 10 animals. It is really neat.

I would pay for such a thing...a loose leaf monsters printed on fold-out 11x14 card stock with ecology and images of the monster at different stages in its life...all the details as they are published elsewhere. All in color. 10 monsters a month...new publication.

mahee


mahee wrote:

Time Life Books has a set of fold out animal books that are sold in groups of about 10 animals. It is really neat.

I would pay for such a thing...a loose leaf monsters printed on fold-out 11x14 card stock with ecology and images of the monster at different stages in its life...all the details as they are published elsewhere. All in color. 10 monsters a month...new publication.

mahee

That's actually a really cool idea. They'd be easy to carry if anything!

Liberty's Edge

I'd go for a Dragon Compendium Monster Manual as well. But I'd put as a request before that a hardbound Dark Sun Campaign Setting with the PHB, DMG, Monster Compendiums and all the various bits and pieces of adventures, PrCs, spells and the like that have appeared in Dragon (and Dungeon) ... all updated to 3.5 of course. (Come to think of it, I'd also like a hardbound Knights of the Lich Queen updated tome, too.)


I enjoyed the DC:1 and I'd like both a DC:2 and a Dragon Monster Book. In that order.


Cancelling creature compendiums for Dragon to ensure monster manuals are bought seems like the same kind of folly that let Japanese Cars get ahead of american ones. If people don't like the monster manuals, they won't buy them. Narrowing their options will just make customers turn to 3rd party sources for their creature needs. Frankly though, I think monster manuals are the only core rule book "sequel" that is justifyiable, and one for which the market is potentially inexhaustable. After all, it's just a colleciton of monsters.


I'd just love to see the Bruce Heard Rakasta and Lupin articles updated (with the varying breeds).


Shoot I’d buy it. Some of the best monsters have come from dragon.


There'd have to be a section on the best April monsters of all time....
Not to mention a Golem section: Hammer Golem for example?


I'd buy a book containing nothing but monsters that have appeared in Dragon. The monster section of Vol. I is probably my favorite part of the book (just got it Saturday, lots of goodies...[cackle evilly]).

Sovereign Court

Hi there,

I am against a pure monster compendium "Best of Dragon's Monsters".

Reason 1: There are already too many monster compendiums out there, even though Dragon monsters are surely some of the best. How many new customers do you want to reach by one more pure monster compendium?

Reason 2: WotC might not look favourably on any such project. After all WotC already published five such books for 3rd edition and is certainly planning more books of that kind (in my estimation a pure Eberron monster compendium would be overdue from WotC's point of view... ;-) ).

Reason 3: Dragon's biggest strength is its diversity of topics. Reducing focus just to monsters is a sure way to dissatisfy those customers who are not looking for another monster book. A blend e.g. of feats, skills, ecology articles, class articles, foremost A LOT OF old edition conversions (even though it takes more work!), and yes: some monsters, too would be perfect.

Just my 3 cents,
Günther

Sovereign Court

As an afterthought:
Both Dragon magazine and Dragon Compendium Vol. I offer something special that no other d20/ D&D supplement offer:

1. If I buy any WotC/ D20 supplement, I get a book centred on one topic: Spells, classes, or settings. Which other product but Dragon offers material centred on a specific topic, but taking so different approaches to it like e.g. this year's october issue?

2. No other company can reach back so far back to the starting years of D&D, but WotC itself.

So why not combine both advantages?
What about each compendium centering on one topic like e.g. demons (that one is quite used up by now, just as an example ;-) )? And if it has to be a setting specific compendium: why not keeping the advantage of addressing the setting from many different angles (i.e. authours/ articles)?

Elaborating the demon example:
You could republish 1st edition articles about demon lore of then, add some demon related class, feat, and spell articles, and round it off by setting specific information. And if there is some space left, you could add some generic or DM related material. :-)

Other possible topics:
- The planes (there is a big void after Planescape),
- An adventurer's guide (team play, feats, spells etc., sorted by categories like in class acts, add some ecologies et voila!),
- DMing (you could fill several books with just this topic, and how many books are out there who teach and support DMing the way Dragon/ Dungeon does?).
- If it has to be monster compendium like: why not a book of ecology articles, supported by feat, spell, and class content aimed at the monsters presented? Which other monster book could offer such a wide spread approach to monsters?
- Climates: You could offer article after article with useful stuff for arctic, desert, forest, city etc. terrain. Just think of the plethora of information on modifying wilderness oriented classes to urban surroundings.
- And did I forget to mention it? Greyhawk, of course. But this topic could be covered in a secret project, too. ;)

There are countless topics, and there are a lot of people out there who would like to see these topics be addressed in the Dragon way... Many high quality articles addressing different aspects of the same overall topic.

Just another collection of different articles from the past would cause the same page flipping - at least after pubication of Compendium 3 or 4... :-)

Greetings,
Günther

Liberty's Edge

Here's a potentially driving question: Does WotC gain any profit of sales of Paizo products?

Here's the issue: If WotC owns what Paizo publishes, which I believe it does, then unless WotC shares in Paizo's profits, I can't imagine why it'd be inclined to turn away a resource for its own future MMs, and likewise turn away a profit for itself.

But again, I wring my fist in the air calling for Paizo's Dark Sun materials to be combined and hardbound.


Since someone at EN World broke the news of a Monster Manual V and Maps of Adventure coming out in July 2007, I don't think we'll see a DC Monster Edition coming out so soon after that.


RavinRay wrote:
Since someone at EN World broke the news of a Monster Manual V and Maps of Adventure coming out in July 2007, I don't think we'll see a DC Monster Edition coming out so soon after that.

I WAS RIGHT!

I saw the video of a GenCon seminar and they showed the cover of a book with no print. I took one look at it and said, Monster Manual V.

(I hope it's better than Monster Manual IV. I'm a sucker for monster books, which is why I started the topic of a DCII: Monster Edition.)


Good thing I seen this thread before posting a new one hehe. Anyways, I would like to see something of this nature, it may not be a DC II but maybe a Dragon Magazine Monster Compendium in general. That way if a DC II comes out it can be well balanced with various game material or what not. Either way, I'd love to see more of this type of stuff from you guys at Paizo if possible (hard cover books that rock!!). Main reason I'd like to see a monster issue though is for the simple fact that will probably be the only way we would see a lot of old Dragon (and possibly Dungeon) Creatures converted to the new rules. Trust me guys, we have monsters for days that haven't reached the new rules yet. Anyways, there's my vote lol, thanks

NemesisDragon


NemesisDragon wrote:

Good thing I seen this thread before posting a new one hehe. Anyways, I would like to see something of this nature, it may not be a DC II but maybe a Dragon Magazine Monster Compendium in general. That way if a DC II comes out it can be well balanced with various game material or what not. Either way, I'd love to see more of this type of stuff from you guys at Paizo if possible (hard cover books that rock!!). Main reason I'd like to see a monster issue though is for the simple fact that will probably be the only way we would see a lot of old Dragon (and possibly Dungeon) Creatures converted to the new rules. Trust me guys, we have monsters for days that haven't reached the new rules yet. Anyways, there's my vote lol, thanks

NemesisDragon

And since the magazines won't be published much longer, we'll be able to have a cap on the selection of monsters. They could divide all the monsters up and release them all in separate monster compendiums.

Sovereign Court

MaxSlasher26 wrote:


And since the magazines won't be published much longer, we'll be able to have a cap on the selection of monsters. They could divide all the monsters up and release them all in separate monster compendiums.

But when was Paizo supposed to do this?

Just about five issues left, and Paizo already bending all their capacities on creating their own new products...?

I'd *really* like to see DC II, but I fear that it is more unlikely than ever... :(

Maybe at least WotC will learn from Paizo's success and continue what wasn't supposed to be before...

Greetings,
Günther


While we're dreaming, I'd like it to come with an E-Tools dataset on CD.

And I want a pony.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

-The Gneech

Silver Crusade

I'd be all for a Paizo Monster Manual

then again at their adventures don't seem to be centered around the mini line (something I hate in the new Ravenloft adventure, Eyes of the lich queen) they have 5 MM books why not use them

grumble grumble grumble

RM

Sovereign Court

Haldir wrote:

I'd be all for a Paizo Monster Manual

then again at their adventures don't seem to be centered around the mini line (something I hate in the new Ravenloft adventure, Eyes of the lich queen) they have 5 MM books why not use them

grumble grumble grumble

RM

Hhmm... actually for the time being Paizo can only use one MM and two OGL monsters from MM 2. The rest of MM 2 and the newer MMs are intellectual property of WotC.

I'd surely appreciate if further fragmentation was avoided and Paizo could keep on making use of all books published by WotC.

But who knows?
Maybe the only good point of 4e will be that 3rd companies get easier access to WotC material? (-> just dreaming... :p)

Greetings,
Günther


<ping>
I'd lay cash out for that. I have all 5 of WotC's MM's and quite frankly am exceptionally disappointed in what I see. Mybe everybody over there has been preoccupied with getting 4e going, but gee-willikers what a serious slack-off job they did with number 5.

Oh, well. Enough ranting. I bought Creature Codex I,II, and III from Sword and Sorcery because I just adore throwing soemthing that almost sounds familiar at them being ridden by something so freakish that they curl up and whimper in nightmares for weeks to come... ahhh, the joy!

More monsters doen Paizo style would be absolutely fantastic.


Me likey idea. I want Paizo to do it. I'd also like to ask for it in 3.5. I'd really like to see it both ways, really, but I realize that may be impossible at this point.

/d


You could chalk me up for one or two copies as well.


Why not a Dragon+Dungeon Critter Compendium ? Between 3 APs, countless trilogies and singleton adventures, Dungeon has generated small hordes of unique critters to sicc on one's players just in the 3.5 era alone.

'Course, with 4e looming, I'd imagine that's kinda a not-gonna-happen kind of thing...

Community / Forums / Archive / Paizo / Books & Magazines / Dragon Magazine / Dragon Compendium / Dragon Compendium Vol. II: Monster Edition? All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Dragon Compendium