All the Worlds' Monsters

All the Worlds' Monsters is a series of fantasy role-playing game supplements published by Chaosium from 1977 to 1980. They were republished in PDF format in 2016.[1][2][3]

All the Worlds' Monsters
All the Worlds' Monsters
as published by Chaosium in 1977.
Cover by George Barr.
Designer(s)Steve Perrin
Jeff Pimper
Publisher(s)Chaosium
Publication date1977 Volume 1
1979 Volume 2
1980 Volume 3
Genre(s)Fantasy
System(s)D&D

Contents

Edited by Steve Perrin and Jeff Pimper, All the Worlds' Monsters is a fantasy game supplement lists many monsters from the dungeons of Dungeon Masters across the US, none of which had been published for D&D before and most of which were original creations.[4] There are 3 volumes, and the first volume predates the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual by several months:[5]:250

  • All the Worlds' Monsters - red booklet, 265 monstrous and dangerous creatures.
  • All the Worlds' Monsters, Volume Two - blue booklet, 243 creatures from literature, fantasy, and nightmare.
  • All the Worlds' Monsters, Volume III - yellow booklet, about 300 new monsters with brief descriptions and statistics.[6]

The PDFs contain additionally:

  • Volume Two A conversion article by Ken St. Andre for Tunnels & Trolls, and The Perrin Conventions.
  • Volume III An all-series index, and a RuneQuest stats conversion essay by Steve Perrin

Reception

Clara Glowe reviewed All the Worlds' Monsters in The Space Gamer No. 14.[4] Glowe commented that "about one of every six monsters is, or should be classified as dumb" but that "I still recommend this book. It will be a valuable aid to novice and expert alike."[4]

Don Turnbull reviewed All the Worlds' Monsters for White Dwarf #5, and stated that "I would prefer the editors to have been a lot more discriminating - either they could have included fewer monsters [...] or filled the gaps with more worthwhile beasts from whatever source. In aiming for quantity I think they have sacrificed a degree of quality."[7]

Don Turnbull reviewed All the Worlds' Monsters Volume II for White Dwarf #12, giving it an overall rating of 5 out of 10, and stated that "my conclusion is very much the same as for volume I. I with the editors had been a little more discriminating, ruthlessly chopping out the uninteresting and the 'randomly-generated' monster and perhaps lowering the price of the final version. But they have included more interesting monsters than did volume I and on the whole I can give this collection a marginally better recommendation."[8]

Steve Jackson reviewed All the Worlds' Monsters, Volume III in The Space Gamer No. 29.[6] Jackson commented that "Not the best-done monster book in the world [...] and a bit high-priced. If you liked previous volumes of All the Worlds' Monsters, you'll love this; it's more of the same. Otherwise, recommended mainly for diehard D&D people, or Runequest fans who want to populate their world with some rather silly creatures."[6]

References
  1. "All The Worlds Monsters 1". Chaosium. Chaosium. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  2. "All The Worlds Monsters 2". Chaosium. Chaosium. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  3. "All The Worlds Monsters 3". Chaosium. Chaosium. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  4. Clara, Glowe (November–December 1977). "Reviews". The Space Gamer. Metagaming (14): 42.
  5. Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  6. Jackson, Steve (July 1980). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer. Steve Jackson Games (29): 27.
  7. Turnbull, Don (February–March 1978). "Open Box". White Dwarf. Games Workshop (5): 13–14.
  8. Turnbull, Don (April–May 1979). "Open Box". White Dwarf. Games Workshop (12): 12.


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