The FIEND FOLIO Tome of Creatures Malevolent and Benign is the first major British contribution to the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game system.
If at any time there were doubts whether AD&D
games would be popular in Britain,
they were rapidly discarded.
So many are its adherents that it is hard to believe the game has only
been available over here for less than five years.
Though in sheer population terms the game could never command the numerical
support in Britain as it does in the U.S.A.,
the enthusiasm with which British gamers have greeted this American
inspiration is not so arbitrarily constrained.
Here,
as in the country of its origin,
the AD&D system has been a truly remarkable success and
it is appropriate that,
sooner or later,
major contributions to it should stem from an initiative which is substantially
British.
Hence the FIEND FOLIO Tome.
In effect, it is an all-new companion volume to that excellent compendium
the AD&D Monster Manual.
Such will be evident to those who now have copies of both,
not only because of the nature of its contents but also because the
tome unashamedly emulated its elder brother in its high quality of presentation.
The FIEND FOLIO Tome is my first official AD&D work;
from the outset I was determined that it should be on a qualitative
par with the other AD&D works - not only the Monster Manual
but also the other handbooks.
AD&D enthusiasts deserve something more than mediocrity
and the many contributors to this volume deserve a high-quality presentation
of their creations.
The FIEND FOLIO Tome would be desperately inadequate were its
presentation not of the same superior quality as those earlier TSR publications
which put them head and shoulders above their competitors.
Those familiar with the Monster Manual will therefore recognize the
FIEND
FOLIO format since the general layout and the method of presenting
the monster contents are the same.
The purpose of the FIEND FOLIO Tome, too,
is complementary to that of the Monster Manual - to extend the
range of monsters available for use in AD&D games and to collect
all the newcomers into one volume for easy reference.
A few of the monsters in the book relate in one way or another to creatures
which appear in the Monster Manual,
so small relevant sections of the Monster Manual are here reprinted,
by kind permission,
and therer are also some cross-references to the Monster Manual.
Though it is probably true that most owners of this tome will already
have a copy of the Monster Manual,
the number of cross-references has been kept to a minimum.
It is helpful,
but not essential,
to own both works.
There is one major difference between the two volumes - the source of
their contents.
The Monster Manual is very largely the sole work of one
person - Gary Gygax -
who not only created and developed most of the Monster Manual
monsters himself but also developed those he did not personally create.
The new monsters in the FIEND FOLIO Tome, however,
are the creations of many people.
Some time ago,
the editor of a UK magazine asked readers to submit their monster creations
to a regular feature which became known as the Fiend Factory.
The response was quite enormous and many worthwhile contributions reached
the editorial offices.
As editor of the feature,
I never lacked new and interesting monsters to fill the Factory pages
each issue -
indeed (for a magazine has inevitable limitations on space) it soon
became evident that many worthwhile creations would not be published until
long,
long after their submission,
if at all.
At the same time,
the readers were praising the feature and demanding more!
So there was a goodly supply of,
and a strident demand for,
additional AD&D monsters -
and these two factors gave birth to the FIEND FOLIO Tome of
Creatures Malevolent and Benign.
This volume therefore contains an overwhelming majority of monsters
which were originally submitted for the Fiend Factory feature.
A small fraction of them have already appeared in the Factory (though
not in as developed a form as they appear here) while a larger number have
come straight from creation via development to this book without pausing
at the Factory en route.
Additionally the FIEND FOLIO Tome includes new monsters from
TSR in Lake Geneva, USA.
Which brings me to my first debt of gratitude -
to the contributors.
There are many names -
too many to list here,
but they are all listed in the index to the rear of this volume next
to the name of thier creation.
To all these people,
my warm and most sincere thanks.
Quite literally,
the FIEND FOLIO Tome would not have been possible without you.
(It is worth noting that contributions to the FIEND FOLIO Tome
have come from many parts of the world - the U.K., the U.S.A., Australia,
Canada, and Europe.
The AD&D games are spreading!)
My own task has been quite a simple one -
to select monsters for inclusion,
to develop them as as necessary and write the statistics and texts,
to assemble the entries in coherent form and to produce the various
tables.
Perhaps selection was not so easy a task after all,
for there were over 1,000 contributions to consider;
I have been able to be quite ruthless in selection to ensure that the
monsters which finally did appear were fo the highest quality and originality.
To have sacrificed quantity for quality in this way is, I believe,
what discerning AD&D enthusiasts would want me to have done.
On the development side my efforts have been variable.
Some "originals" were almost fully developed when they reached me and
not a great deal of work was required to add the final touches to them.
At the opposite end of the developmental spectrum,
other contributions arrived incomplete and embryonic,
with the tip of a good idea just showing above the surface,
as it were;
these needed development to "flesh them out" into complete and coherent
form.
A few names have been changed and a few characteristics altered (most
for good and sufficient reasons,
some out of sheer instinct) but substantially the task has been to
build on creations rather than to re-work them entirely.
So,
in the final analysis,
and excluding those which appeared in the TSR Modules,
I must bear final responsibility for the presentation of all the FIEND
FOLIO monsters.
Here I must make more acknowledgements and express more thanks.
Throughout the project I have received helpful advice and guidance
from Lawrence Schick and Gary Gygax,
who gave me a great deal of editorial rope in my first AD&D
project but made sure I did not hang myself.
Since I began work on the FIEND FOLIO Tome in the U.K. at the
same time as the Dungeon Masters Guide was being finalized in America,
it was important for the one to be compatible with the other and for
the Tome to be as up-to-date as possible,
and I am particularly grateful to Gary for letting me in on the secrets
of the Dungeon Masters Guide before it was published.
To Gary must also go a very special acknowledgement and very warm thanks,
for without his creativity there would be no AD&D games
and no FIEND FOLIO Tome.
And I owe particular thanks to Albie Fiore,
who in addition to being a major contributor to the FIEND FOLIO project
has done an enormous amount of work during its preparation -
acting as my second pair of eyes,
bringing to my attention possible deficiencies and inconsistencies,
suggesting improvements and coordinating all the printing.
Albie's help has been invaluable.
The quality of the art work in the Tome is,
I believe,
particularly good and I am sure the readers will appreciate the endeavours
of the artists,
who have my praise, thanks and envy!
I will make only one apology in respect of the FIEND FOLIO Tome and
it is this.
There are many,
many places in the text where it is
necessary to refer to a person (for instance to the victim of a monster's
atttacks) who is not identified as to gender.
In such places it is tempting,
though I believe unnecessarily pedantic,
to lapse into the cumbersome and ugly style of "he or she", "him or
her", and other such awkwardnesses.
(The English language has not yet bent to accomodate these alleged
requirements of modern society and if the products are to be words like
"himr" or "hisr" I devoutly hope that it never will.)
Early in the proceedings,
I decided to eschew such clumsiness,
and if there is a reader who is offended by this,
it is to him that I apologise.
Or,
of course,
to her.
Let me confirm that,
unless there are specific contexual indications to the contrary,
all references in this book to males apply equally, mutatis
mutandis, to females.
Finally,
to my most important expression of thanks.
If anyone has suffered during the preparation of this book,
that person is the lady who shares my life.
Nevertheless,
June has displayed enormous tolerance,
despite the late-night clattering of the typewriter,
the liberal bestrewing of FIEND FOLIO Tome drafts on all available
horizontal surfaces in our home and my apparently infinite preoccupation
with the project.
I owe her my very special gratitude and offer her the consolation that
it is now all over....until the next time.
Don Turnbull
Cambridge, England
August, 1979
Apologies -- and arguments by Don Turnbull
Managing Director of TSR UK, Ltd. and Editor of the FIEND FOLIO™ Tome
I will be more careful in future when passing Kim Mohan’s
door on my visits to Lake Geneva. He pounces! On this occasion,
politely but firmly, he asked me to reply to the comments
by Alan and Ed on the FIEND FOLIO™ Tome and not to leave the
country until the job was done.
An Aleax, cunningly disguised as Kim Mohan, has struck; I
have somehow transgressed the unwritten law; retribution and
penance are sought. (Who, me? Behaviour outside alignment??)
Very well — I’ll try.
Perspectives change, don’t they? There never was a time
when I regarded the Tome as perfect; anyone thus making
himself a hostage to fortune deserves what he gets. But my view
of “my” work has changed perceptibly over the years, and the
years themselves are responsible for that change.
The fact is that, for various contractual reasons with which I
won’t bore you, the book was in a sort of legal limbo — untouched
and untouchable — for nearly two years after completion
A very great deal happened in the AD&D™ world during that
time, didn’t it? For instance, the DEITIES
& DEMIGODS™ Cyclopedia
was born, raised to maturity, and published. For instance,
DRAGON™ magazine advanced from issue 29 to the late
40s. (Editor’s note: DRAGON #52 was on sale when the FIEND
FOLlO tome was released at the GEN CON® XIV Convention.)
For instance, a host of new modules made their debut.
These are the reasons why monsters from more recent modules
were not included and why monsters from DRAGON™
magazine did not appear. It is also, at least in part, the reason for
my Raise Dead Fully gaffe; for this I accept full responsibility
and, red-faced, back off to the position of “I’m sure you know
what I mean.” (But not for “anti-paladin” — the full reference
includes words which clearly deny any implications of official
status.)
I suspect this information alone answers a number of questions
in readers’ minds. There has been some temporal distortion
— enough to raise at least a flicker of curiosity but not
enough (I sincerely hope) to detract.
Ed criticizes some entries on the grounds of incompleteness
and inadequacy. This begs the questions — what is “complete”?
What is “adequate”? I suspect these are, in the final analysis,
matters of personal taste. For every person criticizing absence
of information on these grounds, someone else will say that
certain information actually presented is superfluous, and accusing
me of padding. I have no god-like wisdom on this score
(nor, I suspect, has anyone else) — only instinct about what
“feels” right within certain obvious boundaries. If my instinct
differs from others, perhaps it’s because we’re only human.
Mind you, I don’t accept what Ed says about certain languages
being incomprehensible. If one admits to the existence
of the Tongues spell, then surely it requires no further stretching
of one’s imagination to postulate a language which somehow
has defied analysis. In like view, it would be a dull world (real or
fantasy) if everything was explained and comprehensible.
A personal point of view, certainly, but one which I believe is
shared by many. Once every problem is solved, every question
has an answer, and every mystery has been explained, the imagination
can turn up its toes and call an end to the matter, its work
accomplished. A sad and boring death.
Names. Try inserting into Ed’s quotation the Baluchitherium,
Titanothere, or (this is a real beauty) the Ixitachitl. Or even the
duck-billed platypus and many others from our real world. No, I
did not name monsters with particular regard for the smooth
flowing of the vocal chords. I imagine the word “man” might not
flow too well off a Martian’s tongue (or whatever organ is
appropriate).
The Eye of Fear and Flame is not undead. If it were, it would be
on the undead table (page 115). Nor is the Crypt Thing an
undead monster. In neither case does the text leave any doubt
— and even if it did, the undead table would resolve the matter.
No, the Frost Men are not human. The text makes it quite clear
by saying they are "... in most respects very like normal humans....”
and then going on to say in what respects they differ.
The Qullan isn’t human, either — it says in the text that they are
humanoids. Ed, you are either not reading thoroughly or just
trying to put words into my pen in order to criticize them. Tut
— this is not worthy of you.
If Ed reads White Dwarf as carefully as seems to be the case,
he knows the Xvart is far from redundant to some, since the
monster features quite prominently in a “mini-module” in the
magazine’s pages, and furthermore, a mini-module which I am
assured is very popular. Are the dinosaurs (5 pages) in the
Monster Manual redundant? I doubt if one answer suits all.
As for the Elemental Princes of Good (or of Neutrality, or of
any of the nine ways), the leaders of the oriental dragons (if they
have any; they could simply be real democrats), the inhabitants
of the other planes Alan would like to populate and literally
hundreds of other new and not-so-new monsters which would
have been included... well, perhaps next time.
There are three types of complaints. In one category I retire
red-faced; in another I fear the critic is mistaken. But in the third
—and largest —category I think we have conflicts or less major
differences in personal opinion (and for this reason I haven’t
commented on every example cited). If my personal opinions
don’t align with yours, I’m sorry. What more can I say?
- from Dragon 55
