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Fiend Folio
AD&D 1st EditionFiend Folio,featuring a githyanki on the cover
EditorDon Turnbull
GenreRole-playing game
PublisherTSR
Publication date
1981
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pages128
ISBN0-935696-21-0
OCLC11291023
794 19
LC ClassGV1469.D8 F54 1981

Fiend Foliois the name of three separate products published for successiveeditionsof thefantasyrole-playing gameDungeons & Dragons(D&D). All three are collections ofmonsters.

The bulk of the material in the first edition came from the British gaming magazineWhite Dwarf,rather than being authored byGary Gygax,the game's co-creator. Readers and gamers had submitted creatures to the "Fiend Factory" department of the magazine, and the most highly regarded of those appearing in the first thirteen issues were selected to be in the publication.

Publication history[edit]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons1st edition[edit]

Games Workshop,withDon Turnbullediting the project, originally intended to produce and publish theFiend Foliotome (ISBN0-935696-21-0) in late 1979 as the second volume of theMonster Manual,and would be officially recognized byTSRas anAdvanced Dungeons & Dragonsproduct, with the monsters mostly taken from submissions toWhite Dwarf's "Fiend Factory" column.[1]At the time, Games Workshop was the holder of the license to publishD&Dgame products in theUnited Kingdom.[2]Although the manuscript was completed on time by editor Don Turnbull, a business dispute between Games Workshop and TSR Hobbies delayed publication of the book for nearly two years. TheFiend Foliowas finally published in August 1981 by TSR itself, who used the product to launch its UK division.[3][4]

Much of the material for the 128-page hardcoverFiend Foliowas drawn from early issues ofWhite Dwarf.Also edited by Turnbull, the magazine's "Fiend Factory" column featured newAD&Dmonsters, many of them created by gamers who read the magazine.[1]The bulk of monsters in theFiend Foliocome from British contributors, all of whom are acknowledged in the index.[5]The book used the same format as that of theMonster Manual,succinctly detailing the attributes and abilities of each monster.[5]Some illustrations by Emmanuel were previously featured in the "Fiend Factory" column from issue 12: the Assassin Bug, Githyanki, Grell and Giant Bloodworm. Besides creatures from the column,jermlaine,drow,kuo-toa,andsvirfneblin,all of which had previously appeared in TSRmodules,were included.[6]Turnbull also included creatures that had been submitted to the magazine, but not published in the column.[5]Aside from monsters, the book presents random encounter tables intended to be used in dungeons, outdoors, and the Astral and Ethereal Planes; these encounter tables include creatures from both theMonster ManualandFiend Folio,and can replace the tables from theDungeon Master's Guide.[5]

The githyanki, designed byCharles Strossand first appearing inWhite Dwarf,was introduced to mostD&Dplayers in theFiend Folio.[7]The githyanki was featured on the cover, which helped it gain traction among theD&Dcommunity. Not all creatures featured on covers have done as well; thefirbolgappeared on the cover of 1983'sMonster Manual IIand had as of 2007 slipped back into obscurity.[8]It began to see a resurgence with the 5th edition of D&D in 2016, when they became a playable race.[9]

Monsters featured in theFoliowere originally submitted by Stross,Ian Livingstone,andTom Moldvay,among others. Interior illustrations were supplied byChris Baker,Jeff Dee,Emmanuel(who also illustrated the cover),Albie Fiore,Alan Hunter,Russ Nicholson,Erol Otus,Jim Roslof,David C. Sutherland III,Bill Willingham,Polly Wilson,andTony Yates.

The publication of "Fiend Factory" monsters had one unintended side-effect forCitadel Miniatures,who had the contract to producegaming miniaturesbased onWhite Dwarffeatures. As a condition of including "Factory" monsters in theFolio,Games Workshop transferred the copyright on those monsters to TSR, who already had an exclusive contract withGrenadier Models.This forced Citadel to discontinue miniatures depicting "Factory" monsters that appeared in theFolio.[10]

In 1983, TSR used theMonster Manual IIto introduce a new orange spine cover design for hardcoverAD&Dmanuals. TheFiend Foliowas the onlyAD&Dhardcover that did not have its cover redesigned to match the new style; instead, TSR let theFoliogo out of print.[citation needed]In 1985, as TSR was getting ready to begin work on theAD&D2nd edition, Gary Gygax stated that he was planning to incorporate material from theFiend Foliointo a revisedMonster Manualfor the new edition.[11]However, Gygax resigned from TSR in October 1986,[12]before the second edition was produced.

In 1999, apaperbackreprint of the first edition was released.[13]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons2nd edition[edit]

TheFiend Folio Monstrous Compendium(ISBN1-56076-428-7) was published by TSR, Inc. in April 1992, for use with the 2nd editionAD&Drules. It is the fourteenth volume of theMonstrous Compendiumseries, consisting of a cardboard cover, sixty four loose-leaf pages, and four divider pages. Also known as theFiend Folio Appendix,it contains over sixty monsters created or updated by members of theRPGA,including revised versions of many monsters introduced in the originalFiend Folio.[14]

Dungeons & Dragons3rd edition[edit]

Fiend Folio
AuthorsEric Cagle,Jesse Decker,James Jacobs,Erik Mona,Matt Sernett,Chris Thomasson,andJames Wyatt
GenreRole-playing game
PublisherWizards of the Coast
Publication date
2003
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pages224
ISBN0-7869-2780-1

The thirdFiend Folio(ISBN0-7869-2780-1) was designed byEric Cagle,Jesse Decker,James Jacobs,Erik Mona,Matt Sernett,Chris Thomasson,andJames Wyatt,and was published in April 2003 for use with the 3rd editionDungeons & Dragonsrules. Cover art was byBromandHenry Higginbotham,with interior art byGlen Angus,Darren Bader,Thomas Baxa,Matt Cavotta,Dennis Cramer,Larry Dixon,Jeff Easley,Scott Fischer,Lars Grant-West,Jeremy Jarvis,Todd Lockwood,Kevin McCann,Raven Mimura,Matthew Mitchell,Puddnhead,Wayne Reynolds,Richard Sardinha,Marc Sasso,Brian Snoddy,Arnie Swekel,Ben Templesmith,Anthony Waters,andSam Wood.The 224-page hardcover manual includes only a few monsters from the original, but added many new creatures, with an emphasis on monsters withextraplanarorigins.[15]The book contains over 150 monsters, with approximately half of them being all-new.[16]

TheFiend Foliowas released before the 3rd edition rules were revised to the 3.5 edition; the book's designers tried to foresee changes due to appear in the revisedMonster Manualand implement them in theFiend Folio.[15]Theextraplanarandswarmsubtypes, and the allocation of skill points and feats to work the same way as they did forplayer characters,were introduced in this book, and then featured in the revisedMonster Manual.[15]The book also introduced three newfiendprestige classes for monsters: fiend of blasphemy, fiend of corruption, and fiend of possession.[15]This edition also introduced grafts and symbionts as new elements to the game; grafts are like living cybernetics and symbionts are living equipment.[15]

The Fiend Folio also introduced two demons more powerful thanbalors:klurichirsandmyrmyxicus.It also introduced a devil more powerful thanpit fiends:thepaeliryon.

Many of the creatures from the 1st editionFiend Foliowere updated to the d20 rules byNecromancer Gamesin their ENnie award winning[17]Tome of Horrors.[18]

Reception[edit]

TSR'sDragonmagazine featured two separate reviews of the book in issue #55 (November 1981).Ed Greenwoodcalled the book a disappointment, citing its lack of detail and "breaches of consistency". He felt that there were many incomplete or inadequate monster entries, and also criticized the book for having too many new undead and too many new races. Greenwood, however, did consider theslaad,elemental princes of evil,andpenanggalan"worthy additions to any campaign" and noted that the previously published drow and kuo-toa were "expected attractions, but good to see nonetheless."[6]Contributor Alan Zumwait also reviewed the book, noting that a few of the inclusions were "justMonster Manualcreatures that are changed or crossbred with other monsters. "He was pleased by the inclusion of theneutralOriental dragons, but felt that their descriptions were inferior to those of the dragons in theMonster Manual.He also liked the slaad and elemental princes of evil, but felt they should both have counterparts of otheralignments.Zumwait summed up his review by stating, "theFIEND FOLIOTome is like a basket of peaches: Most of it is pretty good stuff, but part of it is the pits. "[19]At the urging ofKim Mohan,Don Turnbull wrote a rebuttal, which was printed in the same issue. Turnbull cited the publication's legal holdups, and theAD&Dgame's evolution during that time, as part of the reason for the work's inconsistencies. He also felt that Greenwood's concerns of incompleteness and inadequacy were a matter of subjective personal taste.[20]

AD&DcreatorGary Gygaxwas also critical of errors in the book. Gygax noted that due to "premature actions", TSR got "the cart in advance of the horse" by mentioning a spell (advanced illusion) and a magic item (thephilosopher's stone) which had not yet appeared in a game manual, promising they would eventually appear in game material in 1983.[21]Gygax later commented on an individual who had criticized theDeities & DemigodsCyclopedia, noting that this was the same individual responsible for errors on theFiend Folio's random encounter tables, among other errors.[22]

TheFiend Foliowas given an 8 out of 10 in the December 1981/January 1982 issue ofWhite Dwarf.ReviewerJamie Thomsoncompared it to theMonster Manual(MM) in format, and felt theFolio's artwork was better. Thompson felt the biggest distinction was that while theMMwas American, theFoliowas of British origin. Creatures he commented on were the giant bat ( "seems an obvious choice forD&D"), the death dog (" rumored to be a descendant ofCerberus"), Lolth (" which often appears on fantasy literature "), the elemental princes of evil, and the drow (" who figure prominently in a number of TSR dungeon modules "). Also mentioned were the penanggalon, the caterwaul, the death knight, and the revenant. In summary, Thomson recommended the book for readers who wanted more monsters, but that if they did not already possess theMMit was not essential.[5]

Lawrence Schickcommented on the book's contents in his 1991 bookHeroic Worlds:"Some of the monsters arereally goofy—you're sure to find several good belly laughs in this volume. A dozen or so entries are genuinely imaginative and useful. "[3]

In his 2023 bookMonsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground,RPG historian Stu Horvath noted, "whileFiend Foliowas largely a dead-end forAD&D,it is a glimpse into the future of a behemoth of a different sort... All of these aesthetic choices would coalesce in the years to come in theFighting Fantasyseries of adventures gamebooks and in the many faces of Games Workshop's gore-flecked, heavy metal-influencedWarhammerfranchise. "[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^abTurnbull, Don (April–May 1979). "Fiend Factory".White Dwarf.No. 12.Games Workshop.pp. 8–10.
  2. ^Sacco, Ciro Alessandro."The Ultimate Interview with Gary Gygax".thekyngdoms.com.Archived fromthe originalon 2012-02-08.Retrieved2008-10-24.
  3. ^abSchick, Lawrence(1991).Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games.Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. p. 99.ISBN0-87975-653-5.
  4. ^"Later AD&D Manuals".Acaeum.
  5. ^abcdeThomson, Jamie(Dec 1981 – Jan 1982). "Open Box".White Dwarf(review) (28).Games Workshop:14.
  6. ^abGreenwood, Ed(November 1981). "Flat taste didn't go away".Dragon(review) (55).TSR:6–7, 9.
  7. ^"D&D Alumni: The Planes".wizards.com.Archived fromthe originalon December 20, 2008.Retrieved15 March2018.
  8. ^Decker, Jesse; David Noonan (September 9, 2005)."Monsters with Traction".Wizards of the Coast. Archived fromthe originalon August 17, 2007.Retrieved2009-08-29.
  9. ^"Putting the Fur in Firbolg: The Evolution of a Character Race".
  10. ^Orclord."Fiend Factory".www.solegends.com.Retrieved15 March2018.
  11. ^Gygax, Gary 1985. "From the Sorcerer's Scroll: The future of the game",Dragon103:8,10 (Nov 1985)
  12. ^Gygax, Gary 1987. "From the Sorcerer's Scroll",Dragon122:40 (Jun 1987)
  13. ^Fogens, M. (August 1999). "ClassicAD&Dbooks are back ".InQuest Gamer.No. 52.Wizard Entertainment.p. 20.
  14. ^"TSR Previews".Dragon(180).TSR:92. April 1992.
  15. ^abcdeRyan, Michael 2003.Personality Spotlight: Fiend Folio designers,retrieved June 2, 2006
  16. ^Smith, Matt (2007)."Previews: See What's" In the Works "".Wizards of the Coast. Archived fromthe originalon December 29, 2004.Retrieved2009-08-30.
  17. ^"ENnie Awards-2003".Archived fromthe originalon 2006-10-31.Retrieved2008-01-02.
  18. ^Greene, Scott; Peterson, Clark (2002).Tome of Horrors.Necromancer Games. p. 328.ISBN1-58846-112-2.
  19. ^Zumwait, Alan (November 1981). "Observations of a semi-satisfied customer".Dragon(review) (55).TSR:8, 10.
  20. ^Turnbull, Don (November 1981). "Apologies -- and arguments".Dragon(55).TSR:12.
  21. ^Turnbull, Don (March 1982). "Advanced Illusion and Philosopher's Stone".Dragon(59).TSR:10.
  22. ^Gygax, Gary 1982. "New spells for illusionists",Dragon66:22-28 (Oct 1982)
  23. ^Horvath, Stu (2023).Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground.Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. pp. 101–102.ISBN9780262048224.

Further reading[edit]

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of:Dungeons & Dragons monsters
  • Review:Different Worlds#15 (1981)
  • "Inhuman Gods, Part I"White Dwarf#39
  • "Inhuman Gods, Part II"White Dwarf#40
  • "Inhuman Gods, Part III"White Dwarf#41
  • "Inhuman Gods, Part IV"White Dwarf#42
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