This is volume #2 of All the Worlds' Monsters. There is not much different (except for the monsters of course of which it says it holds 243) that needs to be said about this that was not said about volume #1. This is the third printing where the other was either first or second printing and was loose leaf. I prefer the bound copies and have a later printing of volume #1 that is bound. I had forgotten what bad shape this was in though and may need to upgrade it.
The major additions to this are a compiled index of all the monsters from both volumes. This is nice but I wish it carried over to the Monsters By Level section. That section only includes monsters from this book and I guess since that would mean having to have both books present for that but still why have a "master" index and not "master" tables. This also introduces a section grouping all of the monsters by type but again only from this book. Sources have stated that some of these entries originally appeared in The Dungeoneer, Arduin books, and Alarums & Excursions but I have not been able to confirm that.
The book also includes an official entry sheet for submitting monsters for the next volume of the book. I am not sure if the idea of an OSR version of such a product has come up or not. I am sure that there are thousands of monsters that have all been created by budding DMs old and new since these books were printed. This might be a fun little project to see. I am thinking if no one picks this up and runs with it...or tells me you idiot it's already been done...I might take a stab at it some day. We could call it All the Web's Monsters. I would hope that if someone beats me to it that this would be done OSR style which I think could very well stand for Open Source Rules (or Roleplaying) and be a product that was published for free.
Published: 1980
Pages: 106
From the back of the book (3rd Printing):
"In its third printing, volume II of the ALL THE WORLD'S MONSTERS series contains 243 creatures from literature, fantasy, and nightmare. Included is a conversion article by Ken St. Andre for "TUNNELS & TROLLS", and Steve Perrin's historic "Conventions". Created by 54 DMs from across North America, each monster is rated for hit dice, armor class, movement, whether or how well it swims or flies, its intelligence range, dexterity, alignment, normal habitat, the average times it's found in its lair, the die roll for the number present of the type, any probable treasure and type, how the being attacks, and a description of general appearance and special characteristics."
Spell:
Happenstance
Level: Fifth
Range: 12"
Duration: Permanent
Area of Effect: Special
Components: V,S
Casting Time: Special
Saving Throw: None
With the casting of this spell the magic user causes the things to occur just as they would like them to. This spell is very similar in nature to a Limited Wish spell but much less powerful.
The magic of this spell will not alter reality in anyway. The spell allows the caster to describe a sequence of events that cannot involve bringing items that do not already exist into the events. The events must occur within the area of effect of the spell. The area of effect will be limited to ten yards per point of intelligence of the caster.
Provided the description falls within the bounds of what the DM is willing to allow then it will happen and should happen without any of the twists that are often the case with wish spells. If the described events do not fall within the allowance of the DM then the events will come as close to what is deemed possible by the DM again with no intentional intent to twist the desire of the caster.
The casting of this spell though not nearly as powerful as a wish will still tax the body of the caster. The casting of the spell will have a 20% cumulative chance of aging the caster by one year. If they age or not the caster will be greatly drained and their constitution will suffer a loss of four points until they have spent a full nights rest.
Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last, were all written up or conceived of back in the 80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :) Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.
No comments:
Post a Comment