This is intended to be a comprehensive list of creatures that have appeared in various Dungeons & Dragons works. Each individual list covers a span of years by edition of the game, with monsters being listed chronologically by book in which they appeared.
Contents
- Original Dungeons Dragons
- Basic Dungeons Dragons
- Advanced Dungeons Dragons 1st edition
- Advanced Dungeons Dragons 2nd edition
- Dungeons Dragons 3rd edition
- Dungeons Dragons 35 edition
- Dungeons Dragons 4th edition
- Dungeons Dragons 5th edition
- References
Although efforts have been made to include all creatures, there are likely to be omissions and other errors. At any particular time, there will be variations in the level of brief detail, and there are some duplications, not all of which are errors as there is some name duplications amongst the creatures.
Original Dungeons & Dragons
The original edition of Dungeons & Dragons consisted of a boxed set by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson printed in 1974, and several pamphlet-sized supplements printed through 1976. The volume "Monsters & Treasure" in the original set, and the supplements (Greyhawk, Blackmoor and Eldritch Wizardry) included a section of monsters.
Basic Dungeons & Dragons
This edition of Dungeons & Dragons began in 1981, as a revision of the introductory Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set established it as a separate version of the game that ran concurrently with both 1st edition and 2nd edition Advanced Dungons & Dragons until the line was ended in 1994. The Basic Rulebook collected many of the monsters from the previous D&D supplements, and the subsequent Basic Set, Expert Set, Companion Set, Master Set, and Immortals Set all added more new monsters to the game. The Creature Catalogue expanded on these sets even further, collecting monsters that had appeared in basic D&D modules and adding new monsters as well.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition
Introduced in 1977, the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game built upon the original edition of D&D. This edition also introduced the concept of a Monster Manual, a separate book to deal with just monsters. The original Monster Manual collected the monsters from the original D&D books, and other sources, and expanded on the monster format. The original Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II were also printed during the run of AD&D 1st edition, and numerous monsters appeared in other modules and game supplements at the time.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition
Initially, the 2nd edition of AD&D replaced the idea of a hardbound Monster Manual with a loose-leaf Monstrous Compendium series that eventually numbered 14 volumes. These volumes greatly expanded the detail level on the previous edition's monsters, and returned most of the 1st edition monsters to the game. Due to popular demand (as the format was considered too fragile and unwieldy), the Monstrous Compendium series eventually ended and was replaced with the 384-page Monstrous Manual in 1993, which reprinted many of the creatures previously featured in the Monstrous Compendium series. This book was followed up by four Monstrous Compendium Annuals in the following years, and many new monsters were introduced in game modules and supplements throughout 2nd edition.
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition
A new Monster Manual was published in 2000 as part of the core rulebooks for D&D 3rd edition. The monster format was greatly altered to match the new edition. Just like with 1st edition, this edition included a Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II, and debuted many new monsters in various game supplements.
Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition
The version 3.5 rules included a revision of the 3rd edition Monster Manual, and continued the Monster Manual series with books III-V. As with previous versions of the game, a number of new monsters debuted in a variety of game supplements in this era.