I don’t envy people who try to make Monster Manuals for new editions of Dungeons & Dragons. The 1E MMs had it easy: they were new and strange, a mix of mythological creatures and bizarre originals. There was nothing else to measure them by and none of the monsters had become “classics” yet. The 2E Monstrous Compendium, I think, largely offset any problems of expectation with its binder format and expanded entries.

The first 3E MM (2000, 2003) had a lot of expectation attached to it. First and foremost, along with the other two core books, it was an important piece of the puzzle in regards to cementing 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons as a viable replacement for the previous D&D systems. On its own merits, though, it had to include new monsters that would provide insight into the new design philosophy, present the old stand-bys and put a fresh coat of paint on everything so that it all felt new and exciting.

Despite my reservations about 3E in general (someday I will be brave enough to broach that topic directly), I think the first Monster Manual acquits itself pretty well! Flipping through it, it has every monster I want and most of them are illustrated in ways that seem distinct from the previous editions. They are new and familiar at once (or, they were, you know, 16 years ago), even if for me personally there are good reimaginings (Lockwood’s dragons) and bad ones (trolls and ogres). As for the new monsters, I am not sure there are any bona fide classics here, but they all feel unified in their weirdness in a way that, I think, anticipated the future manuals.