Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure

Product History

The second major release for Castles & Crusades was Monsters & Treasure. The book underwent a strange metamorphosis, and was consequently rather delayed. During the development of Castles & Crusades (see Players Handbook for more), Robert Doyel was hired to begin compiling a monster list for us. He worked on the list, making the monsters before Mac Golden and Davis Chenault finished the Siege Engine and rule set for C&C. This created a problem for Robert, who had to go back and make major changes to his original text upon the release of the rules. Much like the first Players Handbook, the first Monsters & Treasure debuted in a white box set. There were 1,100 of these made (the first 100 of them with stickers on the outside of the white boxes), and Monsters & Treasure appeared in it as Volume 2 of the C&C set. This small 5.5 x 8.5 saddle stitched booklet made its debut in 2004 at Gen Con. It combined a host of writers. who had all scrambled to bring it together in time for the convention. With Robert were Stephen Chenault, Davis Chenault, Todd Gray, and Mac Golden. It sported some really cool black and white art by Peter Bradley, some of which survived and made its way into the hardcover that came out later, alongside interior art from Bryan Swartz and Jason Walton. It also had all the stats for the monsters in one table and descriptions of them separately in the book. Monsters & Treasure was originally slated to release 3 months after the Players Handbook, in April of 2005. Though Robert Doyel had turned over the text in late ’04, Steve Chenault decided it needed more flavor text, and set to writing that himself. He also overhauled the SRD magic section of the book. All of this took longer than anticipated, as the company was undergoing a host of changes at the time, most noticeably the construction of a print shop to help facilitate the printing process. Delays occurred that kept the book in the writing stage for awhile, such that it did not release until much later than expected. The Monsters & Treasure 1^st printing released in late 2005 and went into distribution in 2006. It sported a gorgeous cover by Peter Bradley depicting three trolls (Steve, Mac, and Davis) discussing various treasures. As an interesting side note, the delay in the Monster book threatened to delay Gary Gygax’s Castle Zagyg Yggsburgh, which was being written and polished at the same time, and the monsters were sent to him in word file so that he could have them on hand. As with the Players Handbook, and despite a print run in the thousands, Monsters & Treasure sold very quickly and another printing was soon needed. Monsters & Treasure 2^nd printing rolled out in 2007, joining the 3^rd printing of the Players Handbook, and like that book, it was almost a direct reprint of the earlier edition with only minor changes and alterations. Despite the implosion of the housing bubble in 2008, the M&T sold well, so that by the end of the year a third printing was in the offing. The line, three years old at this point and enjoying a small but flourishing adventure market, needed an overhaul. Though the game logo remained the same, the layout and design of the book changed. Long time fans of the game will remember the green versions, with the broad green frame on top and bottom of the cover art. This next printing sported a fantastic picture of a dark elf and her black dragon embroiled in combat with another dark elf riding a many-colored Pegasus. The full wrap around cover, painted by Peter Bradley, stood out in Steve’s long sought after blue colors. Monsters & Treasure 3^rd printing in all its green framed glory, debuted in 2009. Sales of the Monsters & Treasure never kept up with those of the PHB, as is only natural in a book designed for the game master, and the book stayed in print for some time. TLG struggled in these years and when the book did sell out, it could not be immediately reprinted. It was therefore briefly replaced and supplemented by a perfect bound version, that sported the same cover and content, but was soft cover. These were manufactured in the TLG shop. This softcover was not marked as a new printing, though technically it probably was. It carried the 2009 copyright and floated around for a few years. As the company began to recover, energies were placed into other projects, most notably the Mythos series, Storytellers Dictionary and most notable the Castle Keepers Guide, and so the M&T suffered some neglect. The softbound cover had long since outlived is shelf life, and a 4^th printing was finally announced to join the full color 5^th printing of the Players Handbook. This next book included all the usual features, but also included full color pages, laid out in a sepia tone to give the book an air of age. A new layout and cover design, sporting the new broad and easily readable logo on the top, reflected changes in other books. Peter Bradley once again painted the cover, this time bringing a massive red dragon and bow wielding elf to life. A flying bird paid homage to Tolkien’s own bow wielding bard and dragon battle. Monsters & Treasure 4^th printing was released in 2014, and a greatly expanded print run ensured a longer supply of the book. The next printing, the current, was a dream child of Steve’s, as he desired to bring all the many monsters together under one roof, excluding those in the Monsters & Treasure of Aihrde and Tome of the Unclean. There were many sprinkled throughout adventures, sourcebooks and setting books that needed a proper home. This project proved a large undertaking and the book that was finally served up proved a monster in and of itself. It sported a brand new cover, a dynamic piece designed to flow into and with the PHB, on which a massive chimera fights a knight with a magical spear, painted by Peter Bradley. This project was crowd funded in 2018, as the expansion called for a tremendous amount of color art. The Monsters & Treasure 5^th printing debuted in 2019 and almost tripled the size of earlier printings. After this, things got weird for the M&T. In little over a year the book sold out and we reprinted the 5^th printing as is, with only minor corrections. That also sold out, and a third reprint was called for, however this coincided with the 8^th printing of the PHB that sported the amazing homage cover created by Jason Walton. A chorus of requests for a similar treatment of the M&T saw a third reprint of the Monster book at the end of 2022…though the copyright date was not changed. So if you hold the homage cover in hand, the only one on sale today, bear in mind, it has a copyright date of 2022!