''d20 Menace Manual'' is a sourcebook published by Wizards of the Coast (WotC) in 2003 for the role-playing game system

d20 Modern ''d20 Modern'' is a modern fantasy role-playing game system designed by Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, and Charles Ryan. The system's core rulebook was published by Wizards of the Coast on November 1, 2002; by 2006, ten additional supp ...

that describes various creatures, non-player characters, and factions with which players might interact.

Description

''d20 Menace Manual'' is analogous to the '' Monster Manual'' used in '' Dungeons & Dragons'', providing the gamemaster with pre-generated "monsters" usable in a d20 Modern campaign. The book is divided into three sections: # Creatures, varying from ordinary animals such as chimpanzees and anacondas to dinosaurs and monsters drawn from science fiction and horror # Non-player characters such as Burglar, Government Agent, and ER physician # Factions and organizations both real (

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

and

FEMA The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

) and fictional (Crimson Scorpion and The Nautilus Club) The book also includes an index of all creatures ranked by challenge rating.

Publication history

After publishing a third edition of '' Dungeons & Dragons'' in 2000, WotC took the non-fantasy portions of the rules and created the d20 Modern rules in 2002, usable for science fiction, steam punk, and modern-day role-playing games. The following year, WotC released ''d20 Menace Manual'', providing gamemasters with pre-generated encounters. The 224-page book was designed by J.D. Wiker, Eric Cagle and

Matthew Sernett Matthew Lee Sernett is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Matt Sernett was part of the SCRAMJET team, led by Richard Baker, with designers James Wyatt, Ed Stark, Michele Carter, Stacy Longstreet, and Chri ...

, with additional material by Christopher Perkins, interior artwork by Jason Shawn Alexander, Kalman Andrasofszky, Joachim Barrum, Ted Beargeon, Cynthia Fliege, Langdon Foss,

Frazer Irving Frazer Irving (born 1970) is a British comic book artist known for the series '' Necronauts'', published by the British magazine '' 2000 AD''. After breaking into the American market he has worked on a number of superhero titles, including a s ...

, Dave Johnson, Dennis Kauth,

Karl Kerschl Karl Kerschl is a Canadian comic book artist, best known for his work on DC Comics books, including '' Adventures of Superman'', '' Majestic'', ''All-Flash'', '' Teen Titans: Year One'' and ''Gotham Academy''. Early life Kerschl was born in Toron ...

, Chester Lawrence,

Rob Lazzaretti Rob Lazzaretti is an artist whose work has appeared largely as a cartographer for roleplaying games, particularly the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game from TSR. Biography Rob Lazzaretti was born and raised in central Illinois. H ...

, Kagan McCloud, Raven Mimura, Mikael Noguchi, Dean Ormston, Jake Parker, Zak Plucinski, Scott Schomburg, Joel Thomas, Jonathan Wayshak, and Sam Wood, cartography by Rob Lazzaretti and Dennis Kauth, and cover art by Dave Johnson.

Reception

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

'' noted that most of the creatures listed were "just animals", and many of the other creatures such as dinosaurs, science fiction aliens, and horror creatures had been culled from previously published WotC sources.

Other reviews

*''Legions Realm Monthly'' #15 (p. 18)

References

Menace Manual {{rpg-stub