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27-641: The Draconomicon , the first book for Dungeons & Dragons by this title, was designed by Nigel Findley for the 2nd edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons , with four adventures designed by Christopher Kubasik , Carl Sargent , John Terra , and William Tracy . It was released in 1990 as a Forgotten Realms sourcebook. The book features cover art by Jeff Easley (uncredited), and interior illustrations by Brom , David Dorman , Keith Parkinson , Terry Dykstra , Fred Fields , Robin Raab, Valerie Valusek , and Karl Waller . Shannon Appelcline commented that of

54-497: A Lovecraftian bent (particularly mind flayers and psionics). Cordell frequently references certain characters, ideas, and organizations in his RPG works, creating a private continuity between various supplements. For example, The Illithiad references the character of Strom Wakeman and the organization known as the Arcane Order (an organization detailed heavily in another of Cordell's works, College of Wizardry ). Wakeman

81-701: A Wizards of the Coast logo is included in latter. The 3rd edition version of the Draconomicon , named Draconomicon (The Book of Dragons) specifically, contains information about dragon physiology and psychology, along with new dragon-only feats, spells, and prestige classes. There are also additional rules regarding aerial combat and breath weapons. Players can find new feats, spells, magic items, and prestige classes for use against dragons in this book. There are various types of new dragons and dragon-related creatures, along with sample statistics blocks for dragons of all

108-494: A big pile of treasure, the writers try to flesh out these magnificent beasts. The book treats them as characters first and foremost, participants in the story, and in fact there are guidelines for using them as PCs, NPCs, forces of nature, or just the stuff of legend that dominates an area's history. They can be friend or foe, mentors, or part of the party." Viktor Coble listed Draconomicon as #4 on CBR 's 2021 "D&D: 10 Best Supplemental Handbooks" list, stating that "It's such

135-519: A degree in biology from the University of Colorado . Cordell once worked in the biopharmaceutical industry, where he learned to synthesize DNA. Cordell worked on freelance game design while working in the scientific field, and was eventually hired as a full-time game designer by TSR in 1995. Cordell created the Far Realm for the adventure The Gates of Firestorm Peak (1996). He authored

162-414: A few questions about dragons in space. Less successful are the adventures, four rather routine excursions that feature promising plots but suffer from a lack of development; one or two longer adventures would have been preferable to four short ones." The reviewer from Pyramid commented on the third edition Draconomicon : "Rather than see the dragon as the huge pile of hit points standing between you and

189-563: A few years as a designer on the fifth edition of D&D, Cordell left Wizards in July 2013. In August of the same year he joined Monte Cook at Cook's company Monte Cook Games , LLC (also called MCG) as Senior Designer. Not long after, MCG Kickstarted another RPG, The Strange . The Strange, co-written by Cordell and Cook, was published in August 2014. Third-Party d20 System Sourcebooks 5th Edition D&D Bruce Cordell has appeared in

216-440: A fun read that it feels less like a part of a game and more like a fantasy novel. What's the most fun is how there are tables for the language of dragons, giving an even deeper layer to one of the game's namesakes." Nigel Findley Nigel D. Findley (July 22, 1959 – February 19, 1995 ) was a Canadian game designer, editor, and an author of science fiction and fantasy novels and role-playing games (RPGs). Nigel Findley

243-459: A look for anyone who likes dragons. Overall, he rated it a 4 out of a possible 5. Rick Swan reviewed the original Draconomicon for Dragon magazine #180 (April 1992). He calls the book an "entertaining collection of draconic odds and ends". According to Swan, "The fanciful essays discussing behavior and customs [...] makes for a delightful read, while the Spelljammer material clears up

270-520: A sort of story arc across When the Sky Falls , If Thoughts Could Kill , and Hyperconscious , connected by the god-like Dark Plea and, to a lesser extent, the kureshim race. In an interview with Monte Cook , Cordell himself described his style as including "subtle story threads that connect seemingly unrelated projects". Cordell co-designed the 4th Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide , and Gamma World Seventh Edition. After working for

297-615: The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons line. Cordell was also one of the designers working on the first new adventures for the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons game, beginning with The Sunless Citadel . Cordell and Rich Baker wrote a new version of the Gamma World Roleplaying Game (2010), which was based on the fourth edition D&D rules. He won the Origins Award for Return to

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324-557: The Draconomicon is the name of a two books covering dragons. The first book is Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons , released in November 2008. Written by Bruce R. Cordell , Logan Bonner , Ari Marmell , and Robert J. Schwalb , it is a 288-page hardcover that contains various information, including sample treasure hoards and monsters, including three types of true dragons new to 4th edition: brown, gray and purple dragons, known as desert, fang and deep dragons in earlier editions. Cover art

351-510: The Coast . He won the Origins Award for Return to the Tomb of Horrors and has also won several ENnies . He lives in Seattle . Bruce Cordell played Dungeons & Dragons as a youth, and even recalled playing the original Tomb of Horrors adventure with future fellow game designer Monte Cook when they were in high school together. Cordell was a wrestler and a debater, and also earned

378-533: The Forgotten Realms relating to dragons, dragon psychology, advice on role-playing dragons, along with new dragon species, a "hall of fame" of important dragons, new magic for dragons, a "hunter's guide", and four short adventures featuring dragons. The book was released again in September 1999 by Wizards of the Coast with new cover artwork. Both editions of the book contain the same information but

405-796: The Sea Devils Adventure Trilogy, The Illithiad , The Shattered Circle , Bastion of Faith , the Dungeon Builder's Guidebook , and the adventures Die Vecna Die! , Return to the Tomb of Horrors , and Return to White Plume Mountain for the AD&;D game, as well as the Tangents sourcebook and The Killing Jar adventure for the Alternity game. Cordell and Steve Miller worked on Die Vecna Die! (2000) together, an original adventure that brought an end to

432-727: The Tomb of Horrors , and ENnies for Mindscapes , If Thoughts Could Kill , and his work on the Manual of the Planes . Bruce wrote the novels Oath of Nerull , Lady of Poison , Darkvision , Stardeep , and the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy. Short stories he's written have appeared in various anthologies, including "Black Arrow" in Realms of War . Bruce Cordell's RPG work includes many scenarios and sourcebooks; many of which are directly or indirectly concerned with monsters of

459-428: The beginnings of the idea for this book: "I remember talking about this project as early as 2001 or so, during our regular "What are we going to write next?" meetings. At one point, it was tentatively slated as a full-blown coffee table book with only minimal game material. We eventually realized that that wasn't our strong point, but the notion that this book should be art-intensive stuck around." In 4th edition D&D,

486-601: The changes to the Forgotten Realms publications in the early 1990s, "The biggest change was that the geographical setting books had faded away starting in the early '90s. They were replaced by a number of other lines. The "FOR" books instead looked at organization in the Realms—much like the splatbooks of White Wolf and others. They ran from FOR1: Draconomicon (1990) to Giantcraft (1995)." The book includes new dragons, among them steel, mercury, and yellow dragons. It contains general reference information about dragons, geography in

513-654: The chromatic and metallic varieties of all ages. The Draconomicon for 3rd edition D&D was designed by Andy Collins , Skip Williams , and James Wyatt , and published in November 2003. Cover art was by Todd Lockwood , with interior art by Wayne England , Emily Fiegenschuh , Lars Grant-West , Rebecca Guay-Mitchell , David Hudnut , Jeremy Jarvis , Ginger Kubic , John and Laura Lakey , Todd Lockwood, David Martin , Dennis Crabapple-McClain , Matt Mitchell , Mark Nelson , Steve Prescott , Vinod Rams , Richard Sardinha , Ron Spencer , Stephen Tappin , Joel Thomas , Ben Thompson , and Sam Wood . Andy Collins talks about

540-475: The design of Greyhawk Adventures and Fate of Istus , and wrote the whole of Greyspace . He was also part of the original core of Shadowrun RPG writers and designers, and has sole writing credit on both sourcebooks and Shadowrun world novels. Findley died at home on February 19, 1995, in Vancouver, British Columbia , at the age of 35 from a sudden heart attack. The Nigel D. Findley Memorial Award

567-569: Was also the name of a 1997 expansion pack for the Spellfire collectible card game . It was released shortly before the buyout of TSR, Inc. by Wizards of the Coast . John Setzer reviewed the original Draconomicon in the February 1992 issue of White Wolf Magazine . He stated that "all in all, this book is a must if you play in the Forgotten Realms", noting that it would be useful for any Advanced Dungeons & Dragons player and worth

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594-512: Was awarded for best role-playing product of the year between 1995 and 2001. The Castle Falkenstein role-playing game was the first winner of the award, while The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game was the last documented winner. Bruce R. Cordell Bruce Robert Cordell (born 1968) is an American author of roleplaying games and fantasy novels. He has worked on Dungeons & Dragons games for Wizards of

621-736: Was born in Venezuela in 1959 to Canadian parents, and lived in Spain , Nigeria , the United States , and England before moving with his family to Vancouver in 1969. He got his start as a role-playing game author in the mid 1980s during his business career. By 1990 he had become a full-time writer, and had authored or coauthored over one hundred books, and twelve novels. He wrote for many game companies, including TSR , and for FASA 's Shadowrun supplements and fiction. Findley's adventure The Universal Brotherhood (1990) for Shadowrun

648-466: Was by Todd Lockwood , with interior art by Devon Caddy-Lee , Miguel Coimbra , Eric Deschamps , Vincent Dutrait , Emily Fiegenschuh , Tomás Giorello , Lars Grant-West , Warren Mahy , Lee Moyer , Andrew Murray , Steve Prescott , Vinod Rams , Tara Rueping , Rick Sardinha , Ron Spears , Ron Spencer , Joel Thomas , Francis Tsai , Franz Vohwinkel , Eva Widermann , Sam Wood , and James Zhang . The second book, Draconomicon: Metallic Dragons ,

675-705: Was quoted occasionally in Planescape books by Cordell, such as A Guide to the Ethereal Plane , and was instrumental to the course of events in the adventure Dawn of the Overmind (books which were themselves also connected through a phenomenon called an ether gap). Meanwhile, the Arcane Order returned in Tome and Blood as a detailed organization and the basis of a prestige class . Most of Cordell's work for Malhavoc Press has followed similar patterns, creating

702-470: Was well received. He got his start writing for Dungeons & Dragons , and won a 1992 Origins Award for GURPS Illuminati . In 1994 he was inducted into the Origins Awards Hall of Fame. His body of work also included supplements for Mayfair 's Role Aids line, Wizards of the Coast's The Primal Order , West End Games , and White Wolf Publishing . He is credited with parts of

729-544: Was written by Bruce R. Cordell and Ari Marmell and was released in November 2009. It introduced the new cobalt, mercury, mithral, orium, and steel dragons. The front cover illustration is by Todd Lockwood and the back cover illustration is by Chippy , with interior illustrations by Dave Allsop , Kerem Beyit , Zoltan Boros and Gabor Szikszai , Chippy, Wayne England , Jason A. Engle , Tomás Giorello , Lars Grant-West , Ralph Horsley , Howard Lyon , William O'Connor , Chris Seaman , and Franz Vohwinkel . Draconomicon

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