Mike Lampman reviewed
The Complete Book of Humanoids in
Shadis No. 9 and said that "overall, the Humanoid handbook is a good investment if you're an
AD&D player, or GM, looking to spice up your campaign by playing something a little out of the ordinary. It's well written, and edited, as most of the TSR products are, and is laid out nicely." Keith Eisenbeis reviewed the product in a 1993 issue of
White Wolf. He noted challenges with monster descriptions and some errors, but was generally positive about the product, stating that it is "worth buying for anyone willing to take on the challenge of roleplaying a monster". He rated it overall at a 3 out of 5 possible points. Swan considered the book a "major shake-up in the
AD&D rules," as the ''
Player's Handbook'' only allowed players the option of six
player character races, while this book adds 20 more character race options. He notes that the book imposes restrictions to maintain game balance: "PCs can't be
undead, nor can they be monsters taller than 12 feet.
Centaur wizards can't go beyond 12th level;
goblins can't be wizards at all." An article by
James Wyatt in
Dragon No. 250 (August 1998) presented rules for using various aquatic races as player characters, including
crabmen,
koalinth,
locathah,
malenti,
merfolk,
pahari,
selkies, and
vodyanoi using the format presented in
The Complete Book of Humanoids. Wyatt acknowledged that "
The Complete Book of Humanoids broke a long-standing barrier in the AD&D game by allowing players to make characters of nearly any humanoid race," and noted that the book carefully balanced the advantages a race might have such as great physical strength against significant disadvantages, particularly prejudice and superstition from the more common races. Player characters based on the creatures presented in this article would face the same sort of prejudices, as well as special physical limitations while interacting with land dwellers. ==Reviews==