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Will the monsters in this book also appear in the Bestiary that will be coming out later this fall?
Yes, but the Bestiary is nothing like this book.
Take the goblin, for example.
In the Bestiary, you'll get one page on the goblin, consisting of a quarter-page stat block, five paragraphs of flavor, a couple of paragraphs on goblin PCs, and a quarter-page illustration.
In Classic Monsters Revisited, goblins get six pages, including an overview, ecology, habitat & society, campaign role, treasure, goblin variants, goblins in Golarion, goblin names, goblin deities, typical goblin distractions, and the stats (which, since this book was published long before the Pathfinder RPG existed, are for 3.5).
It's kind of like the difference between looking something up in a dictionary and looking it up in an encyclopedia.
Yep, and well worth it. Get 'em while they're hot.
Ok, you guys talked me into it.
It's pretty cool so far.I was surprised to see Golarion-specific information about the monsters.
I was under the impression that Paizo was trying to make things universal.
Will the Bestiary also contain Golarion-specific info?
Since the core rulebook printed after Classic Monsters was published, will that affect/change any of the info in Classic Monsters?
Yep, and well worth it. Get 'em while they're hot.Ok, you guys talked me into it.
It's pretty cool so far.I was surprised to see Golarion-specific information about the monsters.
I was under the impression that Paizo was trying to make things universal.
Will the Bestiary also contain Golarion-specific info?Since the core rulebook printed after Classic Monsters was published, will that affect/change any of the info in Classic Monsters?
Oooh, oohh I can answer this!
The RPG line is more generic. The Chronicles line is more world specific. (Frex, my hobgoblins/goblins do not have the same origins as theirs). That said, yes there are lots of cool ideas to borrow. Minotaur elders rock.
Yep, and well worth it. Get 'em while they're hot.Ok, you guys talked me into it.
It's pretty cool so far.I was surprised to see Golarion-specific information about the monsters.
I was under the impression that Paizo was trying to make things universal.
Will the Bestiary also contain Golarion-specific info?Since the core rulebook printed after Classic Monsters was published, will that affect/change any of the info in Classic Monsters?
Yeah; ALL of our books are Golarion-specific, with the exception of the RPG line. And right now, there's only the Core RPG out in that line.
The Bestiary will also be world-neutral, but none of the monster flavor text in the Bestiary will directly contradict the info in any Golarion-products we've printed. In some cases, as with the skum, it builds directly off of Golarion flavor, but no proper nouns or locations or history elements from Golarion are included.
Things like goblins and ogres will be very at peace and work quite well with the Revisited line.
Oooh, oohh I can answer this!
The RPG line is more generic. The Chronicles line is more world specific. (Frex, my hobgoblins/goblins do not have the same origins as theirs). That said, yes there are lots of cool ideas to borrow. Minotaur elders rock.
Aha.
So, the huge "Pathfinder Chronicles" on the front cover should have been a tip off, huh?In the event that certain information in the Chronicles and RPG lines contradict each other, does the RPG override Chronicles?
In the event that certain information in the Chronicles and RPG lines contradict each other, does the RPG override Chronicles?
There shouldn't be contradictions, since we also built the PRPG so that it works perfect (we hope!) with Golarion. If you're talking about rules content contradicting, then you should err on the side of the system you're using, be it PRPG or 3.5.
I am excited about getting this book. Is it to be revised to new Pathfinder rules, or is this question even pertinent? It is more just cool strategies?
Each monster has a stat block that duplicates their stats from the 3.5 MM. But the other five pages of content each monster has is almost purely flavor; there's some crunch elements here and there but not much. It works VERY well with the Pathfinder RPG.
I am excited about getting this book. Is it to be revised to new Pathfinder rules, or is this question even pertinent? It is more just cool strategies?Each monster has a stat block that duplicates their stats from the 3.5 MM. But the other five pages of content each monster has is almost purely flavor; there's some crunch elements here and there but not much. It works VERY well with the Pathfinder RPG.
Awesome. Looks like I need a PDF copy.
Thanks.
I am excited about getting this book. Is it to be revised to new Pathfinder rules, or is this question even pertinent? It is more just cool strategies?Each monster has a stat block that duplicates their stats from the 3.5 MM. But the other five pages of content each monster has is almost purely flavor; there's some crunch elements here and there but not much. It works VERY well with the Pathfinder RPG.
...and you'll be able to find the PFRPG stats for each of these critters in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary.
Well, I just received this book and Dungeon Denizens Revisited today and I love em. Why is that all I can think of to say about every Pathfinder book I've seen so far is "I love it"? :-)
Seriously though, I've always loved the idea of "re-envisioning" monsters and these two books don't disappoint. I've also always liked the idea of delving further into the ecology of various so-called monsters. I think that's one thing way too many D&D players don't bother thinking about(at least in my experience)... these creatures exist for a reason. Granted, some of them are the result of insane wizardly experiments, inscrutable gods, weird prehistorical mana storms or whathave you, but the majority are as "natural" to a fantasy world as dolphins, fire ants, horses, vampire bats, etc are to our world. I love learning about the "why" of various monsters instead of just getting a physical description and a stat block.
I sincerely hope that this series continues... my next purchase is going to be Dragons Revisited and I soooo can't wait for Classic Horrors... wights, wraiths, ghouls, vampires and yay zombies! I love throwing the occasional zombie apocalypse/dawn of the dead style event into my campaigns. Who says fantasy gaming can't support zombie horror!
I just noticed the print edition of this is still available. If I didn't already own it, I'd be tempted to buy it.
Frankly, I'm surprised we still have any print copies. It was sold out for several months, but we recovered some cases from one of our distributors a few months ago.
Get 'em while you can, because when it's gone this time, it's probably gone for good...
Why no re-print??? Unless they're going to be bundled into a future product... It seems insane not to reprint this product.We only ever did one print run of this. One of our distributors had some extra copies, and we requested that they return them to us so that we could sell them on paizo.com.
After this they will be gone for good.
There's a giant discussion about the economics of reprints somewhere on the boards; that provides a pretty good explanation.
Besides, the PDF will be available forever and you could print-on-demand it, I imagine.
Why no re-print??? Unless they're going to be bundled into a future product... It seems insane not to reprint this product.We only ever did one print run of this. One of our distributors had some extra copies, and we requested that they return them to us so that we could sell them on paizo.com.
After this they will be gone for good.
Some of you might recall that we originally sold out of Classic Monsters in just a few months in summer 2008, and then we managed to recover a few cases from one of our distributors about a year later. We thought that a year's worth of pent-up demand would mean we'd blow through those cases in no time, but we actually still have some. (Not enough to offer to distribution, though—it's pretty much a paizo.com exclusive now.)
Anyway, given that the minimum quantity required to justify a reprint would be far, far higher than that small restock we received, it would probably take us years to just recoup the printing costs of another press run, much less actually make it profitable.
It's a shame, too, because this is one of our best products ever. Fortunately, it will live on in PDF form...
There's a giant discussion about the economics of reprints somewhere on the boards; that provides a pretty good explanation.
I think you're talking about this thread. This particular product has provided excellent evidence to back up some of my assertions in that first post...
Some of you might recall that we originally sold out of Classic Monsters in just a few months in summer 2008, and then we managed to recover a few cases from one of our distributors about a year later. We thought that a year's worth of pent-up demand would mean we'd blow through those cases in no time, but we actually still have some. (Not enough to offer to distribution, though—it's pretty much a paizo.com exclusive now.)
I suspect that most of the people who really wanted a copy found it through other channels after the first sell out. I know when I saw that is was no longer available here, I grabbed a copy at my local Barnes and Noble. I was surprised to see it there actually, since this was long before the Core RPG release, and the only Paizo books they had were it and the Campaign Setting Hardcover.
Perhaps B&N (and other book sellers) ordered more than usual for a chronicles book to test the waters and eventually a number were returned to distribution?
If you don't have a copy, pick one up while you still can! I keep wanting to use this plus 0one games "Caverns of Chaos" map to make a "Keep on the Borderlands Revisited" Adventure.
Perhaps if we are very lucky we'll get a hardcover "Golarion Monsters Revisited" book that includes this in 10 years.