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Can I just say the night hags are better than ever?
Their detect abilities are now constant, so they don't have to waste standard actions activating them.
They have deep slumber instead of sleep — which is exactly what I suggested! — because any creature capable of fighting a night hag is immune to sleep due to HD.
They have soul bind at will — so if you die while fighting one, you'll just be added to the hag's collection.
AWESOME!
James:
I noticed that while Angels, Devils, Demons, Giants, Dragons, and some other groups of monsters were clustered together that Hags got spread out through-out the beastiary. Given that hags are often encountered as a covey comprised of each of the 3 variants, I would think that they would have been grouped together to reduce page-flipping and improve ease of reference.
What was the reasoning behind spreading them out as opposed to grouping them, particularly when it seems like attention was given to grouping other related monsters?
Were hags grouped in the 3.5 MM or previous editions? Mine are all in storage now, or I'd look. But I know that the examples you mentioned were grouped by type in at least the 3.5 MM. It wasn't Paizo who chose to put those monsters together.
Were hags grouped in the 3.5 MM or previous editions? Mine are all in storage now, or I'd look. But I know that the examples you mentioned were grouped by type in at least the 3.5 MM.
Yes, hags were grouped on pages 143 and 144 of the 3.5 MM. Furthermore, rules for Hag Coveys were given on those pages (now they are listed on the Green Hag's entry).
For me, this change is (thus far) the only detractor I've seen in what is otherwise an outstanding reference book.
While I agree with the ungrouping of the animals (and pairing them with their giant or dire variants), I end up hitting a mental snag when I try to think of the names of the 3 hag types separately. At least the dinosaurs are still grouped... I'd really have a rough time recalling their individual names! ;)
BTW, there are typo in the Janni and Efreeti's Change Size descriptions:
Janni: It reads that the ability can work on the efreeti instead of on the janni.
Efreeti: The save DC should be 14 instead of 13 (10 + 2nd level + 2 Cha mod). The "13" is the save for the Janni's +1 Charisma modifier.
Also, is anyone else reminded of Leonidas when looking at the Storm Giant illustration? :D
First, I love the new Bestiary. I had a nerdgasm when I saw it was hyperlinked and had an expandable bookmark feature.
However, for the "One File per Chapter" option for the Bestiary PDF download, does anyone know if they are currently organized in some way? I downloaded it, but can't make any real sense of it.
I was expecting a breakdown something like this (and I'm sure a lot of other users are, too):
Chapter 1. Front Cover, Credits, Table of Contents, Introduction
Chapters 2 - X: A chapter for each letter (unless there's only a couple entries, in which case multiple letters can be combined like for W-Z)
Chapter X+1: Appendices, Advertisement, and Back cover
I'm hoping either to gain some insight regarding the current chapter division so I can use it "as is" or to get a chapter breakdown that makes sense to me.
-John
I think they're just grouped by page number. You can always rename 'em so that the make sense to you. :)I'm hoping either to gain some insight regarding the current chapter division so I can use it "as is" or to get a chapter breakdown that makes sense to me.
-John
Appears to be grouped in signatures to me
James:
I noticed that while Angels, Devils, Demons, Giants, Dragons, and some other groups of monsters were clustered together that Hags got spread out through-out the beastiary. Given that hags are often encountered as a covey comprised of each of the 3 variants, I would think that they would have been grouped together to reduce page-flipping and improve ease of reference.
What was the reasoning behind spreading them out as opposed to grouping them, particularly when it seems like attention was given to grouping other related monsters?
This was actually something of a contentious point during the book's layout... in 3rd edition's Monster Manual, the hags were SORT of grouped. The annis, green hag, and sea hag were all listed under "Hag" but the night hag was not. In the first edition of the game, though, the hags were organized in the same way we do so in the Bestiary; each as their own entry alphabetically.
SO, on one level we decided to go a little nostalgic with the hag organization. But the main reason was that we don't want to limit covens to hags, nor do we want to limit our naming convention of hags to "Noun/Adjective Hag" style, even though that's exactly how the green hag and the night hag and the sea hag work. The annis didn't work like that until 3rd edition. And if we were to introduce some new kind of hag, it might or might not have the name "hag" in its title—likewise, we might some day do something with non-hags in covens.
Furthermore, while hags do all share some thematic similarities and the ability to be in covens, they don't actually share much else. They don't even share types; of the hags in the Bestairy, they're either outsiders or monstrous humanoids. I could see us some day doing humanoid hags or undead hags or fey hags, for example. Their stats are built on their own as well, with no attempt or need to give them shared traits. Since hags don't really share a large number of game rules in common except by chance or coincidence, there's less of an urge to group them together.
Appears to be grouped in signatures to meI think they're just grouped by page number. You can always rename 'em so that the make sense to you. :)I'm hoping either to gain some insight regarding the current chapter division so I can use it "as is" or to get a chapter breakdown that makes sense to me.
-John
I believe that's how we did it; that's how we organized the section of the book when we were working on it, for sure. (A signature is a group of 16 pages that comprises one section of a book; it's a printing and binding thing.)
Did a quick look-through. Might have missed a few, and there are some who have been given new names (eladrin to azata for instance). And didn't bother looking up the mundane animals or their dire versions. Some of those that were excluded are in the bonus bestiary, some are WotC IP, some are from older open source (dark folk for instance), and some will most definitely not be missed (bye bye, tojanida).
Of the new one's I welcome the linnorm, the sea serpent and especially the SHOGGOTH.
GONE
achaierai, allip, athach azer, beholder, belker, bodak, carrion crawler, chaos beast, delver, destrachan, devil - hellcat, digester, dinosaur - megaraptor, displacer beast, dragonne, eladrin, ethereal filcher, ethereal marauder, frost worm, githyanki, githzerai, gray render, grick, grimlock, hippogriff, howler, inevitable, krenshar, kuo-toa, lammasu, locathah, magmin, mind flayer, nightshade, phantom fungus, phasm, rast, ravid, sea cat, shadow mastiff, shield guardian, slaad, spider eater, sprite, tendriculos, thoqqua, titan, tojanida, umber hulk, yrthak, yuan-ti
NEW
azata, basirond, boggard, cave fisher, cyclops, dark creeper, dark stalker, demon - nabasu, demon - shadow, dinosaur - ankylosaurus, dinosaur - brachiosaurus, dinosaur - pteranodon, dinosaur - stegosaurus, flytrap, froghemoth, goblin dog, intellect devourer, linnorm, mite, morlock, neothelid, phoenix, pixie, sea serpent, shoggoth, tengu, vegepygmy, yellow musk creeper, yeti
GONE
achaierai, allip, athach azer, beholder, belker, bodak, carrion crawler, chaos beast, delver, destrachan, devil - hellcat, digester, dinosaur - megaraptor, displacer beast, dragonne, eladrin, ethereal filcher, ethereal marauder, frost worm, githyanki, githzerai, gray render, grick, grimlock, hippogriff, howler, inevitable, krenshar, kuo-toa, lammasu, locathah, magmin, mind flayer, nightshade, phantom fungus, phasm, rast, ravid, sea cat, shadow mastiff, shield guardian, slaad, spider eater, sprite, tendriculos, thoqqua, titan, tojanida, umber hulk, yrthak, yuan-ti
The allip, dragonne, lammasu, and shadow mastiff are in the bonus bestiary.
The Megaraptor (which is actually a Utahraptor, but I am being picky) is an advance deinonychus, and the shield guardian is an option for all golems.
GONE
achaierai, allip, athach azer, beholder, belker, bodak, carrion crawler, chaos beast, delver, destrachan, devil - hellcat, digester, dinosaur - megaraptor, displacer beast, dragonne, eladrin, ethereal filcher, ethereal marauder, frost worm, githyanki, githzerai, gray render, grick, grimlock, hippogriff, howler, inevitable, krenshar, kuo-toa, lammasu, locathah, magmin, mind flayer, nightshade, phantom fungus, phasm, rast, ravid, sea cat, shadow mastiff, shield guardian, slaad, spider eater, sprite, tendriculos, thoqqua, titan, tojanida, umber hulk, yrthak, yuan-ti
As mentioned above, some of these monsters are actually in the book, they're just kind of hidden. And several others are in the bonus bestiary. The eladrins ARE in there, but they've been re-named to be azatas (since the word eladrin isn't availble; it's owned by WotC).
Others, like the achaierai, the chaos beast, the howler, and the hellcat show up in various adventures we've published since the Bestiary or are at the printer.
Others, like the frost worm and the grick and the nightshades are VERY VERY likely to be in Bestairy 2 (the release date of which has not been anounced).
A dozen or so will NEVER be in the game because they're owned lock, stock, and barrel by WotC (beholder, carrion crawler, displacer beast, githyanki, githzerai, kuo-toa, mind flayer, slaad, umber hulk, and yuan-ti).
As mentioned above, some of these monsters are actually in the book, they're just kind of hidden. And several others are in the bonus bestiary. The eladrins ARE in there, but they've been re-named to be azatas (since the word eladrin isn't availble; it's owned by WotC).A dozen or so will NEVER be in the game because they're owned lock, stock, and barrel by WotC (beholder, carrion crawler, displacer beast, githyanki, githzerai, kuo-toa, mind flayer, slaad, umber hulk, and yuan-ti).
Pretty much what I said in my original post isn't it. ;)
There are some who have been given new names (eladrin to azata for instance).Some of those that were excluded are in the bonus bestiary.
Some are WotC IP.
Bestiary XXVII :p
AKA "The Tome of Horrid - PFRPG edition"
AKA "The Compleate Book of Unused Creatures - featuring the Algoid, Carbuncle, CIFAL, Sheet Phantom and others"
The Flumph didn't make the cut for the actual physical book, but there are rumors that they're in talks to see if they will get a write up as a free PDF bonus.
Right before the game line is discontinued.
Best thing I've seen so far:
Centuars don't use large sized weapons! Hooray! I never liked centaurs and driders and the like using large sized weapons when their upper halves are obviously medium.
Yeah, we tried to give the undersized weapon quality to most of the centaur-like creatures, like the drider and the lamia. It just kinda makes sense.
Note that not all of the centaur-like creatures get undersized weapons. Some of them (like the marilith and the lillend) are big enough and bad-ass enough that they still use weapons sized for their actual monster size category.
I complained enough when as a superscriber, my Bestiary didn't ship when it should have, Now I'll give credit where credit is due. Not only has my order shipped, but they sent me an apology email, with a bonus to make up for my inconvenience. Kudos's to the customer service staff.
I'd like to make it clear that the e-mail scranford is talking about was directed only to people who had their subscriptions set to ship *separately*, and were—contrary to their stated preference—having their shipment held up by the unexpected last-minute delay on Seekers.
People who had set their combined subs to ship out *monthly* were processed exactly as specified. "Hold for monthly" means that we hold anything that comes in early in the month until *everything* due that month has arrived, and then we ship it all at once to decrease shipping fees. Which is exactly what we did. Everything we're expecting this month has now arrived, and the "hold for monthly" shipments are now going out.
Others, like the achaierai, the chaos beast, the howler, and the hellcat show up in various adventures we've published since the Bestiary or are at the printer.Are there any plans to include these in a later Bestiary? I've purchased a couple of adventures, but I don't traditionally buy those.
There are indeed plans.
I too noticed the broken up hags, and would have preferred a similar format to the MM 3.5 for them, since they are one of my favorite long running villians in campaign games. However, this is a minor thing, and I have to say the bestiary is just amazing. The art is spectacular, the write ups are excellent, and its great to have a Pathfinder monster book to carry out to my games now instead of carting the old MM3.5 around.
While paging through admiring the art, I noticed the picture of lamia with a lower lion body. After seeing pictures of the lamia matriarchs with snake bottoms in RotRL books, I just sort of assumed the Pathfinder version of lamias in general had serpentine lower halves, so this was suprising, but also rather interesting. Are there any other varieties of lamias out there in Golarion?
And just to tie the two together, I think it would be rather cool to add a lamia to a hag covey as one of the members.
Suggestion for the Bestiary II:
An appendix for groups of monsters and their gestalt abilities:
hag coveys(what sort of other creatures (non-hag) might be able to join)
Fey circles (possible powers and creature types)
groups of Giant casters
pack tactics of wolves or other predators that pack hunt
tactics for multiple dragon fights (aerial)
These might give some good ideas to new and not so new DMs when using these creatures.
While paging through admiring the art, I noticed the picture of lamia with a lower lion body. After seeing pictures of the lamia matriarchs with snake bottoms in RotRL books, I just sort of assumed the Pathfinder version of lamias in general had serpentine lower halves, so this was suprising, but also rather interesting. Are there any other varieties of lamias out there in Golarion?And just to tie the two together, I think it would be rather cool to add a lamia to a hag covey as one of the members.
As far as I can tell, lamias (at least in Golarion) all have the lower half of different creatures. The one's I've seen have been lion, snake, and tiger thus far. And I've seen all of them in their adventures. *shrugs* Hope that helps.
Lamias in Golarion have big cat lower torsos, be those torsos lions or panthers or whatever.
That said, there are numerous other types of lamia in Golarion; the lamia matriarch is the most well-known—they have the lower torsos of snakes. Lamia matriarchs are detailed in Pathfinder #2.
We've detailed 3 more lamias as well. They're in Pathfinder #6; the vulture-like kuchrimas (who are more like vulture-people with no arms than they are like centaurs), the immense lamia harridans (who are basically Huge sized lamias), and the hungerers (which are foul, super-obese, super hideous lamias). Pathfinder #6 has a fair amount of additional flavor about all of the lamia races as well.
But by and large, the standard lamia as detailed in Golarion is the most common.
Yeah... I'm curious to know about this too. I'm pretty sure it wasn't intentional. But it might have been...Hey, there's even an Easter Egg regarding Ptolus in the Bestiary. Cool! :)There is?
I'd like to make it clear that the e-mail scranford is talking about was directed only to people who had their subscriptions set to ship *separately*, and were—contrary to their stated preference—having their shipment held up by the unexpected last-minute delay on Seekers.
People who had set their combined subs to ship out *monthly* were processed exactly as specified. "Hold for monthly" means that we hold anything that comes in early in the month until *everything* due that month has arrived, and then we ship it all at once to decrease shipping fees. Which is exactly what we did. Everything we're expecting this month has now arrived, and the "hold for monthly" shipments are now going out.
Really? Because I have my shipping preference set to separately, but my order has not yet been processed.
Everything we're expecting this month has now arrived, and the "hold for monthly" shipments are now going out.Am I correct in assuming that this process will take more than one day? I've set my subs to ship out monthly and they haven't shipped yet (heck, they're still in my sidecart).
I feel your pain. Patience is a virtue, it is said.
I bought it too. Couldn't wait any longer!
Since a credit card hiccup on Monday which I immediately fixed by authorising a different card, I've heard nothing. I realise that not being able to pay put me to the back of the queue, I just hadn't expected quite as big a queue!
Plus my order is weird - Seekers was split away, an OoTs book I bought was added to my normal subscription items - you need a special kind of packing troll just to get it right!
Still, four days of nail-biting broke my will. (That on top of the whole week before)
I must say - I cannot WAIT to get the real book. The pdf looks fantabulous!!
