Alexander Augunas Contributor |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
What I don't understand is why Ratfolk, robots and Flumph's are probably accepted by you, but a Drop Bear would be too much?
I like robots because they represent the inherent dangers of humanity "playing god." There are tons of literary and cinematic examples of this theme.
I like flumphs because they fill a specific game design niche (Good Aberrations). While they are not as strong as robots because they aren't cultural adaptations, I respect (and praise) the need to create new ideas going forward into gaming. Note that I did not like flumphs until Paizo redefined them as a race in Misfit Monsters Revisited.
I like ratfolk for a combination of the above reasons. Ratfolk have some literary support (Secret of NIMH comes to mind, in which the ratfolk represent a demi-human society created and suppressed by humanity) but they're also largely a product of the RPG genre, developed as a need to fill a niche.
I do not like drop bears because they they have no mythological or literary reason to exist, their concept does not not fulfill an empty design niche, and they are essentially a "bully" monster. Australians do not believe that the drop bear exists; at no point in history have they ever. They only tell tourists that they exist in the hopes of spooking naive travelers and possibly getting them to do something demeaning.
Saying that I think drop bears are "too much" is incorrect. I staunchly believe that drop bears have no reason to exist in this world or in a fictions one because they are nothing more than a cruel joke monster and I feel the same way about similar monsters such as the jackolope.
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Ross Byers RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32 |
Tinkergoth |
...
I do not like drop bears because they they have no mythological or literary reason to exist, their concept does not not fulfill an empty design niche, and they are essentially a "bully" monster. Australians do not believe that the drop bear exists; at no point in history have they ever. They only tell tourists that they exist in the hopes of spooking naive travelers and possibly getting them to do something demeaning.
Saying that I think drop bears are "too much" is incorrect. I staunchly believe that drop bears have no reason to exist in this world or in a fictions one because they are nothing more than a cruel joke monster and I feel the same way about similar monsters such as the jackolope.
[/EndTirade]
Speaking as an Australian, I think this is a somewhat unfair view of the Drop Bear tale. I don't know anyone who uses it as a way to humiliate tourists. I, and my friends, use it as a good natured joke, like when a colleague of mine from Washington came to work here in the Canberra office for a week. We just brought up the topic of drop bears, and let him know that he should be careful while walking around under trees around the town centres, because urban sprawl had forced them to move into more populated areas. We didn't let him believe it for long, just for half an hour or so over dinner one night, and we all had a good laugh about it afterwards. Certainly for my group, the biggest draw is the sense of wonder we get from the fact that a surprising number of people still believe us, despite the fact that 5 seconds on the internet should provide proof that they aren't real. There's nothing cruel about it from our view. That's not to say that some people aren't bastards about it, just that I don't think it's the majority. For the rest of us, it's just a fun tall tale to tell.
There's actually an Australian film group trying to crowd source funds to make a Drop Bear horror-comedy film at the moment, which I'd love to see come to fruition. Sadly it's looking like they won't make their goals, but it'd be nice to see. The concept videos they made looked really fun.
Indeed. Statting up a drop bear would be like making stats for a jackalope or a snipe: they're pranks, not cryptids or myths.
Though we do have stats for a platypus, but that's evolution's prank.
The jackalope doesn't really irritate me that much, I always just figured they were an Americanisation of the Skvader and Wolpertinger, which were already statted in one of the Shattered Star volumes (I think... could be Reign of Winter?) But given the similarities to those two creatures, it's not like the Jackalope would actually need to be statted anyway, since if you really need one, either of those statblocks should suffice with minor (if any) tweaks.
Back on the topic of this book, I'm really looking forward to it :) I like having easy access to NPC statblocks, whether it's for variations on monsters to give encounters a bit of spice, or for PC classed NPCs so I don't have to build the damn things myself.
Liz Courts Webstore Gninja Minion |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Wolpertinger and skvader were in AP #61, the first volume of Shattered Star.
Tinkergoth |
Thanks Liz! Knew they were there somewhere, but I'm at work and therefore don't have my books with me to check :D
Though I do have a bunch of new books that I picked up from the post office on my way to work today, and are now sitting on my desk waiting for lunchtime. New Pathfinder book day is best day.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James, can you say anything about roughly how many (if any) of the new feats and other options will be available to monsters in general, rather than be restricted to the featured races?
Nope. Partially because I'm not really all that involved in this book beyond the aforementioned help in picking the monsters, but also because it's wayyyyy too soon to talk in more detail about the book's contents.
Charlie Brooks RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32 |
Axial |
Since we're talking about monster stat-blocks, I figured I'd post some of my own personal creations. Let me show you my Hobgoblins!
SON OF MOLOCH CR 5
advanced hobgoblin fighter 5
LE medium humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +4 , Senses darkvision 60ft, perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 25 , touch 14 , flat-footed 21 , (9+ armor, 4+ dex, +2 natural )
HP 55 (5d10)
Fort +9 , Ref +5, Will +5; +1 vs fear
Defensive abilities bravery + 1
Special Attacks weapon training (polearms +1)
OFFENSE Speed 20ft
Melee greataxe +12 (1d12 + 16/x3), or gore +6 (1d4 +5/x2)
STATISTICS
Str 20, Dex 19, Con 20, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 12
Base atk +5, CMB +14, CMD 24
Feats Weapon Focus (greataxe), Power Attack, Furious Focus, Weapon Specialization (greataxe), Outflank
Skills Bluff +9, Perception +9, Intimidate +14, Sense Motive +12; racial modifier Intimidate + 4
Languages Common, Goblin , Infernal
SQ armor training 1
Note: two of these guys getting Ao0s at once resulted in 87 damage and a dead paladin.
SON OF MOLOCH CR 5
advanced hobgoblin warpriest of Moloch 5
LE medium humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +6 ,
Senses darkvision 60ft, perception +5
DEFENSE
AC 25 ( + 9 armor, +1 shield, + 2 dex, +2 natural)
HP 54 (5d8 +30)
Fort +9 , Ref +3, Will +9
Defensive abilities
OFFENSE
Speed 20ft
Melee scorpion whip +9 (1d8 +4/x2), gore +3 (1d4 +4/x2)
Special Attacks
sacred weapon +1 Warpriest Spell-like abilities (CL 5, concentration +10) fire strike, war mind
Warpriest Spells prepared-
0th-bleed, detect magic, light, guidance
1st- burning disarm x2 (DC 17), forbid action, murderous command, shield of faith, spiked armor 2nd-bull’s strength, dread bolt, boiling blood
Blessings fire, war
STATISTICS
STR 18, DEX 14, CON 20, INT 14, WIS 20, CHA 17
base atk +3 (+5 SW), CMB +9 (+11 SW) CMD 19
Feats Weapon Focus (whip), Improved Initiative, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, Improved Disarm
Skills
Languages
SQ
Gear
CRIMSON BLADE CR 5
advanced Hobgoblin Barbarian 5
NE Medium humanoid (goblinoid)
init +5; Perception +11
DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 13, flat footed 16 (+6 armor, +5 dex, +2 natural, -2 rage)
hp 77 (66 w/o rage)
Fort +9 Ref +6, Will +6; +4 w/o rage
Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge, trap sense +2
OFFENSE
Speed 30ft
Melee greatsword +15 (2d6 + 16/19-20x2)
Special Attacks Rage 13 rounds/day, rage powers (powerful blow +2, guarded life)
STATISTICS
STR 20, DEX 20, CON 20, INT 14, WIS 16, CHA 12
Base Atk +5, CMD +10; CMD 25
Feats Power Attack, Furious Focus, Cleave
Skills Acrobatics + 13, Climb + 13, Intimidate +9, Perception +11, Sense Motive +11, Swim +13
WARCHEMIST CR 5
advanced hobgoblin alchemist 5
LE medium humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +5 , Senses darkvision 60ft, Perception
DEFENSE
AC 19
hp 65
Fort +8, Ref +9, Will + 3; +4 vs poison
OFFENSE
Speed 30ft
Melee morningstar +
Ranged bomb +8 (3d6 fire +5)
Special Attacks Bomb /day (3d6 fire damage + 5 )
Alchemist Extracts Prepared (CL 5th)
2nd-Invisibility, vomit swarm, fire breath, fire sneeze
1st- enlarge person, targeted bomb admixture, true strike, shield, expeditious retreat, anticipate peril
STATISTICS
Str 12 , Dex 20 , Con 18 , Int 20 , Wis 14 , Cha 17
Base Atk +3, CMB ; CMD
Feats Brew Potion, Throw Anything, Weapon Focus (bomb), Precise Shot, Deafening Explosion
Skills
Languages
SQ alchemy (alchemy crafting, identify potions) mutagen (+4/-2), Discoveries (explosive bombs, feral mutagen, poison use, swift alchemy
Didn't get around to finishing touches on all of these, as you can see. I just wanted to provide unique adversaries for the party.
Dragon78 |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I really don't see the need for society and ecology articles for these guys since they have plenty of pathfinder specific info and info from multiple past editions. Also since this book is world neutral the ecology/society info will be even less useful for pathfinder play and space wasted that could have included another monster or two.
John Kretzer |
I really don't see the need for society and ecology articles for these guys since they have plenty of pathfinder specific info and info from multiple past editions. Also since this book is world neutral the ecology/society info will be even less useful for pathfinder play and space wasted that could have included another monster or two.
Just a point about generic information...it is probably usable anyplace...including Golarion. That is the nice thing about it is that it is often useful.
Alexander Augunas Contributor |
Which people believe such tales anyway? Crying American women who sit in the audience of the Oprah show? Drop Bears arent more silly than a cockatrice when done right
You asked why I thought drop bears were too much. You got my answer. My poin. Of view is not going to change. Yours is not going to change. Best to drop the discussion.
On topic, I didn't notice that hobgoblins were getting spotlighted. Pretty excited about that!
Ross Byers RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32 |
I really don't see the need for society and ecology articles for these guys since they have plenty of pathfinder specific info and info from multiple past editions. Also since this book is world neutral the ecology/society info will be even less useful for pathfinder play and space wasted that could have included another monster or two.
Classic Monsters and Giants Revisited were a long time ago. This isn't any more redundant than Inner Sea Gods collecting material from AP back matter and Gods and Magic.
Dragon78 |
Inner Sea Gods is a campaign specific book so collecting a whole bunch of campaign specific deity articles from like 50+ AP volumes into one book makes sense. But writing generic articles for 20(well 19) creatures that have been in the D&D for many years and that everyone already knows is a waste of space.
Ross Byers RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32 |
Odraude |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Well if Gancanagh hates it, then I love it!
But seriously, I've wanted a good book about monster customization and this will most certainly scratch that itch. Especially ghouls, which are my number one favorite undead. I do wish there were less humanoid monster, and even less 0-HD monsters, but this will still be a welcome addition to my collection. Especially if it gets into detail about adding class levels to these monsters in a simpler way than said in the Bestiaries.
Also, still holding hopes for Bestiary 5 ;)
Stephen Radney-MacFarland Designer |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
James, can you say anything about roughly how many (if any) of the new feats and other options will be available to monsters in general, rather than be restricted to the featured races?
I'm not James, but I can take this one.
It is going to be a good mix of both. When a feat (or other rules item) has an intrinsic link to a race, it will be restricted to that race, but if it doesn't we open up for general use.
For example, you may have a feat that expands a race's racial trait. I did a few of these for the section that I wrote, and the race (or at least the racial trait) is in the prerequisites, but there were be plenty of options that expand choices in the game in general (even PC options), even though the mechanics are designed around the the tone of a specific race.
David knott 242 |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
This book is what happens when you let the Bestiary and NPC Codex lines have a party and get drunk together with no adult supervision.
So which other lines should we arrange wild parties for?
Alexander Augunas Contributor |
Are wrote:James, can you say anything about roughly how many (if any) of the new feats and other options will be available to monsters in general, rather than be restricted to the featured races?
I'm not James, but I can take this one.
It is going to be a good mix of both. When a feat (or other rules item) has an intrinsic link to a race, it will be restricted to that race, but if it doesn't we open up for general use.
For example, you may have a feat that expands a race's racial trait. I did a few of these for the section that I wrote, and the race (or at least the racial trait) is in the prerequisites, but there were be plenty of options that expand choices in the game in general (even PC options), even though the mechanics are designed around the the tone of a specific race.
Perfect.
It sounds like many of the Advanced Race Guide's lessons were well noted.
MMCJawa |
at least 6 of the monsters in the book haven't appeared in a revisited series book (Drow, Sahuagin, Ratfolk, Boggard, Serpentfolk, and Troglodyte), although they might very well have had an AP article about them.
Also some of the revisited books, like Classic Monsters revisited, are sort of old. I wonder if we are going to get any retcons (like gnolls being made matriarchal, or Hobgoblins having a new origin.
Hoping we get a racial name for Serpentfolk...something I think got left out of the AP article about them.
At any rate...I am pretty happy about the selection. Those are probably the monster races which are most commonly used as opponents for PCs, so having a range NPCs of varying role and CR is useful. Would be great to get Centaurs, Liches, Duergar, Mites, etc, but hopefully we get a sequel volume?
Troodos |
At any rate...I am pretty happy about the selection. Those are probably the monster races which are most commonly used as opponents for PCs, so having a range NPCs of varying role and CR is useful. Would be great to get Centaurs, Liches, Duergar, Mites, etc, but hopefully we get a sequel volume?
There are Duregar, look at the full list.
Nate Z |
It might be a waste of space to you, who have been playing for a long time and have all those references.
It is not a waste of space for a newer player or GM who does not have those experiences.
I've only been playing about 4 years, and pretty much exclusivly Pathfinder. I want/need to know more about gray subterranean dwarves.
Odraude |
Honestly, from the short blurb above, this sounds like a mixture between the NPC Codex, the Advanced Race Guide, and the Bestiary. Looks like it'll have feats, templates, archetypes, and good info for any GM looking to use these monsters. The only thing this won't have that the Advanced Race Guide has is a Builder (as far as we know). But this is just from the short preview up there. Too early to tell. I'm sure we'll get to learn more as we approach
Auxmaulous |
Honestly, from the short blurb above, this sounds like a mixture between the NPC Codex, the Advanced Race Guide, and the Bestiary. Looks like it'll have feats, templates, archetypes, and good info for any GM looking to use these monsters. The only thing this won't have that the Advanced Race Guide has is a Builder (as far as we know). But this is just from the short preview up there. Too early to tell. I'm sure we'll get to learn more as we approach
Archetypes sound just like customized classes to accommodate the actual specific race - it isn't tweaking the race it's tweaking the class for the race. Which still could serve as a guide to dissect/kit for building our own archetypes, specific to monsters not listed in this book. Monster builder it isn't though. Monster class levels with archetypes could be another way to template/customize a monster - within the confines of existing class abilities (a little boring). Still could help.
Let's see how many templates and monster specific feats this book end up having. I'm sure that some of them can also be re-spec'd to other creatures. Might have some use.
Based upon past Paizo's past release trends, this does push back any chance of a Advanced Monster Guide to 2016 (if ever), since the next year will be Bestiary 5.
Thanks for not attacking me for that comment, I'm sure you remembered that I am the #1 advocate for a Monster toolkit/Advanced Monster Guide.
Maerimydra |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Among the 10 stat blocks for each monster, will there be at least one "grunt" NPC with levels in the Warrior class? As much as I like using humanoid monsters with class levels in my games, monsters with levels in a PC class tend to have way too much wealth for the challenge they pose to the PCs, resulting in a situation where the PCs end up with too much wealth for their level.
Baroth |
It might be a waste of space to you, who have been playing for a long time and have all those references.
It is not a waste of space for a newer player or GM who does not have those experiences.
So the book will go into the details of the Lolth-worshipping society of the not-born-as-elves race of drows?
Oceanshieldwolf |
Hmm. I've played a goblin and a kobold here on the boards. And a lizardfolk.
Lessee now... Drow. Bugbear. Ghoul. Gnoll. Duergar. Kobold. Ogre. Orc. Sahuagin. Troglodyte.
All 10 I would consider playing as PCs.
Hobgoblin. Ratfolk. Fire and Frost Giants. I'd play them too...
I'm liking the book. I still look forward to Advanced Monster Guide...
Freaking fantastic cover. Love the drow helm/mask...
Gorbacz |
Ross Byers wrote:So the book will go into the details of the Lolth-worshipping society of the not-born-as-elves race of drows?It might be a waste of space to you, who have been playing for a long time and have all those references.
It is not a waste of space for a newer player or GM who does not have those experiences.
No, because Lolth is WotC Intellectual Property.
Morbius X |
...I hate to be the negative nelly, but this is giving me screaming flashbacks to 3.5's MM 4 and 5, which absolutely none of the gamers in my group liked, and which turned out to be the harbingers of 4th Edition.
With the Strategy Guide and now this, I am kinda scared too. But they're going so strong, I think Paizo is just taking a break and doing simple things before bringing out more goodies later.
doc the grey |
What?!
0.0
What!?
o.0
That was my first reaction. I'm sold, I totally want a book that gives me prebuilt stat blocks and archetypes for the monstrous races I love. The only problem is now I might want to wait to build my ratfolk character for pfs until this comes out to see if it has and interesting archetypes.
Will all of the archetypes be new or will they be reprints from things like the ARG?
Dustin Ashe |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:...I hate to be the negative nelly, but this is giving me screaming flashbacks to 3.5's MM 4 and 5, which absolutely none of the gamers in my group liked, and which turned out to be the harbingers of 4th Edition.With the Strategy Guide and now this, I am kinda scared too. But they're going so strong, I think Paizo is just taking a break and doing simple things before bringing out more goodies later.
I think the Strategy Guide and Monster Codex are getting a bad rap on the boards because these aren't for everyone. The former is for new players transitioning from the Beginner Box to the Core Rulebook. And latter is for newer GMs who don't have the time, experience, or inclination to stat up monsters with PC classes to give their players some more-challenging encounters.
Lots of people active on the boards have been in this hobby for years if not decades. But as a somewhat new player and new GM, these two products are going to be invaluable.
Also, guys, Monster Codex pawns! How is no one excited for this? Oh, please, make them.
Tinkergoth |
Morbius X wrote:Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:...I hate to be the negative nelly, but this is giving me screaming flashbacks to 3.5's MM 4 and 5, which absolutely none of the gamers in my group liked, and which turned out to be the harbingers of 4th Edition.With the Strategy Guide and now this, I am kinda scared too. But they're going so strong, I think Paizo is just taking a break and doing simple things before bringing out more goodies later.I think the Strategy Guide and Monster Codex are getting a bad rap on the boards because these aren't for everyone. The former is for new players transitioning from the Beginner Box to the Core Rulebook. And latter is for newer GMs who don't have the time, experience, or inclination to stat up monsters with PC classes to give their players some more-challenging encounters.
Lots of people active on the boards have been in this hobby for years if not decades. But as a somewhat new player and new GM, these two products are going to be invaluable.
Also, guys, Monster Codex pawns! How is no one excited for this? Oh, please, make them.
You'll find that quite a few of us experienced, long term gamers are pretty excited for the Strategy Guide and the Monster Codex too. I'm teaching my younger cousins to play, but I also sometimes induct new players into my normal group, and it can be hard for me to remember that not everyone has 12 years of d20 gaming behind them. Hell, even some of my friends that are long term roleplayers as well aren't that good with the rules, because their normal games are things like World of Darkness or GURPS. So for me, it's invaluable. The reason I want the codex is a combination of the "more options is always nice, and having examples is too" and "Man, I'm a lazy SOB and can't be bothered statting my own monster NPCs if I don't have to... roll on the book!" reasoning.
Lord Mhoram |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:...I hate to be the negative nelly, but this is giving me screaming flashbacks to 3.5's MM 4 and 5, which absolutely none of the gamers in my group liked, and which turned out to be the harbingers of 4th Edition.With the Strategy Guide and now this, I am kinda scared too. But they're going so strong, I think Paizo is just taking a break and doing simple things before bringing out more goodies later.
I'm seeing it differently.
The game has been going strong for 5 years. A lot of rules. I know many complain of rules bloat. I read that one of Paizo's approach to D&D Next is not to directly compete - if next brings in a bunch of new players, and some of them want something else, they will move to Pathfinder. These books are a great place to start for people just getting into the game - and while many of us have been playing for a very long time, these kind of things are very good for start up players.
I think it is looking at the long term, and helping bring new players into Pathfinder, rather than end of life cycle products. Sort of a "we've been around a while, lets set up stuff for new players so we can keep going" rather than "we've run out of ideas".
John Kretzer |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Why bestiarys must always come out in the end of the year? Why not early 2015,? I for one fear that 2015 wil get the normal boring npc codex and 2016 december will be bestiary 5...
Oh please be true...a new NPC codex would be very useful while another Bestiary will just be kinda of meh at this point.
John Kretzer |
Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:...I hate to be the negative nelly, but this is giving me screaming flashbacks to 3.5's MM 4 and 5, which absolutely none of the gamers in my group liked, and which turned out to be the harbingers of 4th Edition.With the Strategy Guide and now this, I am kinda scared too. But they're going so strong, I think Paizo is just taking a break and doing simple things before bringing out more goodies later.
There is a major difference between this and MM4 and MM5. That is they are telling us what it is. I know my disappointment came from opening a book to discover new monsters to see a entire stat block for existing monsters.
Majuba |
Rather disappointed we're not getting an NPC Codex 2 this year. This book will be useful, I have no doubt, but still, I'd rather have pre-built statblocks for magi, summoners, alchemists, and the rest of the non-core base classes.
I wouldn't buy an "NPC Codex: Advanced Classes", but I probably will buy this.
The comparison to MM4/5 is troubling, but that one was so much more hit-and-miss. There were individual monsters, and then there were 10 pages of drow. Ugh. It wasn't a particularly useful book to have around when creating because it wasn't enough selection and it wasn't in-depth enough on what it did have.
DeathQuaker RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8 |
Neat! I may have to resubscribe to the RPG line come this fall.
And for what it's worth, I think both THIS and an NPC Codex: Advanced Classes are great ideas, and I hope another NPC Codex comes along next year.
I know GM books aren't big seller books over all, but they are big sellers for me, personally. Come to think of it, for joint usability as GM and player, and despite some complaints I've aired from time to time, I've bought more Pathfinder books than I have for any other RPG line ever (my oWOD collection comes close, but only as all systems--Werewolf, Mage, etc.--combined).