I bought the PDF version of this and what a deal. It is formated so that when I need a monster I simply print that page. I have not ran into a monster that takes up more then 1 page. It is so well formated. It saves my ink and paper and Im ready to go with just one page. I write all over it with notes for that game and toss it when Im done. Great job!!!!!!

This book, like the core rulebook, is gorgeous. Not only that, but it has most of the OGL creatures in it, updated to the Pathfinder rules as well as some interesting and logical tweaks.

The only real gripe I have is that, while I understand why it was done, I didn't like that some classic creatures were turned into templated versions of the core version of the monster (I don't know you you need to have separate stats for heavy war horses, but it just doesn't sit right, to me, to have them be "advanced" horses, for example).

All of that having been said, call this one a 4.75, but I'm just too much of a pain to give up a five star review.

When this arrived at my door I couldn't wait to tear it open and as I read it all I could think about was great enemies to use to kill my friends. There is only one problem.... Where's the Bodak? J/K never use him anyway.

My first thought was this product was going to be essentially a reprint of the 3.5 monster manual with the Paizo rules changes and the awesome Paizo design work. As such my expectations were pretty moderate for this book.

I am happy to say that my expectations were greatly exceeded. The book is indeed an amazing piece of design (art!) which I expected from paizo, but it goes a lot further than that. The monsters are rebalanced and often completely reworked. Common abilities are standardized and put in a "common monster ability" section in the back of the book which means the pages are dedicated to strategy, ecology, and generally awesome flavor text.

The artwork is exceptional, there are a few outliers that look out of place in there but in general it's amazing stuff. In a really nice touch the illustrator's names are on the side of each page.

Overall the book is amazingly well organized, it's easy to find what you need and the book is simply the best looking RPG source book I have ever seen.

Simply put, this a high quality product that anybody interested in PFRPG should consider purchasing. The art, for the most part, is top notch. The high spots for me were the angels, demons, and devils. Even the rat entry featured a wicked looking dire rat! The only major disappointment was the Tarrasque - it left a little something to be desired. There were a couple others, but this doesn't take away too much from the book as a whole.

The actual content is superb. I particularly appreciated the designers including guidelines for running some of the races as characters (e.g. aasimar, drow, etc.). The templates are well done too. I have yet to compare the Bestiary directly to the Monster Manual - that should be interesting.

Congratz to Paizo for putting out another great product.

...Suggestion-wise I would say to put the templates in their own section in the next installment (if you do one). Apart from that I echo the other comments.

The easy complaint here is ... "Haven't I seen most of these monsters somewhere else before?" The answer is ... "Yes, but not like this!"

As always, Paizo hits it out of the park with their art direction and production value. The book is a visual stunner. Each illustration is familiar, but uniquely Pathfinder/Paizo. Information design is excellent, which is one of my major quibbles with other creature collections.

But what about game play? Isn't this just a collection of mildly changed stat blocks? Nope.

Like the Pathfinder RPG itself, each monster is reworked to fit the improved OGL d20 ruleset. Broken monsters get fixed and monster creation & advancement are greatly improved.

I am already looking forward to Bestiary 2!

This book is what helped me decide to subscribe. All the pictures are in color and invoke awe. I would recommend getting this.

The artwork is top notch for most of the book, with a few exceptions. It seems that in a few of the entries Paizo was cramped for space. I know it would have been pricier but it would've been nice if they devoted some more pages for some of the creatures. I still wish they had more stats for monster PCs as they did in the old 3.5 Monster Manual.

Regardless, the Bestiary is a great addition to the Pathfinder RPG. I was pleased with the final product.

What strikes me after flipping through the Beastiary...

1) I was hoping to see a few of the "monster races" portrayed in a playable format, without the extra racial Hit Dice and Paizo delivered! Want to play a ______ without the extra +1 ECL? You can. Paizo definitely balanced things, expanding options and playability in a unique and constructive way.

2) The art is, for the most part, top notch. Only a few monsters (Ankheg, Troll) left me wanting more. The majority of them were brilliantly drawn and colored. The Angels, Devils, and Genies really stood out!

3) The entire format is easy to use, with the pdf linked so that I can reference things quickly, at the table, when I need to. It's clear they aimed to simplify game play.

Good job Paizo!!