Announcing Bestiary 4!

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Get ready for even more monsters—Bestiary 4 is coming this Fall!

We've searched through dozens of real-world bestiaries, countless online sources, reports of strangeness from all over the world, our favorite films and fiction, and right here on our own message boards to compile another collection of creatures even more diabolical than those that have come before. Like the first three, Bestiary 4 has more than 300 pages and features hundreds of monsters of a terrifying variety appropriate for every Pathfinder Roleplaying Game campaign.

This time there's more than just strange stories and bizarre powers amping up the threats, though. With the godlike powers soon to be unleashed in Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Mythic Adventures, there's about to be a whole new caliber of heroes in need of threats to overcome, and Bestiary 4 provides. Just as characters of any level might have mythic powers, the same is true of monsters. Infused with mythic power, legends like the immortal guardian dragon, faith-fueled juggernauts, and vampiric leanen sidhe rise to rampage across your campaign. But shattering all past power levels are truly world-ending terrors like demon lords, Great Old Ones, elohim, kaiju, and more! Simply put, no Bestiary has ever been as deadly as this.

But even though mythic creatures function exactly as normal Pathfinder RPG monsters and are useable even in non-mythic games, they comprise but a small percentage of this collection's total terror. Inside, you'll find beasties of every Challenge Rating, of all your favorite creature types, and appropriate for adventures of every level. So what should you expect?

  • Favorites from past bestiaries, like new clockwork creatures, drakes, and gremlins!
  • The return of nearly forgotten foes like formians, nosferatu, and even the terrifying almiraj!
  • Nightmares from both the real world—like argus, einherjar, and pickled punks—and the world of Golarion—like fleshwarps, gallowdead, and psychopomps!
  • Terrors from your favorite fiction and film, like bodysnatchers, Grendel, and nightgaunts!
  • The newest generations of Bestiary regulars, like slag giants, blood golems, and the enigmatic outer dragons!
  • Entirely new terrors, like karkinoi, necrocrafts, owbs, and soulbound shells!
  • New templates like divine guardian, mummified, and shadow, to multiply your current creature collection!
  • New player-friendly races, familiars, and constructs offering characters a host of new options!
  • Mythic threats!
  • And much, much more!

Beyond giving gamers the creatures they've been begging for and expanding every GM's monstrous arsenal, each Pathfinder Bestiary has a very general theme. With Bestiary 4... well, just take a look at Wayne Reynolds's newest cover and take your best guess at the sorts of stories that influenced our selections.

We'll have plenty more to say about and show off from Bestiary 4 in the months leading up to its Fall release, but for now, check out that awesome cover and start dropping menacing hints to your players—because terrible things are on the way.

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief

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Tags: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
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Kaiju?

Yes, About time.:)


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

YAAAAAAY!

Wait, 300 more pages?

You're trying to kill me, aren't you?

Still, YAAAAAAY!

Scarab Sages

Looks good.

How soon before the new stuff starts showing up in PFS scenarios?


*drools*

Scarab Sages Contributor

I have nothing else to say other than ... YAY!!!!

Silver Crusade

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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

We're gonna need two bigger boats...


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Oh no, is that Cthulhu in that picture? That's Cthulhu isn't it, and not just one of those CR 20 spawns... D:

I knew that you guys specifically made him at demigod strength so you guys could stat him up, but I didn't expect him to come up so quickly. One of my GMs will be happy.

Paizo Employee Developer

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Artanthos wrote:

Looks good.

How soon before the new stuff starts showing up in PFS scenarios?

As soon as the book is available to our authors content from it will be fair game for them to include in their adventures.


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Insert "shut up and take my money" meme here.

-The Gneech


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Elohim, that's really interesting. I'm happy that einherjars are back, and formians. My guess on the cover, fomorian, Cthulhu, nosferatu, lenanshee.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Mark,

Does this mean we'll see mythic content in PFS?


Love the bestiarie pull most of my plots just from looking at the monsters

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Formians at last! :D

Webstore Gninja Minion

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Gorbacz wrote:
We're gonna need two bigger boats...

Perhaps even a fleet.

Dark Archive

I thought Bestiaries were not supposed to include playable race options. Am I mistaken or understanding this incorrectly?

Editor-in-Chief

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Artanthos wrote:
How soon before the new stuff starts showing up in PFS scenarios?

In all of our products, including PFS, you might start seeing Bestiary 4 monsters slipping in a month to two prior to it's release--but they'll have to use complete stat blocks (instead of the quick Bestiary reference notes) until the book's release. Since that's not a terribly economical use of space, we usually limit those or keep them attached to characters getting full write-ups anyway like that one manical outer dragon that's getting stated up in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Mythic Realms.

So you might see a preview in a PFS scenario later this year, but no promises.

RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32, 2011 Top 4

2 people marked this as a favorite.

...'pickled punks'? And this is a real world adaptation?

:::five minutes of googling:::

Oh, that's nasty.

Well done!

Editor-in-Chief

Numerian wrote:
Elohim, that's really interesting. I'm happy that einherjars are back, and formians. My guess on the cover, fomorian, Cthulhu, nosferatu, lenanshee.

Close... and one too many. ;)


1 person marked this as a favorite.

I'm seeing two nosferatu. (Nosferati? Nosferatodes?)


SOLD! Can't wait for this!:)

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
the Haunted Jester wrote:
I thought Bestiaries were not supposed to include playable race options. Am I mistaken or understanding this incorrectly?

You would be mistaken... So far every Bestiary has included a few playable races.

Liberty's Edge

the Haunted Jester wrote:
I thought Bestiaries were not supposed to include playable race options. Am I mistaken or understanding this incorrectly?

It's up to the GM. For example, Aasimar are in Bestiary 1, but could be used as a PC race.

Editor-in-Chief

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Dragnmoon wrote:
You would be mistaken... So far every Bestiary has included a few playable races.

It's true! We've had quite a few CR 1/2, player friendly races out there in the past and the hits just keep on coming. There will be a few familiar ones finally slipping into the limelight this time around too.

Liberty's Edge

Great...Old...Ones?...aaahhhh...*GAK*!

Editor-in-Chief

Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:
I'm seeing two nosferatu. (Nosferati? Nosferatodes?)

We just ran into this for the first time yesterday... We hate irregular plurals, so you might be seeing "nosferatus," but we've got kaiju in here as well, and "kaijus" doesn't seem right at all. Ooof. Well, we'll got a few weeks before the editing starts to figure it all out!

Editor-in-Chief

5 people marked this as a favorite.
DankeSean wrote:

...'pickled punks'? And this is a real world adaptation?

:::five minutes of googling:::

Oh, that's nasty.

Well done!

See! Bestiaries are educational!


Yay! Me want!


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Kaiju? Kaiju! So darn excited


3 people marked this as a favorite.
F. Wesley Schneider wrote:
Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:
I'm seeing two nosferatu. (Nosferati? Nosferatodes?)
We just ran into this for the first time yesterday... We hate irregular plurals, so you might be seeing "nosferatus," but we've got kaiju in here as well, and "kaijus" doesn't seem right at all. Ooof. Well, we'll got a few weeks before the editing starts to figure it all out!

As an old-school V:tM player, I vote that the plural of "Nosferatu" is "Nosferatu". Ex: "There are a half-dozen nosferatu about to stomp your sorry butt into next week."


Teheeeheeee... this will be fun one.


hmmm... i suppose i better get cracking on adding bestiaries 2-3 to my RDG, then. :)


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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

So much to be excited about for this book! Can it be October now?


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Paizo, if you tease me with Kaiju and then I don't see them... I don't know if my poor little heart can take the strain.

You hear that? A life is on the line here! Kaiju!


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Also, necrocrafts. I don't know what they are, but I want one.


F. Wesley Schneider wrote:
Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:
I'm seeing two nosferatu. (Nosferati? Nosferatodes?)
We just ran into this for the first time yesterday... We hate irregular plurals, so you might be seeing "nosferatus," but we've got kaiju in here as well, and "kaijus" doesn't seem right at all. Ooof. Well, we'll got a few weeks before the editing starts to figure it all out!

Well that's Japanese, and English usage of Japanese is usually to respect the Japanese plural form -- which is either no change, or appending -tachi, but that seems even weirder, so just kaiju.

No idea how Slavic languages handle things.


7 people marked this as a favorite.

Does Cthulhu eat 1d4 player characters per round?


Does this mean that we will not get an NPC Codex 2? Or is it likely that it will just come out in 2014?


Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Finally my wish is granted! Argus? That is one I really want to see!

I'm not sure about the theme this time? Lovecraft? Mythic? Undead? Books?

Can't wait to find out more!!!


BTW is that Grendel on the cover?

The only thing that worries me are the Demon Lords, does that mean that there are many unique creatures in bestiary 4? I really hope not, I think uniques and lords/gods would be better off in their own books like they have been in the past, but that is just me.

Liberty's Edge

Axial wrote:
Does Cthulhu eat 1d4 player characters per round?

Not before mealtimes.

Wouldn't want to spoil his appetite. :p


4 people marked this as a favorite.

Nice, cthulu...my 'mini' from the reaper bones kickstarter wont just be decorative, I can use him to eat...i mean drive insane...i mean challenge...yea challenge my players.


Saw "owbs", immediately assumed that meant baby owlbears.

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Darn, I was hoping for a NPC Codex 2 with more monster support. I mean, I like having PC race opponents but I'd like more pregenerated orcs, goblins, gnolls, and the like.
And with three Bestiaries, and the Tome of Horror I don't need another Bestiary.

Still... having nosferatu would be cool. It sounds like they're taking the best of the AP monsters and compiling them for this product. Nice, for those of us who don't always get the APs.
And I suppose Mythic opponents are missing in the game and truly high level opponents are needed.
And Pickled Punks remind me of the Carnival from the Ravenloft setting, although these will likely be a little different.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Fleshwarps!


Karkinoi? That sound like Karkinos or Carcinos the greek crab monsters that fought with the Hydra against Heracles.

I hope some terrible Crabmen species!

fleshwarps, gallowdead, mummified, Necrofied, Nosferatu...

I do hope this book won't end up with too much humanoid undead creatures tho...


I'm hoping "necrocrafts" are what I asked for in the first post of the B4 Wishlist thread -- zombie- and skeleton-types that have Craft or Profession skills. Undead pirate crew ahoy!


Serisan wrote:
Saw "owbs", immediately assumed that meant baby owlbears.

That is what went through my mind as well.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

4 people marked this as a favorite.
Forbiddenlightbulb wrote:

Paizo, if you tease me with Kaiju and then I don't see them... I don't know if my poor little heart can take the strain.

You hear that? A life is on the line here! Kaiju!

Never fear. They're in. I wrote them up and it was tough and if they get cut... NOOOOO!!!!!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Axial wrote:
Does Cthulhu eat 1d4 player characters per round?

Kinda, yeah. You'll see.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Hawkins wrote:
Does this mean that we will not get an NPC Codex 2? Or is it likely that it will just come out in 2014?

The existence of a Bestiary 4 this year does not negate the possibility of NPC Codex 2 coming out some time in the future.

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